Herrin Update - December 2014

Dear Family, Friends, and Partners in Ministry,

Wow! God is good…and life moves along here on the “Edge.” We hope that 2014 has been a good year for you and that 2015 will be even better! We can't believe another year has passed so quickly...and what a year of change!  It’s time for us to catch up with you on life, so let’s do it!

Many of you may recall that Jon returned to pastoral ministry (part-time) in January of this year, basically filling the pulpit for the First UMC of Rio Grande City.  In June of this year, Jon resigned from his full-time position at South Texas College in order receive a full-time appointment as pastor at the FUMC of Rio Grande City!!  He is SO happy to be back in ministry, but it was a bit of a struggle to get back into it.  It had been NINE YEARS since we left Coosa UMC in the North Georgia Mountains to go serve God in missions, first in Venezuela and then in Mexico. Now, Jon is loving parish ministry once again...and that's where we plan to stay!

 

Rio Grande City is about 50 miles from our home in McAllen. The church has two Sunday services—one in Spanish (9am) and one in English (11am)—and enjoys a community-wide Bible-study time on Wednesday evenings (beginning in January 2015). Please pray that God will continue to strengthen the congregation and guide us as we serve here.

In addition, Jon has begun serving in campus ministry at the small, South Texas College campus here in Rio Grande City.  He is available for counseling two days a week, and he will be presenting seminars for students and staff twice a month beginning in February. The seminars will address practical, spiritual, relational issues that will give the students tools and skills for dealing with the difficulties of border life.

Jeanne continues to teach ESL for South Texas College where she is able to help immigrants and visitors learn English.  She has had students from Mexico, Cuba, Japan and Korea in the last few months…so she is touching FOUR countries without even leaving ours!  Besides teaching the ESL courses, she has started a book club with seven of the women, and she is enjoying reading with them and strengthening their cultural understanding through discussions.

The J.A.M (Jesse, Andrew and Megan)!

They tied the knot! They jumped the broom! They're MARRIED!  On Friday, December 19th at 4:30 pm at the Union Church in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, Jesse and Edgar were married!!  We are so happy for them.  It has been a long journey, but they do seem made for each other...and they have the world before them. Megan was one of Jesse's bridesmaids, and Andrew served as one of Edgar's groomsmen.  Jeanne and I...well, we decided just to be 'parents of the bride!'  

Jesse is a 7th Grade teacher of language arts, social students and United Nations at the Colegio Ingles in San Pedro (part of the Monterrey metro area) and Edgar is a high school art and home-economics teacher at the Colegio San Patricio in San Pedro. They both work together in their church with the children's program. We rejoice in their union...and look forward to the unfolding of their lives together. Pray for them as they embark on this journey together.

And, Megan GRADUATED!!!  She is now a 'graduate nurse' and has accepted a position in the Emergency Department at the Doctors Hospital at Renaissance, one of the leading healthcare providers in South Texas.  She begins her new job on January 15th.  We are SOOO happy for her--for her completion of the program and for her going after and landing the job of her dreams.  Pray that she will be able to bring healing of body and soul to those she serves.

 

Finally, Andrew is doing very well in school. He is the final semester of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at his school.  He remains active in the National Honor Society chapter and other organizations at BETA High School. He has begun the process of applying to universities, and has already been accepted in four and has been offered significant merit scholarships by two of his top choices. He will graduate in June of this coming year...and he will take off to find his way in this world. Pray for him that he makes a good choice in the college selection process, and pray that he finds good people to be with at the college of his choice.

 

…And that’s all the news from the Herrins!

If you would like, you can continue to support our ministry through The Mission Society.  Your gifts will allow us to purchase Bibles and provide resources for the STC Campus Ministry and for community ministries.

Follow us on Facebook…Twitter…our Blogs.  And, do drop us a note—mail or e-mail!  We always enjoy hearing from you…and we’ll always respond to your notes.

We hope you all enjoyed a Merry Christmas and that 2015 will be a Happy New Year!  We thank you for your prayers, encouragement and your friendship through the years. 

With great thanksgiving….

Jon & Jeanne

     Jesse, Megan and Andrew (The J.A.M.!)

The Herrins serving through the Rio Texas Conference of the UMC and with The Mission Society.

Good Friday - 2014

Good Friday…. Darkness covers the land. Despair covers the disciples. We see the walk to Golgotha, that place of death, of crucifixion. We see Jesus and others whipped, beaten…and finally nailed to rough wooden beams. They are lifted, exposed to the crowds…jeered at, laughed, wept for. Jesus...King of the Jews? Son of God? He asks His Father to forgive them…offers some words of consolation to those around…and breathes His last. It is finished. …Or is it?

Viernes Santo... La oscuridad cubre la tierra. Desesperación cubre a los discípulos. Vemos el camino al Gólgota, el lugar de la muerte, de la crucifixión. Vemos a Jesús y otros azotado, golpeado... y finalmente clavados a las vigas de madera duros. Ellos se levantan, expuestos a las multitudes... burlas, risas, lágrimas. ¿Jesús, rey de los judíos? ¿Hijo de Dios? Pide a su padre a perdonarlos... ofrece algunas palabras de consuelo a quienes lo rodean... y respira su última.  Se acabó. ¿O no?

Herrin Update - February 2014

Dear Family, Friends, and Partners in Ministry,

Wow! God is good…and life moves along here on the “Edge.” We hope that 2013 was a good year for you and that 2014 will be even better! After a while, it’s time for us to catch up with you on life, so let’s do it!

After a season away, Jon is back in the ministry!  In September 2013, Jon realized that it was time…time to once again be about the call that God had placed on him, time to step back into the life that the Church prepared him for and ordained him to.  In December, the District Superintendent of the Rio Grande Conference (the Spanish-language conference) called Jon in and asked him to assume duties as the pastor of the First UMC of Rio Grande City, a church that had lost their pastor two months before. Of course, Jon jumped at the opportunity, and the congregation is very pleased to have the Herrins on board.

   

Rio Grande City is about 50 miles from our home in McAllen. Jon continues to work full-time at South Texas College and serves Rio First as a part-time pastor. The church as two Sunday services—one in Spanish (9am) and one in English (11am)—and sponsors a mission (La Capilla de la Fe) on the east side of the town that enjoys a worship and Bible-study time on Thursday evenings. Please pray that God will continue to strengthen the congregation and guide us as we serve there.

Jeanne continues to teach ESL for South Texas College where she is able to help immigrants and visitors learn English.  She has had students from Mexico, Cuba, Japan and Korea in the last few months…so she is touching FOUR countries without even leaving ours!

The J.A.M!

What?  Who is that fellow in the picture of our family above?  Oh…you didn’t hear??  “SHE SAID YES!!”—that was the headline on Facebook when our daughter, Jesse Elizabeth, got engaged to Edgar Rodriquez Tiburcio.  Yes, on Saturday, Dec. 14, we were all able to be in Monterrey, Mexico, for ‘el pedido de mano’—the ‘asking for the hand (as in marriage).’  Jesse was clueless that it was going to happen, so it was a joyful moment when all of Edgar’s family, all of Jesse and Edgar’s friends, and all of our family showed up for this occasion.  Jesse and Edgar met in high school in 2008…and have been best-friends since.  Both of them will be graduating from college this year…and their plans are to live and work in Monterrey, Mexico—closer to us than San Marcos, TX!

 

 Jesse and Edgar…happy couple!

 We are so happy for these two amazing people.  Edgar is a worker in the church in Monterrey…a good student and a hard-working young man.  Jesse, of course, is a bright, capable, hard-working young lady.  The two of them together will be a formidable force.  We look forward to their wedding in Monterrey in December 2014!

Megan continues her studies in the Nursing Program at South Texas College.  She is in her THIRD of four semesters and will be graduating in December 2014 with her Associates Degree in Nursing.  She plans to move to Houston, TX, or Corpus Christi, TX, to both work and finish her BSN degree. Oh…and she was able to save her money from work over the last year and purchase a car!  Go, Megan!

Finally, Andrew is doing very well in school. He is in the second semester of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at his school.  He is one of the top five students in the junior class…and he is beginning to look at universities to see where he wants to study computer programming and/or mathematics—his two great interests. In a few weeks, he and his class will be sponsoring a “For the Kids” event to raise money and awareness for children’s cancer issues. Part of his donation will be his hair—to ‘Locks of Love.’ He continues to make us so proud through his spirit of giving and his willingness to help others.

 

…And that’s all the news from the Herrins! We have some out-of-country mission opportunities this summer, and we ask that you pray that those might unfold and work out as God wills. Pray for us, too, as our children grow and spread their wings—though we are so happy for them, we know that letting go will be hard.

Jon continues to write—check out his thoughts and ponderings on our blog: Life on the Edge.

Follow us on Facebook…Twitter…our Blogs.  And, do drop us a note—mail or e-mail!  We always enjoy hearing from you…and we’ll always respond to your notes.

We hope you all enjoyed a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year—whether it was a time of travels, work, or rest…or a combination!  We thank you for your prayers and your friendship through the years. 

With great thanksgiving….

Jon & Jeanne

     Jesse, Megan and Andrew (The J.A.M.!)

  

The Herrins with The Mission Society

Clear Expectations

In preparation to serve in Venezuela, The Mission Society sent us to Mission Training International (MTI) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  One of the best things they gave us at MTI was a long (and entertaining!) session on what to expect as far as phases of inculturalization—they told us about the roller-coaster of feelings that would hit us over the first year of service.  At first, all would be new and novel and joyful—“Wow! Tastes great! What fun!”  Then, we’d start comparing and criticizing everything—“Ugh…too sweet. I just want a hamburger! Not the way we do back home!”  Finally, we’d find a balance in which we recognized that our host country and the US were simply different with their own strengths and weaknesses…and we could live in both.  Knowing what to expect helped us to move forward with confidence…and saved us from packing our bags in phase two and heading back to the US!

Just as MTI prepared us by making expectations clear, God has done the same—

          He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

             and what does the LORD require of you

          but to do justice, and to love kindness,

             and to walk humbly with your God?  (Micah 6:8 NRSV)

Do justice.  Do what’s right, be about ‘right-ness’…or righteousness.  Often, we easily latch onto to big issues like education, immigration or human-relations issues.  While we want to see justice there, our focus there often distracts us from doing right by our own families—spouse, children, parents, siblings.  We may march on Washington…and neglect to fulfill our promises to our children.  God expects us to do what’s right.

Love kindness.  Our world could sure use a little more of this!  What a different world if we were kind in our interactions.  Yes, easy enough in the check-out line at Kroger or H.E.B. to smile at the cashier and wish him or her a nice day.  But, what about kindness on the highways…letting someone in the long line of traffic?  What about kindness at work…letting a co-worker take a more ‘interesting’ project this time around? And, again, what about kindness to those closest to us? A kind word or act may just change the course of the day for someone….

Walk humbly with your God.  Some folks just park—they accept Christ and they think the journey’s done.  Others are on the fast track to spiritual maturity or of church growth.  God calls us to join Him on a walk…a slow journey.  A walk goes places…but allows for conversation, observation…relationship. 

Of course, the first two can’t happen unless the last one is in place.  Try as we might, we can’t do right and be kind unless we’re walking with God.  But, once we walk with Him, we find that we want to do what’s right, and we want to be kind…because that is what He wants.

What does God expect of us?  This is a good place to start—do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with Him.  If we begin here, we’ll find our lives and lives of those around us transformed.