Well, I decided to send my family letter through facebook and blogger this year. Since I have a few extra days this month to get things done, I am going to get my "letter of year in review" out early. I have never really done one of these letters for our family but since we are so far from family and friends this year, and God has done so many different and amazing things in our life, I thought I would share early and with everyone we could reach electronically. So here goes......
Just over a year and 4 months ago, God called us to Nicaragua. We have obeyed that call and are currently living in Leon, Nicaragua. It has been a whirlwind of a ride. We moved down here without even knowing where we would be living. God not only provided us with a house but neighbors who spoke english. We have been able to minister to so many people because of the grace and love of God. In January of this year, we met and joined a ministry called Hearts to God. Their focus, dreams and goals are very similar to ours and we have been so very blessed by their willingness to allow us to be part of what they are doing for God. In addition to joining the ministry God answered another great need of ours. We had no mode of transportation down here and this ministry had a vehicle they were very willing to allow us to use while we are here. God continues to pour His blessing down on our family. As we worked with different teams that came down to minister we have met many friends and created long lasting friendships. The children continue to make many friends and find different ways to reach out and touch the children of Nicaragua. The summer months were filled with teams and working with Mrs. Raye Morgan on getting ready to purchase land in La Paz Centro. This community is in great need of food and medical attention. Our hopes and dreams are to start a feeding center on the land that has been purchased and be able to feed in many different barrios in and surrounding La Paz Centro each day. We have been looking to apply to places in the states that will send down food for us to distribute. We continue to pray that God will open doors for us to have food everyday to feed people in La Paz Centro and the surrounding areas. This fall Sierra, John and I had the privilege of teaching a class on leadership and discipleship. Sierra worked with anywhere from 5-20 children while John and I taught the adults about what God expects of leaders in the church and community. By the end of the 12 week session she was doing crafts, videos about Jesus and even teaching from her own knowledge of the Bible. Of course, we had the translator with us in the adult class so she was doing it all on her own. God has again blessed us with a young lady so willing to do God's work and without help from a translator. I am so proud of her and her language abilities over the past many months.
Caleb has continued to grow and change as well. He has gone from a young boy to a young man. He has learned to adapt to change and even has grown in the area of language. What seemed so hard to him while we were in the states has become less of a challenge for him and he is excelling. I am also very proud of how God has worked in his life and he has been such a willing vessel to do what God asks of him. Never would I have thought he would have the courage to share the Gospel with a complete stranger in a language unknown to him before this past year. God is such an amazing God. Without a doubt, my faith and understanding of God continues to grow and change as I am able to see how He works and what part I am to play in His great plan.
Kyle continues to change as well. He received glasses just about one month ago and he felt it was going to calm him down a bit. He said it helped him to feel more in control. We continue to pray for God to help him with his distractions and I continue to believe God is doing a great work in him. Many times he has shared the Gospel and people have made decisions to follow Christ. It will be just a matter of time before he is out there changing the world on a greater scale.
Sydney is also continuing to grow and change. When we left the states she was 4 and as the year comes to an end she is heading into her 6th year of life. Her red hair is an awe inspiring thing down here and many people see her as a beauty to behold. She is constantly kissed, touched, looked at and talked about as we walk the streets. She is such a beautiful little girl. She has learned to love the Lord and allow people to touch her without crying or cringing. She is a real trouper. We are very happy that she is reading and just needs to continue to practice to improve. We weren't sure how it would all work out with hearing and learning a new language before she was reading english but again God has allowed us to be very blessed and she is reading and learning a new language at the same time. What an amazing God to make our brains so versatile.
For many months now, we have been spending our fridays feeding families all over our part of Nicaragua. We bring a bag of food containing rice, beans, tomatoes, peppers, onions, oil, potatoes, carrots, plantains or other vegetables and share the Gospel with them. God has given Sierra, Caleb, and Kyle the ability and courage to share every week and even now Sydney talks about practicing so she can do the same soon. I can only imagine how people will respond when a 5 year old shares the Gospel and asks if they want to pray the sinners prayer.
The people of Nicaragua are so patient and willing to listen if only there were enough workers to bring in the harvest. Sierra has even been courageous enough to share in spanish without a translator and the lady that listened was so very patient and in the end made a decision for Christ in spite of the broken spanish. I have no doubt God was the interpreter for Sierra and the lady heard exactly what God wanted her to hear.
John continues to astound me with his abilities to preach. He has had many opportunities to preach and share the Good news. His courage is way beyond what I would have ever guess he had in the states. God again is changing and shaping us into what He wants for our lives. I am humbled by what I see God doing each day in our lives. We continue to be willing to do whatever God asks of us and pray that much harder that Satan will be bound.
We have had a few struggles this year but nothing to compare to the blessings and changes God has given us and blessed us with. The kids are happy here and so are we. We wouldn't want to be anywhere else unless God asks us to move. We know without a shadow of a doubt this is where He wants us and we are content to do His will.
We pray for our family and friends we have left in the states and Canada and around the world. Your prayers and support have allowed us to stay down here and continue to do the will of God. All of us would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May your eyes be opened this coming year to all the amazing things that God will do for you.
Much love and prayers for you all,
Vanessa Speigle and family.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Positivity!
One of the biggest things I struggle with is negativitiy. I don't normally have the "cup is half full" opinion of life. I call it living in reality but truth be known it probably more like being negative about life. I bring this up because I have just finished reading a book about the power of God's word and how to use it. For example, God says He does all things for our good and if we have even the smallest amount of faith we can move mountains. My thought is if I continue to walk around being "in reality" but talk negativily about life then I am going against what God has said in the Bible. I am challenged this week to realize no matter what is happening in my life God is working for my good. That means even when I don't see it, I should be worshipping, praising and thanking God for what He is doing because it is for my good. I pray that God will change my "cup" from half empty to half full. I long to be a positive person and be able to show the world all the great things God has done, will do and is doing in my life. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
1 Timothy
I have started an interesting Bible study this past week. The topic is 1 & 2 Timothy. I am excited to find out more about these books and learn from the speaker. It seems fitting to study these books because we are also studing the history of the church with the kids. You know, we moved many times in my life growing up and I never thought it affected me much. However, I married a man who lived in the same house his whole life. He is very rooted, so rooted that the street they live on is named after his family. I have come to appreciate what he grew up with more and more. I long to give my children a foundation and roots that go deep into God's word. Everything in this world will pass away but if I ground my children in eternal things, I am hopeful they will stay strong through it all.
The first chapter of Timothy which is the focus for this week has taught me many things. I want to share with you some of the versus to think about as well. He is talking about the false teachings happening in the church and is asking Timothy to stop the people who are teaching wrong information about Jesus. He says, "They promote contraversies rather than God's work-which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith." Faith is a very difficult thing to obtain. It is hard to hold onto. Yet, God says if we have faith like a mustard seed we can move mountains. I was just talking with a friend down here about this idea of faith. I liked his idea that we focus too much on the size of the seed and forget the message. The message God is giving us through this passage is that we are to believe that we can do anything. Instead of saying, "move this mountain" I would encourage you to fill in the blank with your troubles or anxieties. For examply, you could say, "heal my son" or "bring my family closer to God" or any number of other things you could ask God for because we have the faith but sometimes forget. God is in the business of doing miracles and when we limit Him to only what we think is possible we are short changing God's power.
Now back to the Bible study comments......
Two things, if you keep reading in the passage you discover God came to save everyone. He lists many different groups of people here.....lawbreakers, rebels, ungodly, unholy, sinful, murderers, adulterers, abusers, liars, slave traders and more. I think sometimes we forget it was not for the righteous that Jesus came but for the unrighteous. It seems if we are not wearing the right clothes, saying the right things and have the right stuff we are sometimes not accepted by our peers and even in our churches. We need to remind ourselves the reason Jesus forgave us was so that we could do the same for others no matter what or who they are. I was talking with my children about this scripture and Kyle said to me, "so next time we go out on the street and give away food we should give food to everyone." My heart was warmed by his comment because he not only was beginning to understand what the scripture is saying but he is also realizing the need of the people.
The last comment I have about the passage this morning is from the 12th verse on. Paul is writing about the fact that he was such a terrible person before he knew Christ and after he received Christ on the road to Damascus he was forever changed. I had a lady here in Nicaragua share with me her testimony. It was a very difficult life she has had to lead from a young age. Later, she asked me if what she had shared had made me no longer want to be her friend because of all the difficulties she had to go through. I told her without a doubt, when someone shares their life story it only draws people closer not pushes them away. Tears welled in her eyes. I just don't think there are many people who have welcomed her as a result of her testimony. I am learning there are certain people and activites here in Nicaragua that are frowned upon by the majority of people and if for some reason someone ends up having to do those things they are ostresized and rejected by the people. I am learning that perhaps God has brought us down here to undo some of that dislike and rejection. I continue to spend time with this lady and care for her and love her. I want her and many others to realize just because we have done bad things in the past doesn't mean we should send people away. If that were the case, then there would have been no reason for Jesus to die on the cross. If fact, I feel so strongly about the whole thing, I believe that is just about the only reason Jesus came. He wanted to save people just like my friend and me. Everybody has a story to tell, some stories may not be as dramatic but in the end we are all sinners and Jesus came for that very reason. His sacrifice on the cross was our path to eternal forgiveness and redemption. If we as Christians can not accept the people who are sinners(which would be everyone) then we are missing the point of scriptures.
I would encourage you to think about the people you come in contact with daily. Are they the people whom Jesus died for? If so, share with them about what Jesus has done for you. Give them an opportunity to meet the King eternal, immortal, invisible, only God and see how it will change their lives and yours.
The first chapter of Timothy which is the focus for this week has taught me many things. I want to share with you some of the versus to think about as well. He is talking about the false teachings happening in the church and is asking Timothy to stop the people who are teaching wrong information about Jesus. He says, "They promote contraversies rather than God's work-which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith." Faith is a very difficult thing to obtain. It is hard to hold onto. Yet, God says if we have faith like a mustard seed we can move mountains. I was just talking with a friend down here about this idea of faith. I liked his idea that we focus too much on the size of the seed and forget the message. The message God is giving us through this passage is that we are to believe that we can do anything. Instead of saying, "move this mountain" I would encourage you to fill in the blank with your troubles or anxieties. For examply, you could say, "heal my son" or "bring my family closer to God" or any number of other things you could ask God for because we have the faith but sometimes forget. God is in the business of doing miracles and when we limit Him to only what we think is possible we are short changing God's power.
Now back to the Bible study comments......
Two things, if you keep reading in the passage you discover God came to save everyone. He lists many different groups of people here.....lawbreakers, rebels, ungodly, unholy, sinful, murderers, adulterers, abusers, liars, slave traders and more. I think sometimes we forget it was not for the righteous that Jesus came but for the unrighteous. It seems if we are not wearing the right clothes, saying the right things and have the right stuff we are sometimes not accepted by our peers and even in our churches. We need to remind ourselves the reason Jesus forgave us was so that we could do the same for others no matter what or who they are. I was talking with my children about this scripture and Kyle said to me, "so next time we go out on the street and give away food we should give food to everyone." My heart was warmed by his comment because he not only was beginning to understand what the scripture is saying but he is also realizing the need of the people.
The last comment I have about the passage this morning is from the 12th verse on. Paul is writing about the fact that he was such a terrible person before he knew Christ and after he received Christ on the road to Damascus he was forever changed. I had a lady here in Nicaragua share with me her testimony. It was a very difficult life she has had to lead from a young age. Later, she asked me if what she had shared had made me no longer want to be her friend because of all the difficulties she had to go through. I told her without a doubt, when someone shares their life story it only draws people closer not pushes them away. Tears welled in her eyes. I just don't think there are many people who have welcomed her as a result of her testimony. I am learning there are certain people and activites here in Nicaragua that are frowned upon by the majority of people and if for some reason someone ends up having to do those things they are ostresized and rejected by the people. I am learning that perhaps God has brought us down here to undo some of that dislike and rejection. I continue to spend time with this lady and care for her and love her. I want her and many others to realize just because we have done bad things in the past doesn't mean we should send people away. If that were the case, then there would have been no reason for Jesus to die on the cross. If fact, I feel so strongly about the whole thing, I believe that is just about the only reason Jesus came. He wanted to save people just like my friend and me. Everybody has a story to tell, some stories may not be as dramatic but in the end we are all sinners and Jesus came for that very reason. His sacrifice on the cross was our path to eternal forgiveness and redemption. If we as Christians can not accept the people who are sinners(which would be everyone) then we are missing the point of scriptures.
I would encourage you to think about the people you come in contact with daily. Are they the people whom Jesus died for? If so, share with them about what Jesus has done for you. Give them an opportunity to meet the King eternal, immortal, invisible, only God and see how it will change their lives and yours.
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