Word by Heart in Mexico

Dear family and friends,

At the end of this month Jackson will be going on an amazing trip to present the scriptures at the UofN workshop in Tijuana Mexico. Last January quarter Jackson followed a course called “Word by Heart” where he memorized the entire Gospel of Mark. He has done several presentations of this gospel around here in Kona and he has now been asked to present and help train others at the UofN workshop in Mexico. When we first heard about this opportunity we had two concerns: visa and finances. It turns out however that with Jackson’s student visa he is allowed to go to Mexico and return provided it is no longer than 30 days. So when this concern had been dealt with we prayed and asked the Lord to provide if he wanted Jackson to go. A friend of ours introduced Jackson to a YWAM base leader who connected with Jackson right away. He said that if finances were a reason for him not to come to Mexico, he would help out in that area. Last week we received an e-mail confirmation that this man booked and paid for Jackson’s entire flight! So August 26th he is really going for 2 weeks!
It is also going to be the first time that Jackson will be away from me since we had children. When I gave birth to Hope I remember not wanting Jackson to travel at all (ever!), because it seemed so hard to be alone with a child all by myself. But something changed after the birth of REJoyce. I sense the Lord’s release and His confidence that although it is not an easy thing, He is going to give me the wisdom, grace and strength I will need to be at home with the girls. And on top of that I am so excited to see what the Lord will do through my husband as he travels.

We have more celebration news and that is that on July 28th REJoyce Zoe was dedicated in our church here. It was such a special occasion. We had invited Loren & Darlene Cunningham (Founders of YWAM and the people I assist) and David & Christine Hamilton (our spiritual parents here in Kona and also leaders on the campus) and our friend Yvette from Cameroon to stand with us in this dedication and pray a blessing over REJoyce. It was such a beautiful time of prayer and dedicating our daughter to the Lord. REJoyce continues to grow healthy and strong and she is already having so much fun with her big sister Hope. Hope loves her little sister, and she wants to help calm her down when she is crying and so on. The other day she came home with Jackson and was downstairs (2 floors down) calling with a loud voice to me as I was in the house: “Mama open the door, REJoyce melk drinken” (a combination of Dutch and English telling me that REJoyce wanted to nurse). She kept on repeating this until she had climbed up all the stairs and saw me standing in the doorway. She is so sweet!

Next week I will have a conversation with Darlene about returning back to work after my maternity leave. With Jackson having completed his “in class” courses (only working on his thesis/outreach) we will be able to juggle things around between the two of us so we can both take care of our family and get our things done. It is going to be a new season to which we are looking forward!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Blessings,

Jackson, Anneke, Hope and REJoyce

Prayer subjects:
– Praise the Lord for His provision for the plane ticket to Mexico
– Pray for strength, grace and wisdom for Anneke as she stays home with the girls during this two week trip
– Pray for protection for Jackson as he travels to Mexico and open doors during his time there
– Continue to pray for our personal finances in which we are short