www.jakenrenee.com

Hey everyone - if you're still out there!

We're excited to announce our new website: www.jakenrenee.com. Jake has worked hard on this and with the generous assistance of Andrew Shinn (www.shinnphoto.com) it is up & running!

One of the cool features on the new site is a blog. Therefore, we will start using that as our regular blog site. SO, as of right now, this will be our last blog on Blogger. It has served us well these past few years, but it's time to say good-bye!

Hope to see you all on our new site!

Josiah Isaac

 

Hi all!  In case you have not heard, we found out last Friday that our second child will be a boy!  We are very excited and look forward to meeting Josiah in August.  A cool thing was a few months ago I was really sick (that's not the cool part :) and Jake was praying for me and the baby.  He felt he should pray for "Josiah".  Since then, we've been thinking of him as a boy and that was confirmed last week!  

In case you're having a hard time figuring out what's what...look at it like he's lying down and you are looking at him from the side.  On the right is his head and profile, the left is his body.  Good luck!

Gracie & The Train

This is a play area in a nearby mall that we take Gracie to when weather is bad. She loves it. She especially loves when the "choo-choo" drives by. There have been times when she had tripped because she's so excited to see it. She doesn't ever show a desire to ride the train, which is fine with us! Free is good!

The Hunt

We voyaged out to an Easter egg hunt at a church near our house here in Charlotte this morning.  Tons of kids.  We were very thankful that they divided them into age groups or the little ones would have been trampled!  Gracie's group (0-2yrs) was - hands down - the slowest.  They weren't too interested in the eggs.  Gracie was much more excited about the slide!  We did manage to get some pics of her Easter egg hunting!  

Hey all!

Now that we have a regular monthly newsletter, we've decided to change the focus our blog to be more personal and updated more frequently.  This means things like how we're doing in these upcoming transitions, Gracie moments, pictures, video, ups & downs, etc will be more of what we write about than the overall ministry stuff.  That will be taken care of in our newsletter.  We want to be able to communicate with family, friends and interested folk about how are lives are going - the day-to-day - from a distance.  A distance that will be a little further in the near future!  

If you would like up to receive our newsletter by e-mail, fill out the form on the right hand side of this page.  We would love to share it with you.  

Thanks for reading this and being interested in our lives.  It means a lot to us!  

The true story on the reality of the drug cartel in Guatemala

Guatemala City has nearly 4 million people!

A few days before our most recent visit we read an article posted on Yahoo.com regarding the drug cartel in Mexico. It was very intesting to read that as Mexico continues to literally fight against the drug cartel (resulting in thousands of known deaths, many others unknown) among the police, the cartel, and normal citizens. This is not new. What the article went on to say was that there is a good amount of personel from the Mexican cartel that are tired of looking over their shoulders in Mexico and therefore moving to Guatemala. Guatemala just doesn't have the abilitty to fight off these people like Mexico, therefore it is easier to lay low and do business as usual. Guatemala realizes this and has currently received monies and equipment from the United States to beef up its forces. Over dinner one evening, Renee and I were sitting across the table from our well educated Guatemalan friend who travels with an armed security guard/driver. I thought, 'Hey, I'm going to learn about this drug thing from someone who lives in the country." So, I made reference about the article and proceeded to ask him what he thought and if he sees any activity in his day to day activity. Speaking in English, he responded very generally, saying that whereas the report is somewhat true, the activity isn't really anything to be concerned about. Come to find out, after our meal, he said to us, "Sorry I wasn't able to discuss more about the question you asked." going on he said, "did you see the group of people at the table next to us?" "Yes", we replied. He went on to say that of that group of about 8 people, 4 of them were carring guns, and he believed could very well be involved in just the thing I was asking him questions about! During our meal he even called his driver and had him get the vehicle ready in case we needed to get out of there sooner than planned. Wow!

We share this with you to inform you of the kinds of situations that happen in Guatemala. Please take this information and use it to better pray for the Government of Guatemala to make wise decisions. For the safety and protection of the people. As well, pray that the men and women involved in the cartel would have heart and life transformations because of the love Jesus has for them. As the Apostle Paul says, Our battles aren't against flesh and blood (the visible things we encounter), but against powers and principalities in the heavenly realms.

California Here I Come!

Gracie with her hair done after being at daycare.

Well, here we come. And, just for a few days. Jake & I will head to Guatemala for a week of meetings and research; Gracie will be staying with grandparents, aunties, and uncles. While we are in California, we’re excited about seeing my brother Sean, who lives in Alaska with his wife Stephanie. We haven’t seen him since the day before Gracie was born almost 2 years ago. In other words, this will be Sean and Gracie’s first meeting. 
In Guatemala, we will be looking at the ministry facility land that is being purchased, as well as meeting with potential contractors of the church/multi-purpose building. This will be the first building to be constructed on the site. We will be doing this along with two leaders from World Reach. After they leave, Jake and I will spend time in the town of Jocotillo, where we will be living in just a few short months. We hope to make some contacts as well as look at housing possibilities and hospital/doctor options for the delivery of our baby in August.
Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. We can sense the hand of God here in Charlotte, and in the planning and preparing for Guatemala. We look forward to sharing all that happens on this preparation trip to Guatemala soon after arriving back in Charlotte on the 6th of March.

Our prayer is that like Jesus, we too will know the leading of the Holy Spirit throughout each day, each situation, and each moment so that love win over everything and everyone. God’s best to you all!
With lots of love and excitement,

Jake, Renée, and Gracie