Struska Pages

Struska Family - Following His Call

Struska Family - Following His Call
Following the call of Christ to reach the people of Mexico

Monday, April 20, 2015

Our Blog Has Moved

Our new blog can be found here:

http://sgwm.com/struska/

Thank you for checking. God bless!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

December Prayer Letter

Our family has spent the last six weeks traveling from Mexico to Wisconsin and back. We spent time in five states, visiting and speaking at churches, sharing what God has been doing in Mexico, and getting to see some family & friends as well. It was fun, as well as encouraging, to be able to meet with people that we haven't seen in years. We were blessed by many, but one of the things that blew us away was the completely packed trailer we brought back home with us, full of donations for ministry. Primarily, these donations came from our sending church, Faith Community in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin - although many came in through visiting family and friends along the way as well.

God did amazing things through a challenge/update Ron gave to our church family at Faith. This challenge was born out of the song “With Everything” by Hillsong and was something that we all need to hear. Many hearts were touched, and in numerous different ways. Some were moved to think about whether or not they are honoring God with everything ñ their possessions, their time, etc. Some were encouraged and affirmed by God about something they have already stepped out in faith to do. Others were challenged to come or invite their whole families to come and serve in Mexico. There are so many awesome opportunities out there. For some, it may be serving in Mexico, Ecuador, or Africa. For others it means financially supporting those who are called to go into full-time missions. Are we holding tightly onto our money, our job, our stuff - or do we hold them with an open hand and ask God to do with them as He wills. Do we ignore that desire or prompting to go on a short-term mission trip because we are concerned about our finances or our safety?

Something else that “blessed our socks off” (to quote a fellow missionary) was talking to a couple who are close friends of ours and are considering full-time missions. They are completely open to what God may have in store and are considering serving next summer in Mexico. Are they calculating every penny they will need, worrying about not having a job to come home to, or wondering if they are not up for the challenge? No. They have sensed a call by God to serve in a capacity that they wouldn't have even imagined a few years ago. And they have made a choice to move forward until or unless God closes a door. That is a possibility, but either way we are encouraged by their faith and have been reminded of an invaluable lesson.

A huge thank you to everyone that we have met with on this trip and to each of you who've donated in some way to the ministry in Mexico. You are an encouragement to us beyond what you know.

Feliz Navidad/Merry Christmas!

Friday, October 28, 2011

October Prayer Letter

Greetings from Mexico!

 

We have had an amazing summer and start to the fall season. Three homes were built for families in need in 2011, as well as a number of construction projects. A few of them included improvements and repairs on a church, replacing a floor in a pastor’s home and putting up a fence for a local family. Our prayer is that God will continue to send teams willing to be used by God to share the Gospel and the love of Christ through this ministry. Many of you have partnered with us in this ministry through your prayers, and we ask you to continue to do so.

Our Summer
 
One of the highlights from our summer was having two students from our sending church intern at the ranch. We have known Nate & Laura for a long time. They were both in the college class we co-taught before coming to Mexico, and Kristy was also their youth leader through high school. Both of them worked hard this summer and we are very proud of their accomplishments & dedication. Our other amazing interns this summer (from the U.S.) were Brianna & our good friend, Jessica. For the very first time at Rancho YUGO, we had two Mexican interns for the entire summer. We are praying about Kristy’s involvement in this program for next summer as we look at improving the internship program here by making it completely bilingual.

Another highlight from this summer was observing the way our children continue to jump into ministry with both feet. Whether they’re helping to build a home, lead songs or games for children’s ministry or work in the camp kitchen – they not only work without complaining (most of the time), they often volunteer to help without being asked. We are thankful for the servants’ hearts the Lord has given them. Will is 9 years old now and sometimes feels as though he cannot contribute as much as his big sister (who is now 13). We helped him to understand that a big part of his job is to build relationships with the Mexican children. Whether we are doing construction, children’s or sports ministries, there’s almost always children his age hanging around. Last summer Brittany had the opportunity to share the Gospel to children using  the Evangi-cube. This summer we were very proud of her when she, on multiple occasions, had the same opportunity, but did so entirely in Spanish.

We're Coming to Visit!!

We’ll be heading to Kansas for the wedding of one of Ron’s brothers on October 22nd. After that we’re off to Wisconsin and Illinois to spend time visiting family, friends and churches. We’ll be staying through November, however our main focus will be to raise the rest of our financial support. In order to continue ministering in Mexico full-time, we must raise 100% of our support needed. We look forward to seeing many of you soon!

With Hearts for Mexico,
The Struska Family

Ron, Kristy, Brittany & Will

Monday, October 10, 2011

Catchin' Up

Wow, it's already October! Here are a couple of updates to get you caught up on what's been happening here in Mexico:

AUGUST - WEEK II

This was our last official week of outreach for the summer. There were two teams scheduled to come to the ranch this week, but God had other plans. After both teams cancelled, new plans fell into place. Ron and I had the opportunity to work with the interns for the week, as the Intern Coordinators had other obligations to fill during that time. Monday and Tuesday we painted buildings at a local school.



Wednesday through Friday we did children's ministry at a new church plant in East Tijuana. This was very special for us, as the church we ministered to was Calvary Chapel Vista del Valle, which was started in January 2011 by fellow YUGO missionaries Jose Luis and Cindy Pesina. Brittany shared the plan of salvation using the Evangi-cube and William did a great job getting to know the children and keeping them involved in games and craft time. Both of them helped wherever needed, including helping to lead songs and taking part in the dramas that illustrated the days' Bible lessons.

Calvary Chapel Vista del Valle
Games

Snack
Leading Children to Christ

Puppet Show Reinforcing Bible Lesson
Craft Time
Drama
Bible Memorization

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

August - Week I

The first week of August was our largest week of the summer. We had teams here from California, New York, Massachussets and Alberta, Canada. Here is the highlight video from the week:

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

July - Week IV - "Mexicano a Mexicano" Week

This was our third year having a week designed for the Mexican youth to come and do ministry in the local churches. They came to do exactly what the American & Canadian teams do, only without interpreters. Multiple youth groups came together and formed five teams to minister to five different churches.

Inviting local children & youth to the church and to play soccer.
Children's Ministry: Which for this team
included leading this child to Christ on Day 5.
Sports Ministry
Women's Ministry

Our two Mexican interns, Claudia & Rossy, were given a lot of leadership responsibility with the children's ministry. They led the ministry training meetings each morning and were in charge of their team's children's ministry on the field. God is using them in tremendous ways this summer.

Claudia (2nd from the left) explaining this day's drama for Children's Ministry.
Rossy (middle), also explaining this day's Children's Ministry drama.

 Here is the highlight video from the week:

Monday, August 1, 2011

July - Week II - Home of Christ & Together Community Churches

We were so blessed by these two churches this week. It was great to renew friendships with Home of Christ Church. They are such a great team! It is a joy for the staff to be here and do everything we can to enable them to minister through the local Mexican church.



We also had the honor of hosting Together Community Church for the first time. What a priveledge it was to serve alongsiide them this week and build a home for a family in need.


This family of six had been living in one bedroom of a friend's home for about four years. They overstayed their welcome and needed a place to live. Just over a year ago, this woman's husband left to go find work and never returned. She has been working hard to put food on the table ever since. Praise God that they now have a home of their own and are not living on the street. We continue to pray for the salvation of this family and the seeds that were planted during this week.



Here is the highlight video from the week: