December 2010

Kristy had the priveledge of taking the Christmas photo for Grace Children's Home this year.  They had the idea to take it in front of the new building for Grace Babies' Home, right across the street, which was a great idea.  The photo includes the Paulau's (directors of the children's home), the Strutton's (directors of the babies' home), all the children, volunteers and the house moms.

We spent two weeks doing Spanish immersion in Ensenada with Pastor Ever Perez and his family.  Unfortunately, we decided to postpone the third week due to a rather busy schedule getting ready for the New Year's outreach in Mexicali.  Ron was the cook for the week, so he had a menu and grocery list to prepare for over 70 people, plus the majority of the grocery shopping, transporting trailers and more.  We will hopefully be able to get the third week completed in January, depending on Pastor's schedule.

These two pictures are from a scenic overlook in Ensenada that Lupita, the pastor's wife, and Samuel, their oldest, took us to.  Here is a picture of Pastor, Lupita and Josias, their youngest.  We'll have to get a picture of the whole family together the next time we are there.



A small, sweet surprise was how green the ranch turned this winter.  We never really gave it any thought until it happened.  It's a nice change from all the brown dirt that normally covers the whole ranch.

In contrast, the roads look a little different.

These pictures are of the road on the ranch.  The roads outside the ranch can be much worse, especially on the hill you see behind the gate.  For the most part our four wheel drive hasn't given us too much cause for being concerned about getting stuck.

This is a photo of the Pesina's, a YUGO missionary family.  Jose Luis & Cindy are starting a new church in Tijuana.  This photo was taken on the day of Jose Luis' ordination at our church in Rosarito.  Please pray for the church leadership and the outreach efforts, as this new church opens this month.

December Prayer Letter

Our apologies for not updating our blog for some time.  We'd like to post our December prayer letter and then we'll give you an update on some of the things that we've been up to during this busy time:

¡Feliz Navidad! It’s so hard to believe that this year is almost over already – and what a year full of blessings it has been! God allowed for us to move to Mexico and be a part of several home builds – two of which were built in Rosarito. We’ve had some opportunities to help with the construction of the Babies’ Home. We have spoken at a few churches and to many families and individuals about the construction ministry. He is beginning to do some awesome things here in and through us in Mexico.

Brittany and William have adjusted very well to living in Mexico. Of course, they miss their friends and family back in the mid-west. But they are doing very well in their school work and with their music lessons. They have also been blessed with good friends, many of which they met here last summer. One difference for us, is that this was our first Thanksgiving for which we did not have turkey. A small thing, but kind of funny that we were eating fish tacos and taking a walk on the beach for Thanksgiving. However, we did celebrate Thanksgiving with good friends the following weekend.

We are very excited to share with you that our whole family has started Spanish immersion!! We’re spending a total of three weeks with a pastor and his family in Ensenada, which is about an hour and a half south of Rosarito. Ron and Kristy have Spanish lessons twice a day, and the whole family is learning through vocabulary exercises, games, and just having to communicate in Spanish with a family that does not speak English. This is truly a blessing in many ways, especially financially. Most other immersion classes cost anywhere from three to six times as much. The whole family is doing quite well and learning a lot. Ron especially enjoys the times when he gets to translate something for Kristy that she didn’t understand. The family has three children: Samuel (19), Abi (16) and Josias (8). The children play very well together. Will especially loves having someone his own age to play with.

While we are staying there, the children are doing about half of a normal week’s school work each week. This frees them up to be able to learn more Spanish, yet doesn’t cause them to get too far behind in their studies.

The family we are staying with, the Perez family, is actually the same family that Ron’s brother, Tim, stayed with during his Spanish Immersion trip about a year ago. So Ron’s “new name” has become Hermano Ron, el hermano de Tim. That is how he is introduced to everyone (as Tim’s brother).

This ministry would not be possible without all of you that have partnered with us through prayer. Please keep them comin’ – we need them very much. Our family is committed to praying for all of our ministry partners. Financially, we still have a long ways to go, but we praise God for putting us here for such a time as this. We are confident that He will provide all that we need. If you would like to find out more about coming along side us in this ministry, please visit our blog at www.rstruska.blogspot.com.

We pray that you will have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!!

¡Dios le bendiga!
Ron & Kristy