Preparing to go...

     As I prepare to go to Guatemala, I have many thoughts.  I am excited, and terrified, but also think about how much I will miss all of my family and friends.  I'm looking forward to what the Father has for me in Guatemala at Casa de Aleluya and this next chapter of my life.  I read Mike's journal daily as I get it in my email and I feel as if I'm already there.  The way he describes the activities such as graduation, and Christmas preparations makes me want to be there so much.  I already feel a part of the orphanage and am anxious to get to know the children.
     Mike and Dottie, the founders of Casa de Aleluya, have so much on them right now and need your prayers daily.  Just being in charge of almost 500 children is tiring in and of itself but there are other things recently that have taken their toll on them as well.  One of the little girls, a dialysis patient, died a few weeks ago.  The other dialysis patients are scared and Mike and Dottie need wisdom in how to talk to them and help them not to be afraid.
    Please be in prayer for me as I continue to raise funds, looking for churches and Sunday School classes to speak too,   Pray for the Father's perfect timing and my patience in waiting for it.  I so want to be there now but I want what the Father wants for my life more.

Blessings to you all...

God's Provision

     While packing up to leave my apartment, I was diligently searching for an efficiency apartment.  All I had found at this point was very expensive and one place was somewhat reasonable.  However, I continued to look in hopes to find something I could afford without a strain on my budget.  A few months ago, I was out and about one Friday night and ran into some people I had not seen in about 25 years.  Early in our marriage, we lived next door to a young couple with a baby.  Over the next few years we became good friends and we spent a lot of time with her mom and dad as well.  I could not believe I had ran into her and her Mom on this particular night.  Her Mom (Faye) and I began meeting at the Olive Garden on Wednesday night to have coffee and just 'catch up' on all that had happened over the years.  We were both single now since Faye had been widowed earlier this year after 55 years of marriage.  One night while sitting in the restaurant, Faye said, "why do you want an efficiency apartment"?  I explained that I just needed a bed, shower, and a small place to fix something to eat until I left for the mission field.  She then asked me to come and stay with her.  I hesitated because I did not really know what to say.  Faye suggested that we both pray about it and just see where the Lord leads us.  After much prayer, I decided to move in with Faye.  The Father gave me a great peace once I made the decision and I knew that was what He wanted me to do.  I have to tell you that the first morning after I moved in, this precious woman got up at 5:30am to fix me coffee.  These early morning chats with coffee have become very special times for me over the past two weeks.  She is there to welcome me home after a day's work, kisses me goodnight and tells me she loves me.  My own Mom has been with the Lord for a little over 11 years now and I have to say that it has been wonderful to be 'mothered' again and dotted on a little. The Lord knew exactly what I needed at this particular time in my life.  
     I lay in bed that first night at Faye's and prayed thanking the Father once again for His provision for me.  He has taken care of my every need time and time again - especially since I have been on my own the past few years.  I began to reflect over some of the times the Lord provided for His people in the Bible.  There was God's provision for Elijah during a famine when the widow and her son took care of him (I Kings 17)..Hagar and her unborn son were taken care of by God in Genesis 16...Rahab and her family were take care of and protected by God in Joshua 6...and on and on.  Throughout God's word, He provides for His people.  Why do we in our human fraility always doubt the power and provision of God?  We become so consumed (myself in particular) with our circumstances we lose sight of the One who created everything and hung the stars and the moon in place.  Psalm 19:1 says,
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."
Tonight when you lay down in bed, remember to thank the Creator of the Universe for everything you have because the Word says in Colossians 3:17:  " Do everything you say or do in the name of the Lord Jesus. Always give thanks to God the Father through Christ"
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...just a few of my thoughts this week

What is stuff?

    As I prepare to move out of my apartment, and pack to move to Guatemala, I have a new appreciation for the meaning of 'stuff' in our lives.  Webster's dictionary says the meaning of stuff is:  "property, as personal belongings or equipment; things".
    It is amazing how many of these 'things' we amass in our lifetime.  Thinking that we either want them or just have to have them.  Rarely do we think about the fact that we truly need them.  Even though every time I have moved over the past 8 years, I have cleaned out and gotten rid of many things, I was amazed at how much more I had.  We put so much value in these things.  But really, how much value do they truly have?  For instance, I collected dolls from Ashton-Drake for many years for my one and only daughter.  First, because I love dolls and second, because I wanted her to have them one day when she left home.  I purchased several sets of these dolls in a numbered, limited series - thinking that they would be 'worth' something one day.  Sadly, I discovered that these dolls were really not even worth the original price I paid for them years ago.  Keep in mind that these dolls are no longer in circulation.  However, with others having the same thought in a bad economy and in need of money, the market is saturated with them on Ebay.  Alas, I finally decided that whatever I got for them on Ebay would be more than the value of the dust they were collecting on the shelf in the closet.  Coupled with the fact that I could not take them to Guatemala and my daughter no longer wanted them.  On to the rest of the 'stuff' I own.  As I was going through boxes of beautiful things that I had (because I had no way to display them in the apartment), I discovered two figurines from the Avon collectible series purchased in the early 1980's.  Aha, here is something I know will be of value and fetch a great price on Ebay.  I quickly got on Ebay to see if any of these priceless jewels were for sale, or had sold and what price they had brought.  I started laughing hysterically as I discovered that there were 16 of these priceless jewels for sale and the price they were going for was a whoping $5.99 with free shipping of course!  That is probably about a fifth of what I paid for one of the figurines but my memory is a little rusty on the actual price.
   All of this to say, what is truly valuable in this world?  Jesus Christ says in his word, the holy bible, that people are of value.  They are worth so much to Him, that He sent His one only son to die for the people of the world.  John 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
    What is our responsibility to this? "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."
This is what is truly important.  Simple, yet profoundly true.  However, it seems that we, as Americans in particular, have a hard time doing this.  We are truly self-centered, amassing more and more things, while the world is starving, in poor health, living in adject poverty, and in great need.  Their greatest need is hearing the Good News of the Gospel of Christ.
    So...let's reflect on all of our possessions, maybe even get rid of some or all of it, and give to the people of the world.  Instead of shopping til you drop this weekend, go to http://www.worldvision.com and see how your gift of a few dollars can give someone in poverty a goat, chicken, or pond filled with fish in order to feed their family.  Or...you can go to http://www.casaontherock.org" and sponsor an orphan for only $35.00 a month.  This would be the gift that keeps on giving.  Much better than giving your family member, who has everything, that fruit of the month club subscription for Christmas.  Instead wrap up the picture of an orphan that you have sponsored.  Give it to your family member - with a smile on your face - and say, "I knew this would make you happy because it made me happy just giving it to you"!

Some of my meditations this week...

Guatemala: July 2011

My life's mission is to glorify Christ through teaching life skills. My greatest desire is that the Lord would use my one life to eliminate physical and spiritual poverty in the lives of many others. The Lord has given me the vision to be a part of His work to eradicate physical poverty by teaching handcrafting skills such as sewing, jewelry making, and basket weaving to women in impoverished communities and by His grace to be a tool in His hand to eliminate spiritual poverty through teaching God’s Word and how each woman I am blessed to know can apply it in her life.

      On this trip to Guatemala, I had the opportunity to minister with Casa Aleluya (www.casaontherock.org), an orphanage just outside of Guatemala City. This orphanage currently takes care of approximately 450 children, ages ranging from infants to young adults in college. The goal at Casa Aleluya is to help change Guatemala for the next generation. Casa takes in children who have been abandoned and live on the streets as well as many who have been abused. Over 4,000 children have come through the gates since the ministry began in 1989.

Casa has a sewing program where young girls can learn everything from basic to advanced sewing skills; however, they do not currently have a full time instructor. During our stay, we took the opportunity to teach the girls in the program how to read a commercial pattern and how to use the patterns to make garments. 

The directors, Mike and Dottie Clark, shared with us some stories of how children at Casa Aleluya are changing Guatemala for the future. The following is one of the many stories about the children rescued and living in this amazing place: 

The father of one family killed some men in a bar room brawl and was sentenced to life in prison without ANY possibility of parole. The mother turned to prostitution to support the family and a short time later abandoned the children. The children were brought to Casa Aleluya to live, but the oldest girl hated her father. Shortly after coming to Casa, she accepted Christ as her Savior and asked Mr. Clark if he would take her to see her father in prison. She said, “Please, it is important.” Mr. Clark took her to visit him, and she told her father that she forgave him. 

She then talked to her father about Jesus, how He had changed her heart toward him, and God gave her the privilege of leading her father to Christ. His behavior at the prison drastically changed; in fact, he changed so much that the president of Guatemala at that time gave the father a full pardon and released him from prison.  That father is now a minister and preaching at a church in Guatemala.

In Exodus 34 the LORD God himself proclaims to Moses that He is merciful and gracious, one who abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness, one who is just and forgives. Moses later writes in Deuteronomy 10 that this same LORD God executes justice for the fatherless and the widow. When the God who executes justice for the fatherless and the widow became flesh to display His justice and forgiveness, He fed the hungry, loved the unloveable, and like healing the man in John 9, met needs that man could not meet for himself. I praise God because He has given me a tool to care for orphans and widows in their affliction (James 1:27), to bring relief to their physical hunger and to show them the only place where there are wells of living water that can bring life to their souls. I would like to thank everyone who has selflessly supported in word and deed the mission the Lord has given me, for being used by God to partner with me, enabling the rescue of women, children, and families from a life of poverty to an everlasting life of joy and peace with the Father.

The Call

In November, 2009, the Lord provided for me, through the generosity of family and friends, to go with a team from my church to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.  The team from our church, along with people from Maryland, New York, Wisconsin and Oregon, worked together for one week to help the poor and spread the Gospel of Christ.  We took over 1,000 pairs of shoes for the Mayans living in and around the Lake.  We did VBS in the mornings and then gave out shoes in the afternoon.  We washed their feet with baby wipes, and then fitted them with a new pair of socks and shoes.  I had never been face to face with such poverty and it grieved me. On the first day of ministry, I went to the bus to eat my sack lunch and cried.  To think of how much we have in this country when there are people, mostly children, who do not even own a decent pair of shoes.  I went with the anticipation that I would be helping them but it was my heart the Lord changed.  It changed my thought process drastically.  When going shopping, I always asked myself – ‘Do I really need this?’ or is this just more stuff?  Essentials that we take for granted every day such as:  soap, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes are a luxury item there.  Just having enough food for their children are what most people are striving for in Guatemala.  The Lord gave me a love for these people that could only have come from Him.  By the end of the trip, I felt the Lord calling me into full time missions. He overwhelmingly confirmed the call to missions several times in the next few months.  I didn’t know the time or what I would do when I went but I told the Lord that I trusted Him to give me those particulars in His time and not mine.  I began to prepare my heart for the journey that was about to begin.       

I spent a lot of time in prayer asking the Lord what He would have me to do when I went to Guatemala full time.  I began to plan for my second mission trip there.  While I was preparing for the trip in November, 2010, I felt the Lord leading me to Guatemala City instead of the Lake Atitlan area.  With a team of Christ followers from Georgia and Illinois, we spent a week doing VBS and home visits in Guatemala City and Lantana.  We also went to the Tabitha House located in the City dump of Guatemala, the largest land fill in Central America. Tabitha House is a daycare for small children whose parents work in the dump. 

In order to make a living for their families, the men and women living in the community around the dump sort through trash to find anything they can sell.  They sell items such as:  copper, aluminum, old mattresses, doll parts, etc.  These precious people work 12 – 14 hours a day and make approximately $2-$4.  I remember looking out the van window and seeing a group of men sorting through trash, I thought to myself:  “Lord, help me to NEVER complain about my job again”.  I don’t have to sort through trash to make a living and I make more than $2-$4 a day.

On Friday night, the team planned a women’s ministry get-together with the women from the church.  We ordered pizza and doughnuts.  I sat with a group of ladies at their table and with the help of the translator, they asked me a question.  They wanted me to prayerfully consider bringing a group of women to do a workshop where we would teach them how to make things to sell in order to make a living.  I knew this was my ANSWER!  The Lord had just shown me through a group of ladies that did not know me that I would use the talents He had given me for His glory.   Teaching women a life skill such as sewing in order for them to make a living - What an awesome God we serve!

I came home and began to pray about coming back to Guatemala to teach sewing.  This was the birth of my journey with sewing to the women of Latin America, to Guatemala.

Please check back to see what incredible things the Lord did on the trip to Guatemala in July of 2011!

The Service

I attend the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Al where Pastor David Platt preaches straight from the heart of God to those in attendance every Sunday.  He began a series in 2008 which spanned the course of a year entitled, "Radical".  The teachings were on what it meant to be RADICALLY abandoned to Jesus.  Abandoning our comfort, all that is familiar to us, abandoning our career (if necessary), and even abandoning our own plans and dreams to follow and live our life according to what Jesus calls us to do.  In other words:  being totally SOLD OUT to Him - the one who gave His ALL for us.

I learned so much reading and studying the word of God during this time and did a lot of thinking about my own life.  I never really thought of myself as having a lot of material possessions or even as a materialistic person.  But when I was presented with these hards facts:

• Approximately 9.2 million children under the age of 5 die each year, mostly from preventable diseases. That's approximately 25,000 children each day.
• 2.5 billion people around the world do not have access to adequate sanitation and about 885 million people do not have access to clean water.
• Every day, 4100 children die each day from severe diarrhea - as a result of poor sanitation and hygiene.
• Approximately 600 million children live in extreme poverty.
• Nearly 11,500 people die every day from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Nearly two-thirds of these people are living in sub-Saharan Africa.
• 75 million children are out of school around the world, a figure equivalent to the entire primary school-aged population in Europe and North America.

It was difficult to sit in my comfy apartment in Birmingham, Alabama, and think those thoughts again.  I had to ask myself, "What could I live without to give more?", "What am I doing about this?",  and "What would Jesus Christ have me to do?"

Then at the end of December in 2008, our Pastor David asked for us to consider spending a week or more in another context outside of our home to serve Christ.  He then asked those in the congregation who were willing to do this - to come up front.  I just happened to be sitting on the end of a long row and had to stand up and move to the side to allow a couple to go up front.  Before, I knew it, I found myself up front with the crowd.  As the crowd came forward, I got pushed all the way to the front not far from where the Pastor stood.  I have always loved missions and missionaries.  I have even spent a part of my life raising funds for them and supporting them in various other ways.  As Pastor David began to pray, I stood there thinking, "What am I doing up here?", "I can't go on a mission trip!", "I can barely pay my bills now working two jobs."  Pastor Platt began to pray for the crowd that was standing at or near the front and for the committment they were making to serve Christ.  I don't remember the specific words he prayed but they were in answer to every one of the questions and doubts that I had racing through my mind.  I began to weep uncontrollably and I prayed, "Lord, I don't know how I am going on a trip, but I TRUST YOU".  I had stepped out in obedience totally terrified to go on a trip and over the next month began to pray about where to go.

A woman in my small group, Gwen, told me one Sunday in January that she would like our women's group to go on a mission trip together and she thought we should all go to Guatemala.  There was my answer!  I told her, "Well, now I know where I am supposed to go".  I shared with her the committment I had made in December and that her suggestion was an answer to my prayer of WHERE.

The rest of my story will be published in later blogs.  I invite you to follow on this spiritual journey with me.  Revealing what the Lord has done in and through me so that He gets ALL THE GLORY!  Mas de Ti', menos de mi. (More of Him, less of me.)
Please register on the blog and follow the story as it unfolds...

Dios te bendiga siempre!
God bless you always!