Here we go...

Gearing up to go, again! 

Tambo, Ecuador and Hope of Life, Guatemala

 Hi friends and family! We've had a busy start to our 2015! Joe's still in school full-time and keeping straight A's! Jenn and Kendall continue to homeschool. We've had many speaking engagements about our time on the mission field since coming home in August! Including one on Thursday {4/9} so if you would join us in prayer for that we would be so grateful! Here's a few of the other things we've been up to!

So far this year we've continued to develop the Children's Ministry at Crosswalk Community

Church. Doing lessons with the kids on Sunday and teaching missions on Tuesday nights. We've had so much fun! We even did a bake sale for The Mercy House {a maternity home} in Africa! They raised $350! {Picture of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake!}

We also went down to Port Canaveral and took part in Walk for Bibles! We love that ministry! {Picture of us in front of First Baptist Church of Cape Canaveral}

This past Sunday we did a 5 station Walk with Jesus with the kids at church for Easter. It was a blast! We took them from Jesus being falsely accused to the Empty Tomb. {Picture of Joe with the Cross}

The other picture is of Kendall wearing a chitenge from Zambia to hold her "baby" while she plays! 

In June, we are planning to go to Ecuador. It will be June 26th- July 6th. We are going to try to bring Kendall this time. We will be ministering to the same people as we got to minister in October of last year. While there we will be teaching {Old Testament}, working on infrastructure projects, and reaching rural villages. The amount we still need for our family of three for this trip is $3,500.00. This includes everything that we are going to need: airfare, lodging, food, equipment, materials, and most importantly the vessels to carry the message of the Cross.

In October, Jenn will be heading to Guatemala with World Help. World Help is a faith-based humanitarian organization serving the physical and spiritual needs of people in impoverished communities around the world. She will be there from October 19th- October 25th. While there the team will care for malnourished children at the Operation Baby Rescue center, visit remote Guatemalan communities and perform medical clinics for the villagers and pass out shoes, work at St. Luke's Hospital and Kelly's House, interact with with orphans at the Hope of Life children's home in Zacapa, as well as visit the Feeding Center at a community based around a trash dump. She will need about $2,000 for this trip. This includes all in-country transportation, lodging, meals, international medical insurance, and airport fees.

We’re once again honored to ask that you take a part in these trips and the furthering of the Gospel and to expand the Kingdom of Heaven. The ways to take part in these trips is to pray and when we ask pray, nothing is going to be accomplished in our own strength, we need the Power and Voice of God. Another way to partner is if God lays it on your heart after praying is to donate. All donations are tax exempt and taken through Crosswalk Community Church. Their address is 77 N. Carpenter Rd. Titusville, Fl 32796. Please put Hennis Family Mission Trips in the memo line. If God leads you to give could you send us an email that you did so for our records? We would REALLY appreciate it! We thank you for your time and consideration and look forward to hearing from you!

In His Love, 
Joe, Jenn, and Kendall

Happy January!

We hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (so far)! As a family we are really excited about 2015! Last year ended with us really busy! We got back from Africa in August. Then, in October we headed to South America. Joe started his seminary extension courses. We started a new program about missions for kids at our church. 

In December, Kendall made and sold crosses to raise money for Mercy House Kenya. We heard there was a
12 year old that was pregnant in their program. I shared this with Kendall and she wanted to help! In one month she raised $186! Thank you to everyone who helped her! You can read more about it here: http://www.mercyhousekenya.org/node/601.

January has been busy so far too! We started a new homeschool program that Kendall loves! Then yesterday, Joe started his regular seminary courses again at the Baptist College of Florida.

God has continued to work and provide us with opportunities to serve Him in different parts of the world.This year we will be taking part in three mission trips so far! As a family we will head to Ecuador in April and June each for a week at a time. The other  trip will be Joe going to Indonesia. We are asking for you to partner with us in prayer and if God leads for support. These trips will be focusing on sharing the Gospel, preaching, teaching, construction, and building up Kingdom workers for further ministry. 

Thank you for continuing to be a part of our adventure with God!

In HIs Love,
Joe, Jenn, and Kendall Hennis

Contact us:                                                    
Email: hennisfamily@cfl.rr.com                  
Blog: thisgracelife.blogspot.com

Donations can be sent to:
Crosswalk Community Church
77 N. Carpenter Rd.
Titusville, Fl 32796
Please put Hennis Family Missions in the memo line.  

Luke 10:8

In our family we've always made it a rule that when we're in other people's homes or in other countries that we follow the Luke 10:8 rule. 

"Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you." Luke 10:8

Since we often get asked what the weirdest thing we've eaten is I'll share some with you! I can honestly tell you that sometimes it feels more like we're on an episode of fear factor. That's simply because I'm not an overly adventurous eater. Eating different foods is way out of my comfort zone. But ya know, when in Rome... If you have a weak stomach you can go ahead and stop scrolling down now. You may have enjoyed a nice meal- you don't want to ruin that. 

So in Africa there were some fine delicacies. I'll show you a few of them. Again, perhaps not for the faint of stomach. 

This is crocodile bites. They were one of our favorites! We grew up in Florida so we've eaten gator before. Crocodile tastes like gator.  Imagine that! 

Maheu is a popular traditional drink made from maize meal that is fermented. Once fermented it has distinct sour flavor. Our friends made maheu fresh for us that day. It tastes like sweetened corn milk with chunks. So you had to drink and chew it. 

Friends, this is hippo. Yes. We ate hippo. Actually, it was the filet of the hippo. It tasted a lot like beef only chewier. It's not pictured but we also ate impala. Good stuff. 

This is dried fish. Normally, when you find them at the market they are covered in flies. You bring them home and put them in water to "revive" them and cook.

Rocks. Think of them like an African vitamin. 

Guess what? Yup, they taste like dirt. 

Dried mopane worms.

Cooking mopane worms. Enough said.

 Friends, meet kapenta. It's an African sardine. Pretty much all you need to know.

There was only one "different" delicacy in Ecuador. You're more likely to find them in a pet store in North America. Can you guess? 

Did you guess guinea pig?

You were correct!

They asked me to help roast them. Remember that whole "when in Rome thing"? Yeah that.

Roast guinea pig.

Tastes a lot like a mix of chicken and fish. One guinea pig is a week worth of wages. 

Obviously, we've eaten some different foods. In other countries and cultures you can offend easily by not eating their food. Even if it isn't your intention. When we go on a trip the goal is always to share the Gospel. To do this we use words and actions. Nothing is more important than that. Eating their food is an easy way to love them even if you don't enjoy it. 

Is there anything you wouldn't do for the Gospel?

In His Love, 

Jennis

Ecuador

So now that we've been home for a week. We want to share some pictures of Ecuador with you. The pictures won't do the people or the place true justice. Ecuador is beautiful and the people we met matched that beauty inside and out. 

Beautiful right? We know that we're not supposed to be full time on the field until Joe's done with school. The call to go never leaves us though. So until then, we say yes whenever He tells us to. There's other places that God has whispered on our hearts to go to. For now, it's Ecuador. In 2015, our family will be going to Ecuador TWICE! We are so excited for what God will do while we're there again!

Will you pray for us? Pray for the people we'll meet and pour into, that their hearts are open to what we share with them, and that most of all they see Jesus! Pray for us that our focus is on Jesus and we rely on the Holy Spirit. Thanks for joining us in our next adventure with God!

In His Love, 

The Hennis Family

a walk in the clouds

Last week, we spent our days in Ecuador serving the Quichua people. Like most trips I wasn't sure what to expect. The men would be split into two groups; the pastors would be teaching the Quichua pastors and the rest of the men would do construction work. The women would try as best we could to minister to the Quichua women.

As long as Reaching & Teaching has been in Ecaudor there really hasn't been much opportunity to minister to the women. They've been really closed off. Thankfully, we watched God do something totally different this week. 

Our first day of ministry we did whatever we could to help. The ladies and I all had a decent knowledge of Spanish, but the Quichua women knew very little Spanish. Spanish was also their second language. They speak Quichua or as they refer to themselves, indigenous. We did whatever we could to help them through small increments of Spanish and a series of gestures. 

Everyday we helped the women make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. By the time breakfast was served, eaten, we ate, and cleaned up it was time to make lunch. By the time lunch was served, eaten, we ate, and it was cleaned up it was time to make dinner. By the time we made dinner, it was served, we ate, and we cleaned up it was time to leave. Everyday we worked side by side with these women. We peeled potatoes with knives, hand shucked corn piece by piece, cut up chickens and beef, chopped vegetables, peeled garlic, and washed dishes to name some. I also got to go up the mountain and help pick garlic and move around livestock. They even let us make lunch one day, which thankfully was edible.

Normally, you don't see Quichua women smile. We were able to see them smile many times throughout the week. We played catch with two of the women, Claudina and Maria, one day. We had them laughing so hard they were doubled over giggling uncontrollably. We were working with them enough to notice some needs like having a table they could sit at in the kitchen. Or that they needed their food storage cabinet raised up so it was their height and not on the floor. They grinned from ear to ear with each of them. It was something small, but it was for them. 

Each day we got to see them open up more and more. They shared their stories about their lives with us. Sometimes they just shared about their children like how many they had, their names, and ages. Other times it was real stuff like medical issues they faced, fears for their children, parents dying young, and more. One of them even asked if one of the ladies on our team had Jesus in her heart. By the end of the week they had stopped calling us gringas and started calling us hermanas or sisters. 

It was a week of really hard work out of our comfort zone, but we gained the friendship of these beautiful women. We spent a week with them walking in the clouds, literally.

Would you pray with me for them? There is a women's conference at the end of November for the Quichua women. Pray that the women would come and pray for the women that will be pouring into them! Thank you in advance!

In His Love, 

Jennis