Home Again!

Josh and I are glad to be home!  We had an amazing time in Honduras!  I've had a crazy few weeks of seeing God show up and let me be a part of what He is doing in Ethiopia and Honduras.  What a great privilege!

Our theme for these trips have been to be at "the end of ourselves."  I definitely believe that Margie, Josh, and I experienced being at the end of ourselves throughout our time abroad.  We couldn't rely on our own strength to get through all God had in store for us while we were gone.  I almost think it is easy to forget about this mindset and lifestyle as we settle back into our daily lives here at home. We are tempted to do things in our own power and strength at home.  We have been gone for quite some time and upon returning there are many things that need to be cared for.  Therefore it is easy to forget to seek God first and to just take care of business.  But I believe the challenge will be for us to carry out this mind set of living at "the end of ourselves" into our daily lives now that we've returned.  If we can live out this lifestyle away from home, when we are in an environment of missions, I don't believe true life transformation has occurred.  Yet if we can live out this lifestyle and total dependence on the Spirt working in our lives at home, I think God gets the victory.  We can point to that in our lives and say, "God you have changed me."  This is what I'm hoping for, praying for!  I'd like to ask that you join me in praying that God would help each of us to live at the end of ourselves in our daily, so that the Holy Spirit can move and work in our lives beyond our time abroad.

On another note, I just hopped on a computer to look at our blog and realized none of our pictures posted from our trip.  Sorry about that.  We were using our iPad and I guess the compatibility with blogger may be a little off.  I'll try to go back and add the pictures in the near future.

Saturday:Siguatepeque to San Pedro Sula

This morning we got to visit with Chica and her family.  It was a sweet time of catching up and enjoying each others company. We were able to communicate despite the strong language barrier.  They expressed their excitement to see us and especially Margie in December!

We visited Pastor Rigo who was teaching his weekly Saturday music class. He teaches a group of children ranging from 5 to 15 years old. The older students learn the guitar and the younger kids learn to play the reorder. It was sweet to see the kids playing together and learning from Rigo. More importantly, PastorRigo leads them in aBible study. He is hoping to plant a church through his ministry with the children. Hope Coffee has partnered with Rigo to provide 5 pilas to the neighboring families. Pilas store and collect clean water. Previously several fa,iLife's were sharing one pila, when the water supply ran out it was gone. Now there is enough clean water for the families due to the partnership of Hope Coffee and Rigo. Hope Coffee has been able to assist and empower Pastor Rigo to do the ministry God has called him to do.

Before leaving Siguatepeque we met with Mark and Michelle to talk about possibilities and plans for the trip we will lead in December. There will be challenges, but we are looking forward to how the plans will unfold.



Tonight we got to enjoy one more evening with the Tomé family. We shared many laughs and encouragement with one another. It was a sweet time with the family we have come to love!

God's Kingdom is Growing!

Today was another incredible day of relationships and seeing how God is working in this small area of the world.

We started the day with breakfast with the Fittz family. Michelle wasn't feeling well, and since they homeschool their kids, Kaitlin was able to be their "substitute teacher" while their mom rested. Josh accompanied Mark Fittz to the store for some grocery shopping. We had lunch and rested a little in the outdoor hammocks.

This afternoon, Mark took us to see what is going on through some Hope Coffee projects. Lanin, a Honduran who works here at the Evangelical Bible Seminary (he went through the pastor training program as well), took us to visit some families he is ministering to. He has an incredible heart for the Gospel, people being saved, and deep relationships where he can help meet needs and disciple people our of darkness and sin and into the light of Christ. With the families he has been ministering to, he has been planting a church, currently meeting in a home.

First, we met Ana and her family. Ana is a 26 year old single mom, has 4 children, and she and her family work in the city dump, sorting trash and recyclables for a small about of money. Lanin met them while he was in seminary and took the trash to the dump. He has been sharing the Gospel with them and helping to care for them. Through Lanin's personal connection with Ana's family, Hope Coffee has been able to build a new home, which is almost complete! Through these ongoing relationships, Ana has come to Christ, and a few days after her, her sister did as well!

Our next stop was to a widow that has 5 children. Her husband died 2years ago. They live in poor conditions and have no clean drinking water. Lanin has been ministering to them recently. We got to sit with Mark and Lanin and talk about the projects Hope Coffee will do to help them.

Later, we ran some errands with Mark, stopped by Alan's new church building to see the completed roof that Hope Coffee built, then headed back to the seminary (where we are staying) for a great night of fellowship with the Fittz's, the Wells' (a new missionary family on the field only 2 weeks!), and Alan's family for a pizza dinner. It was so encouraging to sit and talk about how God is leading us all in different areas for His glory and the strong bond we can all have in such a short amount of time because of the Holy Spirit living in all of us! We were so blessed tonight.

Tomorrow we have a couple of things to do in Siguatepeque before we head back to San Pedro Sula for one more night. Please pray for all of the people we have mentioned in this post. Pray for Ana's family, the widows family, Lanin, and the missionaries that are down here. Pray for our health as we are both fighting colds and sore throats. 

A Day of Seeing Hope Coffee in Action

Today was a fabulous day! We got to spend the majority of our day with Mark Fittz seeing the work God's doing with Hope Coffee.

We first visited Alan's church in the San Fransisco region. He is the pastor of a church who has been meeting in homes for over a year. In March land was donated for the church and within the last three months, through the Hope Coffee's funds, a church building has started to take form. Mark, who is a architect by trade, has designed a building that is functional and provides a clean water source for the community. By designing a concave roof, rain water is collected and stored in a cistern. A pump will allow members of the community to come to the church to get free clean water for their families. This is one of the many ways Hope Coffee is meeting the needs of the Hondurans in creative ways.

Later in the day we journeyed out to Juan's coffee farm at 6,000 feet above sea level. We had the joy of meeting his family and seeing the amazing crops full of berries which will be ripe for harvest this winter. Mark reminded us that we will be drinking Juan's crop next year! Josh and I were able to pray over the farm, Juan's family, Hope Coffee's ministry, and our future evolvement today as we stood among the crops. It was an honor to be able to pray among the crops and know that God is working mightily through this ministry.

Josh and I continue to be encouraged by the ways Hope Coffee is equipping the Hondurans to do God's work. It is a privellege to see it first hand and then be able to share it with those of you partnering with us! Thank you for your continued support and prayers!

From San Pedro Sula to Siguatepeque

Today was a day of going with the flow, but God went before us! He knew the day we would have and He put us in a place to be filled by His spirit. We certainly lived out being at the end of ourselves today. We could have been frustrated or worried many times today, but by the grace of God's Spirit we didn't go there. God worked in and through us and led us to many great conversations this evening. Living moment by moment in step with God's plans! 

Yesterday when we arrived at our car, our back right tire's air level was low. We took it to a gas station filled it with air and it seemed to be fine. Towards the end of the conference the tire was completely flat. Josh and Steve (a man from Campus Crusade's International School Project -ISP- who came to support the Honduran team during the conference as well) put the spare on the car. We drove back to the hotel and everything was fine. We planned to take the car to the rental company this morning and have the wheel replaced and then head out to Siguatepeque. When Josh checked out the car this morning, the spare was flat. After talking with Joaquin, we learned that the company we the company we rented from is notorious for being dishonest and not maintaining their cars.  Joaquin accompanied Josh to the airport to handle the car situation, negotiate with the company and help Josh in finding another company to rent a car from. This put us back a few hours in our drive out to Siguatepeque and it left me back at the hotel alone tying up loose ends from our time in San Pedro Sula and packing up our things. 

Once we got on the road, Josh and enjoyed some good time together. We joined Lissette and Steve as they met with their contacts in Siguatepeque for their IPS training in September once we arrived. Due to our car issues we were too late to make our appointment with Dr. Martinez from Betel Church, but we were able to push it back and still meet with him. We enjoyed hearing how God is working in his life and in the church! We'd thought we would have dinner with Dr. Martinez and his family, but his wife is experiencing some health issues and so we were unable to do so.

Upon returning to the seminary, we wandered by the Fitz home to see if we could get a recommendation for a restaurant. They welcomed us to join them and another couple, Cory and Kirstin, who just moved here 9 days ago. They are following God's calling in their lives to join the mission field here in Honduras. They will live in Siguatepeque for a year doing language training and then head to the coast to work with a minority outcast group. We really enjoyed talking with them and hearing their stories of God's work in their lives.

Later we were invited over to Mark's home, the founder of Hope Coffee. We so enjoyed great conversation with him about everything God is doing through Hope Coffee. It is amazing the ways God is using this ministry! We got to begin to talk a little about plans for our trip in December. Michelle, Mark's wife, was at a prayer meeting tonight and was therefore unable to join us. We will be sitting down with the tomorrow or the following day to talk over possibilities and pray! We are looking forward to seeing how God brings this trip together! We know He has a plan for it and it will unfold before our eyes! We just feel privileged to be able to work with Hope Coffee here in Honduras as God works mightily!

Prayer needs: be praying for us as we journey with Mark tomorrow to different Hope Coffee ministry sites, coffee farms, and churches. Pray that God would illuminate His plan for our involvement here. Pray for Mark and Michelle as they discern how to partner with us when we come down in December as they are expecting their fourth child and Michelle is due shortly after we are to come. 

Josh McDowell Conferemce

Today we served alongside the Campus Crusade Staff as they hosted Josh McDowell for a Conference on Sex, Love, and Relationships from a biblical worldview. It was so encouraging to see over 500 people in attendance from all over the country to learn what God's Word has to say. A diverse eve population was in attendance: politicians, media, students, parents, ministry leaders, pastors, and lay people.

We helped coordinate volunteers, supported the Campus Crusade staff running the event, and even got to have lunch with Josh. Here is a photo of us with Josh McDowell and Crusade Staff.

All in all, today was amazing. We are so exhausted but thankful for a fruitful day. Tomorrow we drive 2 hours to Siguatepeque, where we will meet up with some more contacts (including Mark Fitz from Hope Coffee)!

Thanks for all your prayers,

Josh and Kaitlin

Conference Preparations

Today was a full day of preparing for Tuesday's conference with Josh McDowell. Here was our day:
- Made signs and posters for Josh McDowell's arrival at the airport
- Picked up the printed material for the conference and placed another order for materials.
- Bought 400 individual cans of Pringles! Haha. We went to a Costco type place to get snacks for conference attendees.
- Greeted Josh McDowell with the entire conference team at the airport.
- Ate lunch with the conference team at Wendy's (haha).
- Went to the university where the conference is held to train volunteers for their conference tasks.
- Set up the conference auditorium and assembles packets for attendees.
- Came back to hotel with team and enjoyed some pizza hut (had all American meals today... Made us laugh).

Tomorrow we will wake up at 5am to get started with conference. It starts at 8am and goes till 6pm. We are an hour ahead of California time, so please be praying during the conference. We are praying for lives to be impacted as youth and leaders attend Josh McDowell conference about sex, relationships, and bible. Please pray also for Kaitlin's stomach (still some ongoing pain since Ethiopia).

Thanks so much! Goodnight!

Bienvenidos a la San Pedro Sula!

We arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, this morning around 9:45am. We were greeted by our dear friend Lissette (a Campus Crusade staff member who lives in Tegucigalpa). She brought along with her Ariana and Anna (her nieces, who's parents are also on staff with Campus Crusade in San Pedro Sula), along with some of their friends to welcome us.

We met this incredible family when we were down here in February. They are so loving and joy-filled. Their passion for Christ is evident, and they have a deep desire for others to know Him too!

We rested and recovered a bit this afternoon at the hotel (Kaitlin was especially exhausted, having just come from Ethiopia!), then had lunch and exchanged some us dollars for limpera. This evening, we met with the leadersp team for Tuesday's Josh McDowell conference to discuss the volunteers we will be coordinating. The meeting was in Spanish, but God was good to give us a decent understanding and a nephew of Lissette to help translate when we didn't.

Later in the night, we went out to dinner with the Tome' (Juaquin and Sandra, the parents of Adriana and Anna), Lissette, and many of their extended family who is in town to help serve at the conference. We celebrated Ana's birthday together and had a great time catching up and hearing about all God is doing in Hinduras through Campus Crusade for Christ.

Tomorrow we hit the ground running, preparing for the conference, setting up, and welcoming Josh McDowell at the airport. Please pray for a good night sleep and a fruitful day tomorrow. The CCC staff down here seems overwhelmed with the details of this conference. Please pray that we would help in many way, and encourage them!

--Josh Saenz 

Almost to Honduras!

It has been a long 42 hours! Two more hours to go until Josh and I reach Honduras!

Margie and I boarded our plan in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 42 hours ago! We were able to get some rest on both legs of our journey back to LA and even had some fun running around the airport in London!

It was great to hop off the plane at LAX and see my hubby! Brad would arrive 6 hours after we did and Margie was looking forward to seeing her man too! Margie passed the baton (Aka me) to Josh and we started our adventure!

We were able to be hosted by Audra's dad-doing laundry, re-packing my bags for the weather changes, see my family for dinner and even take a little nap before we returned to the ever so amiliar airport!

I'm pretty tried and Josh is too! Just keep praying for us as we start to serve in Honduras today, catch up with our dear CCC staff, and adjust to another time zone! Pray for Margie as she adjusts to being back and starts to share about our incredible trip! I know how hard it will be for her to translate all that God has done! May God give her grace as she does!

Hope to update you all on the past few days as we missed you without Internet!

Leaving Ethiopia...please pray

Well, we have had no internet for the past two days...And now the time comes for us to leave Ethiopia. :(

We are waiting to board our flight home...

Please pray for us as we fly, that we would get some rest (especially Kaitlin as she adjusts to the time zones and heads off to Honduras with Josh tomorrow night).

Thank you!

Let the Interviews Begin...

Today we had the opportunity to not only celebrate Margie's birthday, but we were able to start interviewing women.  We had the privilege of meeting four nationals who shared their stories of how the Magdalena Film has made an impact in their life, the lives of those they know, and what God has been doing through the film and the follow up bible study.

Margie and I had a great time just talking to the women and hearing their stories.  We were able to make new friends today with each of these women and the two translators who worked with us: Detartu and Hilena.

I'm too exhausted to write more, but know that we had a better day thank yesterday!

Margie's Ethiopian Birthday

Today we celebrated Margie's birthday!  It was a fun day to celebrate her and the woman God has created her to be.  She was showered with love, birthday songs, and gifts of love.  

What a sweet day!

A Heavy Day

This is Josh Saenz writing.  The internet in Ethiopia is not consistent so Kaitlin and Margie were not able to upload a post today.  I spoke with them today and they asked me to communicate on the blog that what they experienced at the conference was so heavy and emotional.  There is so much injustice that goes on in these women's lives, and as they heard the stories, they were overwhelmed.  Please pray that they get good rest and comfort from the Lord, and that God would allow them to be present with women in their suffering.  They send their love to you all!

Although they had a rough day there were many sweet moments! Here's a picture margie captured!

--Josh

Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

Ethiopia is the home coffee! Coffee is very important to the Ethiopians, and they often share coffee over what they call a "coffee ceremony". 

First they roast the beans over a coal fire. Then they grind the beans by hand and pour them into the pot to brew over the coals. Coffee is then served!

Day One of the Conference!

Margie, Silvia, and Kaitlin at "Rise and Shine"

Words cannot express the day we had!  There is no way to translate what we experienced today, but with that said we will try to share pieces of our day.

This morning we were able to enjoy breakfast with the women from other countries in Africa who journeyed to Ethiopia for the conference.  These women are all on staff with CCC in their countries.  We met this morning and have already started to form sweet friendships!

As we arrived at the conference we were overwhelmed by how many women were there. As we entered the church, we were welcomed by the sounds of women worshiping God with all of themselves.

Just a few of the thousands of women at the conference!

You could feel the presence of God.  He was there and it was beautiful to see everyone worshiping Him.

A worship team of sorts lead us in worship.  They were comprised of a choir, dancers, and drummers.  It was a sight to see! Everyone worshiped with their whole body dancing and singing.

We heard from several speakers who encouraged the women to rise.  Servant leadership was emphasized and the women were exhorted to follow Christ's example as image bearers of God.  The importance of character was proclaimed and the challenge of making heart choices was uncovered.

Judy Douglass reminded that every spiritual gift is ours in Christ as we have been chosen by God and adopted into his family.  Finally, Elizabeth Shenkel spoke about the meaning of taking up our cross, which is to suffer for others to know Christ and to give thanksgiving in every moment.  She shared her powerful testimony of suffering and the women were captivated and moved.  God spoke powerfully through her!

Prayer Needs

Please lift up the following prayer requests to the Lord:

• Being fully rested and available to be used by God in each moment
• For understanding the women as they speak, as they have thick accents
• That God would lead us to the women that He would have us interview
• For connection and unity with the CCC Film Crew (Dan and Torry) as they arrive tomorrow and we start filming right away
• For Kaitlin's stomach as she is feeling a bit nauseous
• That we would be an encouragement to the Rise and Shine Team 
• The continued pouring out of the Holy Spirit in our lives

Sunday in Ethiopia

Another amazing day given to us by God!  We had another packed day here in Ethiopia! We started off attending an international evangelical church.  We enjoyed a great time of worship (half way through Margie leans over to me and says, "Hey we are worshiping God in Ethiopia!!").  After church we went to lunch with Tracie, the girls, and CCC staff.  The menu had some great Ethiopian dishes, but at the last minute we chickened out and decided to go with a club sandwich. we could have had a burger with egg on it...still trying to figure that one out!

The best part of the day was when we went with Tracie to the conference site.  We arrived at a church whose sanctuary holds 7,000 people!  We were able to help "decorate" and had so much fun blowing up 1,000's of balloons, putting them in bunches of 6, and streaming them on ribbon from one end of the church to the other.  As we started to huff and puff our way through the balloon blowing, one of our new CCC girlfriends suggested that we ask the women, who had come to meet their host family at the church, to help  blow up the many balloons.  It became a game of sort for the women and they all got into the FUN!  It was a wonderful opportunity to give them a moment of laughter and play while they were waiting for information on their week stay here in Addis Ababa.

Damtew and Tracie treated all the men and women who had come from other countries to join their team for the conference to a delicious orientation dinner at a local hotel.  Each person was given the opportunity to tell their name and share how they hoped to connect in during the week.  The keynote speakers for the week will be Elizaberth Schenkel and Judy Douglass.  Elizabeth and her husband Eric are the new Executive Directors for The Jesus Film Project and Judy is the wife of the President of CRU.

It is now 1:00am and we have to be up at 6:00am!  We will continue to keep you updated and hopeful have time soon to add in more details for you!

A Day of Maggie Baggies

Today we were able to join forces with 5 other Americans who are here with Jesus Film to help the Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) national staff in their final preparations for the conference.  We arrived at CCC's Great Commission office and were warmly welcomed by Damtew, Tracie, and their two daughters-Hannah and Abby. We were given a tour of the grounds and had a meeting with Damtew.  He shared the excitement that he and his staff have as they head into the Rise and Shine National Women's Conference.  As opposition arises and the business of preparations persist, they are energized by prayer and the Spirit. They are encouraged to see prayers answered in abundance. He shared their strategic plan to have conference attenders be supported by their local churches to come to the conference, so that when they return from the week they can equip and share what they learned with their church body. He shared their love for the local church and their desire to empower the local churches.  We spent some time in prayer and then headed off to work!

As we toured the grounds, we saw that every room had been taken over by conference resource materials.  All of the materials: books and DVDs are produced in house.  Even as we left this afternoon resources were still in the process of being produced. Each book is printed and bound.  Each DVD is burned and then individually labeled by hand.  Imagine 5 books and 2 DVDs per person...the magnitude is huge!  Each woman attending the conference will recieve a "Maggie Baggie" which will contain the Magdalena materials, discipleship materials, and a copy of the Magdalena film and a copy of the children's version of the Jesus Film.

After our tour we were lead to our work room.  Filled with "Maggie Baggie" materials we were split up and put to work.  We each worked a station on the assembly line filling part of the bags.  We stuffed thousands of bags today.  Although there are still bags to be assembled, we helped make a big dent in the process today.

We had a blast getting to know the other Americans as we worked side by side!

Tracie, Kaitlin, Sarah, Marie, Selvia, and Margie

We're Here!

We journeyed for over 24 hours, went through immigration, met up with our contacts, checked into our hotel and got our internet set up! We are exhausted, but wanted to give you a quick update!

We made it through all of our flights!  We were each able to get a little sleep.

 We were so excited to get off of our last flight and be welcomed into Ethiopia!

Now we are off to bed!  It is a little after midnight and we are ready to get some rest. In the morning we will meet up with our contacts and be put to work!  There is a lot to do before the conference and we are glad to be here early enough to be able to hep!

3 Planes and 24 Hours

Snapped a couple pics in between flights... We are so excited to get to Ethiopia! 

This day of 24 hours of travel is off to an exciting start! Thanks so much for the prayers!

Love, 

Margie and Kaitlin

Sending Them Off!

I saw Kaitlin and Margie off to the airport this morning.  They now embark on over 24 hours of traveling and should arrive in Addis Ababa around noon Friday!  Please pray for travel mercy and God's divine appointments with people to share Christ's love! 

--Josh Saenz

Donations!

Just wanted to say thank you to all of the Girlfriends of Foothills Church who donated items for Margie and I to take with us to Ethiopia.  We will be able to bless Damtew and Tracie's family with some items that they can either not get in Ethiopia or are just too expensive for them to be able to purchase them in country!

I just finished weighing and rearranging my bags to comply with the airline weight limits for checked bags!  After some shifting and rearranging, all of the donations are set to travel.  My checked bag is weighing in at a 48.7 pounds!

Changes

Change is coming.  Margie and I are preparing to leave Thursday and Josh is getting ready to leave in 2 weeks.  As we continue to prepare to go, we recognize that God will be changing each of us as He takes us on this great adventure.  

We would love your prayers as we undergo change over these next few days and weeks.

We will experience changes in

...culture

...foods

...our hearts

...practicing our faith

...trusting the Lord

and of course we will experience change in

...time zones

We appreciate your prayers as we anticipate God changing each of us.  We'd love for your continued prayer that each of us would live at the end of ourselves and let the Holy Spirit lead us.  

We've Got the Fever!

We've got the fever...yellow fever that is!  We've been vaccinated!

One of the necessary parts of going requires getting all of the shots to travel abroad!  Margie and I got our yellow fever shots (and Margie updated the rest of her shots) and now we are ready to go!

Just need to pack, keep praying, and lean fully on the Lord's provision!

Ethiopia is only a week away!!