It's official, we are now Texans. I never thought I'd say that. On November 13th Aleisha and I left our home in Colorado, in true Colorado fashion with falling snow, icy roads and a windchill around -25 for semi-tropical Corpus Christi TX.. It took us 2 days, a ton of tears and over 1100 miles to reach our new home. This was a huge step of faith and an act of obedience to God and it definitely wasn't easy. But knowing this is where God wants us makes this move easier as we know that God has and will continue to provide. In fact, not even 48 hours after we got the keys to our new home, Aleisha got new job. She had called them on Monday and within a couple hours she had an interview and a job offer. It was amazing.
Before I go much further, I promised our new address. It is 8033 S. Padre Island Dr., Apt 505, TX 78412. Our phone numbers are still the same. Chris's is 303-791-1108 and Aleisha's is 303-941-0919.
These last few weeks we have been here have been interesting to say the least. Trying to get used to living in Texas is like trying to get used to living in a new country. I don't say that negatively, it is just that the environment and the culture we are in is a far cry from what we are used to in Colorado. For instance Corpus has only two seasons, summer and summer. We left Colorado at the end of fall, just as the last of the leaves had changed colors and fallen. Here, the leaves don't really change colors, the oaks, and maples and cottonwoods here stay green year round. There's also a ton of palm trees. We didn't know you could string Christmas lights on Palm Trees but people do. There are a lot of Palm Trees here. I do admit it's a little weird seeing people in heavy winter parkas when the temperature drops to 60, People think we're nuts for wearing shorts, t-shirts and flip flops. I had to laugh yesterday when I saw on the news a whole segment on how to make snow at home for the kids using fabric softener or something. We miss the mountains and the cold weather but we love taking the dogs to the beach. Shelby, our Black Lab mix hates the ocean. Sorry, Gulf of Mexico. Luke loves it. We did a drive the other day down Padre Island and had to take a ferry to cross over to the mainland. As we waited on the ferry for an oil tanker to pass we saw a pod of dolphins jumping out of the water and playing at the bow of the tanker. That was pretty cool. There are more doughnut shops here then liquor stores and the same goes for BBQ joints and Dairy Queens. The people here are a mix of very nice and considerate and rough and tumble. It's an odd combo but for the most part, the people we encounter in our community are pretty cool. I will say though that the drivers here scare me half to death. People's driving habits here remind me of driving in Thailand. It's everyone for themselves. Even the bicyclists ride like everyone drives. God has brought us to a beautiful place to live but we still miss Colorado, we miss the snow, the mountains, and most of all our family and friends. But we are here for a reason and that helps us stay positive when we get down.
I know many of you are wondering how things are moving along ministry wise and I am happy to report that God is moving. To help us move in, the youth pastor at our church down here, Real Life, had asked a few High School students to help us move in. After razing me a bit for wearing my Bronco's jersey and being a Bronco's fan we got down to talking about what brought us to Corpus Christi. I was able to share about my health and my ministry working with injured soldiers. Three of the students shared that there dads where hunters and put me in contact with them. Now, it appears we have land to hunt dove, duck, turkey, wild pig and deer on and they are big into saltwater fishing, crabbing and shrimping too. They along with some other students are going to show me how to do all three so we can add these things to our ministry to provide more opportunities for injured soldiers. I continue to work on setting up meetings with local ministry leaders, hunters and fisherman and in January will start connecting with military personnel.
In addition to re-creating my ministry to injured soldiers I am working to connect with a ministry that takes the sons and daughters of injured soldiers as well as fatherless kids camping, hunting and fishing. This is an amazing ministry and I can't wait to get involved. I've also started working with the youth group in our new church. The church is located in a part of Corpus Christi called Flour Bluff. Flour Bluff used to be a very rough area and people from this part of Corpus were derogatorily called "Flour Rats." While many things have changed in Flour Bluff, this is still a rough area and many of the youth I am working with come from broken homes and have very hard lives. In fact, the city of Corpus Christi, with a population of 330,000 people, has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation. In the short time I have worked with students here, I have heard stories from youth that would make seasoned pastors cry.
In the short time we have been here, God has opened our eyes to an incredible need. We were already aware of the need to work with injured soldiers. But to encounter yet another need, just as pressing and just as important has touched our hearts. And so, in addition to working with injured soldiers, we will serve the youth of our new community, loving them with Christ-like love, being Jesus with the skin on for them and sharing the life changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As I bring this to a close, I have below a few prayer requests and praises. I ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers. In addition we continue to ask for people to be a part of this incredible ministry, not just to our service men and women but to the young people here who for many of them and in just as many ways have been given up on by just about everyone in their lives and who just want to be loved. In all my years of working with young people I have never encountered so many troubled and hurting kids. But we can't truly meet either need without your help.
As you read this and should you feel led to partner with us you can either give Aleisha and I a call at 303-791-1108 as we'd love to get together with you (If you prefer not that's ok too), email us at pastorchrisgentr@gmail.com or you are more then welcome to go to InFaith's website at www.infaith.org, click on the donate tab on the top of the page and when you are redirected to to the next page, click on "Give to Fieldstaff" at which point a drop down menu will appear and then just select our name from the list. You can also send a note and/or gift indicating your desire to partner with us directly to us at 8033 S. Padre Island Dr., Apt 505, TX 78412 or you can send the same directly to InFaith at 672 Conestoga Road, PO Box 370, Villanova, PA 19085. Please make gifts out to InFaith and in the memo line please write our ID number 08259 in the Memo line. Please indicate if the funds are for moving, monthly or one time. As with all gifts to non-profits, they will be tax deductible.
Prayer Praises and Requests
- We thank God for providing a new job for Aleisha so quickly. Her hours though are from noon to 9PM. It's been really hard for her to get used this, for both of us. Please pray that God would help her adjust and help both of us work around these weird hours so we meet each other's needs.
- Praise God for getting us here safely
- Praise God for the improvements to Chris's health
- Praise God that Aleisha's eye is still doing fine.
- Please continue to pray for our transition to our new home
- Please pray that God would continue to provide financially.
- Please pray that God would continue to open the doors for land to hunt on
- Please pray that God would continue to open doors within the military community
- Please pray for our work with the youth in Flour Bluff
- Please pray that Chris and Aleisha can find the right primary and specialist doctors. There seems to be a shortage of both in Corpus.
A few needs
- We are also in need of more prayer supporters. If you are interested please send us an email at chrisgentry007@gmail.com or please give us a call at 303-791-1108. This is very important.
- Chris and Aleisha are in need of a second vehicle for Chris as his ministry grows. This will become all the more important when Chris starts engaging in hunting ministry in January. Crossroads Church in Parker is willing to do an In-Kind Tax Deduction for a donated vehicle. If you're interested, please contact Chris at 303-791-1108.
Thank you for your prayers and support and should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to let us know. You can call us at 303-791-1108 or email us at chrisgentry007@gmail.com.
In Christ
Chris and Aleisha Gentry
