Struska Family - Following His Call
Following the call of Christ to reach the people of Mexico
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
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Here We Go
If you haven’t heard, our home in Janesville, Wisconsin has been rented out. The house had been for sale for just over a year. Then in March, we felt the Lord leading us to put the house up for rent. We received quick confirmation from Him when the house was rented out in just over a week’s time. We will be taking a few days to visit some family along the way, as well as a few days of family vacation time.
You may recall the possibility of a home opening up for us on the ranch in Tijuana. Well, the Head Cook that Ron filled in for last year will be returning this summer, so we are very excited about that. We will be staying in the same three bedroom apartment where we resided last year. What will we be doing when we get there? We will be starting the home building ministry, as well as leading some other construction teams and working on various YUGO construction projects. During outreach weeks, we hope to be used in other ways. We are excited to share that the first week in August, there will be a team of 14 college students/young adults, including two adult leaders, coming to Tijuana to build a home. This team was formed from the College/Young Adult ministry that we have worked with for the past five years at our home church – Faith Community. We are also planning to visit Ensenada for a week at the beginning of June, to see how they run their construction ministry. Please pray for the ministry opportunities that have opened up in the Mexicali area, approximately three hours away from Tijuana. You may recall hearing about a 7.2 earthquake whose epicenter was right near Mexicali at the beginning of April. (Large enough that it was felt in Tijuana.) Hundreds, if not thousands of people, have been reduced to living in tents or vehicles outside of their homes because they are no longer safe to live in. Ron has been asked to pray about being part of this outreach opportunity. Please pray with us as he takes this under consideration.
You may be wondering how we are able to go to Mexico without having our full financial support raised. Technically, we will be going under a temporary status with YUGO. They still require full-time missionaries to have 100% of their support raised. Make no mistake, we do not plan or hope to return to the States in order to raise more support. Due to the generous giving of family and friends, from both previous gifts, as well as ongoing donations, we will be able to spend some time beginning our ministry there. Our prayer is that God will use this to grow our prayer and financial partners. If you, your church, or small group would like more information about partnering with us in this ministry or about sending a team to Mexico, please contact us. 
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¡Dios le bendiga!
2009 Nov - What's Up/Summer Ministry Wrap-up II
We praise and thank God for all of you that know how much we need your prayers. This can be a difficult time, as we continue to raise support to get on the field in Tijuana, especially after having had a taste of the ministry this past summer that God will have for us there. It’s not just about building homes for people in need. It’s about people that don’t know Christ and the doors that will opened through the building of these homes – not just the people that will receive the homes, but their family and friends as well. It’s about being a part of the evangelistic outreaches in so many different ways. It’s about working along side others (interns and short-term team members alike) as they get a taste of what it’s like to serve God as they step out into another culture. It’s about the relationships we make as we attend church and serve with other Christians at the church in Rosarito. The list goes on and on. This is just a glimpse of what life will be like for us in Mexico. It was amazing to see all the opportunities and possibilities, and how things just started to fit together, like a puzzle.
One of these ways was His provision for a home. As you know, Ron filled the temporary position of Head Cook for the summer. Unfortunately, the person he was filling in for, and her husband, have had to leave the mission field. This is a great loss and they will be severly missed. However, because of this, there is an empty, three bedroom house on the YUGO ranch in Tijuana with our name on it. This is a huge blessing, as we will be able to jump right into ministry without having to build a house for ourselves. So why not leave now and head down to Tijuana? Well, first of all, we own a home in Wisconsin. This is the biggest factor. We are very seriously considering moving to Tijuana in the spring. However, we feel that moving and having to pay a mortgage is not a wise use of the money God will provide for us. Especially when we are only at about 40% of our monthly financial need. All of that to basically say that we have a new home waiting for us in Mexico. Please pray with us that God will sell our “old” house in Wisconsin. His timing is perfect. He has a team of partners out there providing prayer and financial support for us. He will reveal to those He would have yet to join the team. So please pray with us that their hearts would be open.
As previously mentioned, when we were in Mexico this past summer, Ron was having some pain that he thought might be a pulled muscle. It turned out to be a hernia (not related to his back, but most likely a birth defect he has had his whole life). After much prayer, we decided to go to Cruz Roja (Red Cross) to have it looked at. Shortly thereafter, Ron went in for surgery and everything went very well. He spent a few immobile days recovering from surgery, followed up by several weeks of more recovery. Things have been healing up very nicely. Unfortunately for Ron, this came right at the time the interns were suppose to spend a week on construction projects. Originally we had hoped to build a house this week, but there was not enough funding. But God used this opportunity to give us the chance to bless three families with repaired or replaced roofs. Kristy and the children were able to go out with the interns and staff that week, while Ron stayed home recooperating.
There are currently 55 families on a waiting list for a home in the Tijuana/Rosarito area. Eventually, we would like this ministry to involve pastors going out into their communities and finding people in need of a home that don’t attend church. However, we need teams to come down and build homes for both the church and non-church members that are currently on the list, before we can work on expanding the ministry. If you have a youth group, college group, or any adult group that is looking for a mission opportunity or team-building trip of any kind, please contact us. We would love to talk to you about opportunities to serve in Mexico.
YUGO Ministries has now combined their California offices into one new location. Please pray for them as they continue to organize and consolidate.
¡Dios le bendiga! (God Bless)
Ron & Kristy
One of these ways was His provision for a home. As you know, Ron filled the temporary position of Head Cook for the summer. Unfortunately, the person he was filling in for, and her husband, have had to leave the mission field. This is a great loss and they will be severly missed. However, because of this, there is an empty, three bedroom house on the YUGO ranch in Tijuana with our name on it. This is a huge blessing, as we will be able to jump right into ministry without having to build a house for ourselves. So why not leave now and head down to Tijuana? Well, first of all, we own a home in Wisconsin. This is the biggest factor. We are very seriously considering moving to Tijuana in the spring. However, we feel that moving and having to pay a mortgage is not a wise use of the money God will provide for us. Especially when we are only at about 40% of our monthly financial need. All of that to basically say that we have a new home waiting for us in Mexico. Please pray with us that God will sell our “old” house in Wisconsin. His timing is perfect. He has a team of partners out there providing prayer and financial support for us. He will reveal to those He would have yet to join the team. So please pray with us that their hearts would be open.
As previously mentioned, when we were in Mexico this past summer, Ron was having some pain that he thought might be a pulled muscle. It turned out to be a hernia (not related to his back, but most likely a birth defect he has had his whole life). After much prayer, we decided to go to Cruz Roja (Red Cross) to have it looked at. Shortly thereafter, Ron went in for surgery and everything went very well. He spent a few immobile days recovering from surgery, followed up by several weeks of more recovery. Things have been healing up very nicely. Unfortunately for Ron, this came right at the time the interns were suppose to spend a week on construction projects. Originally we had hoped to build a house this week, but there was not enough funding. But God used this opportunity to give us the chance to bless three families with repaired or replaced roofs. Kristy and the children were able to go out with the interns and staff that week, while Ron stayed home recooperating.
There are currently 55 families on a waiting list for a home in the Tijuana/Rosarito area. Eventually, we would like this ministry to involve pastors going out into their communities and finding people in need of a home that don’t attend church. However, we need teams to come down and build homes for both the church and non-church members that are currently on the list, before we can work on expanding the ministry. If you have a youth group, college group, or any adult group that is looking for a mission opportunity or team-building trip of any kind, please contact us. We would love to talk to you about opportunities to serve in Mexico.
YUGO Ministries has now combined their California offices into one new location. Please pray for them as they continue to organize and consolidate.
¡Dios le bendiga! (God Bless)
Ron & Kristy
2009 Sept - Summer Ministry Wrap-up
Wow!! That’s our summer wrapped up into one, little, three-letter word. It has been so amazing to be at the ranch in Tijuana for all of the summer outreaches. There is so much happening here, and yet so much work to be done! Unfortunately, there were only eight teams that came down to Tijuana from the US and Canada this year. However, this was obviously God’s plan to spark a new type of outreach here at YUGO. Four Mexican churches came together for a week to minister to three local churches. It went so well, that about a dozen of them were chosen to come back the following week to form a team and go out to another church. That makes for a total of twelve outreach teams, not including the staff outreach team. While this is a significantly much lower number that other years, there were still 127 Mexicans that made first time decisions for Christ. Praise God!! The staff outreach week is also a first here at YUGO, especially for us. Instead of just visiting teams in the colonias during outreaches, we were able to fully partcipate. The staff and interns took two weeks to prepare for our outreach week. Everyone participated in and helped with the children’s ministry – songs, games, craft, snack and skits. Those focusing on children’s ministry also prepared lessons. Kristy had the opportunity to participate in the women’s ministry and teach the lesson one day (with a translator, of course). The kids just joined right in with all the other children. Ron and Will were able to go out with the guys for sports ministry a couple of days, as well.
So, what else did we do all summer? Ron served as the head cook for the summer. He cooked two meals a day for anywhere from 15 to 129 people, and usually a third meal for staff. Kristy was able to get a taste of that job as well. During the last week of outreach, Ron was double-booked as the cook and construction project manager. So he got up at 5AM, cooked breakfast and then went out to the job site for the rest of the day. For those two days, Kristy got up at 6AM, did KP duty for breakfast, and then KP duty/cook for lunch. Needless to say, it was a very busy couple of days. If you’re wondering what KP duty is, it basically means preparing the serving tables for meals, getting out all the condiments, coffee/tea, chopping/preparing food for salads, tacos, and other meals, helping serve meals, clean-up, etc. For the majority of the time, Kristy shared KP responsibilities with one or two other people, so that worked out well. Kristy, Brittany and William also helped prepare some of the meals with Ron and the interns when needed. We also helped with the grocery shopping for the outreach weeks. The majority of our food is bought in California, because American food is more expensive to buy in Mexico. So, when you include anywhere from one to three hours of total border crossing time, grocery shopping takes up most or all of a full day each week.
There is so much more that we’d like to talk about, but it will not all fit in this letter. They would include: Ron’s hernia surgery, the waiting list for homes to build in Tijuana, the probable provision of a home for us on the ranch, several construction projects from this summer, and so much more. So for now, we would like to leave you with one more thought. We are praying for God’s wisdom in deciding on a date to return to Mexico. It will be in the near future, and will be “short-term” if we are unable to reach our full support level in time. We are praying that it would turn into full-time before it ends, so that we will be able to begin and continue the home-building ministry God has called us to do, uninterrupted by returning home to raise more financial partners. In the mean time, we will be home recruiting teams to come down to Mexico and build homes next year. If you are interested in sending a team from your church to Tijuana next summer, please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information. We cannot tell you how important your prayers are to us. Thank you to all who pray for us and give in so many ways!
¡Dios le bendiga!
Ron & Kristy
So, what else did we do all summer? Ron served as the head cook for the summer. He cooked two meals a day for anywhere from 15 to 129 people, and usually a third meal for staff. Kristy was able to get a taste of that job as well. During the last week of outreach, Ron was double-booked as the cook and construction project manager. So he got up at 5AM, cooked breakfast and then went out to the job site for the rest of the day. For those two days, Kristy got up at 6AM, did KP duty for breakfast, and then KP duty/cook for lunch. Needless to say, it was a very busy couple of days. If you’re wondering what KP duty is, it basically means preparing the serving tables for meals, getting out all the condiments, coffee/tea, chopping/preparing food for salads, tacos, and other meals, helping serve meals, clean-up, etc. For the majority of the time, Kristy shared KP responsibilities with one or two other people, so that worked out well. Kristy, Brittany and William also helped prepare some of the meals with Ron and the interns when needed. We also helped with the grocery shopping for the outreach weeks. The majority of our food is bought in California, because American food is more expensive to buy in Mexico. So, when you include anywhere from one to three hours of total border crossing time, grocery shopping takes up most or all of a full day each week.
There is so much more that we’d like to talk about, but it will not all fit in this letter. They would include: Ron’s hernia surgery, the waiting list for homes to build in Tijuana, the probable provision of a home for us on the ranch, several construction projects from this summer, and so much more. So for now, we would like to leave you with one more thought. We are praying for God’s wisdom in deciding on a date to return to Mexico. It will be in the near future, and will be “short-term” if we are unable to reach our full support level in time. We are praying that it would turn into full-time before it ends, so that we will be able to begin and continue the home-building ministry God has called us to do, uninterrupted by returning home to raise more financial partners. In the mean time, we will be home recruiting teams to come down to Mexico and build homes next year. If you are interested in sending a team from your church to Tijuana next summer, please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information. We cannot tell you how important your prayers are to us. Thank you to all who pray for us and give in so many ways!
¡Dios le bendiga!
Ron & Kristy
2009 April - Adios
Seven adults. Twenty-one youth. Three 15-passenger vans. Dangerous, rocky dirt roads. Traveling in the mountains - about 15 miles in 8 hours one way. Fog. Overheated engines. Van stuck in the mud. Hiking a section of road in case a van falls off a cliff. Scorpions. Black widow spiders. Sunburned eyes. Failed attempt at making adobe bricks. Digging. Moving dozens of wheel barrows full of dirt. This was our first experience in Mexico – August 2004. Yet somehow through all of this, God grabbed a hold of our hearts. He let us know at the same exact moment, that He wanted us to come back to Mexico some day.
He had a plan for us to go to Tijuana, Mexico someday, and this was when he began revealing that plan to us. Through a series of events, we know where he wants us, and now we know when. He wants us in Tijuana this summer, working in the kitchen. But He also wants us to stay there and begin a home building program. Not so that we can just give away houses to the Mexican people. So that we can invite teams from the US and Canada to be able to share God’s love and message through building a home for someone in need, the way we experienced it last August. So that the families in these homes will be given the opportunity to minister to others and share this love and this message with their family and friends. We will also have the opportunity to assist with at least eleven weeks of evangelistic outreaches, where hundreds of youth and adults go out into various neighborhoods to share the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
God has called us to go to Mexico, but what if God has called you to stay home? You can serve by sending. Last month we asked you to begin praying about the commitment cards that we are enclosing with this letter. If the Lord has laid it on your heart to give a monthly gift, we ask that you would listen. At this point, we are in need of about seventy people/familes to partner with us financially at $25 per month. What if you can only give $10 per month? We can’t tell you how much that would be appreciated. God will use any amount that you feel you are able to give. If thirty people are able to partner with us at $10 per month, we would only need fifty seven partners giving $25 per month instead of seventy. Some may be able to give $50 or $75 per month. We know that some are not able to give at this time. Yet we also know that $10-$25 per month is very manageable for many households. Please spend a little more time in prayerful consideration on how you can partner with us. We ask that you would continue to keep us in your prayers. If you have any questions, or would like to hold a meeting in your home for us, we would love to talk to you.
We would like to personally thank all of those that have already partnered with us financially. Thank you for letting God use you in this way! We thank all of you for your prayers and support.
In Christ,
Ron & Kristy
He had a plan for us to go to Tijuana, Mexico someday, and this was when he began revealing that plan to us. Through a series of events, we know where he wants us, and now we know when. He wants us in Tijuana this summer, working in the kitchen. But He also wants us to stay there and begin a home building program. Not so that we can just give away houses to the Mexican people. So that we can invite teams from the US and Canada to be able to share God’s love and message through building a home for someone in need, the way we experienced it last August. So that the families in these homes will be given the opportunity to minister to others and share this love and this message with their family and friends. We will also have the opportunity to assist with at least eleven weeks of evangelistic outreaches, where hundreds of youth and adults go out into various neighborhoods to share the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
God has called us to go to Mexico, but what if God has called you to stay home? You can serve by sending. Last month we asked you to begin praying about the commitment cards that we are enclosing with this letter. If the Lord has laid it on your heart to give a monthly gift, we ask that you would listen. At this point, we are in need of about seventy people/familes to partner with us financially at $25 per month. What if you can only give $10 per month? We can’t tell you how much that would be appreciated. God will use any amount that you feel you are able to give. If thirty people are able to partner with us at $10 per month, we would only need fifty seven partners giving $25 per month instead of seventy. Some may be able to give $50 or $75 per month. We know that some are not able to give at this time. Yet we also know that $10-$25 per month is very manageable for many households. Please spend a little more time in prayerful consideration on how you can partner with us. We ask that you would continue to keep us in your prayers. If you have any questions, or would like to hold a meeting in your home for us, we would love to talk to you.
We would like to personally thank all of those that have already partnered with us financially. Thank you for letting God use you in this way! We thank all of you for your prayers and support.
In Christ,
Ron & Kristy
2009 March - Summer Position/House for Sale
So…have you heard? The house is going up for sale. Ron is taking a leave of absence from work. We are going to Mexico for the summer! Okay, maybe I should start from the beginning.
We received a message that there was a need at the Tijuana Outreach Center for a head cook for ten weeks this summer. The full-time missionary that normally fills this position had to take a temporary leave of absence. We tossed around the idea of going down to work for the summer, and even half-joked about Ron quitting his job. But then we actually put some real thought and prayer into it. In order to fill the position, one would have to raise their own support – we’ve already got a head start on that. Ron would have to quit his job and find a new one when the summer is over – until he found out that he could take up to a 90-day leave of absence. We would have to leave the house for almost three months and pay a mortgage while we’re gone – or we could put the house up for sale.
So, there you have it. After much prayer, we spoke with a couple of people from YUGO to work out the details. We would not be considered full-time missionaries, because we do not have our full support raised. Ron will be filling the temporary position of Head Cook. He is definitely more comfortable managing a large kitchen than Kristy is. We are not certain what Kristy will be doing. There are a lot of options, one of which is Food Prep Coordinator. It basically entails the serving and cleaning up aspects of the meals. We ask that you would join us and pray how God will use Kristy this summer. Other opportunities may include worship team or photography, but will mostly likely involve menotoring and workly closely with the summer interns for both of us. They were very excited to learn that we have been working in college-age ministry, and that Kristy has been working with high school youth. That’s the same basic age group of the interns, so it sounds like God kind of knew what he was doing getting us prepared.
Ron will also have the opportunity to do some construction work. He may be working with a team of interns on a construction project the third week. This does not change the fact that we are raising support to go full-time in construction ministry. This is just a temporary position that we are filling. However, we pray that it would be in God’s timing that our financial support would be raised in full by the end of the summer. Finding a buyer for our house in Janesville is the other major prayer request. It would save us a lot of money over the summer, and it would also mean we wouldn’t have a house to sell when we officially go to Tijuana full-time. Ron is taking the leave of absence from work to ensure that he would still have a way to earn a living, if we need to come back to the states for a little while. Taking the leave does not guarantee him his current position if returns home. It guarantees him a position with the company, we just don’t know what position it would be, or where it would be located.
We have heard from many people that they are waiting to make a commitment to partner with us financially until we are ready to go. Our hope is that you will consider making this commitment in the near future. We ask that you would begin praying about this decision now. Next month we are going to include commitment cards with our letter. So please join us in praying for our house to sell and our support level to be where needed in order to go full-time in Tijuana by the end of the summer. We thank all of you for your prayers and support.
In Christ,
Ron & Kristy
We received a message that there was a need at the Tijuana Outreach Center for a head cook for ten weeks this summer. The full-time missionary that normally fills this position had to take a temporary leave of absence. We tossed around the idea of going down to work for the summer, and even half-joked about Ron quitting his job. But then we actually put some real thought and prayer into it. In order to fill the position, one would have to raise their own support – we’ve already got a head start on that. Ron would have to quit his job and find a new one when the summer is over – until he found out that he could take up to a 90-day leave of absence. We would have to leave the house for almost three months and pay a mortgage while we’re gone – or we could put the house up for sale.
So, there you have it. After much prayer, we spoke with a couple of people from YUGO to work out the details. We would not be considered full-time missionaries, because we do not have our full support raised. Ron will be filling the temporary position of Head Cook. He is definitely more comfortable managing a large kitchen than Kristy is. We are not certain what Kristy will be doing. There are a lot of options, one of which is Food Prep Coordinator. It basically entails the serving and cleaning up aspects of the meals. We ask that you would join us and pray how God will use Kristy this summer. Other opportunities may include worship team or photography, but will mostly likely involve menotoring and workly closely with the summer interns for both of us. They were very excited to learn that we have been working in college-age ministry, and that Kristy has been working with high school youth. That’s the same basic age group of the interns, so it sounds like God kind of knew what he was doing getting us prepared.
Ron will also have the opportunity to do some construction work. He may be working with a team of interns on a construction project the third week. This does not change the fact that we are raising support to go full-time in construction ministry. This is just a temporary position that we are filling. However, we pray that it would be in God’s timing that our financial support would be raised in full by the end of the summer. Finding a buyer for our house in Janesville is the other major prayer request. It would save us a lot of money over the summer, and it would also mean we wouldn’t have a house to sell when we officially go to Tijuana full-time. Ron is taking the leave of absence from work to ensure that he would still have a way to earn a living, if we need to come back to the states for a little while. Taking the leave does not guarantee him his current position if returns home. It guarantees him a position with the company, we just don’t know what position it would be, or where it would be located.
We have heard from many people that they are waiting to make a commitment to partner with us financially until we are ready to go. Our hope is that you will consider making this commitment in the near future. We ask that you would begin praying about this decision now. Next month we are going to include commitment cards with our letter. So please join us in praying for our house to sell and our support level to be where needed in order to go full-time in Tijuana by the end of the summer. We thank all of you for your prayers and support.
In Christ,
Ron & Kristy
2004 Sept - God's Calling
We had the opportunity to go to Mexico on a ‘construction’ missions trip. We were asked to be leaders on a trip with a group of Sr. High kids. Little did we know that the reason we were going was not so we could introduce missions to the youth we were leading, but so the Lord could re-introduce missions to us. As our trip progressed, the pieces started to all fall into place. We were finally able to see the beginning of a very interesting puzzle that, as we look back now, we can see the Lord has been working on in us for over a year. We both began to realize our desire to be involved in missions. As I saw it, there was one problem: I am not what could possibly be considered a ‘traditional’ missionary. Our gifts both lie along the lines of ‘Helps and Administration’, not ‘Evangelism, Sheparding, Teaching’ etc. As we continued to talk, I told Kristy that I would love to be able to “coordinate teams to do work projects, lead short term construction trips and supervise building projects”. I told her that would be great, but, “nobody does that”. Well, my search took me to where most research is done these days - the internet. Within 2 minutes, I found an organization based in California that was looking for someone to fill the following position “Construction Coordinator - Recruits, directs and coordinates North American work crews in building churches and homes for the poor in Mexico. (Must possess good leadership, management and communication skills. Prior experience in leadership and/or training is helpful. Some administrative and organizational skills are needed.” This position is based in Tijuana, Mexico.
Well, I asked for it, and God put it in our lap. We have decided to pursue this opportunity, and see if it is where God is leading us. We have begun the application process with YUGO Ministries (www.yugo.org). If we are accepted and the Lord continues to lead, we will begin the process of raising support. We are not sure if this is where God wants us or not, but at this time the doors are flying open for us to pursue this opportunity.
We are sharing this with all of you to enlist your prayer support. Thank you in advance for keeping us in your prayers as we continue to seek the Lord’s will. We will keep you updated as things progress. If you have any questions or input, we would love to hear from you.
In Christ,
Ron & Kristy
Well, I asked for it, and God put it in our lap. We have decided to pursue this opportunity, and see if it is where God is leading us. We have begun the application process with YUGO Ministries (www.yugo.org). If we are accepted and the Lord continues to lead, we will begin the process of raising support. We are not sure if this is where God wants us or not, but at this time the doors are flying open for us to pursue this opportunity.
We are sharing this with all of you to enlist your prayer support. Thank you in advance for keeping us in your prayers as we continue to seek the Lord’s will. We will keep you updated as things progress. If you have any questions or input, we would love to hear from you.
In Christ,
Ron & Kristy
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