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.

I'm back!

I arrived safely and on time to the Gulfport airport Sunday night! I was happy to be greeted by my Momma, Daddy, Mark, Mrs. Diane, Whit, Amanda O'Bannon, and Caryn Hyatt. All of my luggage was even there! We were very excited to see that it was there seeing that my luggage caused problems everywhere I went. I have already gotten right back in the swing of things. I took care of important business yesterday! Went to see Mama Mia with the usual movie group (Mom, Mrs. Diane, Whit, Steph, and me), saw my Aunt Betty Carol (the most important), and got to see our favorite girl Kameron Lavender and the new baby Kylie! Don't tell Mr. Tim Burnett that's why we went to his house though, I told him I had to come see him! Haha!
Well I guess you probably want to hear about my last week in the Balkans. It was an interesting week to say the least! At the beginning of the week our air conditioner quit! It was SO hot in our apartment. It did make us feel as if we were really roughing it! :) We got to visit with all of our friends and then say good-bye, the hardest part of the summer. We had a taco night Tuesday night for three of our friends. They were so funny! Our American dinner was so different than what they are used to. When you eat at their homes, the plates are fixed for you, you never get asked if you like peas or not, and it is fixed FULL! When we sat down with all the food on the table, they were quite confused. We told them that they could fix their own plate and eat whatever they wanted and if they didn't like it, they didn't have to eat it! They thought the funniest part was the passing around of things, at first they just watched us fix our plates and then asked "Do I just ask someone to pass something I want?". I think everybody had a good time. We got to do some food distribution with our bosses' apprentices Wednesday. I think that was my favorite thing we did all summer. We brought sunflower oil, tea, flour, noodles, and milk to two different families. It was so neat to be a part of that. We delivered the groceries and then sat with the families to drink Turkish coffee and chai. It is always humbling to be invited into someones home who has so little, but is so proud of what they do have. Thursday was the big good-bye night for our closest friend. We got to go to her home to spend the evening. We ate sarma for supper (sarma is rice and beef wrapped in grape leaves). Eight hours later we said our good-byes. I think this friend was our most successful relationship of the summer. We got to talk to her the most about our Father and salvation. I don't think she will ever be able to be a good Muslim again, she knows too much about what we know is true and very real.
This summer was a very eye opening summer. He used several circumstances to teach me. I learned more about who He is and who I am. I will never be the same, there is no going back. I am so thankful for my relationship with Him, I don't know where I would be without Him.
Thank you so much for ALL of you who helped me get there and then those of you who helped me throughout the summer. Thank you again to my Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris who got me the plane ticket, and all of you who once again were willing to buy a gourmet apple, and then for those of you who wrote me cards for the summer. I am telling y'all, your cards got me through some days! I am blessed to have the family I have!
This is my last blog for the summer. I am moving on to a new chapter...called seminary! Please pray for me as I start next week in New Orleans. Thanks again!

Alright last pre-typed blog! Hopefully you have stuck with me through these last few days! Tomorrow should be a real live blog from Bulgaria! We will be leaving our country tomorrow and heading down so we can be close to the Bulgaria airport. Hopefully I will be able to give you good news tomorrow! I can't wait to tell you! I wanted you to know that I have been praying for you all summer. I have been praying for those of you who have been there all along interceding for me all the way and understanding the importance of me coming. I also have been praying for those of you who are still looking for that peace. I pray that through this blog this summer He has opened your eyes and heart to Him and His good and perfect will for your life. You have to want it and you have to ask for it. Your life will NEVER be the same. The walk is not easy and He never promised it to be, but is a joyous road, one that will never fail you or let you down. He will never disappoint you and will never turn His back on you no matter how bad you mess up. I am telling you, you won't be disappointed! :)
I love y'all and thank you for your support!