New Address & Contact Information

We just wanted to pass along some information to everyone.  We've had a lot of people asking for our address, etc.  We also just go a new home phone number.  Our cell phone numbers have stayed the same, however while in Mexico we only have BlackBerry Messenger and Nextel Direct Connect (Push to Talk) services.  Phone calls and texting only work when we are state side.  Here is our contact information:

Mailing Address:

301 W 28th St.
Suite L
National City, CA 91950-8724

Ron's Cell: 608/322-7612 (110*522335*7-Nextel)
Kristy's Cell: 608/322-7650 (110*522335*6-Nextel)
Home Phone: 619/730-6764
Fax Number: 815/572-5482

Home on the Ranch

For those of you that don't know, our home in Tijuana is called the Tijuana Outreach Center, or TJOC for short. However it is also referred to as Rancho YUGO, or "the ranch". We arrived here yesterday after an amazing border crossing. We pulled into the border crossing at Otay to declare what we were bringing over the border - all of our possessions. They asked us to take some things out of the trailer so they could get a good look around. We handed them a list of all the major items, as well as details about what was in each box. God totally worked it out. They could charge us up to 25% tax on whatever they deemed the value of our belongings to be. They ended up charging us only $74 on all of our life possessions (which includes all of Ron's tools), that packed our Suburban and trailer almost as full as they could get.

We had a wonderful welcome from some of the missionaries in Tijuana. We arrived at a clean apartment, stocked with a bunch of groceries and necessities to get us started. There was also a hot lunch ready, dinner in the fridge and tons of help unloading. We discovered our first black widow spider that made its home underneath the end table in the living room. We are "looking forward" to our first run-ins with rattlesnakes, scorpions and tarantulas. This morning we attended our bilingual church, Calvary Chapel Rosarito, and had our first authentic Mexican tacos with friends afterwards.

It is great to be home. We are looking forward to the many ministry opportunities. Please pray with us as we begin to find exactly what God will have us do. As we are just beginning to get the construction ministry up and running here in Tijuana there will be time to spare. Some things are inevitable, like maintenance on the ranch and tech ministry (hopefully music ministry also) at church. There are so many other opportunities, like baking for the prison ministry, possibilities with breakfast feeding programs, the children's home or the infant's home being built - not to mention the construction possibilities in Mexicali. Very exciting stuff!!

Crossing the Border

Well, we left Phoenix a little early and arrived in Chula Vista, California a little while ago.  We will be attending a friend's boot camp graduation from the Marines tomorrow in San Diego.  We've been advised not to cross the border into Mexico on Friday afternoon, so we will cross on Saturday morning.  Please pray with us that the crossing goes smoothly and that it will not cost too much.  We will be crossing at approximately 11am Pacific/1pm Central.

Vacation

We are packed, loaded, and close to the border! We're spending about five days in Phoenix on our way to Mexico, for a little relaxation and family vacation time. Praise God that even though we got a bit of a late start, we've made it this far problem-free with the trailer. The weather here has been very nice - in the 90's but with very little humidity. We are enjoying the time next to the pool. William has already completed his school work for the year, and Brittany will be done in about a week. They were a huge help with getting ready for the garage sales, packing and loading – and of course all too eager to put schoolwork aside for the most part during those few weeks.

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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!

Ron & Kristy