it's been quiet on my blog...because i've been uber busy preparing for my mission trip to Guatemala next week. you heard right - Guatemala!
ever since last summer (when i realized how long our adoption might take), i've been itching to get back into the mission field as a short-termer, and it was difficult for me to make a decision as to where to go. my heart is for missionaries and orphans - and i found a great orphanage in Guatemala run by american missionaries (thanks to my buddy Kandy for sharing a fellow Ethiopia adoption mama's blog with me).
i had been following http://buildingtheblocks.blogspot.com/ for a little while when Amy posted about short-term mission trips being available at their location. i contacted them right away and began to make plans early last fall.
i wanted to share this experience with some friends, so i invited some moms from my MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group, and 3 of them responded to the call. we all have young children (preschool to young elementary), so we're leaving our children in the care of others while we go to the orphanage.
some of us have been met with verbal resistance by others.
some of us have hit financial snags/job losses/etc.
some of us have delayed serious family pursuits/plans for this trip.
but all of us have overcome the stumbling blocks are excited to go and serve and be the hands and feet of Christ!
being the team leader has been a little stressful, but a lot of fun. and the group i'm going with is absolutely fabulous. they are all so supportive and willing to go along with whatever i come up with. we've been doing some spiritual preparation that i have enjoyed, and everyone has chipped in with getting project donations. i am so pumped...and so blessed to be with these ladies.
what, you may be asking, are we going to do there? well, we're going to be playing with the orphans at the children's home, giving Bible devotionals at the manna feeding house (for the community children), teaching some English to the children at school through preschool songs, participating in their sports ministry and playing soccer (oh yeah!), doing crafts with all three groups, learning how to make homemade tortillas, doing some outreach foodsharing, sewing and painting, and pretty much doing anything and everything we can to serve alongside the missionaries and their families to show Christ's love.
so, i would ask for prayers for our safety, our children's care and their caregivers, our health, that our communication capabilities not be overly hampered by our lack of Spanish language knowledge, and that 'whenever we open our mouths that Jesus would fall out' (<- Beth Voss said that and i thought it was the bees' knees).
taataa & God bless you! i just love that we'll be arriving after Easter Sunday and we can excitedly tell them - He is Risen!!
“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” - Acts 20:35
ever since last summer (when i realized how long our adoption might take), i've been itching to get back into the mission field as a short-termer, and it was difficult for me to make a decision as to where to go. my heart is for missionaries and orphans - and i found a great orphanage in Guatemala run by american missionaries (thanks to my buddy Kandy for sharing a fellow Ethiopia adoption mama's blog with me).
i had been following http://buildingtheblocks.blogspot.com/ for a little while when Amy posted about short-term mission trips being available at their location. i contacted them right away and began to make plans early last fall.
i wanted to share this experience with some friends, so i invited some moms from my MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group, and 3 of them responded to the call. we all have young children (preschool to young elementary), so we're leaving our children in the care of others while we go to the orphanage.
some of us have been met with verbal resistance by others.
some of us have hit financial snags/job losses/etc.
some of us have delayed serious family pursuits/plans for this trip.
but all of us have overcome the stumbling blocks are excited to go and serve and be the hands and feet of Christ!
being the team leader has been a little stressful, but a lot of fun. and the group i'm going with is absolutely fabulous. they are all so supportive and willing to go along with whatever i come up with. we've been doing some spiritual preparation that i have enjoyed, and everyone has chipped in with getting project donations. i am so pumped...and so blessed to be with these ladies.
what, you may be asking, are we going to do there? well, we're going to be playing with the orphans at the children's home, giving Bible devotionals at the manna feeding house (for the community children), teaching some English to the children at school through preschool songs, participating in their sports ministry and playing soccer (oh yeah!), doing crafts with all three groups, learning how to make homemade tortillas, doing some outreach foodsharing, sewing and painting, and pretty much doing anything and everything we can to serve alongside the missionaries and their families to show Christ's love.
so, i would ask for prayers for our safety, our children's care and their caregivers, our health, that our communication capabilities not be overly hampered by our lack of Spanish language knowledge, and that 'whenever we open our mouths that Jesus would fall out' (<- Beth Voss said that and i thought it was the bees' knees).
taataa & God bless you! i just love that we'll be arriving after Easter Sunday and we can excitedly tell them - He is Risen!!
“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” - Acts 20:35