28 August 2012 Update!

Greetings from southern Mexico!  Thank you to each of you who are praying for the people here and for our family.  We are so grateful for you 'holding the rope'.

Summer 2012 is in the books and we've seen the Father do some great things.  Most of the time we've just been blessed to be at the right place at the right time to see God do great things.  As we told our semester missionaries yesterday, 'If you're looking for missionaries who've got it all together and know all the answers, then you've come to the wrong place.'  We are woefully inadequate to do what God has called us to do but we are very confident knowing if we put our lives in His hands, then He will get His work done.  And He does.

I Corinthians 1 reminds us:

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth, 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.  30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

We have a busy few months coming up.  Please join us in praying for these requests:

• Pray for students from the Baptist seminary in Oaxaca who will be going out to communities where our national and USA partners have been working.  It is a huge blessing to be able to work with these students.
• Pray for our four Hands On semester students who are here in Oaxaca until December.  D, K1, K2, and A need your prayers as they learn the culture here, fall in love with the people, and find the place the Father has for them.
• We will be welcoming teams from Missouri, Texas, South Carolina, and Mississippi over the next few months.  Please pray for the preparation that must be done for these teams.
• Haylee and Jackson have begun a new, challenging school year.  Pray for them as they adjust to school.
• Pray for the many communities here that need churches planted among them.  Pray that the Father will lead us to the right places.

Thank you for your prayers and your financial support through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program.

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson

ON LINE TRAINING BEGINS TUESDAY, AUGUST 28!

Here are descriptions of each class session.  Click on the photo to enlarge.

Our Fall On-Line Training Classes begin on Tuesday,

August 28 at 7 pm and continue for several weeks.

  We'll have different missionary presenters each week!

You'll need to have speakers or headphones with your computer to be able to hear the discussion.  If you have a microphone you can participate in the sessions!

Please click the link below to sign up!

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/564473322

12 August 2012 Update!

Jackson is a part of an American Football Club here in Oaxaca.  Today the dads played the sons in a game with full pads and live contact.  Jeff played center on offense for his team and Jackson was a defensive back.  Here's a few photos:

Jackson on his way to warm-up.

Ready for the snap.

This is really gonna hurt tomorrow!  --with Jimmy Streelman

  

Jackson stretching with his team before the game.
Dads didn't want to do this.

Jackson's Oaxaca Football Team

11 August 2012 Update!

(There are links to other websites in this edition of the blog.  Just click on the highlighted links to visit the other sites.)

Philippians 4:6-7...

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Thank you to all who pray for us.  We are grateful for the way you invest in the work here.  Here's a good tool to help you when praying for missionaries.

We were blessed to have a Vision Team from Sharon Baptist Church in Powell, TN here this week.  We crammed a lot of travel and learning into three days while they were here.  I'm sure they were worn out and mentally exhausted as they arrived back home in Tennessee this evening.  This was a somewhat frustrating week for me (Jeff) because I never sensed a clear direction of where to take this team.  For most Vision Teams coming to explore future involvement with us here in Mexico, I usually am confident as to where the Spirit is leading us.  This week was different in that we saw several options for future involvement here in southern Mexico.  Please pray for Sharon Baptist Church and their Missions Team as they try to discern where the Father is leading them.  The verse above came to my mind every morning as I met with these enthusiastic folks.  I know the Father has a plan for them to do great things.

Jeff will be traveling to the USA for two weeks of training.  This training is to prepare us for different scenarios that could occur on the mission field.  Please pray for Jeff as he participates in the training.  It is rumored to be intense but very, very important to our work.  We are thankful that Southern Baptists provide these training opportunities.

For those of you interested in how to prepare for work in a cross-cultural setting, Partner Connect On-Line Training will begin on August 28.  Please plan to set aside your Tuesday evenings for this very important training.  All you need is a computer with audio capability to participate.  And, if you have a microphone you can be a part of the discussion.  This is a great opportunity to get very good training without driving miles to attend a meeting.

We are so thankful that four students are coming to work her in Oaxaca this semester.  Anna, Davinity, Kim, and Kelley arrive on August 23.  They are a part of a program called Hands On.  These students are giving up a semester of college/after college to come and help spread the Gospel to the unreached people of southern Mexico.  Please pray for them as they get settled and begin their ministry assignment.  Pray their families who are supporting them.

Other prayer requests:

• Would you join us in praying for this list of unreached people groups...paying special attention to the groups listed in Mexico?
• Please continue to pray for the community of 'SPT' and the ongoing work there among this community with very few believers.  Pray for a strong church to emerge and impact this community.
• Pray for the small group of believers and the small group of seekers who live in 'SBY'.  You may remember that Jordan and Erica and Zuri just finished up two months of 'living life' in this village.  Read about their adventures here.  
• Pray for the village of 'PV' that we visited with a team from Virginia a couple of weeks ago.  These people are waiting for someone to tell them about Jesus.  Will you pray for workers among this harvest.
• Pray pray for our pastor friend Franco Lopez who would love to have some help reaching his village.  Pray for the village of 'SA' where he lives and ministers.
• Please pray for the village of 'SPH'.  Liesa and I visited this village but we did not sense acceptance by the people there.  This is a village with few believers.  Pray for open doors in the future among this community.
• Please pray for the home for indigenous children that we have developed a relationship with here in Oaxaca.  Casa Hogar is reaching many children from indigenous villages that we are not able to get to.  Please pray for their ministry.
• Please pray for Haylee and Jackson as they begin a new school year at Oaxaca Christian School.
• Pray for more workers for the harvest here in southern Mexico.  We have unfilled positions for Journeymen and Career Missionaries that would be great help to completing the task in southern Mexico.  You can visit www.imb.org for information about serving anywhere in the world.

As always, your prayers are vital to the work here.  When you pray, He hears and we see the answers every minute of every day.

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson Holeman

1 August 2012

Dear friends,

Thank you for all who pray for us regularly.  You are such a blessing to us.

Time really flies when your having interesting experiences.  While not all of our time here in Mexico has been fun we are amazed that it is August already!  Jeff and Liesa are excited that August brings American football.  The kids are gearing up for a return to classes in a couple of weeks.  It is amazing how time passes so quickly.  In just a few weeks we will mark 5 years as a missionary family.  Wow.

Thank you for your prayers over the past couple of weeks.  The Vision Trip with the team from Virginia went really well.  We were able to visit two people groups and the Father blessed us with open doors among one of them.  Pray for NBC from Virginia as they determine the Lord's plan for their future mission involvement.

A Vision Team from SBC in Tennessee arrives next week.  Pray for the Father to give clear direction to this team.  Pray for them as they make a commitment to training/preparation for their mission task in a cross cultural assignment.  Pray for the village they will be visiting to have a 'person of peace' to welcome them.

Liesa, Jackson, Haylee, and Jeff are currently traveling to a meeting of our Mexico mission personnel.  Pray for safe travel and a spirit of unity during the meetings.  Pray that the Father will continue to guide our steps.  Pray for those leading our meetings to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Also, we said 'see ya later' to our summer missionaries this week.  J, E, and Z did a remarkable job in the village of SBY.  Thank you so much for praying for them.  Your prayers definitely made a difference as they were able to build strong relationships and started a Bible study in their village.  Pray that 2BC in Missouri will continue to send workers into this harvest field.

We are blessed to know you all are praying for us and the work here.  Thank you for your support through prayer and your financial support through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program.

Liesa, Jeff, Haylee, and Jackson Holeman