Trevor Hudson Anzardo

At 1:15am on Thursday, everything changed. Kirsten turned to me with news that made me feel like a president receiving defcon 5 alerts from the secretary of defense. Her water had broken. We shot out of bed, grabbed the emergency bag, and rushed to the hospital. Twelve hours and lots of labor pains later, Kirsten gave birth to Trevor Hudson Anzardo!


Trevor was born 6 lbs 13 oz and 19.75 inches. Kirsten was an absolute rock star in labor and quickly won the respect and love of the nurses, midwife, and doctor. She stuck to her guns and went through without any pain medication. I also stayed on my feet the entire time, even long enough to cut the cord! Throughout the entire process of labor and beyond, we were constantly reminded of the incredible power, wisdom, and creativity of God. Life is precious and beautiful - for it is a gift from God!




As of now, Kirsten and I (along with our families), are thoroughly enjoying getting to know Trevor! Even at five days old he is beaming with personality! I will post additional pictures soon, so stay tuned.

We are alive...and well!

The past few weeks have gone by quickly! However, the speeding calendar has not stopped us from connecting with family and friends. Although there are many more people to see, Kirsten and I feel refreshed and blessed that we have been able to spend some quality time with people we love and miss while in Jamaica. Eating food, sharing stories, and enjoying one another's company is deeply satisfying, and we thank God for the opportunity to do so during our time in the States.

As far as the baby is concerned, baby and Mommy are doing really well. We have had all great reports from the doctors and will be having another ultrasound next week! We are awaiting the "little one" on the 26th of July, which is approaching at a blistering speed. When not visiting or eating local favorites, I have been deep in studies as this is my mid-term exam week.

Please continue to pray for us as we anticipate parenthood and recharge in New Jersey. Also continue in prayer for the ministries in Buff Bay. We will be sure to keep you updated with our dealings!

The prayers of the righteous accomplish much

I knew that the 101st post needed to be good. As you have seen, although last week was a good one, today trumps last week.

The last 24 hours have been filled with excitement and heartbreak. After seventeen days away from my beautiful, pregnant bride, I was ready to hold and kiss her again! As the flight date approached, my excitement grew, and then came my flight itinerary update last night at 6 pm. As I reviewed my flight information, I realized that I made a horrendous mistake in booking the flight. My plan was to leave at 4 pm on the 13th from Kingston (which was correct on the itinerary), but my connecting flight, which I supposed to be at 8:10 pm, was scheduled for the next day at 7 am! They did not cancel the flight; I totally screwed it up. So we started praying that God would get me home to New Jersey tonight.

I have been reading Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret recently and have been floored by the faith of the famous missionary to China. Legendary is the word that comes to mind. My heart burned on almost every page to enjoy, celebrate, and trust Jesus with mighty issues we face and as well as the minutiae. So, like Hudson Taylor, I have begun resting more on Jesus and his promise to meet our needs. Jesus bids us to come and drink from his fountain and be satisfied (John 6:35) in a continual way. This is my hope.

Now, back to Fort Lauderdale. We were asking God that I may be able to fly standby for the flight to Atlantic City, which leaves 8:10...remember. First hurdle: my flight was delayed out of Kingston 45 minutes. Second hurdle: a delayed release from the our plane upon arrival for security purposes. Throughout this period I thought of something that Hudson Taylor had learned about God: if He is going to move, no amount of hurdles matter.

I am currently sitting in the gate awaiting a delayed flight crew, which is keeping MY Atlantic City flight from departing on the 13th. I got on the plane with no hassle and time to spare. There will be no sleeping in Florida on vinyl airport benches but in a bed with my wife in New Jersey.

Getting on the plane I sent Kirsten a text message with James 5:16 "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" in the message. The reality is I have never thought of myself as the man that this verse talks about for effective prayer. That is, I am not like Hudson Taylor. As I was walking to my gate I realized that the object of our faith is what is key, which is exactly what Taylor knew.

Let me try to land this thought plane for you. I am not righteous but Jesus is. The Christian has his or her life in Christ and can approach the "throne room" of God boldly (Hebrews 4:16) and know that it is not on our righteousness but Christ's righteousness that we stand. It is here that "we have a strong and perfect plea before God" as the hymn says. Our prayers are worthless without Christ. God hears our prayers because Jesus took our unrighteousness and gave us his righteousness. God delights to hear from His adopted children in Christ. He delights to showcase the reign, rule, and power of the risen Christ even through answering prayer. Today I got schooled in God's sovereignty and compassion, and I am stoked about it!

Happy Birthday Blog!

(Yes, we do know about our droopy shelf! It is proof that particle board does not hold up well in the humidity of the Caribbean.)

If you happened to miss some of the pictures we have posted over the past year and a half click here.

Thank you for your support. Have a great day and we will see you next week!

"Its the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine."

This past week, we too, battled against the false teachings of Harold Camping. Many in Jamaica were scared and confused, others bitter and resentful, and still others at least were confronted with the idea that this life may not be all there is. There were reports of "entrepreneurs" capitalizing on people's fear while providing "emergency baptism" services for a price of JA$1000-1500 (about $12-18 USD). We also heard of people selling off their possessions and packing up their things to go and wait at the bus stop to await the return of Jesus (as if He was a bus driver). While the majority of people were not drinking Camping's Kool-Aid, the lesson of 1 John 4:1-6 (which providentially was my text for Sunday morning as I work my way through the book) to test the spirits is of vital importance, not only for us in our Jamaican context, which boasts a hyper-Christian culture although with little discernment, but also for the sake of the global Church.

Despite the false teachings, there is real hope. Even as 1 John wrote his letter to give his "little children" confidence and assurance of the truth, we too have a great opportunity to shed true, gospel light to those confused by false messengers. Camping's teachings are an incredible opportunity for us to have faith conversations with seekers, challenge the church in their abilities to discern the "Spirit of truth and the spirit of error," while further equipping them for the future. God, in His sovereignty, saw Harold Camping from day one. God was not thrown off and His plan not impeded. I think there is great potential from this "Doomsday FAIL" for the truth to be heralded with grace and love to those "left behind" in the wake of false prophets.

A Providential Shower

It is not rainy season here, but it sure was showering last night at the Woman's League meeting, the ladies ministry in the Buff Bay church. The ladies, most old enough to be Kirsten's mother, lavished Kirsten and me (I was invited to Woman's League for the special event), with love, food, and wonderful gifts as we await the arrival of our little bundle of joy. The women were precious as they shared what a blessing Kirsten has been to them and the church while also expressing their sadness about her leaving for a couple months.


As we have said at other times, this truly feels like home. Yes, many of you reading this are from our hometowns, and we miss you terribly (along with mornings without the roosters, driving on the right, pizza, and leafy green salads), but we really have joy living here. There is no doubt that some time off to recoup and reload is much needed, but we are already thinking about what happen when we return to Jamaica. Just today, Kirsten and I were discussing whether or not we will lose our ear for patois (the local dialect), as people have now stopped slowing down for us - and if we lose it, we will be lost again!

However, this is not all bad for the church or us either. One of the many great blessings of God's providence is that His plan is always better although not always easy. We see that God is actually allowing the church to get a dry-run of what it will look like when we would actually leave Jamaica for good if that be God's plan. We have labored to equip the saints to play a greater role in the ministry and now comes a time for us to assess, evaluate, and recalibrate.

We praise God for and are incredibly encouraged by the tremendous support and blessing that has come from the church even in being understanding of us returning back to NJ to have the baby, especially from Pastor Allen. That said, please pray for the churches as they prepare to shuffle people around to make sure the ministry doesn't miss a beat but continues to move forward. Please pray that this will be a great time for the church and a time in which leaders, both old and new, will be challenged and delight in serving the Lord and His people. Also pray for us as we pack, make arrangements, and coordinate all the details that go into our temporary return to Ocean City.

We will keep you posted throughout the summer and let you know where we are and what we are up to and eventually baby-pictures and thoughts. Until then...have a great day!

Spring 2011 Newsletter

Here is our latest newsletter for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!


Spring 2011 Newsletter