The Kemps in Mexico

In May 2011 we had the excitement of sending a team of our staff off San Pedro in the Dominican to pioneer a new work. Since then they have already built 11 homes for the poor and hosted 100's of short term missionaries.

Last week we had the opportunity to go and visit the team, and join our Legal board for our first quarter meetings in the DR.
Homes 
We also had a chance to visit local pastors, and a house being builr by a team from Arizona. One of the highlights for me was visiting the first house that was built, and hearing first hand how the new home had transformed the families life.

As 2011 draws to an end, and we welcome in 2012, we pray that the New year will be filled with Love, Joy, Peace and opportunity for you and your Families.
      “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.”

“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”

As you know, we have finally finished the adoption process, but the next step was to apply for passports and Visas for the Kids. We know well by now, that all paperwork takes a Long Time, so we were expecting a long wait for the passports. Initially we were told it could take months, and even to get an appointment could take a long time. Sam decided she wanted to push a bit harder, so along with our friend Bigtha, took a trip to the main passport office in Tijuana with a chance of seeing the Delegado (Guy in Charge) So after 4 hours of sitting in the office, they finally got to see the right guy. After some explanation, he was very sympathetic and agreed to give us an expedited appointment. 2 days later we went back with the paperwork, and 2 weeks later we received the passports. Just in time for Christmas. What a cool Christmas Present, and another confirmation that someone 

Merry Christmas everyone. May God bless you at this time, and have a fantastic 2012..

All our Love from the Kemps...

It makes you feel old, when your kids are taller than you, have more facial hair than you and can knock you down in a wrestling match. Well this January Jacob turns 18.. Yes i am getting very Old. Over the past year, we have been looking at options for his future. College, Missions, YWAM, Getting a Job, and everything else in between. The next question was where? Living in a foreign country in a very international community, gives you a much broader perspective on life than most kids his age, So options we very open. Stay in Mexico, Go to the USA or another country, OR come back to England… Well after searching and praying, he decided to apply for the GENETIK Training course with "The Message Trust" in Manchester. This is a 10 month "Hands On" Mission Training course working in Schools, Prisons and churches alongside the existing Message Projects. To cut a longish story short, he applied and has been accepted to attend the course in September 2012. So next year we will wave goodbye to Jacob as we send him back to England to start his own crazy adventure. We are very excited for him, but sad at the same time, sending him to the other side of the globe. Check Out GENETIK Website...

This Week we are away from home once more. We have our bi annual staff gathering at our Tijuana Del Mar campus (pictured Left) All our 100+ staff and students are here having a great time hanging out and hearing from our guest speaker; Edwin Fillies from South Africa. A great way to end the year.

This week we have had the honor of having our founders, Loren & Darlene Cunningham holding their yearly leaders gathering in Tijuana. 50 Senior leaders of the ministry started the week together by building 3 homes for families in Tijuana. Followed by 5 days of gatherings. It is an honor to have such great leaders in our midst...

November has been a very busy month for us here in Ensenada. Hosting hundreds of short term missionaries and changing the lives of 15 families with the gift of a new home. 
Last weekend we were building 5 homes with 100 staff from Defender Direct. It was a great time, and the house build went very well, but there was a surprise. At the dedication ceremony of one of the homes, we had a visit from the Mayor of Ensenada and a number of his staff. This was a real treat for the family and the team, but there was more. After the house dedication he presented me and 2 of our other leaders a plaque, on behalf of the city, thanking us for our commitment to the people of Ensenada.
This was a huge accolade to us and to all of our staff who have committed their lives to helping the people of Mexico.

Last week was Asher's 9th birthday. As with all kids they spend the year choosing their gifts and making their huge lists of gifts that they want. We wanted to give Asher the choice of what he wanted to do on his birthday. Being home schooled now, our time can be a bit more flexible. 
So, 2 days before his birthday we asked the question. What do you want to do on your birthday? We were expecting the answers; Mcdonalds, go to the beach etc... Asher's answer was; "I want to build a house for a poor family!"

So for Asher's birthday, we took the family out and joined our friends from Defender Direct to build a new home for the Cera Martinez family in Ensenada.

4 years of Paperwork, lawyers visits, government offices and massive amounts of frustration. Finally the day has come. Today we received birth certificates for our babies.
From today Micah and Tianna are officially our children. They have new birth certificates with our names on them as their parents. It is official.
Its a strange feeling having taken so long. Somedays it seamed like it was never going happen.

We visited the Registrar Civil (Registry Office) today and along with our good friends as witnesses Oscar & Bigtha we signed the final forms to ratify the adoption.
Its been a long, hard and stressful journey, but finally we are there.
We thank you for all your prayers and gifts over the  past years. We couldn't have done it without the support of our friends.

At the Registry Office with our friends Bigtha & Oscar, who came along to be our witnesses as we finalized the adoption process.