NC Coast & Disaster Response

Hi ya'll!

Well we are back from a week long mission trip to North Carolina's inner coast with the youth and we are busy resting with Netflix this evening! Sun, humidity, and early mornings can really take it out of you.

We traveled to Edenton, N.C., where we worked on 2 homes that had been completely destroyed by a tornado last April. These families stories of survival were quite remarkable and their new homes are looking to be finished in the next few months. Even though what I was able to do was limited, I did help paint outside! The youth finished the hardy board siding, worked on putting up soffets, pulling electrical wire, clean up, and of course lots of painting. A small group also completed 2 porch railings for another family. Most importantly, they worked on building relationships with each other and with the homeowners.

This picture shows one of the homeowners, David, and what was left of his home after the tornado. He and his son hid under the living room furniture. Can you imagine calling your wife and telling her that there was nothing to come home to???

This added on structure out back was the only part of the house still standing.

Leonnis, the other homeowner, always answered when you ask him how he was doing, "I'm blessed, I'm blessed." I think we all need to adopt that attitude!

On Wednesday we took a day off and instead spent it at the Outer Banks. We hung out at Nags Head Beach and then checked out the Bodie Island Lighthouse. The water was freezing!

Edenton also has the reputation of being one of the most beautiful small towns in North Carolina! We spent Friday night down at the waterfront, along the Albermarle Sound, and it did not disappoint. I would have loved to have explored the downtown area a little more carefully!

It was a fun week with a good amount of work accomplished. I'm hoping it was an experience that makes a difference in the lives of both the homeowners and the participants!

Next up: vacation! :)

news from Honduras!

Hi friends!

I have news from Honduras to share with you today!

 As many of you know this past summer I traveled with my church to Nacaome Valle, Honduras. We spent a week in ministry in a small village leading VBS activities, cooking, and digging the foundation of a house for a very special family. (Make sure to read about my experiences here). I introduced you to Jose, Estephanie, Elsa, and Francisco, the family the house was for. I know they hold a special place in each of my team members hearts!

Well guess what! Their house is finished! Another team traveled to Honduras for a week of work in July and a few of the local helpers were able to complete the house a few weeks ago! I was so excited to receive pictures and to see video of little Jose.

To remind you, here is the original house .. sticks, cardboard, old sheets, whatever they could find. Not even a latrine.

 

And now here are the photos that were sent of the new house! I know it doesn't look like much by our American standards, but I can't express how much this will improve their lifestyle! They have a latrine now and concrete floors instead of dirt.

Please read these words from our team leaders Suzanne and Julie, who founded and run Missions In Action, and remember what a difference you can make when you simply say "Yes" to God's callings.

"YES, the house for little Jose and family is complete!! For some, who don't know the story, it may just look like a structure, but those of us that have had the privilege to work on this project, know better. This is truly a house of hope and love. This home was only a dream for this family. A dream they thought was totally out of reach. But you showed them differently!! We first met this family during a medical clinic we provided in 2009. Little Jose was very ill and malnourished. He was not expected to live. But thanks to the generosity of our team, funds were donated and Jose was able to go to the hospital an hour away to receive much needed care. Obviously, God had a plan for this little fellow and his family and for MIA. After numerous visits to their home in Moracito, we started to build a relationship. We were able to get a better grasp for little Jose's medical problems. He suffers from brain damage that occurred during birth due to lack of oxygen. He is unable to walk or sit unattended. But once again, thanks to our generous team, funds were donated to purchase a wheelchair, needed meds and monthly food supply. He is thriving and getting stronger every day and is quite intelligent. God truly had a plan and He brought it all together this summer. As most of you know, their previous home was constructed with sticks, scrap metal, cardboard- anything they could find, with dirt floors. There was no way to keep rain or insects out, causing a multitude of health problems for the entire family, Thankfully, this is no longer an issue. I can not even begin to tell you how happy this family is right now!! To all of our supporters and team members- MIA is extremely grateful for all that you have done to make this dream a reality for this family. This was definitely a labor of love. It surely wasn't an easy task working in the extreme heat and unfamiliar territory- but you did it!!! You brought light into the dark places and light to the broken! You showed and shared God's love to His children. And through it all God shined in your labor, your laughter and your tears. You brought hope and joy to the people of Moracito in ways you will never know! Your laughter will forever echo in the valle. Thank you all for being the hands and feet of Christ."

Thanks friends.

burdened or blessed?

It's been a month since we returned home from the beautiful country of Honduras. Hard to believe!

While we were there, our group witnessed some of the most extreme living conditions that I personally have ever seen. It left me with a hurting heart and some perspective about my own standard of living, but by the end of the week I was questioning even that perspective.

I came across this blog post titled The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying, written by Scott Dannemiller from The Accidental Missionary, and even shared a good portion of it with our group on the last morning we were there. This post spoke to me in a way that has stayed with me and I wanted to share some of my own thoughts with you about it.

According to Dannemiller, the phrase we should stop saying is how "blessed" we are. Saying we are blessed may seem harmless, even grateful on the surface, but what does the Bible say about being blessed?

"First, when I say that my material fortune is the result of God's blessing, it reduces The Almighty to some sort of sky-bound, wish-granting fairy who spends his days randomly bestowing cars and cash upon his followers.....Second, and more importantly, calling myself blessed because of material good fortune is just plain wrong."

- Scott Dannemiller

I have written on this subject before in my Christian Mythbuster's series about how God doesn't want you to be happy. Instead, He wants us to be blessed. However, material items and circumstantial "happiness" are not the kind of blessings promised to us in the Bible. Matthew 5:1-12 clearly defines what God sees as blessings- when we come last, when we need comfort, when we are peacemakers, when we are persecuted, when we are pure, when we seek Him, when we show mercy, and when we are poor in spirit, or in other words, in desperate need of God. The Bible doesn't say we are blessed when we are comfortable or when we own a home and get a new car. As Dannemiller says, we hijack the word "blessed" to fit our American ideals. 

We all do this. I did this while in Honduras. Comments were made about how lucky we all were to have all of the "things" we have. But that's not truly being "blessed." Our American mindset has this all backwards. We associate the word "blessed" with good fortune and material possessions. The word "blessed" Jesus uses in Matthew 5:1-12 is from the Greek word makarios, which means to be happy or blissful, but it is referring to a self-contained happiness. That means that regardless of our outward circumstances we can have an internal happiness because of the hope we have in  knowing Christ as our Savior. We are blessed if we can find our purpose and fulfillment from God.

"The truth is, I have no idea why I was born where I was or why I have the opportunity I have. It's beyond comprehension. But I certainly don't believe God has chosen me above others because of the veracity of my prayers or the depth of my faith. Still, if I take advantage of the opportunities set before me, a comfortable life may come my way. It's not guaranteed. But if it does happen, I don't believe Jesus will call me blessed.

He will call me "burdened."

-Scott Dannemiller

No, instead of being blessed, we are burdened. We are burdened with material possessions and financial resources and the responsibility of what we will do with them. Will we use for the kingdom of God or for the kingdom of self? 

I pray that my response to this burden will be, like Dannemiller, to say, "Lord use me." And I also pray that I will continue to seek the true blessings in this life. 

And as far as Honduras goes .. the saying "I have left my heart in so many places .." was never more true!

vamos a Honduras! Part 3

Thanks for joining me one last time today as I finish sharing about our Honduran adventure! You can see my posts about our arrival and construction project here, and my post about ministering to people here.

Today I just wanted to finish up and share about our last day in Honduras. It was our "off" day and we took the time to do a little tourist shopping at a local pottery place.

After that we headed to a children's center. We had hoped to spend more time here during the week but the government is in the process of shutting down the centers all across the country. These centers serve as a sort of daycare for the poorest of the poor and many of the kids are the product of rape. The workers at the center provide the kids with clean clothes, a bath, and 1 meal a day. We had lunch with them and spent some time playing. (At this point we were totally wiped out by a long ride in the back of the truck in the searing sun and some of the group was sickly, including Justin who ended up going back to the hotel early)

Last but not least we took a trip to the market. It is an experience everyone should have .. you can buy anything there!

Our last night was spent in worship through song, gifts, devotional time, and just generally being together with our group, the Rubio's, and some other Honduran friends.

As I reflect on the week I am once again, as I always am with this type of trip, struck by the drastic differences in culture and social norms that our American minds simply can't understand. It seems to be a juxtaposition between "modern" and "old" in terms of how most Honduran's live and to us, as Americans, a conflict of priorities. And, as always, I am overwhelmed at the need. The need for clean water, for schooling past 6th grade (that's all the government will provide), for proper shelter, for proper food and nutrition, for a stable income, for shoes. I am also deeply saddened to know that with proper medical care and access to resources that Jose could be so much further along.

And I think that everyone should experience this on some level. Take your teenager and go an international trip - see it for yourself. It will change you, it will break for heart for what breaks the heart of Jesus.

Thanks for letting me share with you.

vamos a Honduras! Part 2

I'm back again today to share more stories and pictures from our trip to Honduras!

In my first post, (seen here) I shared about our arrival and project for the week- building a house for Jose and his family. But there was lots of other ministry going on as well. It is easy to become lost in the project and what you want to accomplish building wise-- but it is just as important to spend time in ministry with people.

There is a lot we can learn by thinking about the ministry of with. Justin preached this morning on this very topic, reminding us all before we can meet people's needs we must be simply be with them in order to find out what the needs are. And, often, our presence is all that is needed. Jesus spent 30 years exhibiting the ministry of with before beginning his official time in ministry. What a great of example for us!

So, essentially, that's what we did. We spent time in ministry with the people of this village. We saw needs we wouldn't have seen otherwise. And we were blessed because of it.

we spent lots of time playing with Jose and Estephanie (apparently I taught him to throw rocks!)

one of our team members teaches sign language and she was able to teach Jose a few signs! It was a really special moment to see him communicate in that way for the first time! She also taught his mom, Elsa, and some of the nearby kids as well.

we spent time with the other kids from the village .. there was always a gang of atleast 20 adults and children watching us!

one of our team members led a time of "Bible School" that involved reading a Bible story in Spanish, singing, and making crafts several days. It was really neat to some of the kids stick around and spend time reading the children's Bible on their own.

we gave out "witness" bracelets to the kids and some of our team members also made other bracelets with the kids. 

one of the most meaningful parts of the trip came on our last day at the work site. Each day when we ate lunch we felt terrible to be eating in front of so many who don't have enough to eat. One of our team members came up with the idea of feeding the entire village. Part of our group stayed back one morning to help prepare the meal and at lunch time we invited the entire village to come and eat!

That's all for today .. come back one more time for Honduras, Part 3!