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Gonzalo, our church planter in Tonatico, led the final prayer: "Today, Gonzalo's observation about authentic multiplication lifted my spirit. Christ planted Richarte in the soil of the Tenancingo church plant Your prayers and support have allowed us to plant and water the seed of Please pray for other Mexican leaders that are beginning to bear fruit With Much Love, Chris and Kathy
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Mon Aug 31 23:09:01 2009 We had to write and send a huge, warm THANK YOU to each of you for your amazing support, love, prayers and work in the last several years, and especially last weekend! We could not have asked for a more beautiful or meaningful wake, service and burial for Tom Doddington (Judy’s husband, Kathy’s stepdad). Tom got his grand entrance Friday night that he deserved, but would have never asked for as he arrived abit late to his wake (nasty Friday traffic!)! There was a wonderful time of sharing. It was bittersweet though as it made me miss Tom even more hearing of all his accomplishments and the many ways he touched so many lives through his tireless work for youth in the military and young pilots. Saturday was a full house and complete with Tom’s favorite singer, musicians, preachers, friends and family all together. A top-quality luncheon was provided by the wonderful women of Immanuel for all who were able to stay and indulge. Monday a good sized group gathered at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery near Joliet Il for a very moving ceremony, complete with honor guard, 21 gun salute, and taps. The military that Tom so loved did a fantastic job of honoring him. CHRIS’ VISION has returned about 75% (most days-it comes and goes). He had a 3 hour long visit, repeating all the tests, and the Dr. seems optimistic and says his vision can continue to return for up to 6 months! So he and the kids will hit the highways to return to Mexico on this Monday morning. Kathy will stay a couple extra days to help her mom out, and then fly back to Mexico as well. Thank you again to all who have given of cars, homes, etc. to make this visit as effective and comfortable as possible. We will miss each of you deeply. We could not have gotten through these years, or this weekend without all you of you! We love you. Thank you for loving us so well with the love of Christ! Kathy Gouzoules
Thu Aug 20 13:16:08 2009 The fight is over. The cancer has won this battle. He had surgery 5 months ago! But Jesus has won the victory over death and so while we mourn the loss of a kind, wonderful man, we rejoice to know He is in Presence of His Saviour, and is no longer bed-bound, weak or in pain! Visitation this Friday from 5-8pm and then again on Saturday from10-11am, service at 11am, immediately followed by a luncheon. ALL services will be held at Immanuel Church of Gurnee at 2300 Dilleys Road. Monday, August 24th, burial service at Abraham Lincoln Cemetery in Joliet IL will be at 2pm. (They are closed during weekdays as it is a Federal Cemetery).
Wed Aug 12 10:06:57 2009 -Chris’ continues on steroids for his vision loss. He feels he’s regained about 40% and the Dr. says the recovery process may continue for several weeks. The flashing lights have toned down considerably so that has been very helpful with the headaches and nausea. He says the blackout areas seem more like a black window now, instead of a black wall. -Chris also had a tooth pulled recently and it started getting infected, and is now on antibiotics for that. All of the above has drained a lot of his energy and ‘get-up-and-go’, so if you had hoped to hear from him or see him, and have not, please do not take it personally. Between all of the physical issues, and the other things (see below), he has been pretty depleted. -My step dad (Tom Doddington) continues to be stable although eating less this week, probably due to grief as his sister, Helen, died suddenly of a massive stroke this past week. She was a dear sister, and friend to my mom, Judy, as well and will be deeply missed. We participated in her funeral yesterday (Friday). -Our oldest son, Samuel, fell and hurt his hand and we went for X-rays and a splint yesterday. The Dr. is unsure if it is fractured but wants to repeat the X-rays in 2 weeks (or right before we leave). -And I (Kathy) got my third spinal epidural this past week for nerve pain due to the herniated discs from 2 years ago. It continues to be a very eventful summer—way too many doctors, nursing homes, hospitals and waiting rooms. The kids have been real troopers (in the midst of trying to get their homework done too!) and we are so thankful for the Brooks who have had us at their house (and pool!). It has been a highlight for the kids to be able to swim when we are at home. We need prayer for the above things and also for my mom as she grieves now the loss of a sister-in-law and good friend, the health of her husband and trying to sell her house rather than foreclose. We need DIVINE WISDOM on when I should return to Mexico. Chris is to see the eye Dr. after he finishes the steroid regimen next week and then we will see how the Lord leads. It has been such a difficult time; it is hard to leave the parents now. Some verses the Lord has been drawing me back to all summer: “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” That is my prayer for us all in the middle of these trials. Very challenging! Thank you again for walking along side us on this journey. We could not do it without you. Walking with Him, for Him, in Him. We love you and GRACIAS! Kathy & Chris Gouzoules for the whole family
Wed Jul 29 00:18:06 2009 THANK YOU!!!!!!! God is in control-we appreciated all your words of encouragement these days. We love you! We are so thankful this all happened in the U.S. and we could get good medical treatment in a timely manner and not have to pay it all up front, as we do in Mexico. Kathy & Chris Gouzoules
Fri Jul 24 19:33:42 2009 We wanted to ask you to pause a moment and pray for Chris. About 3 weeks ago he lost vision in half of his left eye. It went black with flashing lights. He drove across the US with our 3 kids to get to IL before my stepdad, Tom Doddington, passed away. Well, mission accomplished (Tom is doing miraculously well since we stopped all treatment!), but Chris’ vision has gotten worse. He went to an ER and an ophthalmologist in Carbondale IL and then to another ophthalmologist in Gurnee IL. Both of these doctors concurred on the initial diagnosis of Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (ION), sort of like a stroke in a vessel in the eye, for which there was not treatment. He was referred to a neurologist of the eyes who says he has Optic Neuritis, which is like a swollen optic nerve, or a type of optic MS-or a symptom of MS (multiple sclerosis). The treatment is aggressive intravenous steroids. We are waiting on the results from the MRI to see if there are any lesions on the brain (indicative of possible MS or other damage). May I add a medical disclaimer at this point about the above information? I personally, have not spoken to any of the doctors, and we are very new to this arena so if I have misrepresented any facts, please forgive me and let me know! Thank you again for your prayers and walking this journey with us, especially through these unknown, curvy paths! We love you, God bless. Kathy & Chris Gouzoules
Fri Jul 17 11:43:26 2009 He was successfully weaned off of the vent in 3 days (something they’d been trying to do for over 2 months!), his kidneys began producing urine again, his blood sugars stabilized (after 5 years of meds!), he woke up, his vital signs are the best they’ve been in 20 years, and most recently began eating(ice cream, yogurt, puddings)! The doctors are confounded and unable to explain his health at this point. We can definitely see the Hand of God in it all although not always sure WHAT He is doing, we are trusting in His Goodness and perfect timing. And we believe God is teaching us all a HUGE lesson: God and God alone determines the date, time and way He takes us home to His arms! This has been a blessing (although emotionally confusing) as we will never look back and wonder if our decisions “hurried” his passing in any way…. The down side is that now he is TOO well to stay at Holy Family, and is being transferred tomorrow (Friday) to Highland Park Nursing and Rehab in Highwood on Pleasant Ave (just east of rte 41, off of 22 or Half Day road). We’ve also learned that Medicare rules the world (at least of medicine) and it is NOT for the average bear…we’ve been told Tom is too sick, not sick enough, needs to much care, not enough care, etc. to “qualify”. Okay, let’s NOT go there! This place will be a lot closer to my mom’s house and work for easier visiting. We also ask for your prayers for my husband (Chris Gouzoules) as he arrived to IL last week after a week long drive with our 3 kids from Mexico with part of his vision gone in his left eye. After many tests and doctor visits, he was diagnosed with ischemic optic neuropathy, something that usually affects people much older. We are trying to get an appointment with an optic neurologist. Anyways, wanted to keep you updated-and ask for your continued prayers, and please feel free to visit Tom-he is enjoying seeing our kids, and loves to have company. Thank you for walking this road we call life together. It’s an honor and such a blessing.
Thu Jul 9 10:47:10 2009 So much better news than a stroke or a torn retina! THANK YOU for praying. The bad news is, Chris will not get to me until tomorrow... ;(But healthy and all in one piece. God bless! Love,
Wed Jul 8 18:19:44 2009 He is in the ER in Carbondale as I write. Could you please stop for 15 seconds and pray for wisdom for the doctors, speedy, accurate diagnosis, and good news. I am waiting to hear what the doctors say, but I am praying about taking the train to Carbondale so I can drive Chris, the kids and the truck here. Need wisdom for that as well...as it would be hard to leave my mom and her husband right now. Thank you for praying and I will keep you updated. Love,
Thu Jun 25 17:41:00 2009 His health has continued to deteriorate in the past couple weeks, including another trip to the ICU. He has since been moved back to a regular unit, but a couple “spots” were detected on his liver and the doctors believe the cancer has spread. His intestines are inflamed and he is unable to handle tube feedings. His kidneys have stopped working. They attempted a couple weeks of dialysis to see if he could overcome this obstacle. It has not worked; the kidneys continue to give very little output. Attempts to wean him off of the ventilator have been unsuccessful. He has another infection somewhere. It has been 3 months! Tom is a fighter and has “fought the good fight” above and beyond what the doctors, or we, could have ever thought was possible. It seems he is in a losing battle, and the end is near, barring a miracle of God. Tom is still at Holy Family Hospital in Des Plaines. He is sleeping a lot but is usually arousable if you’d like to stop by and see him briefly. We would really appreciate your continued prayers as we walk through this valley of the shadow of death. Thank you for all your love, support, emails, calls, visits. We love you. Kathy for the family
Tue Jun 9 18:59:59 2009
Mon Jun 8 12:57:47 2009 Thurs. night he began vomiting (which they did NOT tell my mom). She got a call at work on Friday at noon that he was not breathing well (even on the vent) and that my mom should go there immediately. He was transferred to ICU and they had to give him O2 with an ambu bag b/c even with the vent, he was not breathing well at all…that lasted for TWO hours! A CT scan was done, and they think he might have an intestinal block but want to do a CT with barium later when he is doing better. Tube feeding was backing up into his lungs and not being digested. His kidneys have also decreased drastically in their output since then. Dialysis is an option if things don’t pick up by Tuesday. He also had to get a blood transfusion today (Sunday). And the ‘cherry on top’ is that a spot showed up on his liver in the CT scan…they do not do liver biopsies at Holy Family so he would have to be transferred back to Rush for that procedure. Tom is still totally alert and lucid, which we are wondering if that is a blessing or a curse at this time…He has been through SSSOOO much, and he wants to go ahead with dialysis if necessary. Thankfully the first 9 weeks are a blur and he doesn’t remember anything… Please pray: Thank you for all your calls and visits and prayers. We love you. It’s an honor to walk this journey with you!
Mon May 25 13:39:27 2009 Since we last wrote, Tom began to be abit more alert and then totally disengaged. A Dr. told us it is a called a type of “ICU psychosis” where the patient has to disengage to survive the activity and constant flurry of people that an ICU is known for! The new stent that was placed 2 weeks ago showed signs of having some success but he conintue to have copious secretions and unable to receive tube feedings. I (Kathy) spoke to the main surgeon on Thursday of the past week to get an idea for where he thought Tom was really at in his recovery, or lack of, b/c we had requested a transfer to another hospital before I left the US. I learned a number of things: When Tom had his “near death Sunday night” a few weeks ago, he had not only sepsis (infection of the blood) but also a gram negative pneumonia (one of the most difficult to get over). What did that tell me? Tom is still a fighter, and had survived TWO huge things and was maintaining his blood pressure and pulse for the past 2 weeks pretty stable. The Dr. said Tom could be transferred in the next week, if the facility would accept him. (The nurse liason said they do not accept people there to die or veg indefinitely) Friday (2 days ago) my mom (Judy) gets a call at work that Tom is being transferred to Holy Family Hospital that day!!!! So they took both chest tubes off and sent him off with a kiss and a portable vent! Holy Family is a facility set up for acute and long-term ventilator patients that specializes in working rehab .with the patients while weaning the person from the vent. Since he transferred my mom says he is more alert than he had been in months, (including grabbing her hand again) and making faces to communicate with her. He also got to sleep on his side for the first time in NINE WEEKS (a biggie for us “side-sleepers”). SO, what does all this mean? We don’t know for sure except that it is a gift, and we continue to trust God’s perfect will in His perfect timing! To Him who is able to exceedingly more than we can even ask!!!! Also, if you could/would/like to visit the address is: Thank you again to all of you! We love you!
Sun Mar 8 11:38:57 2009 We hope this email finds each of you surviving winter and looking forward to Spring and the hope it brings. It has been a good and a difficult winter for us, but have been able to see and sense God’s presence and peace in the midst of it. Our outreaches in La Compuerta have been going very well still and we have more adults participating and reaching out to the men there as well as the women and children. We have also opened a somewhat new work in another needy neighborhood, San Jose. We will be doing special “Day of Beauty” the first week in April in these neighborhoods to remind these women that God does see them, and they are His beautiful princesses. Please pray that we may transmit His love and acceptance of them. Many are abused women, single moms and prostitutes. We also began 2 new Bible studies at the church on Wednesday evenings. The women are going through Daniel with Beth Moore, and the men are doing Men’s Fraternity. We’ve had over 50 women each night, and about 35 men. It is exciting to be back leading these precious ones into new freedom and watching them be changed. We received a new missionary family, the Reeds, the first week of December, and it’s been delight to get to know them and their family. We are expecting another new missionary family that will probably be arriving in the next 3-6 months. Please pray that we can prioritize our time and schedules to lead our family, our missionaries and leaders and our church well. There is more transition in the future as our youth and worship pastor Abram will be leaving with his family in June for 1 year. This will leave a huge hole in our church and we are praying for new leadership to step up and take his place. Pastor Richarte has also had to step out of some ministries due to serious health issues. These godly leaders are not easy to replace and as you have seen with us, raising up leaders is a long, complex process, but we are trusting that God has some already prepared. Please pray for Divine wisdom and discernment. We mentioned in our last update that we were doing some extensive testing on our youngest son, Nico. After doing a psychological evaluation, an EEG, a CT scan and several trips to the neurologist in Toluca, we are pleased to report that we finally have some answers and some very positive results. He has neurons in his brain misfiring at random, and ADHD (big surprise, huh?). He is on 2 medications and not only has his performance at school improved 110%, but his dramatic mood swings have evened out some. He is also very pleased with his behavior in school, and loves to read now! What a blessing. Thank you for your prayers for us. On a personal note, we would very much appreciate your prayers for Kathy’s stepfather, Tom, who was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer with some in the stomach. He had a stroke last April, and had been working very hard in recuperating mobility, strength, etc. Please pray for Kathy’s mom as she continues to have to work full-time. Surgery is scheduled for March 18th and is very, very extensive. Also, one of our dearest friends, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and we know her, and her family, would appreciate your prayers. Another dear sister battles renal cell carcinoma and may be in her last weeks. We are furious at the enemy and we feel the creation “groaning” to be redeemed, as we do, looking forward to perfect bodies and no more tears one day…until then, we weep and cry out for His healing and mercy. We covet your prayers for healing for these loved ones. It is extremely difficult to be so far away with so much pain and serious, huge things happening. We covet your friendship, your partnership, your support and most of all your prayers-for we know the battle is not against flesh and blood! Thank you for standing with us in the gap. In Him and for His Glory,
Sun Jan 11 22:45:14 2009
Fri Dec 26 14:35:37 2008 Thank you again for standing with us in the gap! We love and God bless: Dear Ones, At 3:30am this Christmas morning Moises and Antonio are due to land in T... to the arms of the rest of their waiting family!
Thu Dec 18 19:53:03 2008 Moises and Marta send their heartfelt thanks to each of you. They have been overwhelmed by God and His people, and know you have made a difference in the heavenly realm, and in the body of their 11-year-old son. They also are aware of all the many, many doors God opened in this process in ______ that they will follow-up on, hopefully with Antonio, so people can SEE THE WONDERS OF OUR GOD! ; ) They may be able to return home this Sunday, if they can get a flight, pay their bill, and buy their ticket. Please continue to pray for this family. And THANK YOU! He gave His life so we can have LIFE, and LIFE IN ABUNDANCE! Thank you JESUS! In Him,
Tue Dec 16 17:08:51 2008
Tue Dec 16 00:16:23 2008 We first want to thank you for your prayers. We truly believe that they have turned hearts of “kings” and God has heard them and responded! After many phone calls, emails, consults with many, many doctors from all over the world a decision was made and it is clear God’s hand was on it. In the midst of this very painful, difficult situation, we simply must share the amazing glory of God’s family working together all over the globe… Moises and his son, Antonio, were on a flight at 9pm CST Sunday to Istanbul, Turkey. They were accompanied by the top _____ surgeon on his way to Germany, with a stop in Turkey! He sat with Moi and Antonio and gave Antonio an injection in the airplane for pain and even went with them to the hospital. (Hmmmm GOD SIGHTING!) The hospitals were investigated by missionaries from P.I. (a mission agency called People Int.) that work closely with Int. Teams. They were met by missionaries from various agencies, some Spainards to help translate… all angels in disguise! (Hmmm, GOD SIGHTING!) Chris talked to Moises an hour ago. The Dr. in Istanbul is not convinced surgery is necessary right now and wants to observe Antontio on antibiotics. Chris talked to Moises a couple hours ago and the difference in his voice, the renewed hope, and the great feeling of being so cared for, is incredible! THANK YOU! The couple that Moises and his family lived with for a year of intensive training in the Dominic Republic, Paul and Sandy Shattuck, with World Team, will be leaving for TWO weeks to be with them and support them. Sandy is an RN. (Hmmmm, can you say GOD SIGHTING!) Calls and endless hours of work was done by so many, Erik Olson (in the US) and Woody Roland (in Costa Rica) with International Teams, in partnership with PMI (Pueblos Muselmanes Inter.) who is taking them an offering and support them, working with Doctors from too many countries to list here…being prayed for by people in the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Domincan Republic, Spain, Central Asia, France, Austria, etc. So now, PLEASE PRAY for the journey- - For divine wisdom for the pediatric surgeon. –For the funds to pay for the trip, hospital stay, etc. Some of you have asked about the economic situation: The tickets one-way were $1900USD, The hospital without meds, doctor bills, etc is about $475USD/day. (If you are interested in donating money, please let us know). Again, THANK YOU! Marta and Moises send their most heartfelt gratitude to each one, and together we wait on our Good and awesome God!
Fri Dec 12 14:08:57 2008 3 weeks ago, their 11 year old son, Antonio's appendix ruptured. He was operated on and released early because he seemed to be doing well. The family wrote that there were cockroaches and it was the dirtiest hospital they had ever seen. Last week he was hospitalized again because he had severe abdominal pain, high fever and unable to keep food down. He has peritonitis (infection in his gut) that is very, very serious. The hospital is not sanitary, they don't have the needed meds....The family's passports are with the government because they are renewing visas. They barely speak the language. They are very, very far away from home. But the GREAT PHYSICIAN is with them. They are considering flying to Spain (socialist medicine) but there is only one flight on Monday, only first class available and for 2 people, it would cost $6,500 USD! We do not know if Antonio will still be alive by then. Chris is looking into Turkey as an option, talking with our mission, previous missionaries there....Do you know Turkey? Moscow? Do they have good hospitals that speak English?? Please let us know. Either way, please pause for 30 seconds and cry out to our LORD for Moises and THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS! Kathy & Chris
Fri Jun 27 20:18:41 2008
Wed May 14 12:54:08 2008 Greetings from beautiful Tenancingo! We have been wanting to write and give you faithful partners an update and ask for prayer for so many things, but we have had SO much going on, we didn’t have time to write! How sad is that? FIRST, LET’S GIVE HIM ALL THE PRAISE FOR: -Saturday, April 12th, we had a mini-Encounter weekend, “Beloved Princess” with single girls, age 12-25 with talks on sexuality, purity, obedience, addictions, abuse, etc. and even a self-defense class! -The chance that Chris and Pastor John Nordstrom have, who are in the Philippines right now encouraging, training and ministering to church planters who are mostly in closed countries of the world, for 2 days before the annual International Leadership Forum begins with International Teams. -Kathy’s stepfather, Tom, had a massive stroke on Tuesday, April 22nd while driving a charter bus. We thank God that he was able to miraculously guide the bus back to the station where the ambulance then took him to the hospital. We are thankful he is alive and slowly recovering! And that we had frequent flyer miles and Kathy could fly home for a couple days to be with him and her mom at this difficult time. We have to pause here and give a HUGE “THANK YOU” to our Immanuel Church family who has come around us and helped so generously and lovingly! PLEASE JOIN WITH US IN ASKING OUR GOOD, LOVING, POWERFUL GOD FOR: -Discernment in defining roles in the church leadership as we slowly transition out of the local pastorate into a more regional role. -All the young girls who attended the “Beloved Princess” conference that they can continue on in their spiritual journey with their small groups and seek HIM whole heartedly. -For the women’s Encounter Weekend that Kathy will be coordinating and sharing at on May 30, 31, and June 1. -Kathy’s mom and stepfather, Tom-for a complete recovery and ears to hear HIS Voice, as they will be needing to make big decisions soon. And that God will use all of it to draw us nearer to Him and become more dependent on Him. (If you know of anyone interested in their camper please contact them at 847-244-1551) -For a men’s missions trip that is taking place mid-June. More details to follow, but they will be speaking about business in the schools here and reaching out to men in the community. In Him and for His Glory,
Mon Apr 21 10:54:34 2008 We are offering bouquets of either ALL RED ROSES or a MULTI-COLOR DOZEN OF ROSES w/flower filler, wrapped in plastic and ready to hand out and bless your moms! We can deliver them to your church (w/50 bouquets or more in your order!) either Friday or Saturday, May 9th or 10th. The bouquets cost a MERE $15.00, $10 of that We need final orders by WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30TH please!!! Please write or call with any questions or In Him and for HIS glory,
Mon Apr 7 17:07:34 2008
Fri Mar 28 23:32:01 2008 We once again have an amazing offer for you, your church, your mom's and the lost of Mexico! A Christian businessman, JackVan Namen, in Mexico, is offering us free shipping and Mother's Day bouquets at cost for you and your church. The bouquet will include a dozen of roses with flower fillers, wrapped in plastic, ready to hand to your mom's on their special day. You can order a dozen of all red roses or a ‘rainbow bouquet’ of multi-colored roses. The price will be $15/per bouquet, $10 of which will be sent to Tenancingo to support the Church Planting Center and Mexican church planters. The minimum order is 50 bouquets if you want delivery to your church, but you can order less if you are willing to drive to the Mt. Prospect or Alsip area to pick them up. What a great way to reach out to the dark, abandoned cities that surround us like Zumpahuacan with 15,000, Villa Guerrero 40,000 people, Ixtapan de la Sal 30,000 people and the list goes on of cities that so need to hear the Gospel. Would you prayerfully consider participating in this offer so that the light can go out to those who have never heard AND honor your moms? Please email me or call 011-52-714-14-276-24 with any questions. Thanks and God bless, Chris & Kathy Gouzoules
Thu Mar 6 14:57:21 2008 I just HAD to write and give you a snapshot of this last Sunday here. The 50 men who went to the Encounter weekend arrived at 3:45 in the afternoon from their 3 days of intensive community, confession, and seeking God. Wives, children, dogs and several cakes eagerly awaited their arrival. When we saw them pull up, we made 2 lines so they had to all pass through the 2 chains of their friends and loved ones, cheering, applauding, and whistling! As I saw Judith’s dad of 62 years of age, who just lost his wife last August, for whom we’d been praying for EIGHT years come through, I wept. Then came 13 year old Enrique, the son of Iran, the women donating the land who admits to being very far from God and her family being a complete mess! More tears. Then Abel and Pilo, 2 of our beloved youth who left the church several years ago and tried out the wiles and wares of the world. Pilo’s face beamed, I knew he’d been touched. I had to control the sobs of joy as I saw men, of all ages, of all walks of life, in very different places with their Lord come through, different, changed. We had a time of testimonies. INCREDIBLE! Pastor Richarte said of all the Encounter Weekends he’d been at (all of them!), the Holy Spirit moved the most powerfully there, with our men, Saturday night during the time of “deliverance”. All who shared spoke of feeling things they had never experienced before…the presence of a Holy, loving God bringing to light the ugliness of their sin, some of which had been with them for their entire lives. Hate, lies of the world, anger, lust…were confessed, often with weeping and cries, and each one told of a new intimacy, a new freedom to know and worship God, and to love others! All I can say is it felt like HOLY GROUND and all I could do was thank God and worship and let the tears stream down my face in joy. Thank you for your prayers. Continue to pray that these men will fight the attacks the enemy is sure to throw at them to discourage and bring them down. Again, THANK YOU!
Sun Mar 2 21:18:21 2008
Sun Mar 2 12:51:19 2008 Greetings from sunny, warm Tenancingo, Mexico. We arrived on Wednesday, January 9th with 3 kids and 17 suitcases! : ) All intact and in good shape…and no revision by customs. The agent seemed more relieved than we did! Thank you for your prayers as we traveled and have been re-adjusting. The first few days were somewhat difficult, partly due to the fact that we arrived pretty drained from packing, crying, saying good-byes, etc. The house was in bad shape….tons of mice droppings (even in drawers and closed plastic containers! (Super intelligent or very hungry?) And also inches of dust, things broken, misplaced, etc. The shock of all that, and the fact that I am now at 50% productivity with my back (2 herniated discs in June), was very overwhelming for me (Kathy). Other missionaries have told me my reaction is not uncommon after a home assignment (will be much better prepared next time!) But things are getting into shape and feeling like home again. The kids seem to have adjusted much more quickly and still miss everyone but are reconnecting with old friends, and back into the very different school here, something we have a very difficult time with and need prayer for wisdom in picking our kids schools. (see pictures below of our babies) Our first Sunday was a great time of lots of hugs, and a super long powerful time of worship-felt like a huge weight was lifted from me, and I was able to enjoy being back and hope was born again. There were You have probably heard us speaking, or writing, about the City of Refuge-the vision that we believe God has given our church, which would include not only a church building, but the church planting center, a school, medical clinic, rehab center, possible orphanage, park, etc. Six weeks ago Chris put a plea out to the congregation to pray for 2 acres of land: big vision needs big land! (The previous land deal we had mentioned to many of you did not go through). The next Sunday, a woman, Iran, came with Moises and a friend to our church. She is the daughter of a federal governor, an heiress to many acres of land all In February, God gave us a somewhat unexpected, unusual chance to minister to and reach out to the women of Tenancingo on the 16th. a dear friend, who LOVES Mexico and happens to be a great hair stylist is The following Saturday, at a local restaurant, we invited many friends to a breakfast and conference who had been fearful of coming to our church. We ended up with 130 women, approximately 100 were non-church attendees! There was a drama, a message and a time to pray for the women afterward. The response was overwhelming and the Presence of the Holy Spirit was very heavy and powerful over that place! 65 of the women filled out a questionnaire asking for further Bible study or small group in their home. Please pray for us as we follow up and the real battle begins-against their fears, the criticism of family, friends, etc. and the enemy who HATES when we seek after the Living God! We also ask for prayer for this weekend as the men have an all Men’s Encounter weekend. Many new men are going for the first time. Pray for those who will be sharing and ministering, and for all attendees to hear
In Him and for HIS GLORY!
Ana Luz is the one that teachers have noticed the most change in. Her teacher (who she had for first grade as well) is amazed at how much she has blossomed socially. She used to eat lunch with her teacher most days and look for Samuel at recess. She has grown wings and is a little social butterfly. She has also advanced greatly in her academic ability and has matured overall. We felt SO guilty about throwing them into an all English speaking school and visiting a different church every week while in the U.S.… and there she was busting out of her cocoon! ; ) She Nico had a couple rough weeks of disrupting his class and acting out, but seems to be doing better. We think it was probably due to another big change and the fact that his brain can not yet translate things very well and was abit lost at first. He lost his first tooth a couple weeks ago and while he was fearful, he came through it well and is fascinated by the new white thing growing in its place! He is becoming quite the “song-bird”, singing all the time mostly songs from church or that he learned at Little Bear (although “Grandma got run over by a reindeer” is popular!) He also loves to dance around during the worship time at church.
Fri Feb 22 18:22:48 2008 GOD STILL DOES MIRACLES. We had just returned to Mexico, it was the second Sunday back. A lady came to the Tenancingo Church and introduced herself to us as the granddaughter of a former Governor of the State of Mexico. Her name is Iran Baz. Her grandfather was a Dr. and very important leader in the state of Mexico. She had heard about our project of the City of Refuge. The City of Refuge is one of our dreams. It will be a place of refuge for abused women, children, drug addicts, and all who so desperately are seeking God's refuge. It will also be a center for training church planters for the whole region. It will be the home of the Center for Church Planting. Iran offered that morning to donate 2 acres of land to us. Later she offered to also sell us 4-8 additional acres at a very low price. We can only look up to the skies and thank our merciful God for His provision. We have prayed so long for the City of Refuge. Please pray that Satan does not thwart this advance of God's Kingdom. We are in the midst of paperwork, meeting with lawyers and trying to finalize the land contract. There are some complications but we are working hard at it. We are still short some for the purchase of the land, even at the low price . Please pray for God's provision. We know he will provide.
Fri Dec 28 13:04:04 2007 In case you have not received the latest, we have bought our tickets to return to Mexico for Wednesday, January 9th. We are still short on some of our monthly support, but the ticket prices were rising by the day. So in faith that God will provide, we are planning and packing up! We will also have an open house on that same Sunday, January 6th at Christ Church of Lake Forest, 100 N. Waukegan Rd, Lake Forest IL 60045, (where we got married 8 years ago!) Phone 847-234-1001 or you can get a map off of their website: www.cclf.org. We will have a time of farewell from a 5pm-6:30pm with a time of prayer at the end with several leaders from our churches. There will be coffee and appetizers as well. We hope you can stop by… If none of the above work, here are some other dates/places: **We will attend the first service on Sunday, January 6th at 9am at Immanuel of Gurnee, 2300 Dilleys Rd, Gurnee, IL 60031. Chris will be leaving right away to share at Iglesia Emanuel.
Mon Dec 17 22:05:44 2007
Thu Sep 13 11:54:08 2007
Sat Sep 1 18:10:07 2007 Greetings from the “distant land” of Wadsworth, IL! We hope this finds you enjoying the summer and all it’s unique, special activities. We apologize for our lack of communication these past few months. Different routines, schedules and activities here have caused some important things to fall through the cracks, while at the same time we have been able to address some other important things we had let go for too long on the field. So here’s what’s been happening NORTH OF THE BORDER: Chris, Samuel and AnaLuz arrived Friday, April 20th, and on Monday the kids started school (ALL English!), Wednesday found them at the Pediatrician and Thursday at the dentist. We haven’t slowed down much since then! ; ) The kids participated in 1 month of summer school and have started school again this week full-time. We have not been in the same church 2 Sundays in a row and have visited and preached at over 15 churches (Thank you Lord for our very flexible kids!), handed out over 1,000 prayer cards, hugged hundreds of family and friends and eaten out more than we had in the last 10 years total! : ) Chris, together with counselor and pastor John Nordstrom, did some church planting training in Costa Rica at the International Teams Leadership Forum, and then in June completed his 3rd doctorate course at Fuller in California, and has been working on brochures, support raising/networking, and a new website for the Church Planting Center and for our family (very soon you will see the site up at centerforchurchplanting.com). Kathy worked as an RN for the first time in 10 years (in an official capacity) in Home Health Care with babies, I learned a lot, and then had 2 herniated discs, 2 epidurals and lots of physical therapy. We are thankful this did not “explode” in Mexico where good health care is pretty far from Tenancingo. The idea was to help pay off some of the debt we had incurred from the adoptions and living under supported for several years, but obviously God had other plans. One of our recent highlights was when we used Kathy’s mom and husband’s RV and we spent 5 days at Peninsula State Park in Door County, Northern Wisconsin. WOW! It was gorgeous and we had a great, relaxing time together as a family. We have also traveled to Richfield, Oconomowoc, and Delavan, WI , to Ottowa, IL and to Tennessee recently (in truck for 11 hours with kids!) to visit a missionary retreat center, to visit churches, supporters and potential supporters.
We also hosted a group from Immanuel of Gurnee, IL with Manny Mills, Nelly Nunez and Pastor Jesus Padilla in March focusing on outreaches to kids and their families through “Upward Basketball”. Our neighborhood will never be the same! Many heard for the first time about salvation through Jesus and how to overcome domestic violence and low self-esteem. The Women had their first female Encounter Weekend in June and over 65 women attended. Through a powerful moving of the Holy Spirit, many women accepted Christ, others re-committed their lives to Him and others found a new level of abundant life! The church said ‘hasta luego’ to 2 key leadership/pastoral families this summer. Javier, Dina and their 3 children are spending 1year in the Dominican Republic at Casa Yada for an intensive time of discipleship, character building, healing and preparation for cross-cultural ministries. Denisse, a young woman with a heart for missions, is also at Casa Yada for 1 year. Santiago and Laura and their son have been sent to La Luz, Michoacan, their hometown, to plant the first evangelical church in that area (also very unreached). These are 2 huge losses Tenancingo and pastor Richarte who is leading the church these months. The bad news is we are not able to return to Mexico now (the end of August) as we had planned and hoped. We are still short approximately $1,500/month for our support. We, and our mission, believe that God does not desire we go deeper into debt by returning under supported again. The jump from no kids to three kids made our support need also jump considerably. Mexico, is also much more expensive to live in than it was ten years ago. It is a difficult situation with schooling for the kids (they are still learning English and so homework is still very difficult here and then possibly leaving mid-semester and entering Mexican school system), and the leaders in Tenancingo are weary. We trust God and His timing and are thankful He loves the church and the leaders in Tenancingo and knows the plans He has for them, as well as our family here. We are very thank you for your partnership with the Gospel, and your faithfulness throughout the years. We love you and thank God for each of you and the key role you have played in our lives, our family and our ministries. In Him and for HIS Glory, PRASIE: PRAYER REQUESTS:
Mon Mar 19 12:16:46 2007 We hope this finds you all well and enjoying the coming of Spring. We just wanted to share some great answers to prayer and send some more recent prayer requests. In our last email we asked that you pray with us for provision of a vehicle and a cheap, large place to live…To Him who is able to do exceedingly more than we can ask or imagine…be all glory! (Ephesians 3:20-21) We were lent not one, but TWO great vehicles! With insurance paid for 6 months! AND have been offered a beautiful finished basement complete with mini-kitchen, full bath, several large rooms on a property over-looking some gorgeous woods, for the irresistible price of FREE! Did God know our budget or what???? THANK YOU JESUS! THANK YOU for praying!! WOW! Blessed our socks off! (thanks Benners and Andersons!) So, if you have not already done so, and you’d like us to visit your church, small group, missions committee, please get in touch with us so we can be sure to make it a time that is good for everyone. US phone number 847-244-1551 (Kathy’s mom, Judy). Please pray as a team heads to Tenancingo Monday March 19th and Tuesday March 20th to do evangelism. We are taking a brand new approach in a couple brand new areas. The team will be doing upward basketball and from what we understand it’s a way to teach and reach out to kids as well as their families. Each kid will get a jersey and a basketball! Please pray that Christ will be received as well by these families…they will be doing this in OUR NEW neighborhood. Due to the adoption complications we had felt we should “lay low” till everything was finalized, so now we are letting loose with our first evangelistic campaign in San Jan Tetitlan! Please pray for hearts and doors to open wide! And for the team going-for health, unity and boldness. The week will climax with our church’s 10th anniversary celebration on Sunday the 25th with a special singer who used to sing Ranchero music in Mexico and now is singing for Jesus! Also, want to mention our first men’s Encounter weekend was amazing and God was moving powerfully. Many men were broken of their sin, their passivity in their marriages and several new commitments to Jesus were made as well. The ladies had a celebration waiting for them, complete with balloons and food, when they walked into church that Sunday as they arrived from the retreat. There are 2 full small groups focusing on Christ-centered marriage principles. And on a personal note, we want to share this PRAISE, because after 12 years of prayer, my mom’s husband, Tom, has accepted Christ and was baptized today, Sunday the 18th of March! What joy! The Word had been moving in his heart but it wasn’t until he saw my mom in the hospital in October after her back surgery and stroke, that he saw her faith in a terrible, painful situation and he realized it was real, and Jesus was what he had been missing! Who, but our God, can take THAT pain and be GLORIFIED and SAVE others through it? OUR GOD! And HE IS GOOD! (Romans 8) So, please pray for: We thank each of you for your continued faithfulness and partnership in the Gospel with us! God bless, and we hope to hear from you soon! In Him and For His Glory, Kathy & Chris Gouzoules
Tue Feb 13 20:43:48 2007 I am DESPERATE for wheels. If you know of a car that I could use, even for a short time, PLEASE let me know. I'd like to start getting Nico into school, etc. Thursday and Friday. Please keep us in your prayers. Hard transition for all of us. Thanks and looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Sat Feb 10 13:04:43 2007 Greetings from Tenancingo! Here’s the latest: We have some exciting news…we are finally taking a furlough. Yes, after 10 years on the field here we are doing it! We are excited that we will finally have more than a few days to visit our churches, friends, and families! We have needed to return and raise support and reconnect with churches for a long time, but because of the adoption holdups, we were unable to make the trip before now. The church here is in a good place, with a mature, unified pastoral team. As we continue to pray toward a regional movement of multiplying churches in this region, we believe this time away will be an important maturing time of the new up coming pastors. In the church there has been a great spirit as we launch forward into more concrete plans on the Ciudad deRefugio (City of Refuge), our church building project that also consists of church planting center facilities, a holistic clinic, school, soccer and park, etc. Two weeks ago we received a surprise gift of $25,000 USD toward the down payment on the land for the City of Refuge. We are praying to close the deal before Chris leaves and then begin construction in October after the rainy season. Please pray for the remaining $100,000 US needed for the land purchase. We sense God wanting to do the impossible in 2007! Kathy will be arriving with our youngest son, Nico, at the end of February so she can begin to look for housing, set up appointments with churches, missions committees, etc. Chris will follow with the other 2 children in the beginning of April after a campaign finishes up in Tenancingo and La Luz, Michoacan. The 2 older children need to stay in school as long as possible so they don’t lose the school year. Many of you have complained in the past that we have not been very good about making our needs known, SO…WE NEED: Other news & petitions of prayer: Thank you for your partnership in bringing the Gospel to the lost and unreached. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you all soon, and the kids can barely sleep thinking about it. Although they’ve not yet experienced The Windy City’s brutal cold! ; } In Him and for His Glory, Chris and Kathy Gouzoules
Sat Dec 23 13:46:02 2006 Get ready for a TANK OF COLD WATER…. GOLIATH FINALLY FELL RECENT AND PRESENT STEPS: NEXT STEPS: SO, please pray for us. It still seems a little overwhelming, not so much the process now, as the costs ahead of us. We are praying about going to the US for a few weeks in January if we are able to pull off the above 4 steps. Again, waiting on God’s perfect timing and provision. So close, yet so far!!!!! We cannot express the overwhelming relief after being in process for the past FOUR years here, and having our kids with us for the past 1 ½ years. We know our pain has not been in vain. God has been forming us and doing a work He could never have done otherwise. We thank God for keeping the long term vision alive in our hearts and sustaining us through your prayers and words of encouragement. ANOTHER, MUCH BIGGER GOLIATH IS ALSO COMING DOWN WOW! We stand in awe, at God’s goodness, faithfulness and desire to be Emanuel (God with us) and use us! What a privilege, what greater joy? We have SO much. We are overwhelmed as we see other nations in poverty, spiritual and economic, and we bow down in gratitude to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who left heaven to make known the “glory and truth of the Invisible God, visible” who has blessed us so greatly! May He find us all waiting, making room for Him, seeking His second return as that King and being faithful in whatever field He has placed us each one. We love you. We wish you a glorious, awe-filled Christmas. Thank you for being part of our family, our team, for you love, prayers, and support…God bless. Chris, Kathy, Samuel, Nico and AnaLuz Gouzoules
Sat Dec 2 12:31:01 2006 FELIZ, FELIZ NAVIDAD! And a very blessed 2007 to you and your family! As we reflect on this past year that has flown by, we are so thankful. We are so thankful for you. We are so thankful for our Lord Jesus. Our hearts are grateful for your faithfulness to God, to Mexico, and to us. This has been a year of testing. It has been a time of great blessing. After 3 years in the adoption process the judge has finally declared our babies OURS. Next week we register them with the Mexican government and receive their new birth certificates. They will read: Samuel James Gouzoules Glogovsky, AnaLuz Gouzoules Glogovsky, Nicolas Peter Gouzoules Glogovsky. Mexicans retain their paternal and maternal names. In our case, it is a mouthful! But they have been practicing. Don’t worry you can call the Sammy, Annie and Nicky. When we were finally given permission to tell the kids about the adoption (they had been calling us uncle Chris and aunt Kathy), we spoke to them with nervous expectation. “Samuel, AnaLuz, Nicolas, we want to tell you something that we have wanted to tell to you for a long, long time. We love you and I want to be your Papa and Kathy wants to be your Mama. Do you want to be our children?” We waited. Lu responded “Papa! Mama!” and hugs us. Samuel said “Papa!” and then said it again with a smile that went from ear to ear. He told us “My heart laughs every time I say it. Papa…mama…Oh, there it goes again, my heart is laughing,” and he’d touch his chest. It was precious. The Sunday before Chris had preached on Genesis 22 when Sarah and Abraham named their son Isaac ‘the son of laughter’. Their first laugh was one of doubt in God’s promise of Genesis 18, but this time their laugh was one of victory in God’s marvelous loving power. Samuel brought that laughter of victory and joy to our family. In many ways this beautiful family story represents the heart of our Heavenly Father and His desire for the abandoned towns we have been living and ministering in. God has for so long wanted to tell each one “I want to be your father. Do you want to be my Child?” Some have heard this…others are still waiting for someone to tell them how they can have a personal, loving relationship with their Papa through the sacrifice of Jesus. How we long to send church planters into these dark, desolate towns. Some laugh saying that it can’t be done because of the hard hearts and the lack of resources. But the “laugh of victory” is awaking and we believe will come shortly… The laugh of joy when they first call out to Him ‘Papa’ and rest in His arms. Please pray with us for the resources to send church planters into these towns. To incarnate as Jesus did… And we are most thankful for JESUS, Immanuel “God with us”, our “Wonderful Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) and the privilege of telling others about Him! May Jesus be your highlight in 2007! We love you and wish you all a very blessed Christmas!
Wed Nov 1 20:09:06 2006 WOW! It has been awhile….we can not tell you how many times we started writing this and then something came up (usually in the form of something intense-good and bad) and were unable to finish and get it out! So we have A LOT to catch up on…get something warm to drink, a comfy chair and read on! We had our 5th Encounter weekend on September 8-10th. We had our largest group yet, approximately 85 people signed up and have been seeing long lasting, permanent freedom that God is bringing about in their lives. The follow-up discipleship classes and leadership training is going very well too. Houses of prayer are springing up all over Tenancingo like little candles burning in the darkness. Next week many more homes will be opened through the Latin America Billy Graham campaign called “my hope”. Unlike other Billy Graham campaigns this will be completely televised, but specifically addressed to Mexico. The campaign evenings are Nov. 9-12th. We are praying that 50 homes will be opened for the campaign. Muslim evangelism is getting harder every day. It is especially difficult now for Americans. But Hispanic, Latino Christians, can fit into Muslim cultures very well. We, and many others, believe they can form the last missions force to take the Gospel to the Muslim world. On Nov. 12th a historic missions conference will take place to prepare Latinos for the Muslim world. In this conference, 2,500 Latino pastors, church planters and leaders will work together on the task of preparing and sending Latinos to the Muslim world as missionaries (tent makers). In the work shops, Hispanics will develop practical action plans for mobilizing Latino missionaries into the last frontier of Muslim evangelism. On the adoption front, we turned all our papers in on August 3rd and thought the process was in motion while we were away. Of course 6 weeks later we find out we needed just TWO more papers from the Embassy and redo our homestudy (is this our 3rd or 4th one? we’ve lost track!) SO on September 16th (Independence Day here) we REALLY turned our completed file in, and prayed a lot..again. Well, this week we got the news that the whole tamale may be signed sealed and delivered (meaning the 3 completed birth certificates listing us as their parents and their full new names!) within the next TWO WEEKS! We know it’s hard to hope…again, but it sounds pretty positive so we now need to begin the trauma of going through USCIS For that to happen, please pray for the following MIRACLES: Although we’ve had more than our share of “road blocks” in this path (or were they entire mountains?), we’ve also seen God do amazing, beautiful things. Thank you for journeying with us. IS THERE ANYTHING TOO DIFFICULT FOR GOD? Please pray also for Kathy’s mom, Judy, who many of you have met over the years, or at least talked to on the phone. On October 11th she had a very complicated surgery to straighten out her rotating scoliosis that had begun to jeopardize internal organs. Surgery went great except she suffered a stroke the following day. I was informed on Friday evening and by Saturday evening, God allowed me to be at her bedside in CCU at We love you and thank God for each of you and the critical part you have in ALL of this, and in our lives. We are so looking forward to catching up with each of you as we plan to have a few months this winter and then again in the summer to visit everyone! Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer and giving. We so appreciate all you sacrifice for us. God bless as you serve Him in your mission field. Kathy & Chris Gouzoules KIDS CORNER Samuel is now in 2nd grade and has the same teacher as last year and he couldn’t wait to get back and see all his friends. He has a true gift for making friends and leading, which we saw clearly this summer. Ana Luz started 1st grade (at her older brother’s school) and it seemed she’d been waiting for this day her whole life! She is learning to read and write. We got a special blessing for her as a sister from the church is her teacher! She is one of the best color-ers in her class and still dreams of pink, flying horses. She is a tender, sensitive, lovely little girl and is an extra special blessing to me as she likes to have everything in order (Thank you God for the help!) ; ) Nico started pre-kinder (they like 3 years of kinder before entering first grade here). All last year he cried and cried to go to school…then he cried and cried to NOT go to school. Hmm, and people say little girls are emotional…anyways; he’s adjusted and has a great teacher who really enjoys her job and little ones. Thank you Lord! He is mischievous and passionate about life and his relationships. Even he was swimming under water with no floaties and eyes open! Anything his brother can do, he will do it too!
Thu Oct 26 12:20:06 2006
Thu Jul 20 13:13:39 2006 Greetings from Tenancingo Mexico! Here’s some good news: We had another Encounter weekend on May 28-30th. We continue to have great turnout and powerful meetings with the Living God. Lives and families are being broken so the Potter can make new, transformed lives for His glory. Our next one will be the first week of September. On July 8th we had our first group graduate from the School of Leaders (a commitment for the past 15 months). About 15 graduated and will now be opening their prayer cells if they have not already. 35 other students received recognition for being in the process of the Post Encounter classes and will then go onto the Leaders class. We have about 20 prayer cells going now and many are coming to know Christ through them. Please pray for these new lay leaders as they take this step of faith to be obedient to God and be used to bring His love to these new families and youth. We also had our first graduation from our Church Planting Center on July 8th. This has been a 3 to 4 year commitment and has included university level theology, exegesis, counseling, evangelism, etc. and practical field work. This was a historical moment as several students who graduated were from Tenancingo, and we glorified God for giving us the chance to participate in equipping His servants for His work so that many will know HIM. What a privilege! It was a time of deep gratitude and satisfaction for us to see this fruit and the perserverance of these students. Two students travel FOUR hours each week to attend class for the past FOUR years! We could see the dream Chris and I also continue to see God moving in our pastors/leader meeting every Thursday and at our weekend prayer and fasting times. God is showering His grace and healing in many lives as they share their struggles and invite prayer and words of encouragement and challenge from the others. We look forward to having our dear brother Moises sharing from his recent year in the Dominican Republic (with his family, as they prepare to go to Uzbekistan). He will invite our team to go deeper into understanding our histories, our hurts, and how they are working in our lives still. We look forward to seeing more of God’s glory, healing and power among this special community. After many months of getting letters to Immigration, we finally got our visas renewed (in record time) and will be received last week, our Permission to Adopt from Immigration. This came out to be more expensive and complicated than we first thought (we should NOT be surprised by that still, should we?) We were told the cost would be $150. Then we got a call saying it was $150 per child! And last week, our lawyer called to say that somebody messed up and it was $150 PER The other glitch that has come out of this unexpectedly, super long adoption process is that we have not been able to leave the country to do our support raising that was needed when we decided to receive our kids. We were told back in September (by the DIF when we were still believing them) that the whole process would take about 2 months. We figured that was optimistic but NEVER EVER dreamed we’d be 11 months into it, and not even have started the legal side!!! Our finances are a mess and we still do not know when we will be able to get to the U.S. and meet new churches, speak with missions committees, etc. We may need to leave in the fall, even though it would be during school, to take time in the US to do the support raising if still needed. We’d rather not have the kids loose any more school, but we also cannot stay this under supported. Please pray for great wisdom for us and wise stewardship as we pray that God would multiply our resources in miraculous ways. We are hoping to take a couple weeks away this summer so Chris can work on his 2 papers for his doctorate, and we will meet up with grandma and grandpa Doddington for a week as well. Summer vacation here is short (mid-July to mid-August only). We found a super cheap, small condo for rent in Puerto Escondido and so will share some time there with some other leaders that desperately need time away too. Please pray for safety, that our car will hold up, and for special time away as a family. It is also a time to see what problems come out at the church, who rises and who falls away… I’ve added on at the end of the email more detailed info about the kids for those interested. We thank each of you for your love, support, prayers and encouraging words. God has hugged and kissed us so many times through you. Thank you. We could not be here without you and consider it a true privilege to be partners with you in His Kingdom. We love you and look forward to hearing about your lives and petitions for prayer. In Him and for His Glory, Chris & Kathy & kids (Gouzoules) KIDS CORNER: Samuel finished first grade with a 9.5 GPA and is reading very well. His teacher says he was a joy to have-although she had 20 boys and only 8 girls this year, so we are not sure how much weight that carries. She will be his second grade teacher as well. He is enjoying bike riding, learning to rollerblade and picking on his younger brother. He loves hanging out with his friends at church and will participate in a city run cultural kids club this summer. He is truly gifted in making friends easily. Nico is full of spit and fire and curiosity and is DYING to go to school. He will start pre-school in the fall and we are all looking forward to that. It will give me a few hours each a.m. to catch up on some work with the women and some LONG overdue visits, counseling, etc. Every time I try to work on his numbers he repeats them in English. (Thanks Dora the Explorer!) He loves making cakes of paper, mud, pillows, cards, etc. He has a serious passion for eating and we think a future in the restaurant business might be in his destiny. He also loves to really dance and sing and loves the worship at our church. The kids are DYING to meet all of you, see the many friends that have passed through here on visits, see grandma & grandpa’s new house, meet the entire “Jimmy’s” in the family, and practice their English. (They are doing very well, mostly with food/table related items though so at east they will not starve there!). Please pray for me as I do speech therapy this summer (for discipline on my part). Jeanett (the 17 year old we’ve had with us for 3 years) is graduating prepa also with a degree as a nurse (LPN). We are very proud of her and thank God for the resources and love He’s given us for her and her family and that we’ve been able to support them in this way. All medical fields require one year of free service so she will begin that in September while also looking for a job as she has a debt in the school of about $700 USD. Please pray for her and us as we are
Sun May 21 11:18:52 2006 We pray you’re enjoying Spring, and experiencing the joy and power of the Resurrection we celebrate at Easter. We’ve been dreaming about finishing our yard with grass, trees and a small garden one-day. That got us thinking about cultivation. I remember planing seeds as a child and waking the next a.m., racing to my pot sure I’d see my plant there! How disappointing-black dirt! It was hard to wait, wait, and wait. Oh, but the joy when that little sprout of green breaks through, and then more waiting, watering, moving into sunlight, out of sunlight, water, waiting. The growth can seem so slow. You wonder if you will ever see the growth you dreamed of. There are many correlations between cultivating plants and cultivating leaders and church planters. It can be a long, difficult, confusing, disappointing wait as you pray, disciple, train and raise up leaders. There are days when we see sprouts, and other days it seems all we have is black dirt! And then God will give us a glimpse of the dream coming true: a man or woman of God, centered in being His beloved, desiring, willing and equipped to move out into their world, risk and serve Him. Sometimes when we come to do a letter or an update and all that comes to mind is “BLACK DIRT!” Then God nudges us and gives us His perspective of His plants, and we see lots of green and even some glowers budding. We so appreciate you being part of this process with us, and for realizing character formation and family transformation can take a long time. We are committed to seeing a church planting movement in the unreached areas of this region, all of Mexico and extending into the Muslim world. Sometimes the waiting is hard, but there are some “sprouts of green”: Alma, the woman who used to help us care for Chris’ mom and dad who we’ve known for the past four years has just recently began attending our Bible Institute on Wednesdays, and church on Sundays. She was very impressed with the academic level of the Institute and is enjoying her classes on Romans and Roman Catholicism in Latin America. It brings such joy to see her seeking, learning and growing in her journey with Jesus. She told us recently that when she reopens her business of caring for the elderly, she wants our church to have a hands on role in praying for and ministering to her residents…she wants it to be a house of prayer! PRAISE GOD! Isn’t He GOOD? A sprout is born! Goyo and Pilar began attending about nine years ago after hearing the Gospel at Pilar’s brother’s funeral. For years they have sought God, wrestled with doubts and persecution, and struggled with Grace. During Holy Week, we had an extended time of fasting and prayer and Goyo shared a couple devotionals. He used to always talk about the “Laws” of how a Christian should behave. This time he wept as he talked of God’s mercy and faithfulness. Grace gone deep. Finally…after years…How’s that for a lovely flower?! The last week of April we had our annual outreach in La Luz, Michoacan. It was a wonderful time even though we had to cut our time there short by two days due to the death of a brother in the church (Abel Pichardo, Sr. passed away on Thursday 2nd for those of you who know Abel and Pilo, his sons)> The kids had a marvelous time in La Luz attending kids clubs twice a day and just playing with other kids, getting to know some dear brothers and sisters from our church, Emanuel, in Waukegan, IL, and being with mom and dad. The door-to-door evangelism went surprisingly well and each time the people are a little more open. There is a great desire and demand for Bible study and prayer. One quick snapshot: A man experienced a life-threatening illness about three years ago. When he miraculously recovered he committed to find out why God still wanted him on the earth. He had been searching for three years. When Lent started he prayed that God would allow him to really know Him before Easter Sunday. Some brothers went to share with Him how he could know God and have a personal relationship with Him! His prayer was answered. Please pray for him and others who gave their lives to Jesus. Not just black dirt! There are many small towns and ranches in the areas that are without any Gospel witness. The harvest is white and the workers are few, please pray for workers. On March 26th our church celebrated its 10th Anniversary (from the first baptisms). It was a great time with guest speaker Dr. Lee Heyward from Northbrook Church in WI, who spent the week teaching and sharing with our leaders, with Dr. Enrique Fernandez. They gave great classes on expository teaching, challenging us to seriously consider our worldview, and provided insight and wisdom for the leaders. It was a great time of celebrating all God has done, is doing and will do! On the adoption front, it feels as though we are running backwards in cement, in the dark, down an unknown road, (How’s that for a word picture?). New permissions and documents seem to be invented special just for us! Once we gather all the needed documents, tests, letters, etc (AGAIN!) and the legal process begins, it will take 3-6 months to complete. Our dreams of visiting the U.S. with the kids this summer are quickly vanishing and we can not express the sadness of missing out on the chance for them to get to know you! We know God’s timing is perfect, but that doesn’t mean it is always pain-free. So, we’ve decided to send you a page of snapshots of the kids. We continue to get to know them and learning a lot about God and ourselves. Our oldest, Samuel James, is doing well in school, reading and writing better each week and loves to hang out with dad. AnaLuz turned 6 years old on Easter Sunday, and is in love with horses. Nicolas Pedro is 3 and full of curiosity and energy and dying to go to school. Please keep our new family in your prayers especially as Andrea Nordstrom will end her time with us at the end of April—a big loss for our family and especially for Kathy as she’s been a HUGE help! Thank you for your partnership in this cultivating process. This is a hard, dry, barren land to cultivate, but thanks be to God, He is a master grower and is doing things even beneath the dirt that we can not see! “I planted the see, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6) And thank you! Your prayers and giving, carry, sustain and empower us. We love you and pray that God will reward you TENFOLD! In Him and for His Glory,
Sun May 14 11:52:20 2006
Sat Apr 29 20:09:21 2006 We have a great offer we’d like to share with you…It’s a chance to not only bless the mom’s in your congregation, but also to reach and bless the unreached towns in this region! We realize this is short notice but we just in the past couple weeks received an offer from a Christian business man who lives here, and also who has a burden to reach the lost, for FREE shipping of pre-arranged bouquets of roses for Mother’s Day on May 14th. The bouquet would come with 1 dozen red roses, with some filler, wrapped in plastic. They will be delivered to your church Saturday evening all ready to sell for $15.00 per bouquet. Would you sell 50-100 bouquets? Or 200? And bless your mom’s and Mexico? All proceeds will go toward support our Church Planting Center and providing scholarships for church planters. The flowers are grown by Richarte, our co-pastor, who recently left his job with VisaFlor If this is something you and your church would be interested in, or another group, would you please contact us as soon as possible? Again we apologize for the short notice. We are trying this as a pilot Thank you for considering this offer and God bless you as you serve Him in YOUR mission field. Our home phone number is 011-52-714-14-276-24, feel free to call us with any questions or doubts, or email us at this address. We love you and thank God for you!
Wed Mar 15 20:29:39 2006 We want to thank you for your prayers for this past week in La Luz, Michoacan. It was a wonderful time even though we had to cut our time there short by 2 One quick snapshot: A man experienced a life-threatening illness about 3 years ago. When he miraculously recovered he committed to find out why God still wanted him on this earth. He had been searching for 3 years. When Lent started he prayed that God would allow him to really know Him before Easter Sunday. Some brothers went to share with Him how he could know God and have a personal relationship with Him! His prayer was answered. Please pray for We also did an outreach in Pajacuaran, about 15 minutes from La Luz and considerably larger, with great response. There are many small towns and ranches in the areas that are without any Gospel witness. The harvest is white and the workers are few, please pray for workers. There are several possibilities we are looking into and praying about. We were pleasantly surprised when our old neighbor, Daniel, called the morning we were leaving for La Luz and asked if he could go. This was a somewhat unusual We also thank you for your prayers for Alma, the woman who used to help us care for Chris’ mom and dad. We’ve known her for the past 4 years and she just recently began attending our Bible Institute on Wednesdays and church on Sundays. She was very impressed with the academic level of the Institute and is enjoying her classes on Romans and Roman The adoption is moving ahead and we saw some big answers to prayer this week. We were told previously we needed to redo ALL tests (psychological, socioeconomic and medical). This requires tons of papers from the US, letters, papers notarized, etc. (I, Kathy, nearly had a breakdown at that news!) When we went Thursday to pick up needed paperwork for a We are enjoying being mom and dad finally and the kids seem delighted every time they say it, and it is a delight to hear! Their biological mother attended our church on Sunday with her 2 smaller children (girl 1 1/2 and boy 4 mos) asking for money and someone to care for those 2 little ones as the DIF is about to remove them from the home as well. The situation is so disturbing, sad and infuriating on so many levels. Please pray for her, those babies and us for wisdom in how to handle this extremely emotional, personal situation-and that she will find God in a real, life transforming way! Chris’ health has improved some but still has to cut back (a good thing, right?) and rest more, and more frequently. He continues taking a lot of vitamins and eating large amounts of fresh veggies. Thank you for your prayers for both of our health. It has been such a big blessing to have Andrea Nordstrom here also, helping with the kids and various other ministries. Our primary investment these days is with the pastor (or future pastors) group which is our new missionary team. So much transparency, healing and growth has happened in this group this year as Christ has been incarnate in us. We are looking forward to more of this the week of March 20th when we will be hosting Dr. Lee Hayward and Dr. Enrique Gonzalez. They will be teaching in the Bible Institute, sharing about vision and how to receive it, and investing in our leaders and church planters. Please pray for God to have His way in each of our lives and that we’d have ears to hear Him. We love you and thank you for your prayers and partnership in our ministries. It is a privilege to be His child, His Bride, and His messengers of those truths. In Him and for His Glory,
Tue Feb 28 18:16:48 2006 We are getting ready to leave for La Luz, Michoacan for 5 intensive days of evangelism, discipleship and research. We need your prayers. On the adoption front, we had an appointment last Wed. with the lawyers who will be processing the legal papers and preparing the case for the judge. It was an extremely discouraging meeting as we had to fill out an application to adopt the kids (we have not been approved as previously told!), we need to re-do our psychological, socioeconomic & medical exams (for the THIRD time!), and we need an additional visa and permission from the US embassy-to name a few things, to then begin the trial. We have to re-do the exams because they are going to expire because they had stopped the process for the past 5 months. Once the legal process starts it may take up to another 6 months! We are confused, and sad. It feels overwhelming and unfair. And at the same time we are trusting God, that He is good, He loves us and the kids, and is at work in the middle of it all. One positive point of the meeting was being told by the lawyer leading the case that we could go ahead and tell the kids that we will be their Mom and Dad. So we told the kids our desire to adopt them and that they could call us “mom” and “dad”. The kids were ecstatic and our oldest son said every time he spoke the word mom or dad his heart laughed and jumped. He’d say dad and grab his chest and say “oh, there it goes again!” We love you,
Mon Feb 13 19:40:13 2006 We wanted to write and thank you for your generous Christmas gift of $185.00 to us and our family. This year, more than ever before, we really, really appreciated it! Our oldest boy, Arnulfo’s birthday is the 24th of December, and the young lady, Jeanett, who lives with us and studies, has her birthday on the 31st of December. They also celebrate “Days of the Kings” in Mexico, which is traditionally the day when the kids received the best gifts! All this to say THANKS! We really, really appreciated it. We had a good Christmas with the kids in spirit of the ongoing delays and glitches in the adoption. Arnulfo is learning to read and write and he got all A’s and B’s on his first two report cards. The educational system is so different; it’s been a difficult adjustment and learning process for all of us. Lulu is in kindergarten. She enjoys school and is an excellent colorer and does one of the best horse impressions we’ve ever seen. Lala turned three in October and we feel at times he is going through all the phases from infancy to the terrible 2’s and some days every other word is “NO”. He does life with great passion and has the best laugh. It’s hard to discern what’s going on in their little hearts and we know the uncertainty of our situation weighs heavily on them although they do not have words to express all that. We look forward to having “the talk” with them SOON once we see the DIF is actually moving ahead with our case. We do believe as Joseph said so well “What man has intended for harm, God will use for good.” We have felt God telling us that and cling to His promises in the midst of all this madness! We have also been counseled by professionals of the importance of us forming good, deep bounds with the kids now that they are still young so we will have the relationship and authority in their lives when they hit adolescence. We’d appreciate your prayer as we prayerfully consider the many “pokers we have in the fire” and ask God to help us prioritize our life according to His plan and our limits. We look forward to you getting to meet the kids, hopefully in the summer of this year, if all paperwork with the Mexican and U.S. government goes through! We have a young lady living with us fro the next three months that will help teach the children English so they can communicate when they meet everyone they’ve heard so much about. We’ll keep you updated as we know our plans so we can organize a get together or something. If you know of a vehicle and/or house that would be available at a very economic rate in the area, would you please keep us in mind and let us know? Thank you. The church continues to be matured in Christ and show a deep, sincere passion for the lost, including family members as well as the unreached towns in our area. It’s exciting to see new cells in three of these unreached towns: Villa Guererro, Zumpahuacan, and Malinalco. We’ve had 20-25 prayer cells open up which can have between 3-10 people in attendance and are usually evangelistic. Many are facilitating these groups for the first time and are seeing God at work in many new lives! We are looking forward to our co-pastor, Richarte, moving more toward full-time in the ministry as he is anticipating leaving his job as CEO of the biggest flower company here in February. He will receive 1/3 of his salary from the church (big step of faith as the church does not presently have the funds), 1/3 he is raising, and work the other 1/3. They have twins that will be going into college next year and it is a faith step for the whole family. We really need the help and thank God for this godly man and his family that have been with the church plant since the beginning! Well, we don’t want this to get too long…just wanted to say thanks for your love, support and partnership with out ministry and our family. We do not believe we would be here doing “our thing” God has for us, without amazing, faithful ones there committed to “Doing their things” God has for them! May 2006 bring an even deeper realization in your lives of God’s love and pleasure and joy over your! We love you and thank God for you!
Fri Jan 20 15:43:25 2006 We are planning to be up with the kids in the summer, probably end of July-end of August.
Fri Jan 20 13:10:57 2006 BELATED MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! We so wanted to get an email out to you all around the holidays to wish you and your family a blessed, joyful celebration of our Saviour’s birth…but it just didn’t happen this year…. We thought of you all often and prayed for each of you to experience the wonder and awe of that first Christmas all year long. And we wish you and your family more and more of Jesus in 2006, and an even more profound sense of His love and pleasure over you! It was our first Christmas with the kids and we made some conscious decisions to NOT make ourselves crazy, like not feeling guilty because we did not get Christmas cards out, making a lot less cookies, and actually getting away for 2 weeks right after Christmas. Someone lent us a house outside of Guadalajara for a week and then we met up with my mom (Kathy’s) and her husband. The kids LOVED the pools and swimming, which was a huge joy as we are both water lovers. By the end of our vacation, even the little guy was in deep water with floaties only on his arms. It was especially nice to be able to move out and about without worrying about the biological parents showing up! It was a meaningful family time complete with one set of grandparents, who spoiled them terribly. Our adoption situation had gone from difficult to nearly impossible in the past several months as the DIF decided to NOT move on the case at all until they met in February, nor were we able to get the temporary custody papers for the kids that we should have had since September. Wise, godly advice was given to us from various people in Dec. that we needed to push hard to get the paperwork we needed to cover ourselves. We had been trying to keep it low-key with the DIF as pushing usually gets the opposite results here, especially with us being North Americans. We pleaded and explained our hearts and concerns with the “upper powers” of the DIF and CasAsistencia. The first miracle came when they actually had the custody papers ready the day we were leaving for our trip (after several futile trips to Toluca). The second miracle we just heard about yesterday, that the multi-disciplinary committee of the DIF met the first week of January and decided to move ahead with our case NOW! Thanks for praying!!!! We know this was God’s moving the hearts of men because they were insistent about waiting at least until February! Is anything impossible for God? By the way, the kids have all grown one full inch in the past THREE months! Is that normal? We’re thinking they will be as tall as we are by 5th grade if they keep this rate of growth up! How do you keep up with the clothes!?!?!?! We look forward to the day we can actually sit down with them and tell them we want to be their mom and dad and put their little hearts at ease. We are really enjoying them tons and love them dearly. We are hosting our THIRD Encounter Gospel weekend January 20-22nd and covet your prayers for those who will be ministering and for those who will be ministered to. It is a very intense weekend briefly touching all areas their lives. We ask for special prayer for Alma, the woman who helped care for Chris’ parents for the past 3 years, and Lupita, one of her nurses, who we witnessed to and who was touched deeply by Alice’s life. This is a huge step for both of these women as they have only attended sporadically in the past or special events. Please pray that all hearts would be prepared to hear, feel, and give themselves over to the Lover of their Souls and find true freedom and joy in Him. We will be receiving a very special young lady into our home for the next 6 months, Andrea Nordstrom. She is the daughter of Pastor John, our team counselor, and dear friend and mentor. She will be helping to teach our kids English, helping with the youth in the church as her Spanish develops, reaching out in our neighborhood and to Jeanett (Jeanett is floundering some these days), and here to get a cross-cultural experience. Please pray for her and all of us as we get to know each other and receive the blessing of what God has in store! Richarte, our co-pastor, that you’ve heard so much about over the years has been feeling more and more over the past couple years the desire and the call from God to leave his full-time job has CEO of VisaFlor (BIG flower company here) and work in the ministry. His target date of quitting is February!!!!! He will step out in faith as all other church planters, receiving 1/3 of his salary from the church (we hope), raising 1/3 of support, and working for the other 1/3. He will be moving more toward a full-time position in the church. We have been feeling quite overwhelmed for some time and thank God for this man and his family. His marriage is growing stronger and they covet your prayers in this transition time. We continue to meet Thursdays each week with our team of Mexican pastors and church planters. It is evolving into what we’ve dreamed about for years and worked toward, a group with the vision, passion and willingness to sacrifice to see this region filled with the glory of God through multiplying churches. Our cup runneth over! Chris will be taking his second course in his Doctorate of Ministry program at Fuller Seminary in California the 6th-17th of February. He got an A on his first course and has reaped eternal benefits from it that has helped him personally and in the ministry greatly. He will be studying with Bob Logan (BIG church planting guy) and Chris will be evaluating his ministry and life over the past 20 years (many he has ministered with and to will be filling out evals as well). Please pray for God’s hand on Chris and special grace and strength for Kathy as she stays back to hold down the fort. The kids can still be a bit overwhelming at times, and 2 weeks can seem like a very long time! Well, we could tell of many amazing stories of how God is working in the evangelistic prayer cells and how families are being touched and changed…ah, another email….Thanks for being with us on this crazy, humbling, exhilarating journey with the only One worth giving our lives to-Jesus! We love you and truly thank God for each of you and your participation with us. In Him and for His Glory,
Mon Dec 19 14:50:04 2005 As we reflect on the arrival of Christmas (which stores help you begin to do in September-even here!), we continue to be struck by the ingenuity and wonder that God would send His only son, making the invisible God, visible, incarnating the Truth and Glory of the Eternal, all-powerful, Holy One. We believe that is how these towns will be reached as well, incarnating the Living God in large and small, sometimes seemingly insignificant ways. Most of what we do is about modeling, training, and sending others to incarnate Jesus in areas that have no light. We are trying to incarnate Jesus in our new neighborhood. We donated a small corner of our land to the neighborhood primary school to build bathrooms. The mayor of the city came to dedicate them and commented how extraordinary it was that people would give so much in this day and age. We do not share this to boast, but rather we believe God put that on our hearts to begin to show Christ’s love here although we had no idea they would make such a big deal out of it. We have also been surprised by how some of our poor neighbors are teaching us about this very thing. We will go to visit them, praying about what we can give to them and often we leave with a bag of fruit from one of their fruit trees, or gorgeous flowers to brighten our table. Sometimes God is most glorified when we are least trying to do something great for Him. We thank God for each of you and your part in bringing the Incarnational Jesus to those who have never heard! Thank you for your generosity, your prayers and your partnership. Have a most blessed Christmas season and may your lives reflect Jesus to those around you, too! In Him and for His Glory, Chris & Kathy
Sat Nov 12 16:45:47 2005 Well, a lot has happened since our last update. First Thank you also for your prayers for the kids while we We’ve had this email waiting for quite some time, but We had unexpected visitor at the church this past We thank God that we were at the end of a week of (SIDENOTE: the new baby, our children’s baby brother, So please pray for God’s wisdom in all this, We had a great week of fasting and prayer with our We also had our second Encounter weekend on Sept.
Another transition that we are seeing come to pass We thank God for each of you and consider it a Chris & Kathy Gouzoules
Our oldest boy, who will be 8 on Dec. 24th, is doing His younger sister who turned 5 in April attends The little guy who just turned 3 in October is a real While we’re enjoying these new roles, we have both
Sun Sep 25 13:03:53 2005 The viewing will be on Monday evening, the 26th We appreciate your prayers for us at this time as
Mon Sep 5 15:42:22 2005 Thank you so much to each of you that has been praying with and for us about this enormous decision of adopting the 3 siblings (Arunulfo, Lulu and Gerardo). Your emails, prayers and words of advice and I (Kathy) had marked that passage with the date 3/6/02 as I sought God in the decision to take his parents to Mexico. On April 30th, 2002, we moved Pete and Alice to Mexico and we have never regretted that decision, and it has been one of our biggest blessings! I am Our 3 day trial went well with the kids(2 weeksago) and although it was exhausting, unfamiliar territory, we felt exhilarated, very much alive, and our hearts were captivated! So on Monday, September 5th, at 4:30pm (TODAY) we will pick up the 3 children in Toluca and bring them to our There is other exciting news going on in our church and surrounding towns. Our post-encounter group on Wednesday evenings continues to meet each week and grow. There is usually about 40 adult and youth each week. It has been thrilling to see their commitment remain strong since March and desire to move into serving God and helping others find freedom and faith. They are now in leaders training and will be asked to facilitate a small group soon and/or join a ministry team. We have our second Encounter Weekend coming up September 9-11th and it is essential we are bathed in prayer and protection, for those who will be The church also took initiative this summer and planned its own kid’s club, English classes and craftclasses without the help of any gringos or missionaries!!!!!!!! This was a big step for them and a healthy sign to us of the growth of the leadership and the vision the Mexicans have to reach their communities. The neighborhood where our church is On June 26th our church celebrated its 9th anniversary (9 years from the first baptisms). It was a very, very special day because not only did we reflect and marvel at God’s faithfulness and goodness to us, but we also had some really important people who helped start the church, like Pastor Hector Correa, who gave us ‘covering’ from Principe de Paz in Cuernavaca in the very beginning. We also had Grant and Lisa Mason and family visiting from Australia, and Dave Galarza from IL, who were part of the first missionary team from 1994-1996. Of course, a party We also ask for your prayer for our leaders and their families…the enemy continues to hit hard and will stop at nothing: children, health issues, finances, etc.! We are counseling the couples and have We also thank you for praying for Chris’ mom, Alice’s health. She has stopped eating solids 95% of the time (Alzheimer’s-she has forgotten how to swallow), and had a few crises, where her blood pressure dropped dangerously low. Her cardiologist cut out 75% of her meds last week (several were vasodilators) to see if this will help with her Chris’ is feeling somewhat better although he continues to lose weight, which may be in part to the fact that he has gone to an 80% veggie and fruit diet with intensive vitamins. His blood work did show that he has the Epstein-Barr virus and CMV (cytomeglavirus)which both cause fatigue and possible weight loss. It is a relief to finally have some answers, but there is not medcal treatment for these viruses other than rest and good diet! We experienced a HUGE loss to our family last week when our dog, Sombra, passed away after a terrible fight with several larger dogs. Chris had this dog since his single days here (he found him 8 years ago) and was a faithful, loving friend. If you are not an animal person, this will be hard to imagine perhaps, but we find ourselves in a genuine, profound grief process. We loved Sombra deeply and he was a We continue to thank God for each of you and your partnership with us in bringing the Gospel to the unreached regions of Mexico, and being on this sacred journey with us. We love you and pray for God’s blessings for your lives! Kathy & Chris Gouzoules
Sun Aug 14 11:46:21 2005 Biography
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