Good Friday

Wow, what an emotional day. We watched the Passion of the Christ and then went to Church to spend time with Jesus and thank Him for everything He has done for us. It's hard to believe that He endured all of that suffering and never for one moment did He feel any hatred towards us, but instead He asked His Father to forgive us so that we could all be with Him in Heaven - even those who crucified Him! That's absolutely incredible. We must never forget it and always be thankful for it.

We're going to Africa!

Okay, As many of you know, Christine and I are going to Africa to help those in need. For a couple of years, we've been talking about dedicating our lives to God, and now we're finally getting off our lazy butts and doing it! We've found it difficult to focus on God here in Canada. He always takes a back seat to our jobs and our 'having fun'. At best, serving God becomes a 'weekends thing', and we want it to be the other way around - where serving Him is our full-time job and we have to find time for the other stuff. We also have found that even though we are not materialistic people, we can't help but get wrapped up in the accumulation of 'things'. We love to buy electronics and clothes and shoes and stuff - what kind of life are we living?? We have begun to realize that time is running out, and our salvation is not simply going to come to us - we have to go get it! We are excited and scared and our friends and families share our feelings, but with God behind us, how can we possibly go wrong? We have prayed for Him to tell us if we're on the wrong track, and He's done nothing but encourage us to go! He's helped us so much with selling our stuff and getting renters for our condo and having our jobs support us. It's like He's doing all the work and we're just holding onto His hand! It's been an amazing experience and it has barely begun. I (Juan) personally really enjoy visiting people when they are sick and making them laugh a little bit. Can you imagine what life would be like if every moment was dedicated to helping someone in need??????!!!!!!!!!!! What a purpose! It is a dream - our dream - and we're doing it!!!!

The Coptic Church's Bishop Paul is doing amazing things in Africa and he needs help. Programs range from starting schools to programs for widows, orhpans, the sick, street kids, AIDS and sex education, teaching, etc etc etc. Most important is having Jesus by our side and giving others the chance to get to know Him. For more info on the mission, visit http://www.copticmission.org/.

We'll be staying with Bishop Paul (aka Anba Boulos) in the missionary compound in Kenya. This is what we believe - it still has to be finalized. We have contacted him and are awaiting his guidance on which project we should take on. The plan is to leave in June and try it for one year, and see if it's what God wants us to do. Stay tuned...

One last thing...We would LOVE for you guys to come visit us!