Follow The Reyes Family

We made it! We have just graduated from the School of Missions. As we went through the six-month mission program at Sunset we felt so blessed to have this opportunity. As a team and family we were able to grow so much. Our team was able to sit at the feet of men who have successfully done mission work all over the world. Not only did we learn about the most effective approaches to foreign missions, but we also learned how to not make the same mistakes other missionaries have made in the past. I would say that some of the high lights of our training was the study of Anthropology, training leaders in the Lord’s church, mental health of the missionary, and these were just a few. We were able to study and learn so much about church planting, church growth, leadership training, and evangelism that I would highly recommend this type of training for people who are working here in the states. Even though our time at Sunset is over and we are moving to the next level, our team is still taking steps to be better prepared for the mission field. From January 11-13 we participated in an interpersonal relationship workshop. The fact that all the members on our team (wives included) feel so strongly about taking advantage of any knowledge and training that will help us on the field really gives my wife and I great confidence. This is just one of the several workshops we plan to attend before departing to the mission field. We absolutely praise God for all the supporters who partnered with us so we could have the opportunity to study at the Sunset Scholl of Missions!

My wife and I made a five day trip to Cuernavaca, Mexico so we could take a closer look at the conditions of living, language school, cost of living, and opportunities for a new church plant. We were so encouraged by the missionaries currently work there, the warm welcome of  the Mexican people, and the opportunities that we saw for gospel preaching. The Missionaries and Mexican Christians encouraged us to come and help spread the gospel in Cuernavaca. There is a tremendous need for more workers to reach the one million lost souls. Our hearts were deeply touched by a visit to the local orphanage. Fostering children is a passion our whole family shares. The church in Cuernavaca has a vision of starting their own orphanage soon but they are still in need of more help. The missionaries have studies during the week so they can study with the lost and mature young Christians. It was a joy to sing songs and see the people discovering God’s word together. On the Lord’s day we worshipped with the church and it was a great experience. We were able to see how the people of Cuernavaca are searching for truth. That Sunday there was a family of five that wanted to obey the gospel and be baptized into Christ (Rom.6:3-7). We met a 17 year old named Carlos who had been studying with the missionaries, the day after our return we received word that he made the decision to become a Christian. Amen!  There were so many things that we loved about our trip to Cuernavaca but the two biggest impressions that were left on us was the idolatry we saw and the multitudes of people who do not know the truth.

At times I have struggled with the issue of Christians participating in such a pagan holiday as Halloween. In Acts 17 we read the account of the apostle Paul walking through Athens which was a city full of idols. Luke tells us that when Paul had seen all the idols the spirit within him was provoked. (Acts 17:16). He took the fact that they were pagan idol worshippers as an opportunity to preach the gospel to them (Acts 17:22-31). The New Home church of Christ has been reaching out to their community over the last year and a half. On October 31 we had our second trunk or treat. The church handed out candy and had each person sign up for a drawing to win a stuffed lion which would be given away at our first Wednesday of the month potluck.  We had over 60 people sign up for the drawing. Although we did not have much of a turnout on our Wednesday night potluck we did have a wonderful opportunity that came from this effort. My wife and I came in contact with a lady that has agreed to study the Bible with us. My wife and I have already gone to her house and prayed, studied, and ministered to her needs. We also had a chance to meet with her brother and he allowed us to pray for him about some of the struggles he is facing in his life. This lady’s name is Yolanda and she has asked us to come back every Tuesday night so we can continue to study God’s word with her. My wife and I are so excited about the opportunity that resulted from this year’s trunk or treat. God has truly blessed us by putting this woman and her family into our lives. I don’t think that we should be dressing up like little demons or devils on Halloween, but I do think we should take every opportunity to reach the lost people of this world. We ask that you will keep this woman and her family in your prayers.

  My wife and I have been deeply touched by the desire of our oldest daughter Dominique. Last summer she went on a mission trip to Miami, Florida with the Sunset youth group. One of the out reaches they were involved in was going to a homeless shelter feeding, praying, and serving the homeless. Ever since that trip she has expressed how much she enjoyed that ministry and wanted to be further involved with it. She recently asked us if she can go with the Sunset youth group as they went into the inner city to feed the homeless. She came home and once again expressed her love for this ministry, and asked us if she could start going with Sunset every Monday.  We as parents are so proud of her willingness to serve in Lord’s Kingdom. I thought of what Jesus said in Matt.25:34-36      Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

An issue that our family had considered for sometime is the possibility of homeschooling our daughters. Over the past year we had finally come to the conclusion that it would be beneficial for our family, especially considering that we are going to the mission field. So far it has really worked out well for our family, and my wife has really enjoyed teaching the girls (above is a picture of Dominique & Jasenia, our two oldest daughters working on Language Arts).       

We have been working hard training in the School of Missions. We are learning about Developing Mission Strategy, Cross Cultural Preaching, Team Development, and Mental Health on the Mission Field. Mission Resource Network has also partnered with Sunset this year to help train our mission class. Because we have the largest mission class that Sunset has ever had they are going to great measures to ensure we are getting the best training available. All this training has been very intense but we believe that this will result in our longevity on the field. Our team as a whole has seen some exciting things happening through this training.

        We had a wonderful summer and have now returned to school for advanced mission. We spent a good part of the summer working with the church at New Home; I have almost finished preaching my first series. Next week I will be preaching my 7th sermon out of the book of Philippians (Phil.3:1-11).
             We are very happy to report to you that our VBS was a huge success. We had almost 50 kids that attended. We used this opportunity to reach out to the community by knocking doors and handing out literature about the Lord’s church. After the event was over people from the community were talking about how much their children enjoyed VBS.
                Three of our daughters were able to be involved in a spiritual trip this summer. Our two middle daughters Jasenia (13) and Deasha (11) went to Pine Springs Christian Camp in New Mexico. They really had a wonderful time and said they would recommend other kids going if they had the opportunity. Our oldest daughter Dominique (15) went on a mission trip with the Sunset Church of Christ youth group to Miami, Florida. They had the opportunity to work in a homeless shelter for several days, held a VBS for a local church, and participated in outreach efforts in the community. Dominique came home so enthusiastic about how much she enjoyed working for the people who lived in these shelters, and she also expressed much interest in continuing this in our local homeless shelter.

              On August 10th we started the School of Missions program and it has been a great joy to be here. We spent Aug.13-16 working with Mission Recourse Network. We are taking extraordinary steps to insure the health and effectiveness of this team via preparation with Sunset School of Missions and Mission Resource Network. We are currently receiving Team Mission Training, Family Assessments, Team Counseling, & Team Mentoring.
We are requesting your prayers for my wife as she will be going to see a specialist for her Rheumatoid Arthritis on Sept 14th, This visit will be very important because they will be able to do further testing and find out what medication will best control her disease.

Our two middle daughters were blessed enough to go to Pine Springs Summer Camp. This was their second year attending Pine Springs, last year they went with the Sunset Church of Christ, but this year they were invited to go with the Colgate Church of Christ. Our teammates Patrick and Brandon’a Garcia took the group up there and stayed with them the whole week. They left on July the 12th and came back on July 18th. When they returned they were so excited, and at the same time exhausted. Our second oldest daughter Jasenia (13) said that her favorite thing about of the trip was the hiking, and our second youngest daughter Deasha said her favorite things about the trip was the singing, and the mud fight! Over all we know that this was a faith building experience for them, and we thank God for the Garcia’s, Colgate, and everyone else who made this happen. Amen!!

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Our kids went to L.T.C. on Easter weekend.

      Our four daughters and Wesley Ellison had a chance to represent the New Home Church of Christ as they participated in this year’s L.T.C. in Dallas. This is an event where kids come from all over northern Texas  to be involved in events like Bible bowl, song leading, scripture reading, drama, puppets shows, and many other events. This year’s theme was the book of John and so our girls had spent a lot of time in the book of John prepareing for this event. The location where our kids competed at there were about 1,000 kids, but there were also two other locations in Dallas where kids were participating. This is an awsome experience where young people have a chance to be involved in spiritual training. Our kids brought home many medals from Bible bowl, Christian art, and other challenages that they had taken part in. Our kids had a wonderful time and we as parents felt blessed as our children had this oppertunity to be involved in such a faith building experience.  

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 We have been training at Sunset since August 2007

       My wife and I have recently graduated from S.I.B.I. in May. My wife has graduated from the women’s program, and I graduated from the two year program with a Bachelor Degree in Biblical Studies. We have decided to stay six more months so we can attend the school of missions to help us better prepare for the mission field. My wife and I feel so very blessed to have been able to study here at Sunsets over the last couple of years. We truly feel our time here at Sunset has help us obtain the Biblical knowledge we will need to reach the lost people of this world. The time we will spend in the school of mission will also be just as beneficial in helping us succeed as Missionaries in Mexico. We hope to be leaving for Mexico between January and May 2010, we really could use your help by praying for us. 

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We have been working with the New Home Congregation since the June of 2008.

        As my wife and I attended school at S.I.B.I. we have been doing a internship with a small church about 20 miles outside Lubbock.  The New Home church of Christ has been such a blessing for our family. My duties have included teaching the teen class on Wednesdays nights and Sunday mornings, also teaching and preaching in the assembly when Victor Ellison ( Sunset instructor) cannot or just asks me to cover. Victor is a instructor at Sunset who teaches Old Testament I & II, Church History, Daniel & Ezekiel, and the book of Revelation, it has been a blessing to work with such a Bible scholar while at New Home. My wife has been involved in teaching the women’s adult classes and teaching the pre-school class when needed. Our whole family was responsible for being in charged of the V.B.S. and will be looking forward to doing it again. We will be continuing with this internship until we leave to Mexico in 2010. All around this opportunity we have had to be involved with this congregation has not only better prepared us for ministry, but has been a real blessing to our lives.   

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We have been involved in nursing home & retirement home ministry since arriving in Lubbock in 2007.

       Our family has been involved in various ministries since being in Lubbock. On Sundays we either visit a nursing home or as we currently are sharing  fellowship at a retirement home where I conduct a service for members of the church who can no longer attend church because their health and other various reasons. This has been such a blessing to be apart of, and the people we interact with are just wonderful.

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Worked with the inner city ministry in Erie for a week in July 2008

      Another exciting ministry I was privileged enough to be a part of was a inner city work that is going on in Erie P.A. A Kevin and Terri Fry, and their son  Jeffrey have started a wonderful work in the inner city of Erie. Bob Jackson, Joel & Dawn Bell, and myself spent most of our time helping the Fry family reach out to  the homeless, gang members, drug addicts, prostitutes, and many other people who are hurting in the inner city of Erie. We were able to help the Fry family do many out reach efforts including repairing a lady’s roof, invite people off the street to a Bible study, we had a gospel meeting where someone preached every night, cleaned up trash off the streets, and just sat outside and talk to people about Jesus. We had a night that around nine people showed up to have a Bible study and it was really exciting.  It really was a blessing to see the heart of Kevin and Terri Fry as they continue to plant a church in this area that needs the gospel so badly. Our family at one time considered going to Erie to work with the Fry family, but we are now committed to going to Mexico. This was a very exciting oppertunity for me to be a part  of.

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October 2007 I was blessed to go to Romania.

     In October of 2007  I was blessed to go on my first mission trip. A dear friend and classmate Mary Green and I traveled to Romania to help Lee Skelton with the great work he is doing in Sibiu Romania. We had a gospel meeting the first three nights after arriving in Sibiu, we helped hand out hundreds of fliers to invite people to the church, and I also had the privilege to preach on the last night of the gospel meeting. We than traveled to the capital city of Romania where we attended a meeting for all the missionaries in Romania to come together for four days and it was awesome. I have to say this was a life changing experience.