Dear Family and Friends, Greetings from Ensenada. We are praying for you and trusting that you are finding your hope in Jesus as we all traverse through this crazy life. Without Jesus, the hope of glory, what would this life be about?
So what have we been up to? We have been living on this piece of land that God gave us—spending time praying, questioning, crying, seeking, praying some more… desiring to do God’s will even when we don’t always understand it. Thank you to many of you who have cried and prayed with us. And we have also been working—with the help of many of you we have been able to build a small house complete with a wonderful wrap-around porch and an attached laundry room. Water comes out of our faucets from a hole in the ground and our lights come on because of the ingenuity of solar. We are thankful for many blessings!
LET’S TALK ABOUT A TRADE SCHOOL
We are taking steps to move forward with the idea of starting a trade school. Preparations include: the purchase of additional land that is adjacent to ours (this is a process in progress), investigating the legalities of a trade school, talking with local businessmen and ministries about their ideas for classes, starting the groundwork for a preliminary shop/work barn to teach classes, working on an outdoor dining area with a small though complete kitchen. In the near future we are hoping to add three small houses for housing students/teachers.
Many kids in this area drop out of school after the 8th grade because their families cannot afford to pay for the uniforms and fees of high school classes…and so they end up working in the fields or falling into lives of drug use. This is one of the age groups we hope to target–teaching them some basic skills that will help them get better jobs in life. Using local Pastors, we desire to teach the importance of honesty, integrity, work ethic “as unto the Lord”, and also to share the saving gospel of Jesus. Our vision is to eventually have the students stay at the ranch for the workweek where they can encounter God’s love in all areas of life.
Some class ideas we are contemplating include— mechanics/basic car maintenance, woodworking/carpentry, basic use of tools, computer skills, office skills, English, plumbing, welding, simple sewing skills; we also hope to utilize local businesses to provide apprenticeship opportunities.
God has also repeatedly put on our hearts the idea of a place where people can come to gather. A place to stop-over, share a bite to eat, talk, hang out for awhile and then move on, or maybe a place to stay awhile and rest, to spend time alone with Jesus, listening to His voice and filling your cup up with His tender mercies.
Please pray for us as we trust in Him to orchestrate His perfect plan for this ranch.
Family of God:
We could not have survived the past 10 months or been able to move forward as we have without the love, support and friendship of many people. We cannot name you all, but each of you is dear to our hearts! We do want to name those who are part of the team;
Louis and Connie Van Nes
Louis and Connie are Danny’s parents. They have been missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators for 47 years working all over the world. Their latest assignment with Wycliffe has been part time in Mexico where they have given many of their personal resources providing audio Bibles for local churches. They have been invaluable to us these past months in helping us accomplish many tasks and projects and also staying here at the ranch so that we can be gone for periods of time. They are a huge blessing!
The DiBacco Family
The DiBaccos are a great family to have on our team! They are one of the hardest working, most sacrificial and encouraging families we have known. They truly have hearts for serving Jesus and we have been so blessed to have them walk beside us!
Steve and Sara Johnson
Steve and Sara served with us at the first Rancho Casitas and we are excited as they seek God’s will and provision regarding the possibility of moving back down to Baja. It will be a great blessing to serve together on the “ground floor” of this new adventure of a trade school
In closing
We want to let you know that we are working on a non-profit 501 C3 but unfortunately it is not complete at this time. We will let you know as soon as it is done.
We will continue to use:
Los Altos Grace Church
6565 Stearns St.
Long Beach, CA 90815
- Write checks to Los Altos Grace Brethren
- Do NOT put anything in memo line of check
- Add a separate note indicating “Van Nes support”
We would love to hear from you anytime; you can reach us at:
4492 Camino de la Plaza #529
San Ysidro, CA 92173
…or come visit us, we would love to see you!!
And in case you’re wondering, we plan to name the ministry:
Walk the Narrow Road
Matthew 7:13-14
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only few find it.”
It has been a joy to be able to bless others during this time of transition. Danny and his dad were able to help a ministry move eight loft houses from their old site to their new ranch. It took five long days but they had a great time.
We were also able to help a missionary friend move her belongings to La Paz, Mexico. It was a wonderful trip and we enjoyed the time on the road and the beautiful scenery.
Prayer and Praise
- We praise God for each of you that have prayed for and encouraged us—you have been a huge blessing!
- We praise God for His continued provision. Every month we get to witness a miracle—thank you for those of you who are part of that miracle!
- Please pray that the final
steps of purchasing the
land for the trade school
will go quickly and
smoothly. - Please pray for the process of Danny possibly becoming a Mexican citizen – it will require him to pass several tests in Spanish.
- There was nothing on this
property when we moved here so
everything has had to be done from
scratch. Also, starting a trade school
is a new venture, so we are not
always sure how to move forward
and everything is a slow process.
Please pray that we will have
wisdom and strength for every
decision and endeavor. - Pray that we will receive our 501
C3 status soon. - After a preliminary meeting with a mediator, the Hands of Mercy board chose to not come back together to meet with us to talk and discuss…please continue to pray for us as we strive to move forward still desiring truth and closure.
Tomas and Delia have also been an important part of our team. They have helped us, prayed with us, encouraged us and just been sweet friends to us during this difficult time
Musings of a Missionary Wife
I am writing this just a few days after the bombing of Christian Churches in Sri Lanka and I am reminded of the old song
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
Have we ever really taken the time to seriously ponder what that means? What might it take someday soon to follow Jesus?
What if? What if we knew that by going to church we might get bombed? What if it cost us our jobs, our livelihood, our ability to support our family? What if even owning a Bible could get us thrown into jail? What if admitting that we were Christ followers could cost us our lives?
Danny and I were on a road trip recently—we listened to
two books: God’s Smuggler (aka The Narrow Road) by
Brother Andrew and This Present Darkness by Frank
Peretti. I have also been reading Dreams and Visions by
Tom Doyle, I am N by the voice of the martyrs and Safely
Home by Randy Alcorn. May I challenge you to read any or all of these books: turn off your phone and be amazed by these (many real-life) stories!
Dear brothers and sisters—we have had it so easy in our western world. But this easiness could end someday– possibly very soon. So when Jesus calls us to live the really difficult life—where will our strength come from? Is He sufficient? Do we spend time with Jesus everyday meditating on His Word and making sure our armor is strong? Do we even have our armor on and ready for battle? Dear ones, do not be caught weak and unprepared, we must search our hearts, spend time in His presence and decide now if we can say with assurance
I HAVE decided to follow Jesus
No turning back, NO turning back
Though no one join me, still I will follow
NO turning back, NO turning back
I want to close with a quote from a true story from
Dreams and Visions by Tom Doyle:
“The Bibles sewn into my hijab are uncomfortable. But I get twenty New Testaments each trip into Jordan. Reem is our seamstress and I bring them straight to my home in Mecca. So far government authorities have not questioned me even once. I know they would kill me if they discovered what I’m doing. And even though I never tell anyone about the books, they are gone the day I arrive home. The Word of God is the most priceless possession in Mecca.”
Is the Word of God my most priceless possession? Have I decided to follow Jesus no matter the cost??