home...

The Gomez family...Nani, Cheryl, Charlie, Vicente,

(Ivan is not there) and Anali

Jenny, Cheryl and Anali @ the beach

our team with Regina and family

there is nothing like tacos @ smokies!

this was a great afternoon w/charlie y vicente

welcome to vicente guerrero, girls!

Roy and I arrived home yesterday after a blessed and uneventful trip up the west coast. I am thankful that Roy loves me and doesn't mind my tears as we turned our van towards the north. It always happens. It always feels like a piece of my heart has been ripped out and left behind.

I spent some time on the trip contemplating and praying. What is it about Vicente Guerrero, and the people in Mexico, that leave me feeling like I just left home rather than am going home? I am asking God to continue to reveal Himself to me in this. I know that He will...He already is.

Thank you for praying for our team. I think it was a good trip for each of the girls. I saw God working in their lives and it was so wonderful to get to spend time learning about each one.

Many people (both here and there) have asked, "When are you going again?" I don't know the answer to this yet...and I am trusting God to work out all of those details. I am His and will do what He wants me to do, and go where He wants me to go. I do, with all of my heart, hope that His plans include many, many return trips to a little colonia called Vicente Guerrero.

I posted some pictures above. I have many more. Let me know if you'd like to see them and hear more stories. There are always stories to tell...

Live blessed.

Jenny

He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter!

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

After enjoying our last days in Vicente Guerrero, we arrived in San Diego last night around 9 p.m. We enjoyed a wonderful celebration service at Mission Valley Church of the Nazarene this morning and were part of a large group (25 people) who shared a delightful dinner at Jim and Elizabeth Bergherm's home.

Some highlights from the last couple of days are...

...mopping up the new Jabes Skate Park in San Quintin. Cesar is responsible for this new facility and the program has great potential to reach many, many teens. Yes, I tried skateboarding and no, it was not pretty.

...carrying palm branches to the skate park. They are going to make a shaded area and use the branches as the roof.

...going to the radio station and watching Nani, Cesar, Cheryl and Jetro put on a live radio show talking about healthy ways to resolve conflict in families.

...going to the beach and finding LOTS of Mexican families celebrating the holiday weekend.

...cooking dinners at the house and relaxing with Nani, Cheryl and their kids...and a few others. Celebrating birthdays and celebrating friendship.

...saying goodbye. A wonderful time of prayer and sharing on Saturday morning was the perfect send-off for our team. God blessed our time in Vicente Guerrero and I am so thankful for all that He did in our lives there.

...a fun trip to Ensenada with Deborah and Jetro in tow. Finding our way around town and eating delicious tacos at La Comadre. I even had a big bite of Jetro's "cricket" taco. A delicacy in Mexico. It tasted...crunchy. And a little salty. Not too bad.

...a short line at the border...thank you so much Jesus! I got lost in Tijuana...again. So have found yet another way to get to the border. The girls just pretended like I was taking them on a tour. They were very gracious.

Seeing Roy and Nicole last night in San Diego. I love my family.

Tomorrow we put all the girls on planes to head to NNU. And Roy and I will be beginning our roadtrip home.

I am so thankful for the time that God has given me in Mexico. I am so thankful for all He has done. He is our Risen Lord who has redeemed us from the grave...Praise His Name!

Dios Les Bendiga!

Jenny

Live Big...

Yesterday I celebrated my 46th birthday here in Mexico.

We worked up at the new youth center in Tricci, cleaning a new soccer field of rocks and weeds. We then spent 2 hours serving saltines wTuna, cookies and juice to about 90 wonderful elderly people. They all sang me happy birthday and I received a beautiful hand sewn cloth. Several ladies rushed up to wish me Feliz Cumpleanos and one told me she was 82. She told me I have many more years to ¨Live Big.¨I like that. It was a great time of visiting with all of them, praying over them, and listening to Nani share with them.

In the afternoon the girls were challenged to use the new soccer field and play against a Mexican team of girls. 5 on 5. It was sooooooo much fun even though we lost 8 to 5. Actually, we were thrilled that we got the 5! Lots of laughter and fun times...we finished the night with homemade tamales and quesadillas and a great time of fellowship with Nani, Cheryl, Charlie, Vicente, Anali and Jose (who lives next to the youth center). OHHHH...my morning started at 5:45 with Cesar sticking his head through the living room window (literally!) and singing me a traditional Mexican song of celebration at the top of his lungs. After being scared out of my mind that a drunk man had somehow gotten into our house, I heard ¨cumpleanos¨and knew that it must be a friend. And what a good friend he is. He was on his way to Ensenada and wanted to celebrate my birthday. I am blessed.

So yes, yesterday was a good day, but so were the others previously! Some things we have done are...

Worked at Padre Kino camp twice...just love those kids there!
Worked in the Outreach Kitchen at the Orphanage.
Moved and stacked 700 chairs from the concert. (Yes, we´ve gained muscle!)
Visited families.
Went on outreach-child evangelism with the mission.
Cooked homemade meals for our friends.
Taught our friends ¨Mafia¨and played many, many games of it.
Learned that we can survive the week with bucket showers of cold water.
Learned how to cook on a propane stovetop, change a propane tank, and buy water containers at the store.

The Lord has blessed us this week. Our hearts and our lives are changed and we are thankful. We are going to Smokies for tacos tonight and enjoying a night of visiting friends. Those who know me know that my heart is becoming heavy thinking about tomorrow being our last day here. Please pray for us as we invest in lives here...and as we leave, leaving yet another part of our hearts behind.

I will write more this weekend when we get to San Diego.

Dios les bendiga!
Jenny

A Great Weekend...

Buenas Dias!

God blessed us with a wonderful weekend of preparation, rest and ministry.

Saturday the girls slept in...much needed after a couple weeks of midterms, etc. We enjoyed having Anali (Nani and Cheryl´s adopted daughter) with us overnight while they were working on a concert up in Ensenada. We visited two different homes, and were able to pray with one lady (Regina) who is struggling with some health issues. We spent the evening working at and enjoying the concert in San Quintin. The artist was Lilly Goodman, a very famous Christian artist here in Mexico. Another band played before her and backed her up, but I can´t remember their name right now. The concert was held in a soccer field, and it was very cold with wind blowing. Right as the concert began there were a few sprinkles of rain. (Oh no!) However, it stopped and we enjoyed 2 hours of great worship (the girls all went down front to the mosh pit while I held seats and purses) before the Lord really brought the rain. It started pouring a hard rain and it was so fun to hear the Mexican people cheer and praise God rather than complain. They are in such desperate need of rain! Well, they cheered and headed quickly home. We had a great time tearing down a stadium full of chairs in that rain. It was great to be there and be able to help Nani and Cheryl with this huge project that they have been working on for several months. Hundreds of people were there, listening to and responding to the Word of God. Our group went for a late night dinner of tacos at El Pollo Loco...where we could sit inside and warm up a bit!

Sunday morning we got up and enjoyed a wonderful worship service at the Mission Church. It was good to see some old friends as well as Pastor Avitia and his wife. The worship was great! The two favorite songs of our group were ¨Yo te busco¨ and a song about moving the mountains. The girls all enjoyed worshiping with the Hispanic church. We had headphones during the sermon to hear the translation of Pastor Avitia´s Palm Sunday sermon. After church the girls cooked Quesadillas and relaxed. Cheryl and Anali came over and we had a good visit and made plans for the week. We then headed to the grocery store to buy fixings for a big taco dinner. Deborah helped the girls make homemade salsa and guacamole, and we cooked carne asada, beans and fresh tortillas. Cilantro, chiles, and lime topped the best tacos EVER. El Pollo Loco has nothing on us! :) We had the boys (Charlie and Vicente) join us for dinner, along with Cheryl, Anali, Manny, Freddy and Adriel. It was a great time of visiting, playing games and singing (and playing guitar and violin) together. It was a great time of encouraging our friends here and expressing our thanks for their amazing hospitality.

Today begins our work week. It is going to be a great week with a variety of jobs to do.

Thank you for your prayers and your support. God is using this time to grow us, and we are praying that He will use us to be a blessing to the people of the San Quintin Valley.

God bless you at home! We are praying for all of you as well!

Jenny

We´re here!

Hola from Mexico!

God granted us a wonderful trip down to Vicente Guerrero from SanDiego yesterday! Our hearts, and our van, were full! We stopped and did some supply shopping in Ensenada before meeting Deborah at her university. We arrived in Vicente Guerrero at 3:00 yesterday. Mexico hasn´t yet adopted Daylight Savings Time this year so we are an hour behind for the week. That, and a long day of travel, could be why a house full of college age girls went to bed at 9:00 on a Friday night! We are so thankful to Nani and the boys for letting us use the house. We even have a dog that guards the door! We feel very safe and loved.

The sun is shining and we are looking forward to doing some visiting today and then going to a concert that Nani has worked very hard to organize and promote. Please pray that we will be able to be a blessing to the community here!

Dios les bendiga!
Jenny

On Our Way...

Tonight we had our first group meeting with everyone here in San Diego! Flights were uneventful, as was my drive from Washington. I am so thankful to the Lord for His traveling mercies!

Our time here with Don and Jimmie Redmond has been absolutely wonderful. God's grace has definitely poured out of them...and covered us! Thank you Don and Jimmie for all you have done to pour into our lives!

We will (hopefully) be on the road tomorrow by 8 a.m. Please pray that our border crossing and drive will be uneventful.

Please pray also for the concerts this weekend in Ensenada, San Quintin, and Tijuana. Nani has put a lot of effort and prayer into these and we are praying with him that God will bless these events and many people will come to know the Lord. We will be attending the concert in San Quintin on Saturday night.

I will do my best to blog throughout the week, at least a few times. Until then...

Dios le bendiga! (God bless you!)
Jenny

Spring Forward!

Daylight Savings Time. I just love the long, light summer nights. I am not so fond of this weekend that we lose an hour. All is good though. We are safely in Bakersfield after a good day on the road. It has been a fun, relaxing roadtrip and I am so thankful!

Roy did well on his test this morning. Thanks for praying. He is also working on some projects for his mid-terms. He is making better progress than he anticipated so we are happy.

I talked with Cheryl and Anali today. They are so excited for us to be there next weekend! I find myself slipping into "Mexico Time" and feeling very relaxed. This is good. :)

Before Mexico, though, I will spend some time with family in Santa Monica and El Cajon. I am really looking forward to both.

Dios les bendiga!

Jenny

We're On Our Way...

We're on our way to Mexico!

Tonight we are in Cottage Grove, OR. It was a good afternoon/evening of driving. We stopped in Vancouver, WA and met up with Kylie's mom to pick up Kylie's passport. It was so great to meet her!

I read the 4th chapter of John tonight (we have a cool little reading light for the van now!). I just love the story of Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman. "If you only knew..." If WE only knew all that He wants to do for us and in us! May we drink of the Living Water and allow Him to overflow into (and out of)our lives.

Please pray for Roy as he will be taking a test for one of his classes tomorrow morning at the hotel (on-line), before we get on the road. We'll be driving to Bakersfield, CA tomorrow.

Dios les bendiga! (God bless you!)
Jenny