Missions prior to Guate: Welcome to Portland, ME. Day 2.

Day Two:

The clubs were spectacular. We had over twenty kids come out from the projects today, and words can’t even describe how captivated they were by all that was going on.
My heart was full of such joy at the sight of how God is working in these inner-city kids lives…it’s simply amazing. It’s only day two and here I am trying to put my thoughts from today into words…and I can’t! These kids are SO excited that we’re coming ALL week to play with them. It breaks your heart when you sit back and think that the reason they are so excited about us coming is purely because they don’t receive that kind of love from the people in their lives. They come up to you and just…steal your heart!
There’s this little girl named Nyaluak. (NYE-AH-LOO-NACK….haha) She’s so sweet, and would totally run the show if you’d let her. She’s become my little buddy for the week. Then there are the little two year olds Alfred (Adanaki is his real name….I’ve been calling this poor kid the wrong name for two days now!) and Henry, who are technically to little to come, but who can turn away kids when we are teaching them about God’s love for us?
Needless to say, both clubs went great again. And if I could put this into better words, I would! But I can’t even get my mind to convey the words to my fingertips as I’m typing this…It’s just simply an act of God.

Missions prior to Guate: Welcome to Portland, ME. Day 1.

day 1.

Day one. Here it goes. In a few short hours, we’re going to start loading up and driving to front street where we’re going to be holding out first club. yikes! can I tell you how UN-prepared I am? Regardless of the fact that I’m not really sure how this is going to go, I DO know that the goal is to teach these little kids from Africa and Asia the love of God, and what he did for us. I know, sounds simple and really easy right? Wrong. So many of the kids that live in the developments that we go to are Muslim, and their parents or grandparents refuse them the right to come and simply play with us. Let’s step back a summer and just listen.
It’s hot, humid, and there’s a group of 5 teenagers sitting on the bark mulch at the park. Sitting, waiting for kids to show up so we can start our clubs up. Slowly, they begin to show up. First, a few little boys who are having fun playing with Sy’s guitar, and the football. Then come the little muslim girls, who see I have my camera and insist on taking pictures. It seems as if we’re making a little bit of progress here, and so we decided why not start singing? A little bit of interaction here on the “na-na-na’s” but that was about it. So why NOT jump right into the story? So that’s just what we did. I, apparently, need to work on studying other cultures to find the best possible way to present the Gospel to them, because this day was clearly one no-no after another. First mistake-Hey guys! I’m going to tell you one of my favorite stories from the Bible! we lose half of the kids. Ok so maybe I’m not going to be able to do this-so Sy takes over and sits down with the three kids we have left and starts to talk to them. Ask them questions and get their minds thinking about God. It was so amazing-all I could do was sit and gape at how smoothly he had done this. I have no doubt that these kids went home with their minds reeling about what is the real truth. That afternoon we were asked not to return to that park. God had clearly done something in those little kids, and even if we only had one shot, I pray they chose Jesus as their savior, and not a false god.
My prayer for this year is similar. I know that we’re going to have some kids who react the same way, we always do. But if we only have this one shot with them, my prayer is that we will be able to present the gospel in a clear manner-so that they may see the Light.
I’ll update later and every day this week to keep y’all posted! Please keep us in prayer this week as we step out of our comfort zones and make the truth known. Thanks!

day 1(later)

Today went really well! Well, despite the rain that is. As we were packing up and heading out, it started to rain. NBD, except for the fact that our clubs are held outside. We went to the houses and stared letting the kids know the clubs were going on despite the rain. It was really cool that so many of the kids came, and on top of that, probably half of the kids were Muslim which is totally amazing. Usually the parents of those kids come and take them away as we begin our lessons as it goes against their religion. First club was a success.
Second club: This one went marvelously as well, except this park was held in a Caucasian neighborhood…so when you go ringing doorbells and asking if the people have kids there, it probably doesn’t go over as well as it does in the projects. Therefore, we didn’t have as many kids join us there. But we did have a very captive group!
What AMAZES me at these clubs is that the kids seem so receptive! The majority of them are SO open to having a personal relationship with Christ. They are so excited about the clubs and learning about God. I’m so excited to see how this week goes-from how today went, I pray that this week goes great!

my thoughts for the day: light.

light.

noun \ˈlīt\

: the form of energy that makes it possible to see things : the brightness produced by the sun, by fire, a lamp, etc.
: a source of light (such as an electric lamp)

: a light on a vehicle

Matthew 5:14 (ESV)

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

 

The LIGHT of the world. 

 

Living in Guatemala, this verse is so often on my mind. It has been a verse that I have held in my heart since I was a little girl and has always been a favorite. I remember growing up with a song (can't remember who sang it...but it pretty much was my favorite)

"Let your light so shine before men, for you are the light of the world."

 

  

If you drive through Guatemala at night, and look, like really look, you can see on the distant mountains the village lights. Me, being a photographer, have tried pretty much every single time that I see those lights to capture them. These breathtaking specs of light, beauty that are the perfect representation of Matthew 5:14. A city on a hill CAN'T be hidden. Even in the fog, rain, storms-those lights are still there. They may not seem as bright because of all the things that are clouding the view, but they are still there, shining, guiding people to their destination.

This is what we are! As followers of Jesus WE are the light on the hill. By Jesus shining through us, and us living for Him-we are the glowing specs that point people in His direction! Be the light you were created to be! 

My favorite picture of the city lights.

life changing.

My daddy told me, 'You need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, because when you are serving God, it's not supposed to be comfortable.' 

Today, we stepped out of our comfort zones and went to serve at a hospital for mentally and physically handicapped kids. A lot of these kids were abandoned by their parents because of their deformities, or because they just couldn't take care of them. As we were stepping into the hospital, the group fell silent as they were just taking in what we were about to do. We were getting ready to love on some people who would be considered, 'the least of these.' They are the sick, the abandoned, the rejected. We were completely unaware of how our hearts would be changed.

We walked into a room full of cribs, wheel chairs and nurses. And then we saw them, the kids. And naturally, we all fell in love. Everyone met a kid, and took them outside to play with them (They all had to be in wheel chairs and many of them couldn't talk-so we communicated as best we could). When I walked into the room, I noticed a wheel chair with a child in it turned facing the opposite direction of everyone else and knew that was the one I was going to take. This little girl was unresponsive, but I kept talking with her and singing. FINALLY, as I was uncurling her fingers-I got somewhat of a response! She picked up her head and grabbed my fingers and smiled. So we kept singing and smiling and then started the giggling. It was awesome. I was so amazed at what just a little love could do!

It was hard leaving the kids at the hospital, but it was such an amazing, life changing time for all of us. 

stepping out.

Faith. Trust. Hope. Unknown.

This basically summarizes what life looks like. In the 20 something's group at my church, we have been studying the book of James. James is hands down one of my favorite books of the Bible and every time I read through it I learn something new-it's awesome! This past week, we were talking about faith. What IS faith? Who is the most faithful person in your life and why do you think of them like that? What does it mean to 'live by faith'. What does it mean when it says that "faith without deeds is dead"(James 2:25)?

Look at Peter. 
Peter, stepped out onto the water, against all that he knew. Everything that he knew told him he would drown. But he had faith. He took that step onto the water and walked towards Jesus. And when he began to fear, he started to fall-but Jesus rescued him. He also questioned Peters doubt, but when the others in the boat saw this they said, ''truly you are the Son of God.'' and they worshiped Him. (Matthew 14:22-33)

Faith.

Hebrews tells us that "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." 

Faith isn't putting everything so you know the outcome,
 

faith is not knowing what is going to happen-but stepping out regardless 

and trusting Him.

The steps of faith that are being asked of me are different than the ones that may be being asked of you. We all have different risks we are being asked to take, we all have a different path to walk. But the beauty of it is that they are all led by the same God-we are all covered by the blood of Jesus and he loves us all the same, even though we are so vastly different. 
Through our faith, we follow Him.

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
 
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior
I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

2013: closing chapters.

2013, 
you brought me a lot of joy and a lot of sorrow. During your time I learned, grew, trusted, had faith and grew in strength. God gave me you to learn and trust Him completely and as I look back at the rear view mirror, I see that now. With you He brought me new friends unlike any I have ever had before and He closed chapters in my life. Though you were bittersweet and I am glad to see you go-I am so thankful for all of the God things, both the blessings and the trials, that happened and made me grow. I am filled with an inexplicable JOY and peace as I watch the final moments of your time here tick by, and am filled with so much excitement and curiosity to see what God will bring with 2014.
Two-thousand and fourteen, I welcome you with open arms and cannot wait to see what this next chapter holds!


Goodbye 2013, hello 2014.

Reality.

For the past three years I have had the privilege of leading a discipleship group for three, beautiful, now sophomore girls. Our group started out as just two (yes, there really were only two girls in the class!), grew to four and then this year shrunk back down to three. We've grown together in our journey to know Christ better and learn more about who God is, and have had a lot of great times together. Today was one of those days.

This year our vision with our groups has changed a little bit. We want to grow closer to the Lord together, but we also want to impact our community by showing them the love of Christ. Each group has chosen a 'project' or part of the community to partner with and it is our goal to build lasting relationships with them. My group (since there are only three girls plus me) teamed up with the sophomore boys and headed to Zone 7. We were going to an AMG project, Verbena, and also the headquarters for AMG Guatemala.

At 8:15 we piled 19 people into a 15 passenger van and started our commute from the school to the project. Kids on the floor in the trunk, lots of people in rows meant for only 3; but the kids were excited and that just didn't matter to them. Half an hour later we pulled through the gates and opened the doors to a whole new world for these kids (and us too).

We walked in and asked how we could serve them, and we were fully expecting to be asked to do manual labor. We were. They asked us to paint some walls and to move some lumber around, but about halfway through cleaning the walls so that we could begin the painting we were told that the kids were on break. Not only that the kids were on break, but that we could go play futbol and love on them while they finished their recess time. So we went, and we loved on those kids and played with them for the short time that they had left. It was so awesome! The kids were so excited to have us there, and we were even more excited to be able to share that time with them!

reality

Recess ended and the kids returned to their classes. We were waiting for the smaller groups of children to come out for us to play with. During this time of waiting patiently :) We took the kids to the wall that separates the project from the reality of many of these children. If you walked to the wall and looked to the right, you saw one big cement 'building'. At first glance many of the teens thought this was an apartment building. It isn't though-it is actually part of the cemetery. If you look straight ahead, you see shacks upon shacks and buildings that are falling apart. This is where most of these kids live; in this world that we only imagine to be in movies and books.

our team :)

hugs

These kids though, they are offered hope when they walk through the school gate every morning. They are shown love through the people who come to work every day to teach them about Jesus. They are given a chance to have a future. They are fed and nurtured physically and spiritually. Words can't describe how awesome this is.

Long story short, the teens left and were impacted. We left and were changed by the reality that surrounds us daily here, but left knowing that our God is a god of great things and has each one of these little children in His care.