Bright Star UMC

Sorry for the long absence in updates, but we have a good excuse... our church, Bright Star UMC of Douglasville, GA, had a team here all week. It was such a good time to be with them and reconnect with old friends. Of the 19 people that were part of this team, we already knew 17, and a lot of them had been very dear friends of ours in our years in Douglasville.

They worked on a variety of projects during the week, including plumbing, wiring, and laying gas lines for the new construction, painting the boys' rooms, plus Cheryl Gruca cleaned about 60 people's teeth and Richard Jacobus turned scrap pieces of rebar into some art to decorate some of our buildings.

Aside from enjoying the time with old friends, Kara and I both felt very proud to still be connected to a church that is increasingly pouring themselves into what the Lord is doing here at NLCH- not only that the church has now sent groups here twice, but more and more individuals and groups in the church are committing to become child sponsors, not to mention that we have so many folks in the church who are also supporting us.

So to those of you from Bright Star who were here, thanks again for coming and blessing us and our kids. To those who weren't, thanks for making it possible for the others to come.
Group photo at the coffee museum in Antigua

Just some of the stuff that they brought for us. In total, the group brought almost 1,000 pounds of donations for the home.

I don't know who had the most fun this week, but Jim and Richard are the top candidates.

Superhero Party

Last night, the interns planned a very special event for the level 3 & 4 kids (on our behavioral system). They helped the kids dress as superheros, watched "The Incredibles" and had some great snacks. The night was a big hit! Here are some pictures with captions below. Eliseo, or should I say Spiderman, looking a little sleepy before the party even started. Even Spiderman loves a black bean dinner (notice the smeared face paint around his lips and chin).
Even Tyson got in on the superhero costumes!
Beth looking very festive.
Superman Juan David
I am not sure what Giovani was but he looked like he enjoyed himself.
Javier with some nice face painting and cape.

A Day at the Beach

On Friday, we took the summer interns to the beach at Puerto San Jose. It was the first time that Daniel and I had seen the coast during our time in Guatemala, so we were pretty excited to go as well. It surprisingly only took us about two hours to get there and the road conditions were very good. We purchased day passes at a nice hotel and were able to use their pool, have lunch and unlimited poolside drinks (non-alcoholic of course!).

The undertow is very strong and there have been warnings about sharks so we only stuck our toes in and then enjoyed the pool. It was the first time that I had ever seen a black sand beach and the first time that Daniel had ever seen the Pacific ocean so it was a memorable day! We all had a lot of fun.

Lunch with Friends

Last Thursday we were able to meet some of our Asbury friends, Matt & Amy Kinnell, for lunch in Antigua. It was so good to see them! They are in Guatemala this week leading a mission team from their church and working at La Senda children's home.

Thanks for the Dr. Pepper, Matt and Amy!

Men of God

There is a group of six men here now putting the roof on the new apartment building (the one where we live). Each of them has been to NLCH many times previously. This place would not exist if it wasn't for them. Every time that I am around them, I am deeply impacted. These men work hard in the U.S. and deserve a vacation. They could easily choose to serve themselves -- using their money to go on cruises or nice vacations where they could lay on the beach with a tropical drink in hand for a week -- and no one would fault them. Yet instead, they take time off of work and pay their own way to come here to work from sunrise to sunset for an entire week, sometimes more. I watch them at night, some limping around from the day's labor, other smearing Bengay on their aching joints, and yet they gladly get up and do it all over again the next day.

Last night, I came into the guest kitchen to find them meeting with one of our local staff members. This incredible woman of faith and prayer has served NLCH faithfully over the years and loves the children here as her own. She will be moving into one of new apartments when it is completed. The men were explaining to her that they felt the Lord leading them to pool their spending money and give it to her so that she can buy furniture for her new apartment.

She is a generally a strong, reserved women but she burst into tears as she was presented with the money. She began telling the men that she had been praying to the Lord to provide a way for her to furnish her new apartment. She explained that while her own children assure her that they have never been ashamed of her, she has felt embarrassed for her children to invite their friends into their current home and has always wanted a place that they could be proud of. This was the most I had ever heard her talk about her personal life.

Watching these men respond to the Lord's leading and bless this extremely deserving woman with their money was an incredible and humbling experience for me. I was convicted of how often I so selfishly serve myself and look after my own desires when someone is right in front of me that God could use me to bless if would only listen to Him.

May God greatly bless these men a hundred times over for their example and servant hearts.

Happy Birthday, Salomón and Javier!

Yesterday, we celebrated Javier's 11th birthday and Salomón's 14th birthday. It was a very special and fun day! You might remember from a previous post that Javier asked me not so long ago when his birthday was. Javier and his brother came to NLCH this past May. They were basically living on the street prior to coming to NLCH because their parents are severe alcoholics who are unable to care for them. Most likely, yesterday was the first birthday that Javier has ever celebrated in his eleven years of life. This showed in the fact that he had a beaming smile on his face the entire day as people wished him a happy birthday. He invited Kevin to accompany him and chose to eat at McDonald's. This worked out very well because Salomón (who chose his 15 year-old brother, Elias, as his guest) also chose McDonald's. All four boys ordered a Shrek happy meal. After lunch, we took the boys to Pop's (a local chain) for ice cream.

We love these interns!

When Kara and I found out that we were going to have a group of 10 summer missionary interns while Kendon & Wendy would be gone, we were a little apprehensive at how that might play out. We assumed that it would be like having a work group here who doesn't leave for two months, and that most of our time would be taken up with trying to keep them occupied.

Now that we are halfway through the two months of their summer internships, Kara and I couldn't enjoy working with these guys any more. They love the kids, they are all creative and gifted in different ways, they work hard, and they work well together. Having the opportunity to be here with them and serve the Lord together has been the most fun part of our time here so far.

Just a reminder- several of them are keeping blogs of their time here- see the list to the right. These pictures are of them putting on a great 4th of July party for the kids. (It's always fun to celebrate someone else's independence day).

Having them here has made us think of what a tremendous blessing it is to be in ministry as part of a team. So many missionaries are isolated, having to try to accomplish so much on their own, and so we are incredibly thankful for how the Lord has allowed us to be part of His work here together with all of the other people who are connected with this place.