That All May Know Ministries Blog

Tonight was a memorable night, one I will never forget. The Lord allowed 2 great blessings in my life. I was able to administer my first ever baptism and I was also able to baptize my own son. On top of that, it was our first baptism in our infant ministry.  There will be many more baptisms in our ministry but I will never forget this one.

We thank Missionary Marvin Robertson who allowed us to use his baptistery. My father-in law preached and gave a clear message on Salvation and Baptism, explaining that Baptism is not a requirement for salvation but instead, a step of obedience in following the Lord. Later, I had the privilege of baptizing Isabel and my son Aaron.

You can watch the video of the Baptism below.

We are very excited about our upcoming adoption.  We are in the very beginning stages (literally just filled out the intial application) and are trusting in the Lord each step along the way.  My wife and I have started a new blog about our adoption process.  Our desire for this blog is that Christians will keep up with it and pray for us.  Prayer is a very powerful weapon in the Christian's arsenal and we will need lots of it during this process.  Even in the beginning stages we have been asking for much wisdom from the Lord about the decisions that we have already had to make.  Our new blog can be accessed at www.thespiritofadoption.org.

There are several ways that you can follow our blog.

1. You can simply access the web address www.thespiritofadoption.org from time to time to see our lastest blog posts.
2. You can subscribe via RSS feed.  You can subscribe to the RSS feed and follow our blog through google reader or your favorite RSS feed reader.  You can access the RSS feed here.
3. The easiest way to follow the blog is to sign up for the Email subscription.  By signing up for this, you will receive each blog post directly into your inbox everytime we update the blog.  Click here to sign up via email subscription.

Check it out and let us know what you think.  We appreciate your prayers.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It is amazing how fast 2009 flew by. God is always good and we were able to see Him working in 2009. We expect Him to also work in tremendous ways in 2010.

We start the New Year wanting to address 2 very exciting things in this prayer letter. First of all, we have been working really hard to get the building finished. It turned out to be a little more work than we thought, but nothing major. We have put up divisions, filled in holes, sanded, painted, put up lights, and cleaned. We have a few minor things left and then we will lay some carpet. We are waiting for some quotes on installing heat and air, but other than that, we are most complete. I am adding some pictures of the progress. Lord willing in the next letter, you will get to see the finished product.

Secondly, Deanna and I have some wonderful news. We have decided to adopt a baby. We are very excited. Since Aaron’s second birthday, we have been trying to have another baby. Aaron is now 7 and we have not been able to have another child. Deanna and I have been praying about adopting for some time now. We recently decided to start the process. At this moment, we are moving in the direction of adopting a baby girl from China. The process will be long and expensive, but we are trusting the Lord through every step. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom through the process. We also need your prayers for the timing of everything as our resident papers have strict requirements on how long we can be out of the country, renewal, etc. We are simply trusting in the Lord to work out every detail.

Thank you so much for your prayers, support, and friendship. May the Lord bless you.

We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. We are excited about the New Year and all that the Lord has in store for us. However, we don't want to forget this special time of year where we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of God’s sacrificial gift, we are able to have a relationship with Him. We count it a privilege to serve our Lord.

We hope you all have a wonderful Holiday and we thank you for all the love, support, and prayers.

God Bless,

Jeffrey, Deanna, and Aaron

The team from That All May Know Ministries would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

May we never forget the true meaning of Christmas. God looked upon a sin cursed world and sent His only Son to be born among men, to die for Man, so that you and I could become part of God's eternal family.

"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." - Galatians 4:4-5

It is hard to believe that 2009 is almost finished. The year has flown by and so many things have changed around us. With the world economy in focus, a new president inaugurated, tremendous job loss and unemployment data, the death of some famous icons, as well as secrets being unveiled about others, there is always something on the news that changes life as we now it forever. However, as Christians we understand that there is one constant thing in life that we can have comfort in...that our Lord Jesus Christ loves us and is always there for us. The truth that we serve a loving God who would send His only Son to die for you and me is a truth that will forever set us free and give us hope in an ever ailing world. God has a message of hope for the nations that we must deliver to them. There are so many in this world who have no hope.

Our desire is to deliver this "hope" to the people of Spain. We are gearing up for our big "push" that will begin at the start of the new year. In January, we will begin the journey of delivering the Gospel on DVD to 18,500 households. With an average of 3 people per household, approximately 55,500 people will have the chance to watch a very simple, clear, straight forward Gospel Message on their TV or Computer.

The DVD's have been duplicated and are ready. We have been fixing up the building trying to get it ready before we start delivering the DVD's. We are hoping that through the Gospel on DVD project, english classes, and other means of making contacts we will build a core group of people. Once we have this core group of people, we will then hold our inauguration service as a church. That is our plan for now. Pray with us as we try to make a dynamic impact in our city. Pictures of the progress on the building to come.

I read this article on Dave Ramsey's Website and thought I would share it.

"No matter what your budget is this Christmas, remember to be thankful. Take a deep breath in the middle of all this craziness.

You might have a lot. You might have a little. If you are driving a beater, be thankful for that beater. You would rather drive that than walk, wouldn't you? There is always something to be thankful for.

That's what contentment is all about. When you understand and really grasp contentment, it becomes easier to save money and invest. Stress slowly disappears. Budgeting is easier. Relationships improve.

Be happy with what you have. More than three billion people, almost half the world, live on $2.50 a day. Sometimes we need a little perspective to become content with our current situation.

Without contentment, it's easy to be bitter and apathetic. Happiness is sold to us, especially during this time of year. We think if we can just get one more piece of stuff that "true" happiness will be right around the corner.

We say things like, "I'll be happy when I get that house!" or "I'll be happy when I get that new car!" But happiness cannot be bought. Sure fun—in the form of a house, a car, a new LCD television—can be bought, but fun is temporary. True happiness, or contentment, is lasting.

You can get out of debt, save money, and get on a budget, but until you realize that stuff doesn’t bring contentment, you will always feel stressed and unhappy. Contentment brings peace. And isn’t this time of year about bringing "peace on earth and good will toward men"?

Remember what this deal is all about. It's not about trees, lights, gifts, baked hams, and shopping malls. It’s about a little child who was born in a manger and grew up to die on a cross. It’s about peace on earth and good will toward men.

So if the Christmas frenzy is wearing you out, you've missed the point of Christmas. Make a plan with your money, and make a plan to get back in touch with the true meaning of this special day.

You are invited to Dave's Give Like No One Else Christmas at DaveRamsey.com. Daily giveaways and great articles will make you want to check back every day to see what's new."

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I hope your turkey's come out wonderful! Don't throw anything away because you can use it to make some amazing Turkey Soup...just what you need on a cool Black Friday! Enjoy!

Keep all the scraps from the turkey i.e. juices, gravy, bones, turkey insides, onions, apples, etc. The steps to preparing a good soup are:

• Prepare the stock (broth)
• Prepare the soup

Turkey Stock (Broth) The nice thing about a stock is that anything can be used; the ends and skins of vegetables, bones, etc. You don’t want to use old rotten stuff, just stuff that you would normally throw away like the skin of an onion or the end of a carrot. Here are the basic ingredients for preparing a stock.

• Carrots
• Onions
• Garlic
• Celery
• Turkey Bones
• Left over gravy
• Any of the left over vegetables
• Whole Peppercorn
• 2 cups of turkey or chicken broth
• Water
• Olive Oil

Pull all the good meat off the turkey bones and set aside. (The good turkey meat will be used for the soup.) Rough cut the onions, garlic, celery, and carrots. Keep all the ends and peels in a separate bowl. Throw in the olive oil and let it get hot. Throw in the onions and let them cook until they are slightly caramelized. Then throw in the garlic. After the onions and garlic and caramelized, throw in the celery and carrots. Let those cook for a few minutes. Once those have cook for just 2 or 3 minutes, throw in about ½ cup of chicken/turkey broth. Stir together and then add the bones, peels, ends, leftover gravy, and leftover vegetables. Stir and let those cook for just a few minutes. Then, add the remainder of chicken/turkey broth and enough water to completely cover everything. Let that comes to a boil and then add a half handful of peppercorn. Turn the heat down so that is at a slight simmer. Let the stock simmer for atleast 3 to 4 hours, if not more. The idea is to reduce the stock by a 1/4 . So if the liquid comes up to the top, you want to let it simmer until the liquid only comes 3/4 of the way up. Once the stock is finish, you will want to strain the liquid through a fine strainer or china cap if you have one. A regular strainer will work. You may have to fish out little pieces if they slip though the holes. Set the liquid aside and discard all the bones, vegetables, etc. Turkey Soup This soup is not based on measurements. If you like an ingredient, add a little more or less. But I will put some quantities just for guidance. It also depends on how much you want to make. Here is what you will need for the soup:

• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 small shallots
• 2 cups of chicken (or of the Turkey Stock)
• Vegetables of your liking, cooked (I usually use carrots, peas, corn, and onions; You can use fresh veggies which is always better or you can cheat like I do since I am lazy and use half of a family size of frozen mixed vegetables)
• Leftover turkey
• Egg noodles or bowtie pasta
• ½ cup of Heavy Cream
• Turkey Stock
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a little olive oil in the bottom of the pot. Chop garlic and shallots and throw them in. Let them caramelize so that the bottom of the pan has a few little brown spots (don’t burn them). Then throw in a cup or so of your chicken broth or turkey stock and scrape the bottom so the brown spots come up. Now throw in the cooked veggies and stir them around. Add the turkey and mix it well letting it get nice and hot. Now pour enough of the Turkey stock so there is atleast 2 parts turkey stock to one part ingredients. Let all this come to a boil. When it reaches a boil, add in the heavy cream and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy.

*There are 2 secrets to making this soup taste really good. Number 1 is ‘Turkey preparation.” If the turkey is juicy and flavorful, the soup will also be flavorful. Number 2 is the Stock preparation. This is the base of the soup. If you take time to make a good stock, then the soup will taste very good. If the stock is done well, sometimes you won’t even have to add salt and pepper to taste when finishing the soup.

Here we are enjoying turkey soup with some friends last year. This is good comfort food that you will want to share with friends and family!

We want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. Last year, we made a Turkey that came out wonderfully and we wanted to share it with you. This recipe is not for the faint of heart. It is not difficult, but there is a process. Make sure you allot enough time to carry out each step. However, in the end, it is well worth it. So have fun and enjoy it. Tomorrow, I will post my famous Turkey Soup recipe so make sure you save all the leftovers, bones and all! :)

The first thing you want to do is ‘Brine’ the Turkey. This is done one day in advance of Thanksgiving Day. You are going to brine the Turkey for at least 6 hours up to 24 hours. Brine is much like marinating meat, i.e. steak, pork, chicken, etc.

Brining the Turkey

Use a very large pot, bowl, bucket, etc. whatever will allow you to submerge the Turkey in liquid. I used a mop bucket. (Don’t worry, I bought it brand new just for this use.)

• Add 2 cups of cooled vegetable stock (broth) and enough water to your apparatus so the Turkey will be submerged (Don’t add Turkey yet)
  
• Add 2 or 3 cups of Salt, Kosher, regular, or sea salt. (I used sea salt)
  
• Add 1 to 2 cups of sugar; regular or brown (I used regular) Now you want to stir in the salt and sugar until it is dissolved. Then:
  
• Add 2 purple onions; quartered
  
• Add 1 whole garlic bulb (probably 7 to 10 cloves)
  
• Add approx. 1/8 cup of whole peppercorns
  
• Add a handful of garlic pepper
  
• Add 2 tbls. cummin
  
• Add several sprigs of rosemary (fresh)
  
• Add several sprigs of thyme (fresh)
  
• Add several sprigs of Basil (fresh) If you can’t get these fresh, you can use the dry stuff. 

Make sure that mixture is completely cooled before you submerge the turkey, or else the turkey will begin to cook. Stir mixture and then submerge turkey in the mixture. Make sure the turkey stays fully submerged. So if it floats, you can put cans or coke bottles on top to keep it submerged. Keep submerged for at least 6 hours, up to 24 hrs. Overnight is the best. If you don’t have room in the refrigerator, you can substitute the water with ice water and place it in a cool place; covered.

Roasting the Turkey

You want to start preparing your turkey, depending on the size, 3 to 4 hrs. in advance. A 14 lb. turkey should take between 2 and 2 ½ hrs. total cooking time. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. You want to take your turkey out of the brine and wash it off. After the turkey has been thoroughly rinsed off, place in a shallow baking pan, on a rack. Now you want to prepare the aromatic mixture that will go in the cavity of the turkey. Here is what you will need:

• 1 apple; quartered
  
• ½ purple onion; quartered
  
• 5 -6 garlic cloves
  
• ½ lemon
  
• 2 sprigs rosemary
  
• 2 sprigs thyme
  
• 2 basil leaves
  
• 1 ½ cups water
  

Take rosemary, thyme and basil and stuff them in the turkey cavity. Take remainder of ingredients and place them in a dish, along with the water, and microwave for 5 min. While these are cooking in the microwave, coat turkey with canola or vegetable oil. When the 5 minutes are up, take the dish out of the microwave and stuff the ingredients that are in the bowl into the cavity of the turkey. Before you place the turkey in the oven, you need to make a triangle out of tin foil, that will cover only the breast area of the turkey. This is so that the breast does not dry out before the dark meat is done. Form the tin foil onto the breast and then take it off and lay it to the side. This is done so that you do not have to later fold the foil over the turkey when it is hot. Go ahead and add 2 cups of chicken broth to the shallow pan to prevent burning. Now place turkey in the oven that is set at 500 degrees and cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pull turkey out of the oven and turn oven down to 350 degrees. If you have a digital thermometer that will alert you when it reaches a certain temperature, you want to stick this into the fattest part of the breast and set the thermometer to alert you when it reaches a temperature of 161 degrees. If you do not have this kind of thermometer, then for a 14-16 lb. turkey, you want to let it cook for approx. 1 ½ -2 hours. Be sure to check with a regular thermometer, to see if the meat has reached an internal temperature of 161 degrees, making sure you are placing the thermometer in the fattest part of the breast. Once your turkey reaches 161 degrees, you will want to pull the turkey from the oven and set it someplace where you can let it rest, fully covered with tin foil, for 15 – 20 minutes. This is because the turkey will continue to cook and if you immediately cut into it, all the juices will pour out. So if your turkey came with a pop-up thermometer, first of all, don’t pay any attention to it and secondly, don’t pull it out before or after the turkey is done. Wait until you go to carve the turkey to pull it out. You want to be sure the turkey rests for 15-20 minutes.

Gravy

Some of this you will be able to prepare while your turkey is in the oven. Here is what you will need:

• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 large shallot
  
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 stick butter
  
• ½ cup flour
  
• turkey drippings
  
• 2 tbls. olive oil
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Chop garlic and shallot and set aside. In small sauté pan, melt butter and add flour. Add flour a little bit at a time, till consistency becomes almost like a thick paste. You will also notice a nutty, almond smell. This is called a roux. This is to thicken sauces. In large pot or sauté pan, add 2 tbls. olive oil and sauté garlic and shallots till they begin to caramelize in bottom of pan. One they are caramelized, add 1 cup chicken broth. Let this simmer for a few minutes. Take all of turkey drippings and add to pan. If this is not going to be enough gravy, then add the second cup of chicken broth, or as much as is needed. Bring sauce to a boil. Then add roux, a little bit at a time, (Do not add all of it at once) continually stirring, until you reach the correct thickness. This has been obtained when you place a spoon in the gravy and when you pull it out, the gravy coats the spoon. Put gravy in blender and puree till smooth. If gravy is as thick as you like it, you are ready to serve. If you would like it thicker, return it to the pot, bring to a boil and add any remaining roux, until you reach your desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste. Next...pour gravy on turkey and enjoy! We sure did!!

The DVD Project

The Lord continues to bless the Gospel on DVD Project. So many people are realizing the opportunity to have a direct impact on the people of Spain through the Gospel on DVD project. So far enough has been given to get the Gospel on DVD to approximately 18,500 households in our city. We have been duplicating DVD’s every day. We have over 10,000 DVD’s done. We posted a video update of exactly what God is doing through this project. You can view it here:

http://www.thatallmayknow.net/blog/DVD-Project-Update.html

New Building

In September, Deanna and I said farewell to the people of Iglesia Bautista Bíblica de Villa Rosa (Bible Baptist Church of Villa Rosa) where we had the privilege to work, as I learned the language, for about a year. Around the 2nd week of September, we began looking for a building. We found several that were available but they were either too expensive, not in the best location, or not exactly what we wanted. We decided not to jump into the first thing that came along and be patient and wait on God. Deanna and I had faith that God would provide the perfect place for us with enough space for the right price. After only a month of looking, that is exactly what God did. We found a place that is big enough to start for a very good price. We will begin fixing up the building, adding some divisions, etc. very soon.

Mini-Missions Trip

Several weeks ago, Deanna, Aaron, and I were able to take a mini-missions trip to visit our good friends working in North Africa. Aaron and his family are working with the Muslim people in North Africa and doing a great job. It was a real blessing to see the Muslim people coming to Christ. I met one man, Ali, who had been to his first service and was so happy. He gave his testimony of how he wanted to end his life because of how unhappy he was. He said that he saw a man and his wife on the street that he didn’t know and went up to them and asked them, “why are you so happy?” The man was a Christian and told him that was why. The man called Ali a few times to talk to him about the Lord. Through this and the Internet, Ali came to Christ. It was awesome to see the change in his life of once wanting to commit suicide and now so happy wanting to live for Christ. The whole experience impacted our lives, gave us perspective, and gave us a greater burden for reaching the Muslims in our community. There are many in our city that have come to find work. Just to give you an idea, the second largest nationality in Aaron’s school, behind the Spaniards, are those from North Africa.

New Address

We have moved! I can’t say too many good things about the crisis, however, one good thing that has been a benefit to us is the decrease in the cost of housing. They all say that this is the time to find good deals on rental housing and we were able to take advantage of the good deals. Please take note of our new address:

The Andrews Family
Calle Miguel Hernandez 26

28991 Torrejon de la Calzada, Madrid
España