Roselands and Gustavo Update

It's cool to watch people like Richard & Ximena Roseland pursue the God-passion that has been set before them!

Some of you may remember my post about Gustavo a few months ago - the young man who the Roselands had come to love at the Pan de Vida orphanage in Mexico. (This first pic is the Roselands with Gustavo who is second from the right.)

The Roselands recently left Pan de Vida, have been at Oso Creek the last few months, and are now seeking God's next station for them on the journey.

The cool news is that the Roselands now have Gustavo with them in Ecuador as they seek out their next place of ministry. (This is Gustavo 'monkeying around.')

Pray for the Roselands as they consider going to an orphanage in Quito, Ecuador. And pray for Gustavo and the possibility of being able to go with the Roselands and finish his education.

Gustavo

Richard & Ximena Roseland are at Oso Creek after serving the last few years at Pan de Vida orphanage in Queretaro, Mexico.

As they seek their next place to be on mission with Jesus, their hearts are still pulled for a young man named Gustavo at Pan de Vida. God has recently incredibly opened some doors for them to care for and help shape Gustavo's life!

The Roselands want you to know about Gustavo and some needs they face in helping him. I want you to know about Gustavo as well. Below is a letter from Richard telling you Gustavo's story . . . . Please comment back or email me if you want more info . . .

Dear Oso Creek Family,

As many of you know, we are back in Texas, but our ministry is not just limited to the place where we are located. We have been in contact with many different orphanages in different countries looking for needs that we could meet and opportunities where we could be of great service, just waiting for the still, small voice of our Lord to say “here!” We are going to visit a few of these orphanages in December as we have felt God’s peace and direction to these places. During this time, we have been praying for a special case of one of the boys from the orphanage where we were serving in Mexico. Some of you have met Gustavo who just turned 18 and have heard the testimony of the things that God has done in his life. For those of you who don’t know, Gustavo started living on the streets at the age of 8 after he ran away from his home. His step-father beat his mother and him and on one specific occasion Gustavo tried to stop him from hitting his mother. This made his step-father extremely angry and he threatened to kill Gustavo. His mother told Gustavo to run away, because she knew that his step-father would follow through with his threats. So Gustavo began living on the streets from the age of 8 until he turned 12. At the age of 12, he was brought to the orphanage and has been living there for the past 6 years. There is so much more to his story, but we hope that one day God will allow for him to be able to share his testimony with you in person. He is an excellent student, a man of God, and he is one of the kids at the orphanage that we truly believe has what it takes to do something amazing with his life. We love Gustavo a great deal and God has placed it on our hearts to help him achieve his dreams.

About a month ago, we wrote the director of the orphanage in Mexico to ask for his permission to take Gustavo with us to Ecuador in December whenever we are going to visit 3 different orphanages there. We thought “it doesn’t hurt to ask!” For those of you who know the director of the orphanage, he is a great guy, but for some reason the idea of the kids leaving the orphanage and starting a future is not high on his list of things to do. When we received the e-mail back from the director, we were surprised to find out that he gave us permission to take Gustavo with us to Ecuador! But even more surprising, he told us that he knows that Gustavo is a great kid and asked us if we could “be in charge” of Gustavo’s future education and helping him achieve his dreams. Wow! We were extremely surprised and we know that God’s hand is clearly evident in everything.

We are very excited to be able to take Gustavo with us in December and for him to be given the chance to inspire other orphans and volunteers at the homes that we will be visiting, showing that God has great things planned for even the least of these and that God can use their past to form them into men and women of God. We wanted to share this good news with you all, because we know that there are many things to give glory and praise to God about! We also still need your prayers in this situation. Since Gustavo is an orphan, he does not have the paperwork that will be needed to get a passport. We told the director that we will help with the paperwork and a few friends who live in Mexico volunteered to help as well. Also, we agreed to find people who could help cover the expenses of the trip and that we would cover whatever expenses are left over. The director gave us the go ahead to start with this process and we first need to get his birth certificate, then his voter’s registration card, and then his passport. The process doesn’t usually take a long time, but it can be complicated and expensive.

We know that God is in control of this situation and the life of Gustavo. He has the perfect plan for his life. Please join us in prayer that if this trip is in God’s plan and timing that He will work out all of the details and legal paperwork as well as provide the funds necessary for the trip as we do not have the money to cover all of Gustavo’s expenses.

Thanks,

Richard and Ximena Roseland

Roselands

I got to hang out with Richard Roseland yesterday and get caught up on what God is doing in their family.

Oso Creek has been helping to support Richard and Ximena (and now Santiago!) the past couple of years as they were on mission at Pad de Vida orphanage in Queretaro, Mexico.

You've been seeing them recently as they are back in the US to have a baby, and in the midst of transitioning to another orphanage, possibly one in Ecuador.

I really admire their heart and courage to go wherever God calls to care for 'the least of these' in hard places in the world.
Please pray with me for Richard & Ximena for God's direction and provision and for Oso Creek to be able to engage with them and their future mission in significant ways.

Giving Our Lives Away

Central to what it means to follow Jesus is losing ourselves . . . and putting great value on those who are in need and hurting. James the brother of Jesus even asked the question: 'What good is it if you claim to have faith but have no actions to express that faith?' (James 2:14 my translation)

And it's amazing how this tendency to 'keep ourself' - instead of 'lose ourself' - blinds, or at least stiffens, us to those who are in need.

I have also observed that it many times takes radical acts of 'getting lost' to break out of self. It's like the deeper in ourselves we are the more 'lost' we've got to get.

This Summer all of you have an opportunity to lose yourself amongst the poor and hopeless in Mexico. The first of two trips is to Queretaro, Mexico and the Pan de Vida orphanage (see pics) on June 13-22. This is where Richard and Ximena Roseland serve with Orphanos.

This Sunday (May 4th) immediately following the 11am Celebration Dino Roseland will host an informational meeting about the trip. ANYONE even remotely interested is encouraged to come and check it out - men, women, students, children.

Caring for Orphans in Mexico

I'm excited to let you know that we are creating an awesome opportunity for you to be used by God to show the hope of Christ to some of the least loved in Mexico.

On June 14-21 we will be taking a trip to Queretaro, Mexico where Richard and Ximena Roseland live and give their lives through the Orphanos ministry to children.

Dino Roseland will be leading the trip and there will be many ways to be involved from being hands on with the kids to building projects. But there's only room for 30 folks who will be staying at Pan de Vida - so you'll want to get signed up quickly!

You can email Dino for more info (click here).

Mission Possible!

On Friday night one of our Life Groups (Teel's Group) had a spaghetti dinner to help support Richard and Ximena Roseland who have given their lives to love orphans deep in Mexico.

This pic is of Richard & Ximena who serve through Orphanos - a ministry to children - at a Pan de Vida Orphanage in Queretaro, Mexico.

The Teels said that they were hoping to raise $1,000 and as of this afternoon God had raised over $2,000 and folks were still giving! Way to go Teel Group!!

On another missions note, we are making plans for a couple of short term mission trips in 2008! I'll get details to you as soon they're available . . .