One can never have too much VBS!

Well folks, I have decided that I am going to be a career VBS'er! I mean think about it, does it get any better than learning about Jesus, making a craft, playing games, and eating snacks all in one morning! The VBS Lifeaid is putting on is in the village of San Jose. We were a few minutes late this morning and as we were driving down the street that the church is on kids started running from evey direction to meet us at the van. The kids in San Jose are fantastic, they love everything the team does! San Jose also has some amazing parents that have been helping the team, the team members learned real quick that the adults wanted to participate in everything the kids did! When I say everything, I mean everything! Today one of the dads wanted to make one of the necklaces that all of the girls were making. They are so thankful for everything the team does.
The Bible studies this week have been so great. Bro. Teddy, Bro. Terry, and Bro. Eddie all can lead a mean Bible study! Some of the best quotes from Bro. Terry have been "If you have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ then SHUTUP! You don't get the right to decide what you want to do with your life!" and "None of us are worthy enough to not go to Hell, but thank goodness God thinks we are worth it!" Of course he usually quotes "You may not agree with me...but oh well, I'm doing the preaching!" at least once during every Bible study. He has an amazing ability to show a roomfull of people the word of God.
I am including some pictures of the VBS that Bro. Terry and Lifeaid are leading. The village where they are working is just amazing. It can't be put into words how sweet the people are, you really can see Jesus in them. One of the girls said as we were leaving today how she just wanted to cry about how sweet the kids are, you can't help but notice how much they love the Lord. I think they understand the grace and mercy of God better than we do. They are at an advantage, they don't have all of the junk in the way like we do. They truly have been a blessing!

The team that is here now is comprised of people from Motlow Creek Baptist (South Carolina), Shady Grove Baptist (South Carolina), and Faith Baptist of Bartlet, TN. So far, they have been an amazing team. Bro. Terry Rainey and Bro. Eddie Burdett are here and it has been great spending time with them. Bro. Terry's team is doing a Vacation Bible School in a local church here in one of the villages. I got the chance to go with them on my off day yesterday. It was incredible! The team spent a lot of time preparing for the VBS, which always pays off! The kids, all 100 of them, had so much fun! I have a feeling their favorite part of the morning was seeing Bro. Terry lead the group in the song Deep and Wide! Tonight, the whole group is going to a church service in the same church where they are doing VBS. After church we are going to eat at a restaurant. Mrs. Carolyn has gone to the lake for a night of relaxation and it seems that no one can fill her shoes for even one night!
It will be lonely around here next week after this team leaves. I have many good friends on this team. We have done trips together before and I was happy to see them on this trip! They told me yesterday that I must come to South Carolina sometime soon to visit my family!

Thanks for all you do, y'all are the best!

So much has happened in the past couple days! It was a busy weekend. Saturday Mrs. Carolyn Ciak picked me up at the mission house to bring me down to Casa for my off days. I got to help my Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Rodney with the VBS for two days. It amazes me how 15 gringos can keep 200 kids under control...talk about help from the Lord! Haha! During VBS the morinings and afternoons are spent with kids ages 12 and under and the nights with young adults, 13 and over. The man who is leading Bible studies at night is an Irish man who was a missionary to Africa for 10 years. Bro. Terry is an incredible man of God with an awesome sense of humor, so of course all of the kids and teenagers loved him! The kids were very surprised to see me there to help with VBS, they didn't believe that I was helping until I put on one of the famous VBS team shirts. It was such a blessing to be able to spend a few days with family. My Uncle Rodney is one of the godliest men I know, it is always encouraging to spend time with him.
The rainy season is definetely upon us here in Guatemala! It rained from sun up to sun down Sunday and for most of the afternoon today. All of the rain slows down the building teams. Tomorrow morning the teams will leave in two waves, one at 6 and one at 9. They are being flexible, which we all know makes Bro. Teddy happy! Tomorrow the team is working as fast as possible to finish homes and then dedicating all of the homes. It is crazy how fast this week has flown by! Thanks for your prayers!

It is so nice to be in the presence of friends from home! The group this week is comprised of people from Friendship, First Baptist Freeport, Texas, and several other churches. It is always nice to fellowship with fellow believers, but there is something about spending time with folks from home. Today, Deidra and I spent all afternoon in the kitchen with Mrs. Carolyn. I underestimated how hard it is to cook for that many people. Steak and gravy is delicious, but I am pretty sure if it were left to me to do all of the cooking we would eat sandwiches for every meal! Tomorrow afternoon Mrs. Carolyn Ciak is coming to pick me up so I can spend a few days at Casa Aleluya. My Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Rodney are there with their team from Canan Assembly of God doing VBS this week. It is a sight to see, my Aunt Rhonda doesn't do anything half way! Please pray with us for a productive and eye opening week. Thank you for all you do to continue furthering His Kingdom!

Help in Praying

I am writing tonight for one reason, to ask you to join me in prayer. When I moved to New Orleans I asked God to give me friendships that would build me up as a Christian. He did just that. He gave me a friendship with the most amazing couple I have ever met, Dr. Taylor and his wife Mrs. Sheila. They took very good care of me and three of my friends this year. We all rejoiced to find out that they would be grandparents and rejoiced even more when we found out that their grandbaby would be a little girl. Caroline Taylor was born June 8 into an amazingly godly family. Caroline was born with hydrocephalus and an anomaly at the base of her spine. I ask that you would lift up Caroline, her parents, Justin and Jennifer, and Dr. Taylor and Mrs. Sheila as they go through this tough time of surgeries and hospital stays. They are a precious family and I have no doubt that they will glorify God through this entire situation. Thanks for all you do!

Not many exciting things have happened so far this week. Just scrubbing toilets and mopping! The team went to the lake today, so it is quiet around here. Oh, we did have some excitement last night. We realized late yesterday afternoon that some of the rottweilers that act as guard dogs at the auto hotel, (No explanation there, you either know what it is or you don't, haha!) had gotten lose and had made themselves comfortable up at the mission house. We were all warned to be cautious around the house but nobody thought anything about it. That is until B and Pam attempted to walk home last night. The dogs were right outside the house and quickly ran them back inside. So, Mr. John was quick to offer to drive them home. My house is right next door so I thought I could make it home, a few steps into my walk and I chickened out and ran back to the mission house. Thankfully, one of the men from the group knew exactly what was going on when I rushed back into the house. He offered to walk me home so I happily let him. I thanked him for walking me home and than told him I was sorry if he got attacked on the way back!
I am going to post some of my pictures from this past weekend, some are from Casa and some are from the house dedication.

⁸ "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves;
defend the rights of all those who have nothing.
⁹ Speak up and judge fairly,
and defend the rights of the poor and needy."
Proverbs 31: 8-9

First off, I need to wish my Momma a Happy Birthday! I think she thinks I do summer missions so I can skip out on her Birthday, I have missed the last four out of five birthdays. That belief is untrue of course! Haha! I mean tonight I missed out on a chance to eat at Felix's! Not that I would have been invited, it was an "adult" dinner. For some reason my Momma, Daddy, Mrs. Diane, and Mr. Morris just don't consider me an adult yet!
This morning it was back to work at the mission house. All of the kids at Casa that saw me leaving this morning were very confused. They all kept asking why I was leaving already. When we got up to the mission house Olga Ciak said "You leave already?". I guess we didn't make it clear why we were coming up to the mission house. No worries though, I will get to spend my off days at Casa next week helping with the Mississippi VBS!
This afternoon I got to run errands with Ms. Louise. She took me to the fruit and vegetable market, always a fun place to go. People are always hustling through the very narrow, winding aisles at the market. You look one way and there is beef hanging, another way and there are bags of colorful beans. I did see a whole chicken cut open, and I must say I saw parts I never knew chickens had!

Good times with good friends!

Today, I spent my time hanging out at Casa Aleluya with good friends. Mrs. Carolyn Ciak was gracious enough to come pick me up at the mission house yesterday (After my duties were completed of course!) and let me hang out with them for a little while. I was surprised to see two of my friends, Dikla and Julissa, with Mrs. Carolyn. It is always great to spend time with what I consider family here at Casa. I always laugh because the same thing happens everytime the kids see me here at Casa. They always greet me with a big hug and tell me how happy they are to see me...and then they ask "Where is Mississippi?" and then "Where is Rita?". Mississippi is the team that my Aunt Rhonda leads every summer, which I was a part of for several years. The team puts on the big VBS that the kids look forward to all year. Of course, my momma eats it up that they immediately ask where she is! It amazes me to see that babies that I rocked what seems like yesterday running around as eight year olds. My Joey is now too cool to be seen with me for longer than 15 seconds! Everytime his friends see me they ask me in Spanish "Have you seen your son?" and then go find him and drag him too me. Those of you who have ever heard me talk about Casa have heard me talk about my brother from another mother, Josue. He is growing into what I think is one of the cutest 15 year olds I have ever seen...of course I am not partial though! Good news about him, if all goes as planned he will be in Tennessee with his adoptive family in four to five months! Mrs. Carolyn told me she has already informed his parents about me!
Tonight was a special treat. I got to celebrate my good friend Nestor's 19th birthday with him! His oldest sister Lily, youngest sister Karina, our friend Gladys, Mrs. Carolyn, and myself ate Chinese for supper and then had a very good cholocate Birthday cake. It sure would have been nice if I could have gotten my hands on one of Mrs. Diane's cake for him, nothing compares! It was such a blessing to be able to celebrate with Nestor. When I met him he was 12 years old and had such a kind heart, over the years he has grown into a awesome, godly young man.
Tomorrow morning it's back off to the mission house. I didn't get to meet any of the team Thursday, so it will be fun meeting them tomorrow. Pray for Ms. Louise, she has been sick for the past two days. Thanks for all you do!

The Beauty of it All

Today was a busy, busy day! This morning was the usual routine of cleaning the mission house after all of the groups had headed to their ministry. This afternoon, Pam, B, and I got to go out with the team to do house dedications. A house dedication consists of sharing why the team came to build a home for the family, praying, and then finally giving the family the key to their new home. It is humbling to see this, the families of the four homes were so grateful. During one of the dedications, I realized that the mother of the family was holding her infant child. You could see in the mother's eyes the excitement knowing that her baby would grow up, probably unlike her, in a house that would shield them from the rain and cold. What a joy it is to witness something like this. Because, at the end of the day we're all the same, none of us any better than the next person.
After coming home and sharing supper with the Arkansas team I joined them for Bible Study. After amazing worship, one of my new friends Mr. Randy shared. He talked about the three types of people required to make any missions possible. The three types are: People who Go, People who Send, and People who Pray. As he continued sharing, I kept thinking about this. I thought about all of you who have been the prayers and senders for me. I hope you know the amount of gratitude I have for you playing your God-given role in missions. It was humbling to realize that I am one of the people who get to go this summer, I do not take that for granted. I ask you to continue praying for me this summer, God nor the Devil are done with their work for the summer. It is so easy to get caught up in the deceitful works of the Devil and miss completely what God has in store. Pray with me that we as a body do not miss the beauty in it all.

³Armies may surround me, but I won't be afraid; war may break out, but I will trust you. ⁴I ask only one thing, LORD: Let me live in your house every day of my life to see how beautiful you are and to pray in your temple. ⁵In times of trouble, you will protect me. You will hide me in your tent and keep me safe on top of a mighty rock.

Psalm 27:3-5

I don't have any exciting stories to tell you today, so I am just posting a few pictures. These pictures are from the village we did the medical clinic at yesterday. I think you will agree that some of these kids are the most beautiful kids ever!

Today I got the chance to go out with a group from the team to work a medical clinic. When I say work a medical clinic I mean be the medical clinic! We arrived at a remote village about an hour from Chimaltenango and set up our clinic in a church. In less than 20 minutes we had a make-shift reception/nurse table, doctor’s office, and pharmacy. We had 99 people come through with a number and about 15 without a number. I worked at the reception/nurse table. It was so amazing to get to sit with each person that came through the doors to find out their name and what they needed to see the doctor for. We had everything from people suffering from headaches to scabies. The saddest thing was to meet two pregnant women who were both very concerned about their unborn children. One young woman was seven months pregnant but was losing weight very quickly. You couldn’t even tell that she was pregnant, much less seven months. The other young woman was four months pregnant and had not felt her baby move. For those of you who have traveled to any third world country, you understand when I say that they were so thankful for the medicine and suggestions that the pharmacist and doctors gave them. Of course the local kids impatiently waited on any gringo (Spanish word for “foreigner”) to step foot out of the church to play with them! They finally surrounded the windows and started talking to all of the gringos who could hear them. So as the pharmacy was wrapping things up, we went outside to play with them. They were not a shy group of kids to say the least!

A New Summer!

Well many of you asked for this so here it is! For those of you who don't know, I am in Guatemala for the summer working with GRACE Ministries. GRACE is the ministry that was started by my home church, Friendship Baptist. Myself and four other young adults will be living at the GRACE mission house this summer helping Ms. Louise. Ms. Louise has made the mission house her home and is a great help to GRACE. The five of us, Soy and Deidra Taylor, Pam and Brandon Baker, and myself, will be helping Ms. Louise this summer around the house. We are packed this summer with teams! Every Thursday one team leaves and another arrives. In a not so fancy description, we will be cleaning toilets and changing sheets! We have been together as a team since Tuesday and all is well. Keeping the mission house clean is a big task. Just think about it, 40 people living together in one house, not to mention that 20 of those are boys! Yikes...messes happen fast! Thursday is our big day being that every surface has to be deep cleaned and all of the beds have to be stripped and remade. Last Thursday was our first attempt to complete our mission, we were succesful finishing two hours earlier than planned. It would appear to most that we are some kind of super hero cleaners!
Tomorrow is Brandon, Pam, and my day off. We are going out with the team to do medical missions in a nearby village. I am excited because this will be the first time for me to participate in any kind of medical missions. My daddy asked me tonight what I would do in a medical clinic, he then went on to suggest that maybe I could take peoples' temperature!
This summer will be very different from last summer. I am sure most of you remember the coded blogs and secrecy. Guatemala is very different from the Balkans, no need to hide anything here. I am going to open the comment box. I couldn't have it open last year and several of you mentioned that you wished that you could have left comments.
I can't wait to tell you all of the things that God is going to do this summer. He is so faithful to show up and stir the hearts of His people. I covet all of your prayers and appreciate your support more than you will ever know. I can't imagine having a better group of people to have as a support system.