August, 2009

Dear Friends,

Last month we had a very special family time here in Guatemala to honor my mother.  We wanted to publically thank God for the spiritual heritage that began with my mom's family (Moss) along with my dad's family (Kadera) when they both became Christians.  That spiritual legacy has now been passed along through four generations and those four generations participated in what we call in Spanish an "Acción de Gracias" which translated means an "act of thanksgiving."  Along with about 150 of our friends in one of our local VERBO churches my brother, Kent, and I led our family in testifying to God's goodnesss and challenging us all to continue the spiritual legacy that we have received.  It was a very moving experience for us all.

On Sunday, June 21st, the day after the "Acción de Gracias" for my mom, we held a commissioning service for Laura at VERBO Villa Lobos, the church that Sandy and I are pastoring.  Laura has been accepted by VERBO Christian Ministries to return to Guatemala as a full-time missionary and so we prayed for her and set her apart for the Lord's service (Acts 13:2).  Its was a very special to have Mom Kadera and almost all the family present to rejoice together as Laura took this important step of faith.

Laura is here until mid-August, helping us with our youth ministry at Villa Lobos and also working with the youth on the national level.  She is half-way through a two year dsicipleship program at a church in Roseville, CA, that several of our VERBO young people have received.  This year VERBO began the same type of discipleship (called Destino) here in Guatemala with 8 young people.  When Laura finishes her program she will be returning to Guatemala to work full-time with the Destino (Destiny) program.

We are of course very excited about Laura having been accepted to return to work full-time with our VERBO youth.  And Lord willing in a couple of years we hope to have VERBO Villa lobos solidly established with local leadership so that we can dedicate the rest of our years of ministry to working with young people on a national level and especially with the Destino program.

We covet your prayers for Laura as follows in obedience to the Lords call on her life to missionary service.  Thank you for your love for our family and your continued support of our ministry.

   In Jesus,

   Dr. Mike and Sandy