We're HERE!!!!

30 Hours later, 3 plane rides, 4 security checks where you have to take off your shoes and pull out all liquids in 3 oz bottles, and 2 lost carry-ons, we are finally in Bishkek. All of our luggage, that we origianally checked, made it in one piece and with all items still there. We were picked up at the airport by our contacts and stopped at this sign to make our arrival official.

This is a picture of our first official meal. Apple, bannana, goldfish, bread, cheese, butter, andx sausage. We ate at about 7am Bishkek time.

The God of details and MIRACLES!!!

Rhesa and I have defintely believed from the beginning of this journey, that God was the the God of details. By this I mean that He was taking care of even all of the little things that we did not even see. It has been a blessing to our lives to see how God works everything out. Honestly, I, the planner, was getting a little nervous at times, because I wanted to know how everything was going to work out. Now we come to you with one of the most important details, and in our eyes, a MIRACLE!
As many of you know, we had asked everyone to pray for the sale of our house and our vehicle. My parents decided to purchase our vehicle from us. Praise the LORD. This was a blessing. The only other thing holding us here was the sale of our home. Now this was going to be a feat in itself. The Houston housing market is not that great. Our house had already shown 16 times, and although we had a lot of traffic, we had no one who would leave any suggestions or even make an offer. We were getting very discourged. We knew God had a reason for us still being here, but we could not fully understand. We just kept praying that God's will would be done through it all, and that he would give us patience to wait on Him.
Well, we got word from our realtor that someone had finally made an offer, only this offer was different. As she began to tell us the story, Rhesa and I could not believe it. She told us that there was a family from our church who had approached our pastor and wanted us to be free to do what God was calling us to do. This family was willing to donate the whole amount for our house plus closing costs. They gave the whole amount to the church so that the church could purchase the house and use it as a second parsonage. How amazing is that. That God would speak to this family, and more than that, that this family would choose to be obedient to what God was asking of them. GOD IS GOOD! Now I know that some will try to explain this away, but there is no explaining. The only explanation that there is is GOD! In a society where we say that God does not do miracles anymore, I say , you are not looking in the right places. Miracles happen everyday all around us, we just have to be in tune with HIM. We have to be able to recognize God at work.
We are so excited as we have been able to share this story with some. We have been able to see how God is using what He did to strengthen the faith in others. It's not about us, but completely about God moving in ways that we never imagined.
Our closing is set for the 3oth of June. If everything goes well, and we actually close that day, we will be heading to Dallas to spend some time with my family, then we are off. We have already purchased our tickets and will be leaving the country on the 13th of July. God is good and His timing is perfect!

We are trying to get ready to leave. We have been advised to take warm clothes for the cold winter we will be encountering. We went out to find winter clothes, in the middle of our wonderful Houston summer. Today my thermostat read 101. Nice!!! Anyway, several stores later, and several exhausting hours of shopping, we found snow suits, gloves, thermal underwear, and snow boots. You should have seen the look on the faces of the people at the stores when we asked if they had winter clothes!!!! Priceless. At one store, I went in and blunt out asked for children's snow suits. They asked why, I told them, and literally, I had 3 ladies, my mom, sister, my niece, and myself all looking through the store to find clothes for the three kids. I think we are ready for winter. The first pictures are the results of all of our shopping extravaganzas in Houston. Remember, summer, 101, really hot!!!

Did someone say SNOW BUNNIES?

The aftermath!

I think Hurricane Rita came back!

Ruthy Loves taking pictures!

Ruthy decides to think about it!

Josiah GQing!!

Look out ladies!!!

A serious shot. Rhesa said he looks like a banker, or a preacher.

Mikayla styling in her new snow boots!

TOO CUTE!!!

Great shot. Shows her personality!

Where we are GOING!

Just wanted to show you all where it is we will be serving.

This map gives a larger picture of the area of the world where we will be in.

This is a map of the country we will be serving in. The Capital city is where we will live.

Preparing for Hope

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ

As we get closer and closer to the time of our departure, we get more and more excited. Honestly, we also get a little scared and sad all at the same time. We are completely trusting that God is in control, and we are leaving everything, our possessions, and our families, to follow what God has called us to. As we have had the opportunity to share with you what God has and is doing in our lives, we have also been reminded of how good and faithful God is. My prayer for you is that as you go about your day, you may experience His presence, His love, His mercy, and His grace, and that you may bestow them on someone else who needs to hear about what He has done for you. In preparing for the CIS, I have begun to think about what an awesome opportunity we have. In speaking with our private Russian tutor, we have come to find out that she grew up in Siberia. Her family was one sent to exile there. She literally does not know where she comes from, who her extended family is, or any of her background other than the fact that she is Russian. She is part of a large number of people who have been stripped of their identity, and who long to be a part of something bigger. The country we will be serving in is much like this. They are a people lost, now knowing who they are, and struggling to find somewhere to belong. Many try to find themselves in Islam, but to no avail. We have a message to share of hope, love, and of someone that they belong to. The message of Jesus Christ is that hope and to Him is who we all belong to. The knowledge that there is someone who knows you, who you are and where you are from, and who loves you, can be one that transforms lives. Also, the knowledge that you belong to a brotherhood of believers all around the world, that your Christian family is very extensive, can also change the lives of those who many times literally have no one else. We thank you for your commitment in supporting us either through prayer, giving or both. May God bless you and from our family we would like to say thank you for your support. We would also like to make you aware of a new website that the Church of the Nazarene has created for all Mission Corps volunteers. Some had asked us if there was a way to give by internet, or if there was a way to set up a monthly automatic withdrawal from your checking account. The answer is yes. You can still send your support to the General Treasures office if you would like, or you can use this new website to give your monthly support. The direct address for this webpage is: http://web.nazarene.org/goto/rodriguezfamily

Again thank you for your commitment.

Easter Pictures

Just wanted to put an updated picture of the kids. This is the Easter picture that Rhesa took of them. Not just becasue she is my wife do I say this, but I think Rhesa takes wonderful pictures! Don't you agree?

Robert and Rhesa's Story

Robert & Rhesa’s Story

God is faithful! Robert and Rhesa have reminded each other of this almost daily.
Both Robert & Rhesa remember their parent’s telling of how they had been praying for their future mates even before there were born. Then both of them started praying for their future spouse at a very young age.
Robert was called to be a missionary when he was seven years old as he watched a Billy Graham Crusade and told his mom that he was going to go to Russia. Rhesa was called to missions when she was in 5th grade. She was so shy at the time that when an invitation was given for all to stand that felt God’s calling, she stayed seated and prayed silently, and “God I am standing up on the inside.”
Robert was in elementary school when he felt God telling him that one of the ways he would know the girl he was that she would have never kissed another guy. Rhesa made a commitment to God as a sophomore in high school, to never kiss a guy except her husband.
Robert and Rhesa first remember seeing each other in speech class their freshman year in college in Bethany, Ok. Robert was giving a speech on “How to be a clown”, and Rhesa gave a speech on “How to make guacamole”. Robert didn’t remember the subject of Rhesa’s speech but he did remember and filed away the facts that she had grown up in Guatemala and spoke Spanish.
Robert was a very good friend with Rhesa’s younger brother, Titus, so the two saw each other from time to time at different functions such as musicals and recitals. Robert and Rhesa were the two clowns on campus at Southern Nazarene University, where they were attending, so they were also thrown together at different functions such as immunization clinics that called for clowns.
Robert finally got up the courage to ask Rhesa out their 5th year at SNU. Rhesa recalls Robert getting on one knee to ask her out as she was sitting in the music building lounge. They went out for a couple of months up to the time of graduation when Robert asked to continue corresponding with Rhesa as he went off to seminary in Kansas City. Rhesa turned him down flat, saying she saw no future in their relationship. In reality, she now admits to feeling a soul connection with Robert, but was “sacred to death” at the time.
Robert and Rhesa, on several occasions, stayed updated on each other’s lives through their mutual friend and brother, Titus. Robert confesses that he would have never called Rhesa, for she had already turned him down. Not until Christmas of 2002, when Rhesa was in need of a clown, for her original clowning partner had fallen ill, did they come into contact again, Robert was flying in from K.C. for the holidays to be with his family. He arrived at 6:30 and went clowning at 7:00. Rhesa remembers thinking, “Oh I hope he calls me,” but had prayed as she had many other times, that he would not call, unless she was to learn something, or he was her future husband.
During the first week of January, Robert called and asked if he could start calling. Rhesa said “Sure”. During Robert’s three week trip to Bolivia and Peru, Rhesa left a message on Robert’s cell phone, knowing he was out of town, to ask for forgiveness and wanting to talk when he came back. Robert called the night he returned wondering about the message. They discussed seeing each other again, but were not sure how a long distance relationship would work out.
On one of their first dates, they traveled to Lufkin, Texas to see Titus. A six hour drive turned out to be an eight hour drive because of wrong directions. However, neither of them minded since they had eight hours to talk. The only draw back was that on the trip back Robert was hoarse from talking so much. After this trip was when Rhesa called her best friend Jennifer and said, “He’s the one”. When Jennifer asked how she knew, she said she just knew and, “It’s like faith in Jesus’ saving grace, you know it deep within your soul”. Rhesa also said that she knew he really liked her when he changed his plans and plane ticket to spend one more night in Lufkin so she could hear Titus’ first sermon. Robert said he knew he loved Rhesa from the very first date but had decided to respect her boundaries because of what she had said in their first parting in college about not seeing a future in their relationship. Needless to say, their relationship flourished in a short time.
On February 14th Robert asked Rhesa to be his girlfriend. During the second week of March, Robert asked Rhesa, “So, are you ready?” She said yes and asked, “Are you?” He said yes and continued to talk about other things. Up to this time Robert had been calling Rhesa every night so you can imagine her anxiety when he didn’t call the next night, in light of their previous night’s, short conversation on whether they were ready to get married. Come to find out that was the night he called her father and asked for her hand in marriage and them went out and bought the engagement ring. Robert tells of his surprise in how easy it was to ask Rhesa’s father for their permission and blessing. He was nervous but to his surprise her dad said yes in his first sentence and also said that he had hoped something would come out of their relationship even from the first time he had met him when they were dating in college.
One week later on March 21st, 2003, when Rhesa was visiting Robert in Kansas City, Robert asked Rhesa to be his wife. Rhesa had no idea he was going to propose. He had arranged fro Rhesa to stay with the Duey family, from his church, but she had not met them yet; so he also arranged for them to be at the restaurant that night. They sat across from the couple and videoed them. The family also caught on tape their stop at a fountain in one of the town squares. There at the fountain Robert and Rhesa took pictures and even got a couple to take their picture together. This couple, who were just sitting leisurely on the park bench enjoying the fountain, also turned out to be some of his friends she had not met yet. Well, that is where he asked her to marry him and, obviously, she said yes. Since then, they have been growing more and more in love, reminding each other of God’s faithfulness as He has provided for them time after time. Great is His faithfulness!