Orphans on my heart

On Thursday we went to an orphanage to teach a lesson on Humility.  Jesus humbled himself even unto death, and He is our example.  He gave up being a king so He could become our slave.  A powerful message, and one for all of us to learn from.
The morning started off chilly as it often does in this high altitude.  Corban and I donned fleecies and left home around 7:30am to get to the mission base and share a time of prayer with the team before heading out.  Trust me, leaving home that early is no small feat with a toddler in tow.

We arrived at the orphanage just before 10am.  The 5 of us (Alfonso, Chrissy, Trini, Corban, and I) were ushered to the director's office where we were cordially recieved.  From there we went on to the classrooms where we were to teach 2 classes on humility.  We were greeted by children with scuffed shoes and poor hygiene.  Some of these children reside in the orphanage itself, others are local village children who attend the school for free.  It was great fun to stand in front of a classroom of children and exhort them to be more like Christ.  I am not so often in front of the class anymore as I dedicate myself to more of the behind the scenes duties.  It was an adrenaline rush to stand up and declare the goodness of God to eager listeners.

Since Corban is only 2 years old, and these lessons were designed for older children, I had to bribe him with food to keep him occupied during class.  And when that didn't work, he went to the playground with Trini.

Spending time with these children is so important to me.  Many of them are in the orphanage not because they lost their parents to death, but rather were removed from the home because of abuse.  Those little faces with big smiles and bright eyes seem to be etched into my heart urging me to pray for them.  When I stand before them to exhort and teach them every fiber of my being wishes to transmit the love of God and His amazing grace to these young lives.  With an entire future ahead of them still, my heart yearns to see them press on to fulfill the calling they have in Christ Jesus. 

As we waved good-bye and climbed back into my suv, I realized how important our weekly visit is.  I looked around at my fellow workers and thanked God for such devoted team members.  I glanced in the rear view mirror at my happy toddler who will never know the horrors of abuse or being taken from his home.  It is because of gratitude that I continue to serve God the way I do.

A missionary's reflection

As I sit here and look fondly at the Kodak digital camera that has been my companion on so many landmark events sweet memories tumble about my mind.  Interestingly, the most prevelant one tells the story of the day I received that camera.  It was a birthday gift given to me by the loving congregation of Oak Grove Baptist Church in Virginia Beach.  The generous gift was a surprise that left me totally speechless.  However, it is not the only thing Oak Grove has done for me that has left me speechless.


Very few people truly understand how much a missionary needs the support of family, friends, and churches back home to stay strong on the field.  Quite often churches send out their missionaries with a prayer and a pat on the back and think that a regular check in the mail will satisfy all that is required of them.  It is rare to find a church like Oak Grove that regulary sends personal notes of encouragement.  I can recall dozens of care packages sent to me or given to me on visits by the special ladies in the Rice Circle.  Sadly, it is unusual for a missionary to have cheerleaders back home verbally, materially, and prayerfully cheering us on every step of the way.  And yet, it is so necessary.

This weekend was a time of just such cheerleading and encouragement.  In Guatemala a retreat is held annually for English speaking missionaries and their families.  It is a time of refreshment, a time of resting, and a time to be on the recieving end for a change.  Words cannot describe the "re-charge" we feel as a family after a weekend such as this.  Such an event would not be possible were it not for wonderful, generous individuals and churches that come to sow into Guatemala's missionaries and by doing so, are able to sow into Guatemala as a whole.  A team of teachers come geared up and ready to take our kids for the weekend so that as parents we can sit worry free in the services and workshops.  These teachers pay their own way and furnish games, toys, snacks and more for our little tykes.  Their creativity, patience, and willingness is a treasure.  A whole team of folks come for the specific purpose of blessing the missionary community with haircuts, massages, manicure, and pedicures.  They offer their services free of charge and spoil us on top of that with free product samples, chocolates, hugs, prayers, and encourgement.  Still others come to speak, to lead worship, to donate books, medicines, and teaching supplies.  And on top of all of this, those who come to serve us also pay a portion of our expenses.

To feel so loved and supported for an entire weekend has helped me to feel full again and ready to go back out there and continue to give.

My word of advice to anyone reading this blog is not to forget that whatever missionary you support has many needs other than just a check in the mail.  We need to know that we are not alone out here.  We need to know that you've got our back!  Send  a note or a  small gift to a missionary today to remind them that they are on your mind and in your heart and prayers.

A dream of mine....

 

I hope today's entry helps you to dream a little bit along with me.  I have loved this country and its children for 11 years now.  It seems that whenever I have a chance to go to the public schools, orphanages, or villages and spend just the tiniest amount of time with these precious little souls, they somehow weave their way into my heart forever.

Today I travelled with a small group of people to a mountain area a little over an hour away from our current ministry site.  The view was breathtaking, the weather a delicious cold.  We were able to visit 3 schools all relatively close to a piece of property that we hope to own someday.  Attending these schools are a total of approximately 240 children representing approximately 100 families.  I fell in love with those little faces.  The children around this rural area are true farm folk.  Walking and horses are the main means of transportation.  Most of them probably wash clothes and body in nearby streams and creeks.  They are a simple folk with a simple lifestyle.  

Tragically, few if any, of the children I met today have heard the gospel.  Few, if any, know that God has a plan and a purpose for them.  Few, if any, attend any church at all.  What a goldmine of souls just waiting to be dug into!  

My dream is to oneday be able to take the ABA outreach team regularly to these remote areas to share the gospel and minister to these families.  Dream with me.  For this to be possible we need more missionaries, more mission teams, more brave soldiers for the Lord battling for souls along with us.  We need to make sure our current outreaches are not neglected and that we meet our monthly budget each month.  We need, we need, we need.  It is so easy to focus on what we need and get our eyes off of who supplies our needs.  

Dream with me.  Pray with me.  The Lord will show you how you can help this dream become a reality, whether by bringing a team or sending finances.  

God bless you!  www.crossculturejesus.org

Seeing real life through other's eyes

Are we really in February?  I sit here at my computer desk reflecting on the past week and find it hard to believe that February has already begun.  
Last week the team visited the homes of a good portion of the children who attend our programs.  And some children who are new to our programs.  We have grown so much that even visiting homes every day the week isn't enough time to visit them all!  Going from house to house is an amazing way to establish contact with the families, see how the really live, learn what they really struggle with, and show them we care.

How I wish I could have gone with the team!  Being the director of the ministry is amazing in that the vision for this ministry was given to me from the Lord, birthed in MY heart, and in ME lies the responsibility to see it flow smoothly.  However the downfall is that with ¨directorship¨comes a lot of other responsibilities that sometimes keep me off of the front lines.  Last week I spent in meetings and doing office work while the outreach team did the visiting.

Still, having met the families in question, the stories they brought back moved me to my core.  Doña Carmen is still holding her own despite so many circumstances against her.  You may remember her: the mother of 6 whose taxi driver husband was killed by gang members a while ago.  One of her children has serious medical problems with his kidneys.  Pray with us for healing for him.  And pray for provision for that family.  Having so many little ones at home keeps Doña Carmen from finding a stable job, something she desperately needs to keep food on the table and clothes on their backs.  

Our little grandmother, who sits inside of a relatively nice cinderblock house all day, wants someone to come and teach the Bible to her.  She lives on the top of a very steep, muddy slope and rarely ventures out for fear she may just slip and slide right down the mountain!  She shares a home with her daughter and her several children.  The kitchen is a tiny room with a refrigerator and a table much like one we had when I was young.  Plastic yard chairs surround the table and scrape against the dirt floor as you pull them out to sit down.  A small camp stove boasting 2 burners sits on a table in the corner.  We have visited often at this home. We so need additional workers on our outreach team so that we CAN add home Bible studies to our already overcrowded list of activities.

So many of the families we visited are suffering right now because neither of the parents has a job.  Public school fees haven't been paid so many of "our children" will miss the opportunity to study again this year.  Join with us in prayer as we ask the Lord for PROVISION for these families. 

I recently heard of a pregnant mother who had an addiction to eating dirt!  I have been told that this is a sign of severe lack of vitamins in the diet of a pregnant woman, but I don't know if it is true.  What I do know to be true is that this mother does not get regular medical treatment, take prenatal vitamins, and eats an unbalanced diet. 

As our team walks through winding dirt and gravel paths to reach each of these homes their thoughts turn towards the Lord in gratitude for all that we have and most times take for granted.  I have been hungry before, but I have never truly suffered hunger.  I have always had a roof over my head and bed to sleep on.  Although I may not always have the latest fashion, I have never been naked or without shoes.  To visit a one room home of a family of 5 where the only furniture is one bed and a couple of cinder blocks to sit on can really change your perspective on life.  Seeing a small child burned by the cooking fire and too poor to buy a salve to put on the burn...well, it does things to your heart. 

May you and I live in constant gratitude for the many blessings we have and not in discontent for what we still long for.  I'll bet if you look around you as I have this weekend you will realize that all that is truly important is already in your possesion.

First Week Back

Last week was my first week back in Guatemala, and boy what a week it was.  I woke up at 6am on Monday morning to find the downstairs flooded because of a burst pipe in our hot water heater.  That hot water heater was nothing but trouble from the beginning.  It was always breaking down at the most unconvenient moments.  So, I wasn't surprised in the least to find that the hot water heater was the source of Monday's unconvenient adventure. 
While I was ankle deep in water, sweeping it outside with a broom, the phone was ringing off the hook... the missionaries I work with wanting to know when they would see me, a call from the States from a missionary who will join us later in the year, and Francisco wanting to know how I was faring with the cleaning process.  The carpets were soaked, the food in the pantry was soaked (the hot water heater is in our pantry), and anything else you can imagine was drenched.  And wouldn't you know that there was barely any sun last week.  It even drizzled a coupe of days!  So all my drenched rugs and such took a week to dry out!!!!!
Eventually, the downstairs was cleaned and dried.  And then to tackle the job of unpacking.  Sorting donations from personal items, sorting clean clothes from dirty, and all the while on the phone with the ministry base and checking e-mails in an effort to get settled back into a routine. (and all the while trying to convince Corban not to unsort what was already sorted!)
Tuesday was less hectic... a trip to the ministry base for a staff meeting and to take some of the donations I brought back with me.  Wednesday was a day of errands and shopping.  Getting the ministry running again after a six week break means a lot of shopping for supplies!  We desperately needed a pressure cooker, when I saw how much I had already spent and saw the cost of pressure cookers I made a quick decision to purchase a small one.  Unfortunately, Alfonso and Yoli informed me that it was OKAY but that we really need a larger one.  oooops.  And I thought I was being economical!  Well, we will just have to make that one work for now.  Thursday I was back at the ministry base all morning for more sorting of donations.  And finally Friday!  Well, I need to buy some things from Office Depot.  If I spend a certain amount (which I am sure I will) then I can get free tickets to a petting farm.  Perfect!  So my idea was to take my 2 year old.  Well, it drizzled!  So I stayed home and tried to catch up on office work instead.  Am I caught up?  no.  It seems I never am totally caught up. 
That was my first week back home.  Next week will be full too as we plan to visit homes and take the donations of clothes we have recieved.  Pray for us, that we will have safety and wisdom as we visit and pray for "our families".  Pray for wisdom as we plan for mission teams we will receive later in the year.  And pray for Chrissy, Alfonso, Yoli, and Trini as they get geared up for our first classes of the year.

starting a new year

I have just returned to Guatemala after a quick trip to the States.  It is amazing how 3 weeks away can feel like a lifetime, and yet now that I am back (not even a full week) it almost seems as if I never left.
The whole team is looking forward to a productive year.  Chrissy and Alfonso have done a great job with the home visits so far.  They are applying what Alfonso has learned at the University (he is studying social work) to make files on each family.  We should have a more complete understanding of each family in our programs after this.  Monica's family donated a TON of clothing that we plan to distribute as we visit homes next week.  And it is never too early to start thinking about Mother's day, mission teams, and end of the year events.  We started January RUNNING!
I hope you will pop on here every now and again to see what we are up to and to pray for us.  Each day on the mission field is full of new challenges, and new opportunities to see God at work.