Pray for us . . .

"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel . . . . " Ephesians 6:19

As we ring in the new year this evening, we would like to thank everyone who has been praying for us in this past year as we have planned and prepared to leave for the mission field. We cannot tell you enough how much your support has meant. Friday morning we leave for the field. Please continue to pray for us as we go. These next couple of days are sure to be tough ones as we travel.

Here is a video that we showed in church on Sunday. We compiled these picture of Mexico City from various places on the web. As you watch this video, please remember the people of Mexico City and the middle America and Caribbean region. Please pray for them and us as we begin the next step in this journey.

Pray for us . . . as we go . . . .

It is over . . . .

"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." 1 Corinthians 1:10

It has been an adventuresome week! Sunday, our region participated in a basketball tournament. We won but not without suffering some team injuries! You can see Travis nursing his battle wounds in the picture.

Did someone say Monopoly?! Our group LOVED Monopoly and Travis and Tim especially made it their goal to play minimum twice a weekened. Last Monday night was Monopoly night at the "party quad." Talk about sweet times of fellowship!

Tuesday night, some serious action occurred in a Wii tournament. Ryan and Gracie Lyn battled it out in a boxing match. But in the end, it was our little friend Gracie Lyn who was the champion!

Wednesday was the end. Our training time here at the ILC is now complete. Thursday was our commissioning service. Friends and family came to support us and now we are headed off to visit our loved ones before leaving for the field. I must say, I never expected it; but, Thursday was very bittersweet.

I was certain when we arrived at FPO that by the time our eight weeks were complete, we would be more than ready to leave. However, I found myself wishing that our time could continue in some ways. I will miss the shelter of this place and knowing that we are in the constant fellowship of believers. I will miss the daily dynamic teaching of God’s Word. I will miss watching Brother Elbert as he humbly lifts his hands in praise to the Lord. I will miss the camaraderie of the group as we prayed, laughed, cried, and praised our Lord all together with the unity of the body of Christ. However, I think most of all, I will miss the close relationships I have formed here with other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Here is a picture of our MAC ladies after commissioning looking very lovely in their dress clothes . . . and the gentlemen in their "James Bond" suits!

It was hard to say goodbye. Yet, the future is bright ahead. We know God has a plan for us to serve Him in Mexico City and these past eight weeks were just a step in the journey we are making. We thank all of you who give to the cooperative program to support this place where we receive such wonderful training and were able to build such wonderful relationships.

Please pray this week for all the newly commissioned "sent out ones." Ask that God would put a hedge of protection around us as we leave to serve Him around the Globe.

I believe I might take my two suitcases . . . .

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Phillipians 3: 12 -14

I was thinking today about how when I feel I have it all together, God really brings me to my knees. I would like to share with you something God has shown me in just the past two weeks.

Travis and I had so many dreams after we first were married - Build our dream home, start a family, begin a business from scratch. I personally wanted to climb the success ladder in my job. All were good and worthy goals. However, I think there began a seed of pride in my heart when I thought we had it all together in our lives and we knew where we were going. God has shown me - when we get too focused on our goals and control in our lives and lose sight of what God wants for us, He will often get our attention very quickly. We knew God was calling us to missions but it took so much to drag what we were holding onto from our clenched fists. Looking back to those first few months of our marriage and all the times we planned and dreamed, I never thought our future would be where we are today. I still hear the plans we made. . .

Build our dream home . . .

Presently we are "homeless", so to speak, and will be living with a Costa Rican family for the next eight months. Unless God changes the path He has us on, we will have no home that we will own for at least the next three years.

Begin a family . . .

It just so happens that the job we chose specifically requests couples with no children simply because of the nature of the job and the amount of travel required. We intend, to the best of our ability, to follow the guidelines of our position laid out by the IMB until we are told otherwise. Yet, we still know God knows the future, not us.

Succeed in the business world . . .

God took my job from me and landed me among a people to whom, in my line of work, titles and degrees mean little to nothing. It is likely that no one will have heard of the college my degree is from or who my parents are or how many customer's Travis helped in his heating and air work.

Yet, still it seems that my selfish heart will never change. I have clung on to my hopes and my dreams and what I want. Still I have been . . . forever planning, forever dreaming, forever grasping for that tiniest bit of control that I have. Even when I came to FPO, I told God that He could have my life but that I was going to do everything possible to bring as much of myself with me as I could. It seems kind of silly, but I had even measured out the amount of suitcases we would bring with us on the field. I estimated between 6 and 8 for both Travis and I. (That may seem outrageous to some but I brought one whole suitcase with me to FPO filled with hair appliances and makeup. )

I had my plans again but, truly, God has shown me who is in control. After we had been here for about two or three weeks, we were told that there was a luggage embargo with the airlines and we were only allowed two suitcases per person. We could not even pay an additional fee to bring extra bags. We were also told that there was no way to mail anything to Costa Rica or Mexico City so anything we wanted must be brought with us. I was devastated. How in the world was I going to get everything that I "needed" into two suitcases for the next two years?

I whined and I complained for a few days - I even believe I cried at some point and told Travis that I had given up everything and that the least God allow me was a couple of comforts from home to make my stay in Mexico more enjoyable! But then, God spoke to my heart through something said in one of our sessions about the persecuted church. It was in such a strong way that brought me to my knees. He reminded me of what Jesus said when He told the disciples to leave everything they have and follow Him. He even told a man he could not stay to bury his own father but must come immediately with just the clothes he was wearing. It was if He was saying to me, "You say you have given it all to follow me but have you really? If you are going to give it, Danielle, then I want it all. Ever bit of it. Even your luggage." My selfishness was stripped and at that point I laid it all down. I told the Lord He could have my home, my job, my "mommyhood", and even my luggage. All I want is to follow Him.

Well, suffice it to say, that after my encounter with the Lord, I dug myself out of my pit of pity and decided to praise God for the two suitcases He was allowing me to bring.

It was about a week later that we discovered that there was no embargo and we are allowed to purchase more suitcases if we would like.

I have to keep reminding my prideful heart that . . . I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it yet . . . But I press on . . . .

Please pray that Travis and I will never have pride about the work that God has called us to do but that with humble hearts we will seek his will for our lives and surrender each day to his soverign plan regarless of our own desires and ambitions.

I believe I might take just my two suitcases . . . .

He is our provider . . . .

"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:19

Thank you so much for those of you who have been praying for us this week. Our visa paperwork had been M.I.A. for some time (because we had sent it to the wrong address - not to the fault of the consulate) and after much ado, God allowed us to find it! We will now be able to move to Costa Rica!

Since it was narrowing down to the end of the deadline, two friends and I made the trek into Washington D.C. to visit the Costa Rican consulate and meet about our paperwork in person. Our originally planned one day trip turned into two and after walking around in the freezing rain for hours, we eventually were able to accomplish what we had come for. As you can see on the left in our picture, Janna and I were so glad we finally had our paperwork in hand that we took a picture when we left! Praise the Lord for He is our provider!

It is so hard to believe that this is our last full week at FPO. We have learned so much from our time here and can't wait to use our new knowledge on the field. Thank you so much for all the prayers that have been lifted up on our behalf in these past weeks. Please continue to pray for us as we finish our time here at FPO and also pray for the others that are still waiting on visa issues to be resolved.

We praise the Lord . . .because he is our provider. . . .

Gifts to Lottie Moon

"But the king replied to Araunah, 'No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.'" 2 Samuel 24:24


It is so hard to believe we are in our final week here at FPO. The time has been wonderful! The training has been excellent and we have made lots of new friends in its progress. The reason we are able to be here at this place and receive such wonderful training that is preparing us to serve the Lord around the world is because of Southern Baptist gifts to the cooperate program and to Lottie Moon.

We would like to encourage you as you begin to pray about what God would have you give to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering this year. 100 percent of your gift to Lottie Moon is used to support missionaries and ministry around the world. God is working among the nations and by giving to Lottie Moon you are a part of it!

Please pray for the Lottie Moon offering this week. Pray that our hearts would be burdened for the nations as we give and that lives would be touched by these gifts.

". . .it was a time of happiness and joy. . . .

" . . .it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor." Esther 8:16

Wow. So much has gone on in the past week. We have been busy!

Our region participated in a volleyball tournament last weekend. We lost - yet we still all had fun! We made T - shirts that said "MAC Attack" on the front and on the back we were each an item on the McDonalds menu.

You can see Travis getting his game on in the picture on the left and Abby, Janna, and I showing off our cute shirts below!

Thursday was a wonderful Thanksgiving day. The kitchen staff here at ILC cooked a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving meal and we enjoyed spending the day with our FPO family. That evening, our regional leaders invited us to their home for some more Thanksgiving food and fellowship. It was an awesome time. Thursday night - Tina, Janna, Jessica, Stacy, and I went to a midnight madness sale in Williamsburg. Here are four of us dressed in our jammies and ready to go - they were supposed to be giving away free pajamas for the first 500 people that came in their pajamas. However, we were too late. But it was still fun!

Friday, we went to Washington D.C. with the intent to observe internationals. We road the metro and made our way into a hispanic community within D.C. As soon as we walked into the neighborhood, you had the sense that you were in another country altogether. Many of the people we came in contact with spoke no English at all and many store signs and flyers were all in Spanish. It was a touching time for me.

As we were walking down the street, hailing greetings to passerby's in Spanish, it was if God spoke ever so softly to my heart: These are your people. Tears reachced my eyes as I felt the strong burden he was placing on my heart for the Hispanic peoplegroup. As I spoke with ladies in my broken Spanish the burden just became stronger. It had been so clear to Travis and I that God was calling us to Mexico City and in our hearts we knew we were to minister to those people. However, that day I felt God not just giving me a burden for lost around the world but a LOVE for the Latino culture and most importantly the people who are a part of it.
While we were in the neighborhood, we did some prayer walking and witnessing. To the right is a picture of the neighborhood. Our group met one young lady at a laundry mat and she prayed to receive Christ! What a joyous occassion it was!

Travis and I were also were able to spend some time in Union Station while we were there. Below is a picture of us in front of the Christmas Tree. We had so much fun!

This week has been full of joy and fun. We praise the Lord for all his blessings and we thank each of you who have been praying for us and ask that you continue praying as this week will be a tough one in our training.

". . .it was a time of happiness and joy. . ."

"I thank my God every time I remember you."

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Phillipians 1:3

We cannot tell you how much all the prayers and words of encouragement have meant to us in these past few days. We have been so uplifted with the flood of emails that we have had - some from those we have never even met who are lifting our families up in prayer during the recent times of trial. Travis and I thank God for each and every one of you.

Please continue to pray for heavy burdens still on our hearts.

We thank "(our) God every time (we) remember you."