To all of my spiritual family in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
I wanted to greet you all in the way that Paul greeted the Thessalonians because as I was reading his letters to them I was reminded of all of you. All of you who have been so supportive spiritually in prayer, morally in encouragement and financially, all of you who have been there for me these past years here in Mexico, Canada, and the United States, all of you who have had so much patience and long suffering while I stumble along this path we call Christianity, and more specifically, missions.
I have been so blessed by all of you, I wish I could spend the time to tell each one of you individually how much you have been used by God! What a blessed thing is community, one of God’s greatest gifts to us.
I have been remiss in my communications lately, for that i do apologize and ask your forgiveness. Many changes have occurred in the past 6 months, and they have not been easy ones, however thanks be to our God who is faithful and will make all things good to those of us who love Him!
I am blessed to tell you that I have come under the covering of a missions organization called the Erma Fennel Foundation here in Vicente Guerrero, Baja California. Erma Fennel was a dear sister in the Lord who only this past Easter Sunday went to be with Jesus. Erma had a heart and passion from God for the poor people of Mexico, and was relentless in her efforts to bring the gospel to them and to try to relieve some of their physical needs as well. While we mourn the loss of our dear friend, we also are moving on in faith and are excited to see the ministry that God started through her move forward as well. Erma’s daughter and son in law Judy and Paul Jamieson have now taken over the ministry, and it has already grown from 4 full time missionaries to 7! It is exciting to be a part of what is happening there in what feels like the beginning stages for something new and exciting that God is doing here in the Baja.
Personally I have been struggling lately, especially in reference to the children that I have been caring for. After much agonizing and prayer two of them, Gumaro and Veronica, have gone to live with the Manzano’s, who are the directors of La Paloma Families for Children. As I mentioned it was a terribly difficult decision to make, probably the hardest one I have been presented with to date, however I know it was the right one and pray that all of us will benefit and be able to move ahead and closer to God through it.
So where does that leave me? Well, for now it is just Alex and I, which has changed our lives quite a bit. It leaves me with a lot more time to dedicate to caring for Alex’s skin condition, which continues to become more complicated with time, and also more time to dedicate to projects around the house that I have never had time for before.
You may be asking, well what else are you going to be doing? A good question, one I have been asking myself, and one I have been putting before God. At this point I am unsure of what my role with the Erma Fennel Foundation will be, at this point they are a support and covering for me. I will start attending their devotions that they have every morning, which I am looking forward to as it is so encouraging to be part of a group who meets together often.
I have made several trips to Canada over the past nearly 7 years that I have been here, however I have never technically taken a ‘furlough’, mostly because that would have meant leaving the kids for a long period of time. It seems however that God has now given me a time when I am not as busy, especially that Alex is now out of school for the summer, and I would like to take this time to somewhat back off on the ‘works’ aspect of what I am doing here and take a little downtime to do things that I have been wanting to do or finish. Firstly this includes spending extended time in the word. I have already been able to spend more time than I normally would have and am already feeling more refreshed and at peace than I have in a long time. It is easy to get caught up in the ‘doing’ of life, but as they say it is all about Who you know, so I want to take more time to know Him!
There are also a few other things, such as finishing a course on teaching english as a second language, and working on music. I feel like God will be able to use me through both of these things in future ministry here, and I want to be prepared.
So, that is what is going on here at Rancho Windiana! Please feel free to contact me, ask any questions or give any feedback that would be constructive and useful in my walk in the next few months. Thank you all again for everything you have been and done for me in the past, and I look forward to continue to work alongside all of you in the future.
“Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
(1Thess 5:25-28)
Amen!!
In Him,
Karen
(Alex and I at his kindergarten graduation
June 23, 2011)
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