More Office Pics

Here are more pictures of the new office. Enjoy!

This is the front door! You would never be able to tell how much room there was just from looking at the front door, would you? We will eventually put in a sign on the second floor, about where that red paint is.

I am standing at the glass doors looking into the back warehouse area. On the right is the kitchen and on the left is room with just a half wall where we have all our kids supplies.

Now I'm in the very back corner looking at that room with the half wall. On the far left is the door into the front area of the office.

Looking at that back corner where I was just standing to take that last picture.

This is the entrance to the kitchen, with the cabinets and counter top installed and looking really nice.

Between the front part of the office and the warehouse space in the back are two bathrooms (we need to install a door for one of them so we can get rid of the shower curtain) and a service room for cleaning supplies, etc.

Does that give you a better idea about the new place? Once again, it wasn't that I didn't like the other pictures that I posted, they just didn't show off how huge this space is! : )

New Office

We moved the church office this weekend. This will actually only be the second office that we've had, since we'd been in the first office for around four years now, I think! This new place kind of fell into our laps. The owners are neighbors of Sam and Ann and showed up one day asking if we were interested in looking at it. It's on the same street as where we meet on Sunday, just about two blocks down. The rent is cheaper than what we are paying now. And the best part is there is a large warehouse area in the back that we can use for kids classes on Sundays. I mentioned a few months back that we've been having around 20 kids on Sundays, which is a great thing, but the space that we are currently using doesn't lend itself very well to that many kids. Well, once we have the new office up and running, we can take the kids down there on Sundays and they can scream and shout and sing and jump around and not bother anyone! I think they are as excited about it as we are. : ) Here are a few pics of the new place, although they aren't the greatest. I promise to go down there this week and take some better ones (not that the photographer didn't do an amazing job, just that they don't capture how big the space is). We still have some work to do to get it ready, such as putting in tile and a couple of doors and painting, but it has great potential. Praise the Lord for answers to prayer!

This is standing at the door looking into the front of the office. Behind the wall on the right are two bathrooms and a washroom. The glass door in the middle opens into the warehouse space in the back. We are planning to tile the rest of this room, since it kind of stops half way right now, and also painting it, since this will be the first thing people see when they walk in.

Now we are standing close to the glass doors looking at the entrance. Once again, this will be our main office space.

This is the best picture I have of the warehouse space in the back, which is really sad because you can only see about a third of it! At least you can see how far back it goes. On the right is a kitchen (currently without a sink, but hopefully that will be fixed soon!).

This is one corner of the warehouse space. We are storing all of our kids material in this little area, in an effort to keep little hands out of it all. : )

Here are the guys installing the kitchen cabinets that we'd bought for the other office but fit wonderfully here!

Like I said, I promise to get better pictures this week. But I figure something is better than nothing, right?

Update on José Luís 6

I've been meaning to update all week, but I was waiting for some information, which I will share with you in a minute. First off, let me tell you that José Luís is doing really well. The doctors were really surprised at how fast he was healing from the surgery, which is why they let him go home on Wednesday. He spent a few days resting at his house (as much resting as he could do with half the city stopping by to see how he was doing!) and actually made it to church on Sunday! He was using a cane and had to stay seated the entire time, but the fact that he was there was a miracle in itself. He has his stitches taken out on Tuesday and continues to recover. And he is in amazingly good spirits about the whole thing. We are all so thankful for what the Lord has done in him and the plans that he has for José Luís and Adriana!
We've mentioned on here a couple of times their financial situation. We wanted to give you all a chance, if you would like to, to help the Gaona family in this time. If you are interested in sending money to them, please let me know. I will be happy to get that information to you. Just make a comment here with an e-mail address or a way for me to get a hold of me or send me an e-mail if you have my e-mail address. Thank you for whatever help you can send and most of all for your prayers for the Gaonas.

Update on José Luís 5

Just wanted to let you all know that José Luís went home from the hospital yesterday. I just talked to him and he says he is doing much better and is glad to be home. He also is so thankful for your prayers. He is well aware that it is because of God's power and your prayers that he is still alive. Jeanine and I went to visit him on Tuesday when he was still in the hospital and he said maybe one of the reasons this happened to him and not someone else was because God knew he could handle it and survive. He said that if it had been another one of his taxi driver buddies, they might not have been strong enough. I was amazed by his faith and trust in God. He said he felt peaceful and calm the entire time and he knows that was God with him. I can't wait to hear him share his testimony years from now of how God used this to draw him closer and to help him proclaim God's kingdom even more!
As I've mentioned before, please continue to pray for a quick recovery and also for José Luís and Adriana's financial situation, as he will be out of work for at least a month.
The Lord is good all the time!

Update on José Luís 4

Ann updated this morning with the following:

Jose Luis had surgery on Sunday night and all went well. He had a laceration to his liver that was repaired, and no other organ damage. We praise God for that! He had a difficult time coming out of the anesthesia with vomiting and nausea and was in quite a bit of pain for the first 24 hours. He is now doing much better and able to sit up at least. I would suppose that he will be going home in the next day or two.
What has happened is a terrible thing and reminds us that we live in a fallen world. With the many questions and uncertainties, Victoria asked why something so terrible happened to Jose Luis since he loves God...a reminder of the battles we fight. And yet, this has already been such an amazing testimony and praise of God's greatness and love! Now that Jose Luis has been feeling well enough to tell more details of the story, it is only by the grace of God that he is alive. He was stabbed three times in the chest and abdomen and only his liver was nicked. He was able to get away from his assailants and get help very quickly (although it seemed like an eternity to him). The guys that assaulted him were planning to kidnap him for ransom money (this does not usually have a good outcome) and they had guns which they didn't use -- maybe God silenced the mouths of the guns! There is no doubt that Jose Luis' testimony about all this will be to glorify God.
The other beautiful part of this is to see how the community of Christ here has truly become family and truly reflects the love of God. Sunday night we called everyone so that they could be praying for him. Little did we know that most of them would show up at the hospital that very night to encourage and pray for Jose Luis and his family. Everyone is pouring out their love and service to them, and we rejoice to see that!
There is still a long road to recovery for Jose Luis and he and Adriana's big concern are finances, since he will not be able to work for a while, but we serve a mighty God and know that He will provide for them abundantly more than we can ask or imagine. Thank you for praying and keep praying with us for this family. The out pour we have felt from each of you has been equally overwhelming for us.

Update on José Luís 3

One more update tonight. Sam went back to the hospital this afternoon and José Luís seemed to be doing much better. He was sitting up in bed and even wanted to walk around, although I don't know if he did or not. I know that it was good for Adriana to see him on the mend and somewhat back to normal. Adriana and the kids seem to be doing fine. The kids spent the day at Sam and Ann's house, since they are just across the street. Hopefully they will get some good rest tonight knowing that José Luís is doing better. Still no exact word as to when he will get out of the hospital. I don't think he'll be there more that another day or two, but I'll let you know more when I know it. As always, thanks for the prayers!

Update on José Luís 2

I got back from the hospital a little while ago. I didn't actually see José Luís (based on my past record of hospital visits, I decided it wouldn't be the best idea), but Sam went up to see him and said he's doing well, although he is in a lot of pain. There is still some question as to whether he was stabbed in the kidney or the liver, but whichever it was, it's been sewn up and seems to be fine. Like I said in the last update, the main concern now is the possibility of infection. Please continue praying for a speedy recovery!

Update on José Luís

Good morning! I just wanted to let you know that José Luís is out of surgery and stable. I'm heading to the hospital in about 15 minutes so I'll give you more information when I get back. Please continue to pray for him and his family. Specifically pray against infection and pray for a quick recovery. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Urgent Prayer Request

This is an update that Ann wrote here. PLEASE be praying.

My plans for tonight were to tuck the kids in for an early bedtime (in preparation for school tomorrow), and catch up on all our holiday activities on the blog. Instead, I come to you to ask that you pray with me and with the church here for our neighbor, Jose Luis. He and his family have been a part of this community of believers from the very beginning and are strong leaders in the church.
Jose Luis is a taxi driver, and this evening as we pulled in the drive way his wife, Adriana, came to find us. She received a call that he had been assaulted in his taxi and was at the hospital. Sam quickly went with her and found that he had been stabbed and that his liver was probably damaged. Jose Luis is in surgery as we speak.
His two children, Gloria and Jose, are here and have finally settled down. I think that Victoria has finally given into sleep also (tomorrow will be tough). Please pray with us that God will protect and heal him; that this will be a testimony of God's greatness; for peace in Adriana, Gloria and Jose's lives as the walk the unexpected, and for financial provision as he won't be able to work for sometime, I am sure.