Christmas in Michigan!

The Christmas lights in downtown Rochester! 

We are in Rochester Hills, Michigan for the week visiting Shaun's family for Christmas! The trip is a HUGE blessing for us both! Up until a couple of weeks ago we thought that we would only be able to afford to send Shaun home for Christmas, which meant we would be separated for the holidays! But God is SO faithful, and we were able to find vouchers to cover most of my (Jessica's) flight expenses!

We celebrated Christmas with the family on Tuesday and Wednesday because Shaun's brothers are going to be with their in-laws for Christmas weekend. It has been amazing meeting our new niece Siri Grace, and catching up with loved ones.

Thank you to all of our supporters who have made time to spend with us this week! We are so grateful for the meals and coffee dates together, and we are deeply encouraged by your love! We head back to Los Angeles on Tuesday to prepare to leave for Chile on Sunday! The outreach is coming so soon!

Please be praying for us as we trust the Lord to provide the last bit of finances for our outreach team! Also please pray for grace as we pack and finalize all of the details for the trip. We need Jesus!

God bless you & have a very Merry Christmas!

The huge gingerbread house in the Royal Park Hotel! We visit it every year!
The Royal Park Hotel is where we spent our first night of marriage. :) A very special place! 

Dear friends,

Our very close friend, Karl Tagorda, passed away last Thursday morning, December 1st, 2011. He was 19 years old.

He's a guy who met Christ through the skatepark ministry who got connected with the church and then did DTS here at YWAM-LA, going on outreach to Haiti.

Jessica and I were like a spiritual mother and father to him. He loved Jesus so much and he had such a deep love and compassion for people, especially his friends. 

He was living with his mom and dad, going to school, and working with his dad. 

Late Wednesday night two of his friends picked him up from his parents house with a balloon full of freon gas from an air conditioning unit. Looking for the thrill of a 15 second high, they each inhaled from the balloon. When Karl inhaled it he began to seizure and died within minutes. He died at approximately 3:00am, Thursday morning. 

Please join us in prayer, first and foremost for his family. Pray also for his friends, Karl was friends with EVERYBODY in Sunland-Tujunga. 

Pray that in the midst of this tragedy the Lord will continue to be lifted high and that people will come out of the darkness of and into the light, the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ.

I am overwhelmed by the Lord's goodness; His long-suffering and unfailing love, His tender mercies and compassion, His amazing grace and majesty, and His perfect faithfulness. He is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. Praise be to our God, He is worthy of the praises of His people.

Karl's viewing Friday (today) and his funeral is Saturday and on Sunday Chapel of the Hills is having a special memorial service

Thank you for your prayers.

God bless you,

Shaun and Jessica

 

Hello Friends,

We Leave for Chile December 31st!

Our team's vision is to use sports (skate, surf, sport, dance) to share Jesus with the youth of Pichilemu and La Serena, Chile.

This is also the vision of the long term missionaries who we are serving with, Mitch Anderson in Pichilemu (www.jucumpichilemu.cl/) and Greg Haugh in La Serena (http://fuegourbano.org/)
Our strategy for our short term team to make a long term impact is by serving these long-standing ministries who are reaching their communities for Christ through sports.

Chile is 85% Roman Catholic. Sports and Godliness are incompatible. Skateboarding, surfing, dancing, sports, having long hair or piercings etc. are viewed as contradictory to following God. This causes a major disconnect between the youth and the Church, with the youth eventually pushing God aside altogether. The Chilean youth desperately need relationships with passionate young people who can model a living relationship with Christ, invite them into a saving relationship with God through Christ, and plug them in with ministries that will disciple them! Our team is a great fit for this task!

Another way we want to bless their ministry is by bringing 14 checked bags (up to 50 lbs each) of skateboard decks and gear and sports gear to donate for these ministries.

Jessica, Dorothea, and I are so excited to lead this team of 11 DTS students on this Chile outreach for 2 and half months.

We so appreciate your prayers and support!

God bless you,

Shaun and Jessica Hover


If you feel led to give toward this outreach, our team still needs a few thousand dollars and would be so grateful!
For your fast and secure online tax-exempt donations go to:
https.//www.meigiving.com/ywamla.php under Giving Type select "special gift for project": and put: B8000 YWAM LA Chile Outreach