The news that many have been waiting for!

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We got back April 15 from a ten-day trip to Panama! We went with the Fulfill the Call Ministry school from our local church and had an absolutely amazing time!

The team was great (pictured above), there were thirteen of us total. We did a little bit of everything and were challenged to serve in elementary and high schools, an orphanage, in an indigenous village, open air presentations in a local community, at the Youth with a Mission base in Panama, and in downtown Panama City.

Pepe and I were excited to be in our element at the YWAM base and were inspired in continuing to develop our vision for missions for the future. We greatly enjoyed investing in the students' lives and look forward to staying connected to the group in the coming months. Several even felt a pull towards making more of a long-term commitment to local and foreign missions!

One of the highlights of our trip came from our visit to a local Embera Tribe. To get there involves a 30 minute car ride followed by a 2 hour canoe trip up the river (the river was dry and we had to get out and push quite often:)) to a community where we ministered and stayed the night, then we hiked another 45 minutes up into the jungle to get to the 'upper village' of the Embera people. Pepe lived there for almost 2 weeks several years ago on an outreach and many from the community remembered him!

We did a presentation in a school and there was a Christian teacher there who has been feeling discouraged. Every day he travels for hours to reach several remote communities to help provide education. He was encouraged by our presentation with the kids and shared with us afterward that we gave him vision and that if we could leave everything behind to come to a place so incredibly far away from our homes, then he could continue giving his all to be a good role model for these kids and reach them with the gospel. It was a powerful time and we were all touched to keep him in our prayers!

The big news... We're Expecting!

Dear Friends,

We've been thinking about how to best express the happiness we feel... We're thrilled to share that we're 19 weeks pregnant! Thankfully, the pregnancy has been progressing very well! During my first trimester I only struggled with a little bit of nausea and fatigue. I (Pepe) am so surprised to see how well my wife has done so far with all the changes and challenges, and I'm so proud of her!

Many have asked us if we feel like we're ready to be parents, and maybe you're one of them. We believe that we'll probably never feel fully ready, but love and the happiness we feel and God's grace above all are what equips us for this next season of our lives.

In one of our visits with our midwife we had the privilege of hearing our baby's heartbeat for the very first time! The monitor picked it up right away, and our midwife said that it was an extremely strong heartbeat. Between Pepe and I we almost cried with happiness, it made the fact that I have a baby in my womb so much more real especially as my 'baby bump' continues to grow more and more every day!

We hope that you're as excited as we are, and that you feel a part of this process with us. We'll keep you updated as the pregnancy progresses and we appreciate all of your love and prayers!