|
Dearest friends and family,
I still can’t believe I’m even writing this letter, but I’m so
excited to tell you about our family’s upcoming adventures (some very
unexpected) and to ask for your prayers.
Our former Student Ministries Pastor (Shane) recently pulled
Juan David aside to tell him he really wanted him to be part of our church's first ever mission trip to Guatemala this July 8-15th. They will be installing home kits of electricity, a stove, and a water filtration system to enhance the lives of many in the San Raymundo community. They will also lead a daily Backyard Bible club and train other members of the church(Iglesia Vida Real) so they can continue ministering powerfully in the community. We felt grateful for the potential he saw in Juan David and his
willingness to keep investing in our son’s life even after moving to a
different campus within our church. Later Mike and I attended the informational
meeting, and my heart began to stir within me. I wondered if perhaps God wanted
me on this trip, too. Without me even having to say a word, Shane asked me if I’d like
to go. After praying about it for two weeks, I knew that this was something God
wanted the two of us to do together.
We are both bilingual in English and Spanish, Juan David has contagious energy and spirit that can add to any team, and I’ve been trained and have led several backyard Bible clubs in the past. It wasn’t anywhere on our radar for our summer plans, but it just made sense. Juan David will be heading to college at Dallas Baptist University a month later, so I can’t think of a better way to connect and bond with my adoptive son than to go on mission together. Now that we’ve met the rest of the team, we feel very confident that God chose both of us to be part of it.
In addition to our trip to Guatemala, it looks like God might
be fulfilling our dream to reunite Juan David with his beloved little sister. Two
summers ago, we made a request for Colombia to reconnect him with her, but it
took an entire year for us to finally hear back from them with any news.
Shortly before Christmas this last year, they finally reconnected via e-mail
and social media. Less than two months ago, they “saw” each other again via a
Skype call and have been communicating through video calls almost every week
since then. The door quickly opened to find a way to travel to Spain to finally
reunite them after six long years, so we are hoping to travel directly from
Guatemala to Spain while the rest of the team flies home on July 15th. We’ve already arranged
the dates with her adoptive mother and hope to be able to purchase our tickets
soon. This will be our graduation gift to Juan David. We are still in awe of
seeing this dream become reality, watching God continue to take the broken
pieces of our failed adoption and turn them into a beautiful masterpiece.
The same day we plan to fly to Spain, David will be joining a
different mission team with the church to return to Los Angeles, CA to work
with a new partnership that our church has formed in the area. He will be there
from July 15-23rd. We tentatively hope to be in Spain from July
15-26th.
Would
you please consider partnering with us in prayer over all of these trips? Please
be in prayer first and foremost for the unity of both teams and the relationships
we will build with each other and with the people we will be serving in both
Guatemala and Los Angeles. Also pray for our safety, our health,
and for God to use us to open doors for the Guatemalan church and the LA church
to reach and touch more of their communities for Christ. Pray for this
to be a bonding experience for Juan David and me that will continue to connect
us in deeper ways. Pray for David to grow as a leader as one of the
older students on his trip. Pray for Juan David and his sister to be blessed
beyond measure when they see each other again, and to truly see how
intimately God loves them and has worked so intricately in both of their
lives. Also pray for God to make a way for their older brother Julian to
join us in Spain so all three siblings can reunite at the same time.
If you feel God prompting you to participate in either of
these missions financially, you can make a donation at https://www.lakepointe.org/missions/contribute/.
You will need to create an account, then select the correct trip:
·
1300-22640
YTH Guatemala July 2017-Boswell or
·
1355-22640
YTH Los Angeles-FW July 2017-Villasenor.
Verify our names as trip attendees, and then click how you
would like to contribute. All
donations are tax deductible. (If you’d prefer to send a check, please
address it to Lake Pointe Church with our names and the above codes in the memo
line and mail it to Lake Pointe Church, 701 E Interstate 30, Rockwall, TX
75087.) Please do not feel obligated in any way to give, and please do not give
if it is not above and beyond what you are already giving toward your local
church.
More than anything, we
covet your prayers as we travel so extensively and are not together as a family.
We trust that God will provide the funds necessary through His abundant supply
of riches in Christ. Any donations towards the two mission trips will help
offset our own personal expenses to attempt to take Juan David to Spain.
Thank you
in advance for your prayers!
“The Lord
has done great things for us, and we are filled with JOY.” Psalm 126:3
With thankful, joyful, and hopeful hearts,
Rachelle and Juan David
Alspaugh
***We will also be selling a special APP for your phone called
ShoppingBoss which will give you 6% cash back at over 200 of the best national
retailers like Home Depot, Amazon, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, AMC, Old Navy, Petco, Nike,
Chili’s, etc., etc. If you’re interested in purchasing the APP, let me know! We
earn 50% of each app purchase to go towards our trip.
***If you noticed that Mike is not mentioned here, don’t
worry. He’s definitely not complaining about having lots of uninterrupted time
to work on his truck. J He’d
considered joining David in LA, but they have already met their cap for the
trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment