Wednesday, December 23, 2015

23 December 2015 Update!


You can pray for us as we will be traveling quite a bit over the next few weeks. Here's our schedule and if you live nearby please let us know so we can connect!
  • January 1: Ole Miss vs Oklahoma State in the 2016 Sugar Bowl.
  • January 4 to 9: Stateside Conference at International Learning Center, Virginia.
  • January 11 to 15: Missions College, International Learning Center, Virginia.
  • January 17: Tillatoba Baptist Church, Tillatoba, MS Morning Worship Service.
  • February 8: Piedmont-Okefenokee Association WMU Meeting, Waycross, Georgia.
  • February 14 to 17: Gulf Coast Baptist Association, Mississippi. Missions Conference.
  • February 28 to March 5: AMP Leadership Meeting. 
  • March 4 to 5: Ignite! Mississippi Acteens Event, Camp Garawaya.
  • April 1 to 3: MS Summer Missions Orientation, Camp Garawaya.
We are thankful for your prayer support for all of these events. Please also pray for the following Unreached People Groups of Mexico. Pray that:
  • they will have access to the Gospel
  • they will be able to understand the Gospel in their heart language
  • they will respond to the Gospel.
Unreached People Groups of Mexico (click the link for more info!):
Surely with all of the resources in the USA church we can find a way to get the Gospel to these last remaining unengaged unreached people groups VERY SOON! Will you pray?

These are also days when we are asking you to support the work of The International Mission Board through giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. When you give to the Lottie Moon Offering people hear about Jesus. Here is a video that will help you understand some of the work going on in southern Mexico:
http://www.imb.org/resources/embedvideos.aspx?mvid=23897

If you would like to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering you can give through the First Baptist Oxford website HERE.

Thank you so much for your prayer support and your financial support.

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee and Jackson.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

9 December 2015 Update!


Merry Christmas from Oxford! 

We are so thankful to all of you who pray faithfully for our family and the work in southern Mexico. Prayer is the work of missions and many of you are so faithful to lift up the needs of our people groups and our family. Thank you!

These have been great times for our family as we have almost reached the halfway point of our Stateside Assignment. We are enjoying our time in Oxford and the USA! Haylee is finishing up her first semester at Mississippi College and has had a good semester. Jackson is finishing up the first half of his junior year at Oxford High School and is ready for some down time! Liesa is busy keeping up with our kids and working with kids at a local school who are from other cultures/countries as well as helping out with things at our sending church, First Baptist Oxford. Jeff has been busy helping out at First Baptist Oxford as well as attending to some International Mission Board responsibilities. We are blessed to have so many great people with whom to work!

You can pray for us as we will be traveling quite a bit over the next few weeks. Here's our schedule and if you live nearby please let us know so we can connect!

  • December 13: Koinos Fellowship, Troy OH Morning Worship Service.
  • January 1: Ole Miss vs Oklahoma State in the 2016 Sugar Bowl.
  • January 4 to 9: Stateside Conference at International Learning Center, Virginia.
  • January 11 to 15: Missions College, International Learning Center, Virginia.
  • January 17: Tillatoba Baptist Church, Tillatoba, MS Morning Worship Service.
  • February 8: Piedmont-Okefenokee Association WMU Meeting, Waycross, Georgia.
  • February 14 to 17: Gulf Coast Baptist Association, Mississippi. Missions Conference.
  • February 28 to March 5: AMP Leadership Meeting. 
  • March 4 to 5: Ignite! Mississippi Acteens Event, Camp Garawaya.
  • April 1 to 3: MS Summer Missions Orientation, Camp Garawaya.
We are thankful for your prayer support for all of these events. Please also pray for the following Unreached People Groups of Mexico. Pray that:
  • they will have access to the Gospel
  • they will be able to understand the Gospel in their heart language
  • they will respond to the Gospel.
Unreached People Groups of Mexico (click the link for more info!):
Surely with all of the resources in the USA church we can find a way to get the Gospel to these last remaining unengaged unreached people groups VERY SOON! Will you pray?

These are also days when we are asking you to support the work of The International Mission Board through giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. When you give to the Lottie Moon Offering people hear about Jesus. Here is a video that will help you understand some of the work going on in southern Mexico:
http://www.imb.org/resources/embedvideos.aspx?mvid=23897

Thank you so much for your prayer support and your financial support.

Merry Christmas!
Jeff, Liesa, Haylee and Jackson


Tuesday, November 10, 2015

10 November 2015 Update!



Please consider supporting the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering through your local church or you can give on-line by clicking HERE. We depend on the generous giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering to support the work that we are doing in southern Mexico. Your giving helps 4,000 missionaries around the world to focus on the Great Commission Task!

We will be traveling around and telling stories about God's Work in southern Mexico over the next few weeks. Here is our schedule:

  • November 9: First Baptist Meridian, MS WMU Luncheon.
  • November 15: First Baptist Kosciusko, MS Morning Worship Service.
  • December 13: Koinos Fellowship, Troy OH Morning Worship Service.
  • December 27: First Baptist Oxford, MS Morning Worship Services.
  • January 17: Tillatoba Baptist Church, Tillatoba, MS Morning Worship Service.
  • February 14 to 17: Gulf Coast Baptist Association, Mississippi. Missions Conference.
If you're in the area of these events please come and see us! 

Thank you for the huge blessing that all of you are to us!

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson Holeman


Monday, November 2, 2015

2 November 2015 Update


Left Behind.

On July 31, 2015 our family departed Oaxaca, Mexico to begin 10 months of Stateside Assignment (STAS). This was only our second time to have a STAS as we were finishing up our 8th year as cross-cultural missionaries. We ended our first missionary term back in 2011 weary and wounded from an intense three and a half years of service. However, as we approached this STAS we weren't at all ready to leave the field. We weren't worn out and we certainly weren't wounded. We had just finished up some of the most rewarding years of our ministry career. All was good! We could see fruit of our labor as so many doors were opening for the Gospel in southern Mexico. We departed for the USA hoping the days would pass quickly until we could get back to Oaxaca.

Then there was the day of the VRI (Voluntary Retirement Initiative) announcement. Our mission agency had stretched the dollars given by Southern Baptists as thin as they could go. Something was going to have to change and that change included the departure of 800 of our 4800 field personnel. Our mentors and heroes were offered an opportunity to 'retire' from their missionary jobs so that the mission agency as a whole could remain financially stable. That day was like a punch in the gut. But, unfortunately, the punches would continue during the months of September and October until today. 

Day after day we checked the VRI list to see who was 'taking it.' We have cried more tears over this than all of the funerals we have endured in our lives. You see, it's not just our colleagues who are being called away from their assignments. It is about LOST PEOPLE. Millions of lost people in the Americas with less of a chance to hear about Jesus. Millions of lost people in the Americas with less of chance to be discipled in healthy ways. Millions of lost people in the Americas with less of chance to understand their opportunity to take the Gospel to their own people and to the ends of the earth. Day after day it was another series of punches to our hearts as we realized that there was nothing we could do to stop this.

Today, some of the hemorrhaging stopped. Today was the deadline for those 'taking the VRI.' Tomorrow there will be no surprises. We know tonight which of our colleagues are headed home to either retire or to raise funds and get back to their mission field. We also know who is left behind to pick up the pieces. In the Americas, we have lost 40% of our IMB missionaries. We have lost over 3,000 years of missionary experience. Most of my colleagues who were on my favorites list to call when I was facing a problem are in transition. In a way I have felt left behind. Lost. Empty. Tired. Up against a wall. My heroes are leaving.

BUT GOD. 

Ephesians 2
4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 

But God is not surprised by all of this. He knew when we departed Oaxaca on July 31 that all of this was going to unfold before us. We had no clue but He has all of the clues. He has a plan. He is going to show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us. He is going to pick up the pieces and will lead us. He will teach us how to work through this disaster. He has taken us from death to life and He will take those who are left behind and accomplish His purposes.

Why? Because of LOST PEOPLE. God deserves to be worshipped by millions in the Americas who have yet to understand the Gospel. Lost people matter to our Father and He is in an unending pursuit of them and we are joining Him in that chase. We have significant challenges to work through but those who are leaving will be the biggest supporters for those of us left behind. 

We will soon have 800 of the most intense prayer warrior heroes on the planet invading Southern Baptist churches in the USA. I bet they are going to be somewhat rambunctious. Our colleagues 'taking' the VRI might be in transition but they are certainly not in retreat. They are ready to make sure a VRI never, ever, ever happens again and that those of us who are left behind and those that are preparing to be sent are the most prayed for, best trained, and most empowered missionaries to ever answer the call. There is a vision of multiple pathways and limitless numbers of missionaries. If that is going to happen then our heroes are going to be used by God to make it happen. They are not going to relent. Why? Because of LOST PEOPLE.

Those of us left behind? It is time for us to step up to the plate and lead Southern Baptists to the ends of the earth. It is time for us to raise the bar beyond mission tourism and 'feel good' missions and take people in the pews by the hand and lead them to engage in the only task that matters and that is making sure our Father's name is famous in every city, in every village, in every tribe, and in every tongue. He is worthy. Our heroes are getting in position to support us. Let's get to work! There is a plentiful harvest that is waiting.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

11 October 2015 Update!

Greetings from Oxford, Mississippi!

We have finished up two months of our Stateside Assignment in the USA. Stateside Assignment is time for missionaries to come off their field of service and get reconnected with family/friends, recharge their faith, and advocate for our financial support (Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering). We are blessed that our sending church, First Baptist Oxford, MS, is taking such great care of us while we spend about 10 months in the USA. We will return to the field near the end of May 2016. We are very much enjoying our time with friends and family.

Thank you all for praying. We are certainly staying busy! Haylee is doing great at Mississippi College and Jackson is settling in to life as a high school junior at Oxford High School. Liesa and Jeff are busy serving in various ways in our church and community and also speaking at several churches. We appreciate your prayers!

We've got a busy few weeks ahead! Please join us in praying for:

  • Jackson is a busy young man! School, Football, Soccer coming up, church, friends. Lots of things that are competing for his time. Pray for him to manage it all well.
  • Haylee is at Mississippi College and is learning how all of the college life stuff works. Pray for her to continue to excel as a college freshman.
  • Liesa is working at a local elementary school with immigrant kids who are transitioning to the language and culture of Mississippi. She's loving what she is doing. Pray for opportunities to build relationships with the mothers of these students.
  • Jeff is helping out at First Baptist Oxford as Missionary in Residence. This involves a lot of things but the priority is helping out with the mission focus of the church. FBC Oxford is one of those churches that has the potential to literally touch a huge part of our world. Pray for this great church!
We have some important events coming up that you can pray for:
  • October 26. Baptist Campus Ministry at McNeese State University.
  • November 9. First Baptist Meridian WMU.
  • November 15. First Baptist Kosciusko, MS.
  • November 17. Ole Miss Baptist Student Union.
  • November 28 to December 4. Americas Affinity Meeting.
  • December 11 to 14. Koinos Fellowship in Troy, OH.
Thank you all for your prayer support and your financial support through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson

**I want to invite all of you to an upcoming training event in Virginia. The dates are January 11 to 16, 2016. The event is called "Missions College" and is for anyone and everyone who are interested in joining in the work going on in Mexico. Click HERE to get more information and/or register. We'd love to see you there!

**Here's how your giving supports the work of missionaries around the world (Click to Enlarge):

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

15 September 2015 Update!

Greetings from Oxford, Mississippi!

We continue to enjoy our time of Stateside Assignment here in Oxford, Mississippi. The hot humid days of August have transitioned into cool nights of September and everyone is anticipating a fantastic fall in Mississippi. Friends, Family, Football, and First Baptist Oxford have dominated our time so far and we're having a great time.

Thank you all for praying. Even while away from Oaxaca, we continue to hear how the Father continues to work and is calling out more of our Mexican brothers and sisters into his harvest fields. Here in Oxford, our sending church, First Baptist Oxford, continues to amaze us as they touch the world every day. Haylee is doing great at Mississippi College and Jackson is adjusting well at Oxford High School. Liesa is volunteering at a local school helping immigrant kids transition to school life in Mississippi. Jeff is helping out at First Baptist Oxford in various ways. So, life is busy but good!

We have some upcoming events that you can join with us to pray for:

  • September 16-17: Jeff will be visiting the church planters in New Orleans working with the North American Mission Board. Pray for good connections and for some opportunities for these new churches to be involved with the work in southern Mexico.
  • September 27 to October 5: Jeff will be a part of a meeting in Mexico of IMB personnel in the region to plan a prepare for future work in the Americas.
  • October 7: Liesa will be speaking to the WMU at First Baptist Clinton, MS.
I want to invite all of you to an upcoming training event in Virginia. The dates are January 11 to 16, 2016. The event is called "Missions College" and is for anyone and everyone who are interested in joining in the work going on in Mexico. Click HERE to get more information and/or register. We'd love to see you there!

Thank you for all who are a part of our team as you pray. We are so grateful for your prayer support and your financial support through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering!

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson



Tuesday, August 18, 2015

18 August 2015 Update!

Hello from Oxford, MS!

We are settling in to life in Mississippi. Jackson is immersed in life at Oxford High School and we're getting Haylee ready to move to Mississippi College this weekend. Liesa and Jeff are serving as Missionaries In Residence with our home, sending church, First Baptist Oxford. It was very difficult for us to leave behind our friends and family in Oaxaca but we are enjoying our time reconnecting with our friends and family in Mississippi. We are all having our 'culture re-entry' moments but all is going well. We are so grateful for your prayer support!

We'd love to have you join us in praying for these requests!
  • Pray that our work with First Baptist Oxford would be an encouragement and would help reach the lost of our community.
  • Pray for Jackson as he adjusts to life in Mississippi and at Oxford High School. LOTS of interesting conversations to come over these next few months.
  • Pray for Haylee as she begins her college career at Mississippi College. Pray for her to find great friends, learn to discipline her time, and for the Father to direct her steps.
And, continue to pray for southern Mexico. Here are some links to some great stories about what the Father is doing through our amazing team and partners in Oaxaca. Just click the links:
Thank you so much for your prayer support and your giving through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering!

You all are a blessing!
Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson

Here are some photos of life in Mississippi...

It's a little toasty.
Yummy!
The Oxford Square. (aka, the center of the universe.)

Our sweet little neighborhood in Oxford.

I get to jog through the Ole Miss campus every day.
Somebody's gotta do it.

Jackson is in 11th Grade at Oxford High!

Our Football Americano player.

She got her license!

2015 Missionary Kid Re-Entry Retreat!

Thursday, July 30, 2015

30 July 2015 Update!

STATESIDE ASSIGNMENT.

Those two words mean a lot to a missionary with the IMB. Every 3 to 4 years we are able to leave our field of service and travel to our USA homes for a time of reconnecting with family and friends. For the next few months we will be living in Oxford, Mississippi. We are very much looking forward to our time in the USA but we will miss our family here in Oaxaca very much. Such is the life of missionaries. Here are few prayer requests:
  1. Pray for us as we adjust to life in Oxford, MS. Oxford is home and so is Oaxaca. Pray that we will be content wherever the Father places us.
  2. Jackson will be attending Oxford High School this year. Pray for him as he adjusts to a new school and new friends.
  3. Haylee is heading off to Mississippi College in August. Pray for her as she adjusts to a new season of life.
  4. Liesa and Jeff will be serving as missionaries in residence at First Baptist Church, Oxford, MS. Pray for us to serve faithfully.
  5. Most importantly, pray for Oaxaca. Pray for the team we are leaving behind. Pray for the untold thousands of villages in southern Mexico who are waiting for someone to bring a message of hope.
We are so grateful for your prayer support. If you're in the Oxford area please let us know. We'd love to see all of you.

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee and Jackson Holeman

Monday, July 20, 2015

20 July 2015 Update!


Wow. Time has certainly 'flewn' by for us in southern Mexico. Thank you so much to all of you who are so faithful to pray and encourage us in serving the Father down here in Oaxaca. You are so very important to the work that the Father is doing here. I agree with Tozer who said, 'Prayer is the most sacred occupation a person could engage in." Thank you for your partnership through prayer.

Let me give you some highlights of the last few weeks (You can click on the photo to enlarge):


Jeff's Mom came to visit. Here she is
standing in front of the ruins in Mitla. 
This is a group of our summer students teaching English
in a village. We use English as a way to share the Gospel.
Six Languages gathered in Oaxaca to translate
Bible Stories into the indigenous languages.
Training and Investing in students is a huge part of our work
in southern Mexico. Here is a photo of one of our training sessions
being led by Frank and Phoebe Harrison.
These ladies. AWESOMENESS. Great missionaries.
Many of the awesome Summer 2015 Student Team.
Lottie Moon likes to take people around in the back of her truck.
Liesa being Liesa.
The team from Springdale Baptist, Attala County, Mississippi did some
great work in Oaxaca while they were here.
Haylee, Jackson and a couple of their Mexican cousins.
We were able to get back to Costa Rica and visit
our old neighborhood. Our former house has had an upgrade!
Fun times in Costa Rica with the World's Best Missionary Kids!
If you can gather a crowd then tell them a story from God's Word.
It's just that simple!
Visiting folks in their home is a great honor. Here is our
friend Jasmine talking with a man in a village. He had
some AWESOME stories to tell about His life.
You gotta do whatcha gotta do.
Eating Tlayudas right off the comal is such a burden.
Sucking that Starbucks down at the Mexico City airport.
Emily being Emily. #JesusWithSkinOn
We work hard and then we play hard.
Listening to Ben. Anyone around Ben listens to Ben. A lot.
(Just picking on you, Ben.)
Mike 'Teddy Bear' Tomes loving on some kids.
This pretty much sums up how we all feel today after
an action-packed seven weeks!

These past few months have been great ones in Oaxaca. Over the past few months we have seen the Father open doors into new communities and relationships, bring new people to faith in Jesus, and call out more workers for the harvest. You are a part of that as you pray and give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. We are so grateful for your support.

We'll be heading to the USA on July 31 for a time of Stateside Assignment. We'll be in Oxford, Mississippi until June of 2016. If you're in/around Oxford please let us know. We'd love to catch up with you.

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee and Jackson

Sunday, June 21, 2015

21 June 2015 Update!

Greeting from Costa Rica!

No, you didn't slip back in time to 2008 when we were here to learn Spanish. We're here this week for the 2015 Missionary Kid Retreat. We are blessed to be a part of a team of Super Stars to love on and teach God's Word to over 40 kid missionaries from all over the Americas.

Please join us this week in praying for these requests:

  1. Pray for the Missionary Kids to have life-changing experiences with our great God!
  2. Pray for the team from Community Church Oxford, MS who are leading the teaching of God's Word this week.
  3. Pray for our team in Oaxaca who so beautifully serve while we are away.
  4. Pray for the people we encounter here at the hotel in Costa Rica to see Christ in us.
Thank you for your prayer support!

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee and Jackson

Monday, June 8, 2015

8 June 2015 Update!

Hola from Oaxaca!

We've had a busy couple of weeks! Here are some highlights:
  • Haylee Graduated High School! Time surely does fly when you are having fun and these past 18 years with Haylee have been some great ones. Graduation Week was a blessing and we are so proud of the young woman Haylee has become. She spent the week after graduation in Mississippi attending orientation at Mississippi College. She'll be moving to Clinton, MS in late August!
Haylee is now a graduate of Oaxaca Christian School.
  • Jackson finished 10th grade! No homework until August! Jackson finished another great year of school with tremendous grades and big plans to sleep late and not get dressed unless forced to do so.
Left to Right: Jackson, Aaron, and Haylee.
  • Our 2015 Summer Student Team Arrived! We have 15 students from all over the USA who have come to Oaxaca to serve for 7 weeks. Pray for this great crew of students who will involved in a variety of ministries among several people groups.
The Summer 2015 Team.
  • Plane tickets (and Ole Miss Season Football Tickets) are purchased for Stateside Assignment! Every few years we are able to come home to the USA for several months. We'll arrive in Oxford, MS on August 2 and we plan to be there until June 2016. We're excited to be serving as Missionaries-in-Residence at First Baptist, Oxford, our sending church.
Lots of W's headed our way.

Thank you for your prayer support!
Jeff, Liesa, Haylee and Jackson.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

17 May 2015 Update!

A HUGE THANK YOU to all who are praying with us and for us. We are so grateful for your prayer support and you need to know that it makes a difference in the lives of many. Don't give up and/or let up! We are very dependent on your partnership though prayer.  Here are some updates:
  • Your prayer support for the team retreat in early May was appreciated. We had a great time of training and fun with several of our teammates that we don't get to see very often. 
  • Keep your prayer support going to Karen (Smith) Eaton and her team from Texas State University. They arrived last night and will be with us this week.
  • Several of our USA Partners came to Oaxaca over the past few weeks. Urbancrest, Sonrise, and 2nd Baptist all sent teams who were able to see the Father working through them. These USA churches are committed to being THE MISSIONARY to their people groups. Continue to pray for them.


Remember to keep praying for our 2015 Summer Student Team. The majority of this crew arrives on June 1 and will serve until July 19. Please join us in praying for them by name as often as you can.

Orientation Helper: Jasmine (and her daddy!)

Zapotec Village Disciple Makers
  1. Brooke
  2. Tory
  3. Devin
Chontal Village Disciple-Makers
  1. Anna
  2. Brittany
  3. Kate
Disciple Making and Teaching English
  1. Erika
  2. Rachel
  3. Lauren
  4. Gabriella
  5. Anna
Disciple Making and Sports Ministry
  1. James
  2. Matthew
  3. Charlie
  4. Emily
  5. Josh
Endeavor Team  Will arrive June 20 and depart July 20.
  1. Faith
  2. Caroline
  3. Hope
  4. Mary
  5. Sara
  6. Rachel


Haylee is graduating on May 28! Here are some recent photos of some of the celebration. (You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)


On the way to the Class of 2015 Banquet.

They clean up well!

Oaxaca Christian School Class of 2015.

















































There is still a great opportunity for you to pray for the Unreached People of Southern Mexico. Please click HERE to visit the website or you can go HERE to the Facebook page. There is a new request each day during the month of May.

Thank you all for praying!

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson