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Gift-Pledge form Nashville 2012
Articles Written By: Jason
Our Latest Newsletter
Announcement – Nashville Church Plant 2012
Hi everyone! It’s been awhile coming, but today Norah and I want to officially announce that we will be moving to Nashville in late December to be planting what will hopefully be the first of MANY churches here in the US and beyond!
See Our Nashville Announcement Video…
What God Has Done
God has done some amazing things over the past 15 years in Bolivia. He has touched the lives of thousands. We have seen: young people freed from gangs, violence & drugs; people saved; families restored; people healed emotionally and physically; and so much more! Not only that, but through God’s grace, we have raised up hundreds of small group leaders in the churches that we’ve planted in Sucre and Santa Cruz. These leaders are continuing the work in those cities, and they dream of reaching all of Bolivia and beyond for Christ!
Our Move to Nashville
Norah & the kids over Golden, Colorado
Now, it’s time to move on. We had quite a time trying to figure out WHERE the RIGHT place to go was. We felt God calling us to a larger, strategic place, but at the same time we really wanted to stay in this area. After traveling over half of the United States in April and again in mid-August, we had narrowed it down to Minneapolis, Nashville, Denver or Colorado Springs. After much prayer, discussion, and several clear, God-led “circumstances”, we felt that God was leading us towards Nashville. It was a TOUGH decision, but since we made it, God has put a sincere peace and excitement in our hearts over what HE has in store for us! We’re ready to roll!
The Need in America
As incredible as it may seem, the United States has turned into one of the largest mission fields in the world. Studies show that today only 16% of Americans attend church on a regular basis (http://www.theamericanchurch.org). Many believe that we are only one generation away from being a post-Christian nation.
This must stop! This IS NOT what God intended! America needs to not only HEAR about God’s grace, but also SEE and EXPERIENCE his amazing love & power. (See Acts 8:4-8!) The “Good News” of Jesus Christ isn’t just verbal. Great arguments aren’t enough. God wants to touch people’s lives. Only then will they truly believe. We’ve seen so much in Bolivia, but THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
Our Immediate Plans
We have a lot of preparation to do before we move in December. Over the next several months, we need to do a lot of fundraising (understatement of the year 
). This is VERY important. One of the main reasons that new churches fail is for lack of finances. We need to raise enough one time financial gifts to start this church with a BANG. We also need to raise two years of monthly support. That support will help cover the rent for the new church, our salary & healthcare. Why Salary & Healthcare? It is essential that the new church use its limited income primarily on impact and growth during the first few years, not on the pastors salary.
Erynn & Jordan waiting on school bus first day of school
We need to raise $70,000 in one time financial gifts and $7,500 in monthly support for the next two years. Many of you have been incredibly faithful in supporting us, and we thank you for that! If everyone who currently supports us would continue that support for the next two years, we would only need to raise between $3,000 and $3,500 more in monthly support.
Conclusion
Please keep us in your prayers. All of this change is not easy for Norah & the kids. Thankfully, they are adapting very well. Still, in January we will be putting the kids in another school in Nashville. They need your prayers. Norah truly impresses me. First, this is a new country for her, AND we are starting our lives over at 35! She has complained very little. (I doubt too many wives would handle that so gracefully!)
Pray for our finances… and please consider giving a one time gift and/or monthly support for two more years. E-mail us or give us a call. We wish to take advantage of these next few months to see and share our hearts with everyone!
Thank you and May the Lord bless you richly,
Step of Faith
Hi all! Two weeks ago, Norah, the kids and I took one of the largest steps of faith that we have ever taken as a family… We got onto the plane to come back to the United States! We’ve taken some pretty large steps of faith over the years; planting churches around Bolivia, moving, trusting God for our safety and finances, etc. We’ve also seen God’s mighty hand so many times over the years. We have learned that when he says GO, we GO. 
But even for us, this seems far fetched. To come to the U.S. with nothing, start over in almost everything in life, and to plant a church that will not only grow, multiply and impact North America in a great way, but will also be a powerful force in helping the Bolivian church surge forward, changing that nation for Christ… THAT is a step of faith. We may be naive in many people’s eyes, but we’re believing and proclaiming in Christ that this is what will happen as we move forward in this new stage of our lives.
It took much longer than expected to finally leave Bolivia, but God worked out everything perfectly. We left the church in Pastors Daniel & Claudia’s care. They are such great people. We were afraid that many would leave once we departed from the church, but the three week overlap of us and the new pastors being there really helped everyone to get to know, trust and commit themselves to them also! We too were able to get all of Norah’s US immigration paperwork done. Overall, we left both the Sucre and the Santa Cruz churches in great shape… And we know that the best is yet to come!
Our last two months in Bolivia were exhausting. Thank God those times of high stress and non-stop work don’t last forever! Since we’ve been here in the States, we’ve been able to rest and to get our heads screwed back on right so that we can figure out our next steps.
Our goal over the next few months is to prepare ourselves for next years church plant completely; spiritually, strategically and financially. I (Jason) will be traveling to Buenos Aires, Argentina, on August 23rd to visit and plan with the main pastors of “Catedral de la Fe” (Faith Cathedral). This is the church that has taken over our churches in Bolivia. They are very interested in working with us here in the United States also. It is possible that they will help us financially, so we ask that you would pray for us and that God would direct everything according to His will.
After my trip, we will begin visiting all of the churches that have supported us over the years, and our wish is to sit down and talk to every single one of you personally about our next step in ministry. We will be here in Garrett County until December. We will move to plant the church right after Christmas.
Before I close, let me share a few petitions with you. Please pray for my parents and all of us, as we are ALL staying here at their house during this time. It’s nice to be with family, and we can save on rent and utilities… but… there are 8 of us in the house spread across four generations! For some reason I feel that we haven’t left Bolivia yet!
Pray for our kids, especially Erynn and Jordan. They will go to school here, and then we will transfer them mid year. They seem to be doing very well, but all of this change can’t be easy on them.
Please pray for our finances. It’s weird. God has blessed us tremendously. He has provided everything that we need and He has shown us clearly that we are not mistaken on this path. At the same time, we are starting with nothing here, and the Hand of Hur is three months behind in paying our salary. Giving has REALLY fallen since we’ve announced that we were returning here. I wish that everyone understood, but it seems that some don’t. We ask that you please continue to give until we have the chance to sit down with you and talk about what’s coming!
Thanks for your time, love and prayers. We’ll be in touch! May God bless you greatly!
Love,
One Week Left!
Good morning everyone! We’ve been quite silent lately, and I wanted to update everyone on what’s happening here in Santa Cruz. Please take the time to read it all!
Norah’s Visa
On Monday, we were notified by the US Embassy that Norah’s VISA / permanent residence to the US was accepted. I immediately went to the airlines and reserved our tickets home. Her passport and immigration papers should arrive today through DHL from La Paz and we will be able to buy the tickets… finally! This entire process has been much longer than anticipated. We returned from the US the first days of May thinking that we’d be leaving Bolivia within a month. It’ll almost be 3 months by the time we leave Santa Cruz on Thursday, July 28th. It’s been worth it though, and CLEARLY directed by God. In other words, this 2 month delay has been what God has planned all along, and it has formed how, what and when we will be doing things once we get to the USA.
Our Life and Arrival of Missionaries/Pastors from Argentina
Outside of Church (We changed the name of the church)
Although we feel God has directed it, It’s been stressful. We slept on the floor for a month, and are currently living in someone else’s house. We’ve had one, real, home cooked meal together in the past 6 weeks. I had surgery for kidney stones, and had a stent in my left ureter that just made life awful for 3 ½ weeks. We’ve traveled to La Paz, Sucre, and back. Norah went to La Paz again for a second appointment at the US Embassy. I’ve been working on the church from daylight to 10 PM or more for the past 3 weeks. Norah’s been trying to sort through things that we have left, organizing, giving things away, packing, etc. Both Norah and I have been sick with the cold (the kids have been healthy thankfully!), and we’re both exhausted… but truly it’s been worth it all.
Pastors Daniel and Claudia D’Amico from “Catedral de la Fe” (Faith Cathedral) in Buenos Aires, Argentina arrived on the 12th. We really wanted to prepare the apartment at the church so that they could live comfortably with their three children. We were able to fix and paint most of the walls and ceiling before they arrived. We also were able to put in carpet over the awful upstairs wood flooring. Even so, we ran out of time. When they arrived, they had no hot showers, none of the toilets worked correctly, we hadn’t put the beds together yet, and they had no sink to wash dishes or anything! Thankfully that had a great attitude about it all, and over the past week and a half we have been able to fix most of that. They still don’t have a kitchen sink… and I’m not sure when they will… but they’ll put one in when there’s money available to do that.
A meeting in the new place with some of the main workers and leaders
Can We Out-Give God?
We’ve given them a good bit of our furniture, appliances, etc.; 4 beds, a table, washer, dryer, refrigerator, stove, microwave, bookshelves, desks, computer, printers, large LCD TV, DVD player, speakers, radios, plates, silverware, glasses, cups, pots and pans, etc., etc., etc.! We wanted to sell most of our things, but we realized that they’d arrive here with nothing. It’s tough letting go of all of those things, knowing that we have only what we have in our suitcases and a bed that someone has already given us (THANK YOU!), but we know that you can’t out-give God. So many have given much to us also… we have to give as we’ve been given! So we’re sowing in faith, knowing that God has our backs. We haven’t sold our car yet, but we do plan on selling it in the next few days. (Anyone want to give us a semi-new car so that we can give ours to the missionary couple here? Just kidding!… but seriously… )
11 Day Evangelistic Campaign in Santa Cruz Church
Small Group meeting with Pastor Danny
Tomorrow (Thursday the 21st) we are beginning a 11 day evangelistic campaign at the church. There is a lot of optimism. Although Norah & I won’t be there the entire length of time, we are very excited that we can be a part of this. We’ve printed out 5,000 fliers. We have a team of 30 or more from our Sucre church who is arriving to help us. We’ll be going house to house for at least half a mile around the church inviting people to the services, and we’ll be doing street evangelism in the plazas and parks of Santa Cruz. The team that we have in Santa Cruz will be working hard on calling and visiting all of the people who arrive at the service over the next 11 days. May God do a great work during this time!
Conclusion
We’ll be home (USA) soon! We want to visit all of you and your churches from August up through December… Then we’ll be moving to plant a new church that we are believing in faith will impact the United States in a great way! Once again we ask… if you support us, PLEASE continue to do so faithfully until we get the chance to talk to you personally about our next step in ministry. If you don’t… PLEASE DO! It won’t be eternally… maybe two years, until the church gets going strongly there. We’re in dire need of finances to get our lives and ministry on track in this new time for us!
See you soon & God bless!
Jason, Norah, Erynn, Jordan & Derrick Skipper
La Hora ha Llegado (Anuncio)
Buenas Tardes a todos!
Saludos desde Santa Cruz de la Sierra! Es difícil creerlo, pero ya van más de dos años desde que nos venimos con Norah y los niños a vivir en este paraíso tropical! Durante estos dos años Dios ha sido muy bueno con nosotros. Al principio nos costó mucho acostumbrarnos al calor y también a la cultura que es totalmente distinta que Sucre… pero la verdad es que cuando Dios te llama a hacer algo, Él también te ayuda en todo. Él ha puesto en nuestras vidas un amor y una pasión para Santa Cruz y la gente que vive aquí. El año pasado logramos ya arrancar con MCC Santa Cruz, el cual está avanzando con mucha fuerza. Sabemos que Dios va a hacer maravillas aquí, y también en toda Bolivia durante los próximos años!
Esta carta tiene el fin de anunciar oficialmente un cambio radical en nuestras vidas y ministerio. Hace tiempo anunciamos esto a las iglesias de Sucre y de Santa Cruz, y los que saben Inglés también deben saber algo ya que lo anunciamos hace meses en el Facebook.
El Anuncio:
Para llegar directo al punto, en Julio, Norah, los niños y yo nos estamos yendo a los Estados Unidos para plantar una nueva extensión de nuestra Iglesia. Esta decisión fue hecho en el mes de febrero de este año, después de mucha oración y luego confirmación clara de Dios.
¿Como Fue Todo?
Yo (Jason) creí que probablemente íbamos a vivir toda la vida en Bolivia. Hace años, en un momento de pelea con Dios , sentí que Él me dijo “Jason, yo te traje a Bolivia con un propósito, y no te irás de aquí hasta que Yo te diga”. Creí que eso significaba Hasta la Muerte. Peor, después de venir a Santa Cruz, creí que la única manera que nos iríamos de Santa Cruz sería si el gobierno me bota por ser Americano (ya que no somos tan queridos por el gobierno). Por mi sopresa, en diciembre del año pasado mientras yo oraba, sentí que Dios me decía… “Jason, ya es hora”. Lo único que pude decir es “Eso es imposible Dios!”. Yo veía la Iglesia aquí en Santa Cruz y sentí que era imposible que lo dejáramos, porque sin nosotros moriría rápidamente. No estaba lista la Iglesia. Faltaban líderes, y peor no había quien toma cargo. También me preocupaba mucho la Iglesia en Sucre. Los pastores Joel y Verónica Cuellar están trabajando de manera excepcional allí, pero tenía mucho temor que la iglesia podría estancarse y no continuar adelante hacia el sueño que Dios nos ha dado.
Después de casi un mes de constante oración y lucha con Dios, decidimos con mi esposa que nos iríamos a los Estados Unidos SOLAMENTE si estuviéramos SEGUROS que las dos iglesias no solamente seguirían adelantes, sino que seguirían adelantes con MUCHA fuerza. Fue en ese momento que todas las puertas empezaron a abrirse milagrosamente. Hasta mediados de febrero vimos soluciones claras y ideales, y pudimos ver claramente que Dios tenía TODO bajo contról! Hoy estamos 100% confiados que estamos dentro de la voluntad de Dios, y que el sueño que Él nos ha dado para Bolivia y para las naciones recién empieza!
El Plan
- Para Las Iglesias:
Nuestra mayor preocupación era que las Iglesias no mueran o estancan. Para nosotros, eso sería lo peor. Después de dedicar 15 años al ministerio aquí en Bolivia, no era una solución aceptable solamente levantar las manos y decir… “ojalá que les vaya bien, chau!”. Tenemos un sueño para Bolivia, y no era una opción dejarlo así. Como hace años tenemos una amistad muy cercana con los pastores Osvaldo y Alejandra Carnival y también con Gustavo y Susana Rossi de la Iglesia “Catedral de la Fe” en Buenos Aires, Argentina, decidimos escribirles a ellos y pedir su consejo.
La historia es larga, pero básicamente después de un viaje con el pastor Joel a Buenos Aires en febrero… decidimos entregar el liderazgo de MCC Santa Cruz a esa iglesia. Ellos tomaron la decisión de mandar una pareja de misioneros desde Buenos Aires a Santa Cruz para continuar la obra aquí! Ellos también comprometieron ayudar con todo lo que podían a la Iglesia de Sucre para salir adelante en todo lo que hacen!
Los nuevos Pastores Daniel y Claudia Damico juntos con el Pastor Joel Cuellar en Catedral de la Fe Argentina.
El día 9 de julio, los pastores Daniel y Claudia Damico de la Iglesia Catedral de la Fe llegarán a Santa Cruz y tomarán cargo de la Iglesia. Tenemos programado una campaña de evangelismo grande que marcará un nuevo lanzamiento de “Catedral de la Fe (MCC)” en Santa Cruz. Todos los líderes y asistentes de la Iglesia aquí juntos con muchos líderes de la Iglesia de Sucre estarán en esta campaña que creemos que impactará de gran manera a Santa Cruz.
En la Iglesia en Buenos Aires hay mas de 800 Bolivianos y un total de 25,000 miembros quienes se han puesto en oración y ayuno, clamando y intercediendo para su Bolivia y para estas Iglesias!
- Para Nosotros:
Nosotros viajaremos, si todo sale bien, en mediados de julio a la casa de mis padres en los Estados Unidos. Estaremos allí en Maryland hasta diciembre donde visitaremos a todas las Iglesias y personas quienes han apoyado a nosotros y a las iglesias durante los últimos 15 años. Después de navidad vamos a mudarnos a una ciudad importante y estratégica de los EEUU donde nos prepararemos para plantar esa nueva iglesia al año.
Al principio levantaremos dos equipos… uno en inglés y el otro en español… y con esos equipos haremos lanzamientos grandes para iniciar la obra allá. Esto tomará un tiempo, pero nuestro sueño es de levantar no solamente una iglesia allá, sino una red de iglesias alrededor de todos los Estados Unidos. TAMBIÉN, nuestro plan es de trabajar junto con nuestras iglesias en Bolivia y también Catedral de la Fe en Argentina para plantar iglesias alrededor de toda Bolivia. Viajaremos continuamente para hacer congresos, con equipos de evangelismo y construcción entre otras cosas para apoyar a la obra aquí en Bolivia y para ayudarla expandir como Dios nos llamó hacer hace mucho tiempo.
Conclusión
Este anuncio es agridulce para nosotros. Hace 15 años que yo estoy en Bolivia. Hace 13 que nos casamos con Norah allá en Sucre. Crecí ministerialmente aquí en Bolivia, y literalmente yo he vivido casi la mitad de mi vida aquí. Es muy difícil dejar todo esto atrás para empezar una nueva etapa en nuestras vidas y ministerio. Para Norah y los niños, este paso es aún más grande… siendo que ellos han vivido todas sus vidas aquí! Duele! Les vamos a extrañar MUCHO!!!
Al mismo tiempo es algo hermoso. Podemos ver como Dios está moviendo todas las cosas. AHORA, y RECIÉN AHORA podemos entender porque muchas cosas pasaron en Sucre y también aquí en Santa Cruz. Entendemos que Dios nos estaba enseñando y preparando para lo que Él tiene para nosotros. Nosotros seguiremos trabajando en Bolivia de gran manera. El sueño perdura, y habrá mucho fruto! Nos toca a nosotros serle fiel y obedecerle en todas las cosas.
Queremos darles las gracias a TODOS ustedes por estar con nosotros siempre, por ser nuestros amigos, apoyarnos y dar lo mejor para nosotros. También queremos pedirles que por favor nos apoyan en oración mientras que seguimos adelante en este gran desafío que Dios nos ha dado. La verdad es que aunque Dios se está moviendo de gran manera en nuestras vidas, también estamos recibiendo mucha resistencia espiritual (ataques). Por favor apoyanos a nosotros, a las Iglesias y a los nuevos Pastores Daniel y Claudia en oración y en todo lo que Dios pone en su corazón! Que Dios les bendiga grandemente!!!
Un abrazo ENORME…
Jason, Norah, Erynn, Jordan y Derrick Skipper
Update Letter… We’re STILL in Bolivia
Life is unexpected! That is basically the theme of our life right now. We’re still in Bolivia. It’s a long story, but basically God is moving everything and forcing us to do things His way… Not ours. :-) We won’t be leaving Bolivia until mid-July. The couple that will take over our Santa Cruz church came to visit us and the church two weeks ago. (They’ll come to stay on July 9.) While they were here, we signed the contract for the new building that the church will be renting. We talked and talked about the ministry, Bolivian culture, successes, failures, etc. We also showed them around the city, and Pastor Daniel preached that Sunday at the church. 
What a perfect couple God has chosen to take over for us here in Santa Cruz! They are an accomplished couple in the main church in Buenos Aires. They have close to 500 people under their care in their small groups there. They are in their mid forties and have three kids. The people in our church are very sad because we are leaving, but they all fell in love with Daniel and Claudia Damico. We KNOW that God is going to do great things through them!
Our lives are in turmoil. We sold a lot of our things as soon as we got back from the USA, thinking that we would leave in early June. Now we’re camping out in our empty house until July 1st, when we will move to the church for a few weeks before leaving Bolivia. Tuesday, May 31st, I had a ureteroscopy to take out a stone in my right urethra and to fix the left urethra that was almost totally closed because of damage from earlier stones. They left a catheter in, to make sure that my left urethra heals well. They will have to take that out next week. Not Fun. I have been in pain ever since, and the catheter drives me crazy. I’m not looking forward to getting it taken out though. :-( Even with the pain, we had to continue working. I married a young couple on Saturday, the 4th. We moved the church from the old place to the new last week. We are preparing the new place so that it’ll work great for the church and will be livable for the pastors that are coming. We’re rewiring the electricity in the place and are building a new stage. We’re painting, putting in new windows and are designing and getting a new sign made for the front of the church.
On top of that, I had an accident this morning on my way to the church. A lady came out of a side street and ran right into the front right side of my car. She is the wife of an important guy in the transit police, so they ruled that 100% of the blame was mine. It’s totally ridiculous, but that’s how things work here. They say that I have to pay all of my bill and all of hers too. I was told that I can appeal the ruling, but after getting counsel from several different people, I have decided not to. I may not get my car back in time to even sell it before I leave if I do. It’s a pathetic and powerless situation that I’m in. In any case, I know that God is our judge.
As I said, unexpected is the best word that describes our lives right now… But all is in Gods hands. We KNOW that He is directing every step that we take. Please remember us in your prayers over the next month. We still have so much to do. Pray for health, that I would feel better (please Lord!). We also need to travel to La Paz and to Sucre before the end of the month.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those of you who support us. May the Lord bless you in all you do.
Love,
Jason and Norah
P.S. Note from the treasurer of Hand of Hur. Please do not stop sending those pledges and gifts. I couldn’t pay Jason’s monthly check in May because funds are low and there isn’t enough to purchase their tickets home. God will provide! Connie
