We had just shared that we wanted to use our house to reach out to others in any way the Lord led.
One concern we had with the house was a lack of security; it needed burglar bars in some windows. We asked that landlord to take care of the contracting, and we would pay the bill if they took it off the rent. We gave a deadline, and they came the night before the deadline.
The bars were welded and painted, and fit perfectly. They didn't want to install them as they had come at 7 pm, but we assured them we needed them now as we were leaving the next day for a few days. So they agreed to install them securely, drilling and welding. As they went back and forth, I heard one fellow mention to Karlene that supper smelled good. I was throwing some leftovers together into a casserole type dish.
I asked Josiah and Keyana if we should invite them to stay for supper. Josiah very quickly responded with enthusiasm that we should. I had been only half serious, but when he continued to urge that we invite them, I went up and asked them if they would "cenar con nosotros", that is supper with us. They were surprised, but the elder of the 2 men agreed.
When we were seated, I prayed in Spanish as best as I could, then we started to eat. The gentleman, I will call him John, asked if we were Christians. I said yes, and he said they could tell by how we prayed. We started to visit, and found out that his son Ross and he were saved as well. They had not been attending church lately because of a difficult situation that he didn't want to talk about. They also found it difficult as their extended family didn't appreciate their faith.
We talked a fair bit during the meal, and found out that they know some of our fellow missionaries! He opened up a little bit more during the meal, and when the son went back upstairs to continue work, he shared about losing a son. It was amazing how quickly they warmed up to us. In the end, I invited them to come to El Faro the following Sunday for a special service to celebrate Christmas. We pray that they will come, and be blessed to fellowship with other believers once again. Pray with us, and we will let you know more soon!
Friday, December 20, 2013
House hunting
We are blessed and content to be settled in La Paz. We praise God who has helped us to get this far, and trust He is with us and continues to guide in every way.
House hunting wasn't something that I looked forward to. We wanted to find a house that would be suitable for our family for a long time, that we could use in home schooling, ministry, bible studies and outreach. The list of what we wanted in a house was fairly extensive with these things in mind, and may not have been difficult to find in a Canadian city, but we soon found that it was more difficult in La Paz.
The first night we arrived, we decided to go for a drive to get a feel for some neighbourhoods suggested to us by other TEAM missionaries. We ended up looking at a house that fit some of what we were looking for, but was being renovated. It had a lot of work to be done, and we were warned that taking over the renovation was not a good idea for us. We also saw another home that was beautiful and would have fit well, but definitely didn't fit the budget.
We continued to pray and search for the next 10 days, calling many numbers, practicing spanish on the phone, which is more difficult than face to face communication, and ended up seeing over 15 houses. We enjoyed Casa Buena, the guest house we were staying at, but were starting to feel like we were ready to get into a house. We continued to contact real estate agents, as well as drive around. We saw one house that didn't look great, but phoned anyways. The lady came, it was a fixer upper, and only had 3 bedrooms without any space for an office or homeschool. But the lady knew of another house she thought we might consider.
In an hour we were looking at another. It was bigger, had a yard (of cement) that the kids could play in, had a secure fence, but the price was a bit high. We decided to pray about it and look a bit more. We decided to make an offer on the house. It came with furniture, so we asked to drop the price by 20% if we didn't use any furniture, but kept the stove and fridge. They came back and said no, 15% but without anything. At least that is what I thought was said. When we went to look it over and talk some more, it was 15% less and with all the furniture that we had a use for.
We took it! And feel God led us to a house that could be home for awhile. We pray that we will be able to use it for many wonderful times of sharing the love of Christ with others.
A bonus is that we are close to a high school that has a basketball court with shade within a block. It may be a great place to reach out to youth through sports ministry. We also like the location for there are many houses around us, as well as access to a quick route to get to El Faro, the church we are working with in La Paz. God answered our prayers in a big way with this house, praise His name!
Psalm 43:3-5 Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together. I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
House hunting wasn't something that I looked forward to. We wanted to find a house that would be suitable for our family for a long time, that we could use in home schooling, ministry, bible studies and outreach. The list of what we wanted in a house was fairly extensive with these things in mind, and may not have been difficult to find in a Canadian city, but we soon found that it was more difficult in La Paz.
The first night we arrived, we decided to go for a drive to get a feel for some neighbourhoods suggested to us by other TEAM missionaries. We ended up looking at a house that fit some of what we were looking for, but was being renovated. It had a lot of work to be done, and we were warned that taking over the renovation was not a good idea for us. We also saw another home that was beautiful and would have fit well, but definitely didn't fit the budget.
We continued to pray and search for the next 10 days, calling many numbers, practicing spanish on the phone, which is more difficult than face to face communication, and ended up seeing over 15 houses. We enjoyed Casa Buena, the guest house we were staying at, but were starting to feel like we were ready to get into a house. We continued to contact real estate agents, as well as drive around. We saw one house that didn't look great, but phoned anyways. The lady came, it was a fixer upper, and only had 3 bedrooms without any space for an office or homeschool. But the lady knew of another house she thought we might consider.
In an hour we were looking at another. It was bigger, had a yard (of cement) that the kids could play in, had a secure fence, but the price was a bit high. We decided to pray about it and look a bit more. We decided to make an offer on the house. It came with furniture, so we asked to drop the price by 20% if we didn't use any furniture, but kept the stove and fridge. They came back and said no, 15% but without anything. At least that is what I thought was said. When we went to look it over and talk some more, it was 15% less and with all the furniture that we had a use for.
We took it! And feel God led us to a house that could be home for awhile. We pray that we will be able to use it for many wonderful times of sharing the love of Christ with others.
A bonus is that we are close to a high school that has a basketball court with shade within a block. It may be a great place to reach out to youth through sports ministry. We also like the location for there are many houses around us, as well as access to a quick route to get to El Faro, the church we are working with in La Paz. God answered our prayers in a big way with this house, praise His name!
Psalm 43:3-5 Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together. I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
The Thiessen Talk'O November Newsletter 2013
For those of you who have been following our story, you know that our year has been a bit of a roller coaster in regards to our visas. It’s been a time of waiting & testing, growing our patience & persevering through what sometimes seemed like insurmountable odds. But we have come out on the end, excited to be moving onto the next step in the journey, when yet another curve ball has come our way. Yes, there is, once again, a hiccup in our plans. I guess we still have more to learn in the areas of trust, patience & perseverance. However, I’m getting ahead of myself so first let’s fill you in on the past couple of months since our last newsletter in July…
At the time of our last update we were still in Canada waiting to get our papers from the Mexican consulate in Calgary so that we could return to Mexico, apply for our temporary resident visas & finish language school. What we were hoping would only take 4 weeks took 3 months because of various problems & even though it delayed language school, it was good to be able to reconnect with family & friends during the summer.
On September 5th, we walked out of the Mexican consulate with the papers we needed & on September 7th we flew back to Mexico. Thankfully, transitioning wasn’t as difficult the second time around. On September 14th, we signed & submitted our paperwork to the immigration office in Guadalajara & began the wait for our temporary visas. This process was delayed as Anthony had to sign 3 different times because they didn’t think his signature matched the one on his passport. Finally on November 5th we were called to the office to give our fingerprints & final signatures. They told us that it would take 15 working days to get our visas. However, 9 days later we were called back & even though government office was filled, we were in and out in 45 minutes & left with our visas in hand!We had to celebrate, so we stayed in the downtown area & had lunch with Leroy & Faith Siemens, who got some of their visas the same day!
With our visas in hand, we have been working towards moving to La Paz. A moving company has been found that can move us economically. We have planned to move on November 27th if all falls into place. It is an 8 hour drive & a longer ferry ride across the Sea of Cortez. We are looking forward to the transition. Once we hit the ground in La Paz, we will be hunting for a house to move into & hope that we can find one quickly. After we are settled in, we will begin our internship with the El Faro church plant.
We are also blessed to be able to say, that we are finished formal Spanish school! We still have much to learn, and see that every day. However, it is still a great feeling to graduate with certificates in hand! We continue to work on improving & have been blessed by a generous young man who visits us almost every morning for 90 minutes of Spanish speaking practice. He also helps us to understand more of the culture. Yesterday we discussed some of the holidays that are so unusual to us.
They have a day that is called El Día de los Muertos, The Day of the Dead. The belief is/was that the souls of the dead could come back to earth that one day every year. To prepare, small altars or shrines are set up to place food & drinks to welcome relative souls back for the night. Some even spend the night at the cemetery with their families.
It is very helpful for us to learn more of the Mexican traditions & beliefs as we get to know people more closely. We trust that this will help us to be sensitive as we reach out to those around us.
And about the hiccup….Our hope was to move to La Paz immediately after we finished language school. However, in October I got a call from the doctor clinic in our home town. I had an ultra-sound in August when we were back in Canada but hadn’t given it much thought until the phone call came. To make a long story short, I am being advised to have my gallbladder removed & we have chosen to have this done in Guadalajara before we move to La Paz. God has been amazing in directing us to a doctor who specializes in gastro problems/surgery & we feel confident that this is the way God wants us to go, even though it interrupts the plans we had made (His timing is always best). My surgery is scheduled for Nov. 21st. We will let you know how it goes. Blessings, The Thiessens :)
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