New Blog!

Hey everyone!

We're so sorry we've been pathetically lax in posting to our blog, but it's because we've been busy starting up another blog. From now on we're not going to be posting as much to this blog since most of our energies are going to the new one. But it doesn't mean we've forgotten about all of you! Please check it out at http://myhopemalawi.wordpress.com

We won't be sending out emails anymore letting you know when we've posted, but that's because we are posting once or twice a week, instead of once in a blue moon. So the emails would start to annoy you! We will still send out an update via email every now and then, just not about the blog. But please check it out. Our lives and ministry here in Malawi have been going great, and we look forward to sharing our experiences with you. We love you all!

Joe and Melissa

We have arrived

We have arrived

Thank you for everyone who joined in and prayed us through our journey to Malawi. It has been God directed the entire way.

Our journey began Tuesday morning about 2am with a last minute trip to the storage unit to find Melissa’s contact refills which were placed in a bag in the day before. We found the 24 hour access available sign to be false and we were unable to get in. But this truly wasn’t an indicator of how the rest of the trip went.

After returning, Joe’s parents kindly drove us to the Charlotte International Airport at 3:40am and then waited until we were checked in to pray for us.

Check in went very well….WE DIDN’T HAVE TO PAY FOR ANY OVERWEIGHT BAGS!! This is huge for us. When we move, we do move, meaning we take books, medicine and a few other comforts. The counter clerks for United were very helpful and hospitable. We have learned that smiles will get you a long way.

Our first flight left charlotte at 6:00 am and landed an hour later in Washington D.C. In D.C. we were changing carriers to Ethiopian Airlines, and fortunately the Charlotte clerks were able to check our bags all the way to Malawi, but were unable to print boarding passes for us. Once we landed, the hunt was on to find out if we had to exit the terminal to get boarding passes, or if the gate clerk could provide them. The gate counter was able to provide them and we learned we were only able to take on board 1 carry-on of 15 lbs. or less. HA! This is a complete joke, anyone who has travelled knows that an empty bag alone can weight that much. We were reluctant to release our rolling carry-ons, but in the end we took out what was valuable, reorganized, paid them to place the bags in the cargo hold. They then wanted to weigh our laptop bags. Both Joe and Melissa’s bags were over 25lbs! We were blessed with clerks who chose not to charge us for them being over the 15 lbs. limit.

While we waited, we met a few other American couples headed to other African countries. We boarded our Ethiopian Airways 767 around 10 am and were off.
We watched movies, read, and napped. Around midnight we landed for an hour in Rome to refuel and get a fresh crew. On our leg from Rome to Ethiopia we slept most of the time.

We arrived in Ethiopia mid morning. We knew we needed to purchase an entry visa but other than that we didn’t know much. The visa purchase was fairly easy, except the officers where unaware that the airlines had indefinitely cancelled the afternoon flight to Malawi and kept asking why we were spending one night in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. One of our main goals was to wait in customs long enough to make sure that the luggage we checked all the way to Malawi didn’t come out and disappear. It didn’t. It went straight onto Malawi like it should have.


We exited baggage claim, and as we were searching for our hotel shuttle transport, we locked eyes with a man who looked very familiar. It was our friend, Sunny, who we knew/met while working in Uruguay in 2007. He works for the US consulate and is now stationed in Ethiopia. He happened to be waiting to pick up someone else. How good is our God?!?
Sunny was so gracious to take us to dinner Wednesday night and point out a few of the sights along the way. We had a great time, and it was great to leave the hotel. Ethiopia was colder than we expected it to be…in the 50’s. We didn’t have enough clothing with us in our carry-on, but we were able to layer. Sunny also brought us some awesome snacks for the plane ride the next day. Never underestimate our God. Me, Joe, and Sunny

Thursday morning we were up early again and back at the airport at 7:30 am, this time boarding our flight to Lilongwe. This flight was about 6 hours total, with one stop. It stopped in Lubumbashi, which is in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A few passengers got off the plane and a few more got on. This was the first place I have ever landed that doesn’t have a security fence around the airport. Also it has these small paths leading in and out of the bush onto the runway. As we were landing, we saw people coming out to see us land. The man sitting next to us said they are probably waiting for some relief planes because the UN and other organizations have been involved there for many years. He also said that even though it is called a democracy, there isn’t much about it that is democratic.

It was a quick one-hour hop from Lubumbashi to Malawi, and thankfully entry into the country was very simple. The test was then to see if all of our bags made it. The entire baggage claim area consisted of one, half moon shaped carousel about 20 feet long. We’ve never seen anything like it servicing planes so large. Needless to say it was total chaos. If you finally got near to get your bags, the problem was then getting out. However we were surprised and amazed when we saw that all of our bags made it without problem and in a timely manor.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for our safe journey, we have arrived and have enjoyed our first week.

Please pray for next week as we begin a tour around the country shooting interviews for the programs. The district coordinators will also be starting to train the pastors in their region.

We are so excited to be here and we will let you know more about the culture, the people and the country soon.

Joe and Melissa

Update!

Hey friends and family! Sorry it’s been so long since our last update. Our lives have been fairly hectic lately. Time to catch you up! Since our last post, we’ve been working hard to collect all of the results from what God did in Puerto Rico. Thankfully we’ve been able to count 13,790 people who told us they made decisions to follow Christ with their lives! Needless to say this fills us with much joy to know that God let us participate in something so huge. During the month of June we finished counting the results and worked to wrapped up the final details of the national office. On the 18th we held a celebration meeting where we met with all the people who made the project possible, and celebrated together the results. After some emotional goodbyes, we left Puerto Rico on June 30th to head back to the states for a couple weeks.

Currently we’re in NC, visiting family, and preparing for our next assignment. We’ll be heading to Malawi, a small country in south east Africa on July 20th to work on the My Hope project there. A team has been on the ground since the beginning of the year, and we’ll come in to help them in the final push. We’re praying that thousands of churches will participate when a program is transmitted and DVD’s are distributed this November.

This will obviously be a huge change for us. We’ve spent the last 4 years working in Latin America, but we’re very excited for this opportunity. We’ve been so blessed to be able to work for this wonderful ministry, do God’s work, and live in all these amazing places. When we heard that Africa was on the horizon, we just kept thinking; who are we to say anything but yes? Africa will have its challenges. But when a person accepts Christ as their savior and chooses to follow Him, it’s as if they sign on the dotted line. He then fills in the contract.

Please join us in prayer for Malawi. It’s one of the most densely populated and poorest countries in Africa. Pray that Pastors will go to training meetings and get excited for their church to share God’s love.

We love you all, and appreciate your prayers.

Joe and Melissa

Puerto Rico Celebrates

The environment in the national office of My Hope Puerto Rico is one of celebration. One year ago this small team of Christians began what has become the largest evangelistic outreach in the history of the island. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and 1804 local churches partnered together to train Christians to use a three night TV broadcast in April as a tool for personal evangelism. 19,068 Christians were trained, and reports and testimonies from those three days in April arrive to the office each day. Today’s totals show that with just 57% of the participating churches reporting so far, 10,093 people have reported making decisions for Christ.

Along the way the office has heard hundreds of inspiring stories. Below are just three.

20 year old Melito helps lead a weekly bible study called Solomon’s Porch in San Juan’s university area every Thursday night. Thursday, April 22nd was the first night of the My Hope Broadcast, so he and his friends invited anyone from the building to watch the program with them. Through the testimonies, music videos and Billy Graham’s message, four semi-professional wrestlers accepted Jesus Christ for the first time. After making that life changing decision, one of the wrestlers decided he wanted his fans and spectators to hear about Jesus too. He invited Melito and the other young adult leaders to his wrestling match to share Jesus during a break in the wrestling. Melito shared Jesus with the fans, and 10 more people made the life changing decision to except Jesus as their Savior.

Pastor Santana is the pastor of the Iglesia Casa de Adoracion Shalom (House of Adoration Shalom), a church of about 100 members in Humacao. Santana called the office to report the results of his church’s 10 Matthew homes this week. The first night of the broadcast there were 34 guests in the various homes that were participating. 21 people made first time decisions to follow Christ and four others rededicated their lives to him. The second night was equally amazing. Another 21 people made first time decisions to follow Christ. The final night there were 30 guests in the Matthew homes. After hearing the testimony of Yasmin Mejias, a well known Puerto Rican comedian, and a powerful message by Billy Graham, 25 people made decisions to follow Christ and three others rededicated their lives to Him. This small church saw 74 people make decisions to follow Christ, in just three days!

Pastor Fernando Ramos is the pastor of the Iglesia Cristiana Casa de Amor (Christian Church House of Love) in the city of Ponce. 17 families in the church opened their homes to be Matthews for the My Hope project. They hosted 86 guests, and were thrilled to have 32 first time salvation decisions, and 14 rededications. Pastor Ramos said that in one the of the Matthew homes, a guest brought her 27 years old cousin with her who had been diagnosed with cancer. After watching Franklin Graham’s message about the prodigal son, she accepted Christ into her heart. As if that wasn’t enough, before she left for the night, the family prayed for her healing from cancer. The following Tuesday she had an appointment with her doctor. The Doctor performed a few routine tests and then said, “What happened to your cancer? It’s gone!” Ramos says she has been faithfully attending church ever since the broadcast.

Hope to Puerto Rico!

Last week was a wonderful week in Puerto Rico! On Thursday Friday and Saturday night, over 20,000 Christians opened up their homes to their friends, family and neighbors to watch the My Hope broadcast on national TV. The program addressed an issue that is often overlooked in the media, hope.

We hear so much on the news about wars, earthquakes, financial struggles, crime, corruption, betrayal, and plenty of other negative yet very real issues. However hope is rarely mentioned.

Through interviews with well known Puerto Ricans, music, and short messages from Billy Graham and Franklin Graham the My Hope TV broadcast explained that true hope is only found in a relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ. The programs clearly explained what it means to be a Christian.

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.” - Romans 3:23. We’re not perfect. We’ve committed sins against God, our friends, and family. Our sin separates us from God because he’s holy and perfect. We can’t be good enough to be with God in heaven.

That would be a hope-less piece of news, “but God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8. God saw our situation. He saw we could never be good enough. He decided to act. He sent his son Jesus to earth to pay the penalty for your sin, for my sin.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. All he asks is that we receive the free gift he’s giving us. He gives us salvation. He gives us everlasting life. We just have to admit that we’re sinners, that we’re in need of him, and be willing to turn from our sin and accept his free gift of eternal life. When we do, he gives our life purpose, direction, and above all, Hope. It’s a hope that doesn’t spoil or fade, because it’s not a hope in a career, a relationship or comfort here on earth. It’s a hope in something that God has already done for us. And what we do with it has eternal repercussions.

After hearing the clear explanation of what Christ did for us on the cross, Christians all across the country shared with their guests what God had done in their personal lives. They invited them to put their hope in Jesus Christ, and follow him with their lives.

We’re in the process of collecting all the reports of what God did in Puerto Rico. We look forward to celebrating with you how he brought new life, hope, and salvation to thousands on the island of enchantment. We love you and appreciate your friendship and prayers.

Praise the Lord for Dominican Republic

I was so thankful when Joe called and told me he had updated the blog and sent out an email update to everyone! I was already in DR, when I received that call from him. The week went fast but it was amazing. I am always shocked by how Jesus keeps his word. He took our prayers, interceded to the Father and Dominicans were saved. My favorite testimony from the week was from one of my drivers, who was also a pastor.

He received a phone call from a member of his church who said they didn't have power in their area. Gilberto, my driver, told this person to start praying and if they received power, wonderful, continue with the project. If they didn't receive power, he told them to apologize to the people who came, invite them back tomorrow to see the program and give their testimony. Gilberto called this person back after the broadcast and the memeber of his church told him they did not receive power. But the member of his church gave his apologies about not having power, invited them back the next night, and then gave his testimony. The member of his church had 17 people come to his home and 5 of them prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior.

It is testimonies like this that remind me that I am so lucky to be able to work for the Lord.

In the past few weeks we have heard many similar stories, but also the staff in DR are reporting more than 6,000 Decisions for Christ. Gloria a Dios!(All glory to God)

Two weeks from today we will begin our own Broadcast in Puerto Rico.

Please pray for the pastors, matthews, and those who will hear the Gospel. Pray that the Holy Spirit will move in a mighty way throughout Puerto Rico.

Pray - My Hope Dominican Republic

Hey Everyone! I wanted to send out an urgent prayer request. As you know, Melissa and I have been working in Puerto Rico for the last year. We've been preparing a nation-wide TV broadcast that will share who Jesus Christ is, and what he's done for us on the cross. Across the country thousands of churches are participating. In each church, members are planning to invite their friends, family members, and neighbors into their homes to watch the broadcast. It's a way of sharing what this whole Christianity thing is all about. Our broadcast is right around the corner, April 22, 23, and 24. Please be praying for churches to continue to get trained to participate, and for the members to be praying for their friends. We're also finalizing the editing of the programs this weekend. Pray that God guides us as we edit.

However the more urgent prayer request is for our neighbor, the Dominican Republic. They also have been working for the last year, and their broadcast is already here! Tonight (Thursday the 18th), tomorrow, and Saturday at 8pm, they will have their program on national television. Over 40,000 homes will invite guests over to watch the broadcast. Pray that there will be no energy black-outs (power outages are common there). Pray that God speaks to the hearts of each person watching, and that they will see the amazing things that God has done for us through Jesus. Pray they will admit their sins, and accept God's free gift of salvation!

Thank you all for your prayers!

Much love to all of you,

Joe

Personal Air Show

As some of you know, Joe and I live every close to the airport, so close that we can see planes land and take off, and now with the super dooper awesome camera, we can even zoom in and read the names on the airforce planes. So on Saturday they had several really cool planes(I think all refueling/reloading and heading to Haiti).


These first two photos are of Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey's. I am a girl and thought it was so cool. They look like a plane but take off like a helicopter.

These last three photos are of a C-5. Largest plane the air force has. This one is the "Memphis"(As the tail reads). Again super cool, on the ground this thing looks like a beached whale on the runway, but it was super quite, surprisingly quiet taking off. Just compare the sheer size of this plane to the poor airtran flight next to it. There was also a school of 6 or 8 smaller cargo planes but much less exciting after seeing these others.

Lauren and Sarah

While we were home, Joe and I had the amazing privilege to have two of my favorite people take pictures of us. They are amazing photographers! If you are looking for a photographer I recommend them, just email for their info! P.S. It was FREEZING that day!

Where do I begin

I can't believe that we are already in the middle of January 2010. Where did 2009 go? I also need to apologize and ask for forgiveness for being MIA for the past 2 months, we have no good excuses so I won't give you any bad ones either. God has done some amazing things in 2009, I am always shocked and awed by him. A year ago we were celebrating the more than 500,000 decisions for Jesus made by Brazilians through the My Hope project. In the past year we have moved to a new country, I began working with the project, and we have faced new battles and challenges with the project. Also in the past year, I think we have visited ALL of our family spanning from NC, Chicago, San Antonio, Louisiana, and California(now it is your turn to come to us), and we attended and participated as both my sister and Joe's sister were married. As my mind thinks through all the wonderful events of this past year, my mind stops at a tragedy that has struck at the beginning of this new decade. I know you all have heard about maybe even gave money or resources to help those devastated by the earthquake in Haiti. The My Hope staff began its work in Haiti several months ago meeting with leaders, denominations, different christian organizations. They began praying and probing for God's direction, if God had ripened Haiti for My Hope. As the earthquake hit on Tuesday many of us searched for itineraries to figure out if any of our staff were in the country, by God's grace they were not, but little communication has been possible. I want to challenge all of you to pray mightily for Haiti in these coming weeks, pray that as new infrastructures are set up, that as people are searching for answers and reasons, that they will only find Jesus at the end of their searching. Pray for a mighty revival! Pray for our fellow Christians and leaders in Haiti. Pray for the future of My Hope in Haiti.
Thank you so much for your faithfulness, with out your prayers and words of encouragement, we would not be able to do this.
For more information on what BGEA is doing go to: http://www.billygraham.org/News_Article.asp?ArticleID=766

Thinking through disaster

As many of you heard through national news that 2 weeks ago. Below is an article I wrote for BGEA. But wanted to share the same thoughts and photos with you all.
Please keep Puerto Rico in your prayers as we head towards our training phase of the project!

“When the explosion happened Robby and I were shocked out of bed, I thought an airplane had crashed into the house!”

Juliann Smith is not alone in her experience. Last Friday night a large explosion caused 21 fuel tanks from Gulf Oil to catch fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They continued burning for two days affecting the 2.5 million people who live in the San Juan metro area.

Smith says that her son was an eyewitness. “Nathan, who was outside, saw the blast and the mushroom cloud that began to form. (He) ran home, yelling that the world is ending!”

"I was in bed and all of a sudden heard this really horrible sound,” said Teo Freytes, who filed an internet Report for CNN. “So I ran upstairs and thought the whole town had blown up!"

All over the city residents felt the power of the explosion, which the Puerto Rico seismic network says was the equivalent of a 2.8 magnitude earthquake. The gas explosion was the first major disaster in more than ten years. As the shock and devastation set in for the small Caribbean island many began to wonder what happened and why.

“An incident of such magnitude can shake the stability and security of this fragile world we live in. It demonstrates that we cannot put our hope and security in material things,” said David Casillas. “Because it was an event that could not be foreseen or predicted like a hurricane, the fire could not be planned or prepared for.”

Casillas is a San Juan Pastor and the national coordinator of the My Hope Project by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. My Hope is a project, which trains and prepares Christians with the tools needed to share the gospel with friends, family, and neighbors who are not believers, using specially produced television programs.

Casillas says it’s a way to share everlasting hope with those who need it most. “There is no doubt that the My Hope Project has come at a time like this to bring hope, peace, and the good news of a better tomorrow through salvation in Jesus Christ.”

After the explosion, the importance of sharing Christ with others hit very close to home for many in Puerto Rico like Juliann Smith. Though it wasn’t the end of the world, the bible teaches that Jesus will return. Christians in Puerto Rico say that through projects like My Hope, they are seeing new ways that they can share Christ’s love with others before the real end comes.

Surf's Up

Two weekends ago, Joe and I were invited to a quincenero, which is the 15th birthday party.Quincenero's are very special, lavish, and BIG in all of Latin America, but this was the first we have been privileged to attend. This one, was a beach party with a band, and surf lessons for the guests!! Joe and I had a blast TRYING! Any real surfers would look at our waves and think we were pathetic, but it is hard! Happy 15th Birthday Robby!!

Andamos en bicicletas

Joe and I have found this great place to ride bikes near our house. At first we thought that the area/boardwalk was only a few hundred yards long and not enough to really enjoy a ride or what we would pay to rent the bikes(which isn't much). But we decided to give it a try and found out that not only does the path go on for miles but it also weaves between following the coastline and a forest like ecosystem full of pine trees. It was very worth it and a beautiful day at that.






Even Lizards eat their vegetables.

Lots to tell

Life seems to be moving much faster than I can keep up with. I feel like each time I fall asleep life jumps 3 weeks over night. For my birthday,(and Christmas and Joe's birthday and Christmas)present. We got a new camera!!! It is very exciting. We have talked for over a year about getting a new one and an DSLR at that. After many discussions with friends who are very good with a camera(Thank you to all who helped) On my birthday we took our new toy to the old city to play and begin to learn how to use it. I have to say I was very nervous at first...of dropping it, or messing with a setting and not knowing how to fix it. I still don't fully understand how to use the manual setting but we are having fun trying.


These awesome cobalt bricks were used as ballast for ships coming from Spain(they weighed down the ships, when traveling to pick up goods from PR)

I also had the opportunity to spend some time with my sister Bethany in San Diego. We tackled renovating her kitchen and a few other projects.

First we painted the ceiling and walls.(The person who owned their home before smoked and I don't think he ever painted after 1950.

We still had time to spare so Bethany decided we should give the cabinets a face lift also.

This was my sleeping buddy Jesse! He is the sweetest dog ever, tying with my sister Meagan's pit pull Reese! And YES you read that correctly the nicest dogs Ive ever met are a pit bull and rottweiler. So if you are looking for a good dog, please think twice before investing in an overpriced yappy monster that can't defend you.(soapbox for the day)

Also while I was in SD I got to spend an afternoon with a family I worked for Charlotte while I was in college. They now live in Huntington beach, and their kits are several years older, I don't think they remember me, but it was great to see them anyway. I learned a lot about kids and life in general from Jill and Howie.