3 days to go and I will be back home! Sorry about the time I have let pass since my last post. Things have been busy around here. I am trying to wrap everything up before I go home Thursday! These pictures I posted are from our trip to the zoo, sorry it took me two weeks! Saturday I did get to go shopping with Mrs. Carolyn Ciak and Dikla to find a Quincenaros dress. It did not take us long to find a brown formal that Dikla loved!

Thank you for your continued prayers for me this summer. I love and appreciate all of you!

"Speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all of the down-and-outers. Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and the destitute!"

Proverbs 31:8

Today I went with Bro. Johnny Tucker's group to Amor del Nino to pick up 15 kids to take them to the zoo. Amor del Nino takes in mostly children with some sort of handicap. It was so much fun getting to walk around the zoo with the kids that we were able to bring. It worked out so that each of us got a child. I got to spend the morning with a little girl named Adrianna. She is four years old and of course she was such a cutie! Most of her left leg had to be removed, so she has a prosthetic leg. I realized through spending the morning with Adriana that the zoo is not a very accommodating place for people with handicaps. She couldn’t see a lot of animals because she rode in a stroller and couldn’t see over the shrubs. We ended the fun morning with lunch at Pollo Campero. The kids like the fast food chicken restaurant better than McDonald’s!
Things are going well up on the hill. We only have two weeks left. Bro. Jerry will be here tomorrow with a group from Friendship and then the next week Bro. Teddie will be here with a group made up of mostly college people from Alabama and Michigan. Pray for us as we finish the summer. Pray that we finish strong. It is crunch time for me, there are still several things that I have got to get done before I leave. One of them is shopping for a Quincenaros dress with one of the girls from Casa Aleluya. The Quincenaros celebration is huge in Guatemala, it is done on a girl’s 15^th Birthday. Casa Aleluya has one Quincenaros celebration a year. There are about 20 girls that turn 15 each year, so you can imagine how hard it would be to celebrate every time a girl turned 15. All of the girls turning 15 wear what we would consider a prom dress. One of the girls who is turning 15, Dikla, and my momma are very close so mom wanted to get her dress for her. It will be a special afternoon for Dikla!

Yesterday, I was given the chance to visit an orphanage for children with special needs. I think that if everyone could meet the lady who founded and continues to run Los Gozosos, the world would be a better place! Ms. Maureen is from West Virginia and started Los Gozosos as an act of faith. The monthly budget, for 12 children, is $6,500! That is the minimal budget, nothing more than what is necessary. Los Gozosos even has a school on the property for the children to attend. It was incredible to meet Ms. Maureen and hear stories about how the Lord has provided. Last month she recieved $1,000 in support, you do the math. She told us that several months ago they couldn't pay the electric bill so the electric complany came and cut the cords...the lights still came on!! Talk about how faithful the Lord is that we serve! Not long after meeting Ms. Maureen, I noticed that her tennis shoes were completely worn out, you could see her socks in many places. I thought to myself what an amazing example of love. She hasn't been home to see her mom in two years! She won't spend money on herself until her chlidren are taken care of. People like her always remind me of what my priorities should be like in life!
The web-site is:http://www.webwizardry.net/~losgozosos/Los%20Gozosos/Welcome.html

A lesson well learned!

Yesterday I got the chance to climb the volcano Pacaya. Whenever they say "climb" they mean ride a horse for an hour and then climb like half a mile straight up to the lava flow of the volcano. It was beautiful, it is impossible to put into words how magnificent the creativity of our God is! Brandon, Pam, and I were so thankful to be given the chance to climb Pacaya. I never actually made it to the lava flow...Safety Sally just couldn't do it! The last part of the climb was straight up, you have to practically crawl. I could imagine how difficult it would be to come down. Since I have already tripped twice this summer going UP stairs, I didn't think it was a good idea! The horse back ride back down the mountain was quite interesting, the little guy leading my horse down was 8 years old and could tell that I was a little nervous about riding a horse back down the mountain, especially on the steep parts. He kept telling me “No problem…lean back!” About half way down I gave it up and walked with him. I found out his name was Melvin, he had 3 brothers and 3 sisters, and that their family only had the one horse, Munyeca.

I was reading some of my journal entries that I had written last summer and I came across something that I had completely forgotten about. In the Balkans, hot water heaters are only used when necessary. For example, in the Summer Girls’ apartment there was a light switch outside of the bathroom. We were told to flip the light switch on about 20 minutes before we got showers so the water could heat. Well, for two weeks we kept taking cold showers. After much frustration, we finally figured out that the switch outside of our bathroom wasn’t connected to anything!! Nothing, it wasn’t connected to the water heater in any way, shape, or form! There was even a little red light that came on every time we flipped the switch! But, there was no hot water. Then it dawned on me, I never want to be like that in my walk with God. How easy it is to flip the switch and the light comes on appearing that we are connected to our Savior. But, if we don’t show any fruit, what’s the point? Nobody likes a cold shower! So, I challenge you, along with myself, to make sure that you are connected to the Lord. Don’t just have the appearance that all is good, produce the hot water, or fruit!

Please continue to pray for us! We only have 3 and a half weeks left until we come home.

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!