News & Prayer

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our updates, pictures and videos will be posted there.

Thank you!

April 16-17; 23-24 2010	Moving Sale Dates: Please pray for us as we prepare for these sales. They will be much greater than any garage sale we have ever had. We are looking at selling almost all our furniture, our mini-van, and most other furnishings - right down to the last picture frame. Remember that we will most likely be taxed on what we bring over the border. This tax is 10% of what the border guard deems as the original value of the item. So if we were to bring our dining room table, for example, and they were to say the original value was $2000, when in reality it was $1000, we would be paying $200 to take the table over the border. So we do need to weigh everything against this rule and decide if things are cheaper to replace or to bring over the border.

April 2010	It is official! We are moving to Tijuana next month!! Our house has been for sale for about a year. However, we felt God leading us to put the house up for rent, quit our jobs and go - so we did!! Within a few short days we had a lot of interest in the rental of our home, found the right tenants, and had a signed lease agreement a little over a week later. It happened so quickly, we truly believe this was confirmation from the Lord that this is what He wants for us. Unfortunately, this does not mean we are going as full-time missionaries, because only 45% of our financial need has been met. We will be staying in Tijuana at least through the New Year, then working on raising more financial support if needed. However, we are making a complete move to Tijuana. What do we mean by that? We will be taking everything that we own with us that we will be needing and selling the rest. While technically on temporary status, we will still be making the "ranch" our home and are not planning to move back to Wisconsin after the New Year. Also, please pray for our housing situation. It is not certain if we will be getting a house to live in when we get there, or returning to the 3 bedroom apartment we stayed in last summer. Of course we will be grateful for either, but what we sell may depend on where we live, so the sooner this decision is made, the easier it will be for is to decide what to sell in a couple of weeks.

March 2010	Our college team is set . . . well almost! Not including our family, there are two adults and twelve college students, with the possibility of one more student joining us. Please pray for Tom, our team leader. He went on the Tijuana trip in August of 2008, so he has the experience. Tom has a lot of planning to do, including airline tickets, van rental, meetings to plan, deadlines, and more. Please begin to pray for the family for whom we will be building a home for and our relationship with them.

February 2010	God is good! We are taking a team of college students/young adults from our church to build a home in Tijuana this August!! This is so exciting, as we have co-led this ministry at our church with another couple for four years now. Please pray for those making the decision to be on this team and for their financial support raising. The deadline for their decisions will be March 14th. Also, please pray that God will provide more teams to build homes in Tijuana this summer. There are a couple other teams traveling to TJ for other construction ministry work that may require Ron's leading. Please pray for more such teams as well, as we see this as a clear sign that God desires us to be in Tijuana by this coming summer.

September 2009	We returned home this month, and unfortunately our home in Janesville has not yet sold. But we know that God's timing is perfect! He will sell it when He is ready for us to move to Tijuana. Praise God for a home that is ready for us and waiting on the Tijuana Outreach Center property. As of right now, we will not have to build ourselves a home when we get to Tijuana. Please pray that we are able to sell or rent our home and return soon to Tijuana. Also, praise God that Ron was able to get his same position with Fazoli's, at the same location in Janesville. This was not a certainty, as they could've relocated Ron to any other Fazoli's, or even demoted him, due to him taking a 90-day leave of absence.

June-Aug 2009	We thank and praise God for the amazing summer we were able to spend in Tijuana! Ron filled the temporary position of head chef for the Tijuana outreach center. Kristy did KP duty, and other various things. We participated in our very first YUGO (non-construction) outreach!! Our family, along with other YUGO staff, interns, and the worship leaders for the week (Out of Hiding), did a week of children's, women's and sports ministry at a nearby church (and field for sports). It was amazing! We have visited over a dozen teams as they were ministering in the local neighborhoods, but never had the opportunity to plan and run one for ourselves until now. There was a small amount of construction mixed into our summer, but not a whole lot. This was a great opportunity for us to build relationships with other missionaries, US & Canadian teams, as well as local Mexican pastors, church members and neighbors. Of course we were able to work on our Spanish - which has proven to be the fastest and most effective way to practice and learn more of the language. Pastor Martin also took us on a tour of homes for six (out of fifty) of the families that are on the waiting list for a home in Tijuana. We met three of the six families and learned their story. (Details to be found on an upcoming page.) We are looking forward to the day when this waiting list doesn't exist, and the pastors will have the freedom to go out into their communities and find non-believers in need of a new home. That is our goal. Before we left Mexico, we visited the YUGO Outreach Center in Ensenada for the second time. While there, we met with the EOC Director, as well as one of the men in charge of the construction ministry there. Remember, YUGO builds over one hundred homes a year in Ensenada. This was very helpful in talking through details, obtaining files and paperwork, etc., to begin the construction ministry in Tijuana.

April 2009	Prayer Need: Our home has officially been put on the market. Please pray with us that it would sell quickly. Our financial responsibilites would be greatly lessened this summer if we don't have a house to pay for. It will also be much easier to sell the majority of our belongings before we leave for the summer, if we know that we will not have a home to have to come back to and furnish.

February 2009	Yes, another praise!! God will be using us this summer to fill a temporary position in the kitchen at the Tijuana Outreach Center. We will be in Tijuana from approximately June 21st - August 22nd 2009. This will in no way change the fact that our full-time ministry will be in construction. Please pray with us that it would be in God's timing for us to get our full support raised by the end of the summer in order to stay on with YUGO full time.

August 2008	Praise for an awesome short-term trip to Tijuana! This was our first home building experience in Mexico, and what an experience it was! We know that God has used this trip in so many different ways for so many people. We are more excited than ever to begin our construction ministry in Tijuana!!

June 2008	*Prayer Needs & Praises:* Please pray for one of the students on the team and her parents. They are concerned about her safety, and she may not be able to go on the trip. Please pray for their discernment and for God to reveal to them His plan; Praise that Kristy's sister, Kimberly, has joined the Mexico team and will be going down to Tijuana with us in August!! Prayer for Dale (Ron's brother and Kimberly's husband), as he is planning to go as well. He needs to have his job and school situations all in order first; Praise that our team total is about 22, plus our family (Ron, Kristy, Brittany & Will - we're all going). Six of the team members are teenagers; Please pray for the Lithuania team from our church, as they are currently ministering to junior high and high school age kids through english camps. Pray for their safety, health and for their energy levels. There are 10 high-schoolers and 6 adults. Pray that their ministry would be powerful and effective! They are gone for a total of three weeks and will return home July 9th.

May 2008	Praise! Our Mexico team is continuing to grow. It's amazing to see how God works!!

April 2008	*Prayer Needs:* That God will lead us to the right people to partner with us, prayerfully and financially, for us to get to Tijuana; For preparations and fund raising for the team from our church going to Tijuana in August; For our small group meetings, that we may communicate our ministry clearly.

February 2008	We are taking our first team down to Tijuana!! We will be building a home for a Mexican family. We are so excited! Not including us, the team consists of 13 adults and 6 high school youth. The trip will be from August 3rd through the 10th. One of the best parts is that Ron's brother, Joe, his girlfriend, and a few of our closest friends are on the team. How awesome it is going to be to be able to share this experience with them and give them a taste of what we will be doing when we move to Tijuana.

August 2006	We took our second trip to Tijuana. This time, William was able to come with us. On this trip, we again visited various teams and their work in the different neiborhoods and churches. This time we also got to watch, and participate a little in, the building of a house for a Mexican family. It was awesome to see the process. We also had a chance to visit YUGO's Ensenada Outreach Center. We visited the site of a construction project in Ensenada while we were there. They were building a pastor's home. This trip was incredible, and definitely reaffirmed that this is where God wants us to be.

Dec 2004	Ron, Kristy and Brittany took their first trip to Tijuana, Mexico. We spent time in California, getting to know the people at the YUGO office and interviewing with them. Most of our trip was spent in Mexicali, Mexico. There, we visited all the teams that were there, out in the different ejidos (neighborhoods). We also helped the construction team as they were doing some work on Sharon's children's home, including pouring a new floor, some electric work, etc. We really got to know a lot about YUGO and some of the missionaries there. We also fell in love with Mexico and the people there all over again. We have officially become Missionary Candidates with YUGO Ministries!!

August 2004	This was Ron and Kristy's first mission trip to Mexico. On this trip, we helped lead a team of about 20 high school youth to the Chihuahua area. We learned a lot on this trip - especially about what God has in store for our lives. It was on this trip that God showed us that He wants us to go into missions full time, serving in construction ministry in Mexico. When we returned home, we searched the internet and came across YUGO ministries. After much prayer and consideration, we contacted YUGO and set up a trip for this coming December.