Winter Park Baptist Church

So many kids for VBS we had to lock the doors.

2011-08-12T07:26:00.001-07:00

The kids table

2011-08-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, even in Mexico there's a kids table. It was good to have a place for Mike to sit where he could relate.

Family dinner with wonderful laughs and hugs

2011-08-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

Dedication service with beautiful grasias signs made by the kids

2011-08-11T18:36:00.001-07:00

Dinner and some tears

2011-08-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day! The highlights include a dedication service for the family whose home we built and a meal together. The service was a blessing as the kids made grasias signs and the grandmother sang a beautiful hymn she wrote. Tonight we invited the family over for dinner were we are staying and just had a blast. We shared stories of how we met, fun things about our families and great laughs when language was too complicated to worry about.

As with any journey into a new place where you make new friends it's sad to leave. One of the daughters is 11 years old. All week long she rolled up her pants legs and worked as hard as everyone else. Tonight at dinner she had her mom to fix her hair in a French braid sort of pattern and wore a beautiful dress with her best shoes. She was oh so proud and she made me think of my own daughters about the same age. At the end of the worship service she came over and gave me a hug then turned quickly away. After following her I saw her tears and it got me going too. There we were the two of us with wet, concrete laidened tears flowing down our cheeks. At dinner tonight we sat together and share some great laughs.

I just can't help but imagine what it would be like if the tables we turned. What if I was in a make-shift house with my family of 5 and 4 others? Where would they sleep? How in the world could I feed them all, much less send the to school (there is no public school) all on a salary that never really met the absolute basics? Then in my mind I image this little girl's Dad showing up with some friends and building a home along side my kids slinging mortar and cement blocks.

Yes, it brings me to my knees. As brothers and sisters in Christ we are to share God's love even when it's difficult. It could just as well be my little girls sleeping under that torn blue tarp tonight. And it could just as easily be me riding a bike with a basket on front that I ride on all day to collect plastic bottles along the side of the road. Or it could be my wife sitting on a street corner with a sewing machine repairing shoes and clothes just to bring home a few pennies a day.

It's difficult to keep things short sometimes. Sorry if this has gotten a little long. I think the apathy that builds like creosote on my heart has been cleansed again and I can begin to feel God in the blisters on my hands and the cuts all long my legs. Maybe, just maybe God gave us all a glimpse of heaven....

For the team- Mike Womble

Gifts and a Roof

2011-08-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like getting absolutely covered in dirt and grime with friends that buiild bonds. Today we spent the morning finishing a roof for a house build by First Presbyterian Church in Athens, AL. It was exhausting work, but thrilling to see the end result. We are all fulfilled in seeing a home complete.

Our group was giving the option of resting in the afternoon or working some more on the home we built previosly. We decided to do the work. The volunteers were surprised, but the commitment we showed connected with them and they pitched in dispite the heat and sore backs from the morning's work. Even David Rodriguez, the current director of Faith Ministry came and mixed cement with everyone.

The ladies took time to get to know the family closer and then went shopping for school supplies for the 6 children. Erika asked that we not get a house warming gift, but rather school supplies. Education is the key to opportunities around the world, so providing supplies will help the children get one step closer.

If you'd like to learn more about Faith Ministires, please visit www.faithministry.org.

Thanks for the prayers and kind words.

School supplies for the family

2011-08-10T16:48:00.002-07:00

Nurse Betty is doing great work in the clinic!

2011-08-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

Rough looking crew

2011-08-10T16:47:00.001-07:00

The burro and his master

2011-08-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

A piece of string can be hours of fun

2011-08-09T15:56:00.001-07:00

I wonder if I gave most of us gave our children a wheelbarrow and a piece of string if they'd sit and play with it for hours?

Wire ties and and deep love

2011-08-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

Greetings from south of the boarder again. Everyone is doing well and feels healthy.

For a while now we have heard about security concerns along the US boarder. In some places the tension is very real and is a disappointing and unneeded threat. However, our time this week has been a blessing and has been very safe. We have seen no evidence of concern thus far and have 100% confidence in the leadership of Faith Ministries while here. Sure, security is always a real concern no matter where one lives. So there are guidelines that help us and our amigos to be smart and think safe. It is an honor to be among our amigos here in Mexico and everyone on the team has said they are glad they came.

Today we were blessed to work alongside the same volunteers that were here yesterday. We began mixing cement and poured a floor. Later we tied some rebar and prepared a roof to be poured for tomorrow. All the while our amigos worked tirelessly working on their tasks and building bonds with our team. They see teams come and go, so sometimes it's not always easy to bond. The unique thing with our team is members continue to ask about past friends. It's great to see that love build over time and no become short-lived. The current volunteers see that care and we hope will open their trust to us as we honestly seek to become their friends.

In Phillipans 1:9-11 Paul prays this regarding love for his friends, "[I pray] that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much, but love well." (The Message). It's fairly easy to love much- we are good at that in churches all across America and the globe. Thousands of church teams are mobilized around the world as I sit and type this blog. All of them (or at least most) are doing good work and are to be commended. However, I wonder if in our attempt to show love we end up spending more emphasize on loving much and less on loving well? Our prayer as a team and as ministry partners is that our love becomes so deeply connected that we can't help but to love well.

May we all go and love well.

Photo 3

2011-08-08T20:53:00.001-07:00

Photo 2

2011-08-08T20:52:00.003-07:00

Photo 1

2011-08-08T20:52:00.001-07:00

New friends and Warm Salsa

2011-08-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today we had a wonderfully warm day..ok, it was just a tad warmer than 106. Despite the heat, it was wonderful seeing old friends and making new ones. The home we starting building will be the home of Florencio and her children (see the image included to see Florencio). The 4 children range from 16 to 7 and all of them pitched in mixing the mortar and even laying block.

It's amazing to see the hope in the eyes of the volunteers who were also on the job site. All of the recipients of homes must help build all of the homes that year. Some of the volunteers were even from previous years and didn't have to be there, but that chose to serve alongside this years recipients. Everyone had such incredible faith that God will provided for their needs. Some of them don't even know when, or if, a team will come build them a home, but they joyfully worked incredibly hard and shared their faith with out team. we were privalidged to share lunch of beans, rice, chicken and some salsa that had a little kick to it.

As far as the work...we've done more in one day than we have ever seen. We laid 10 courses of block and poured the columns. For those who know what I'm talking about you'll appreciate what that means. We plan to pour some flooring, a roof, and a foundation later this week. Best of all we get to tell Bible stories and play some games at a VBS held in the clinic in which we are housed. Stuart is thrilled to hand out candy and just play.

Feel free to send notes to the team via comments to the blog or my email (Mike's).

Adios!
The Mexico 2011 Team

see more of our blog at http://winterparkbaptist.blogspot.com

Is there oil?

2011-08-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

This is an image of the Gulf of Mexico along the TX coast. Why is it we don't hear anything about the spill any more?

Rested and ready

2011-08-07T06:33:00.000-07:00

Greetings blog followers! The Mexico team arrived in TX safely with only 1 bag missing. Everyone is well rested and ready for the encounters before us. After church this morning we'll get our supplies and head across the boarder after lunch.

According to the leaders at Faith Ministries and other people here in McAllen the situation where we are going is quiet and has been safe for some time now.

Keep praying for us and honoring God with everything you do

Mike Womble

(Sent from a mobile device)

Mexico Test

2011-08-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

We're just getting ready to board to head off to Mexico. Just wanted to send a test message

The Mexico Team

Helena, Arkansas

2011-07-10T06:05:00.001-07:00

Greetings from Helena, AR!
All 18 made the long trip very well (those of us on the plane - me - had it a little easier.
We're staying at Helena Methodist Church. Very high heat index this week - so we're glad it's a swim camp. Going go New Hope Church this morning and then camp meeting in the afternoon. We'll have a big welcome dinner this evening with camp starting tomorrow morning.

I'll text some photos later today. Posted some on Facebook last night. Take care.

Richard Collier
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Last day in the DR

2011-07-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

How do I put into words the experiences of this past week? There are no words that can do it justice. No words to describe what it is to meet s kid on Sunday and have him feel like family before the week is out. No words to describe the poverty it our own lives when we see all the love that these people have and give.

No doubt all 9 of us will tell a different story when asked what we learned. Be prepared and consider yourself warned if you do venture to ask the question for you may get an answer that seems to have no end.

It is an amazing thing to see love kick down the doors of a language barrier and be communicated through a few moments of playing with tinker toys.

As we step back on the plane tomorrow our lives will definitely not be the same. We have been changed. I don't know how someone can spend time around these boys and not be changed. It may take a while to process so please be patient if we cannot communicate all that we have experienced the moment we return.

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that as I get on that plane tomorrow I will leave a part of me here.

-Lance

PS - we went to the beach today, it was great. Here is a picture.
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Last day at the betay

2011-06-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

Coates and Amber were both feeling better this morning - still stuffy but better. Brandon however woke up with a stomach bug, so he ended up staying back and resting this morning. Things at the betay were better today. Ruby and Katherine did face painting and the kids loved it! During our closing a guy rode up to Jared and Ashley (one of the long term volunteers) on a bike (he was probably late teens early 20's) and wanted to learn english so they got to work with him for a little while teaching him some basic English. It was cool to see how excited Jared was about that opportunity. We were all sad to leave the betay. Ruby had one girl that would not let go of her.

The afternoon here at the orphanage went good. The boys did great with the different parts of speech in spanish. When then worked on clearing a new field for some fruit trees to be planted (see the attached picture - they weren't all really working...it was posed). One of the boys I have connected with most here, Chipa, loves to take pictures with my camera. While working today I heard him yell my name, which from all the kids ends up sounding more like Lancey. He got the camera and next thing I knew he was off in some trees getting pictures of flowers and being creative. It has been cool to see him come out of his shell. Chipa LOVES to take pictures. He will literally snap 20 of one person at one time. One of the days he got my camera at the betay and I'm pretty sure he took a solid 200+ pictures. It will be fun to load pictures on to my computer after this trip because I literally have no clue what they will be like. Tonight we had another game night with the boys. This one was a little more free so most of it was spent on their playground just playing and having fun.

The boys joined us again for the large group devotions. It was neat having them there. Terrill, the Orphanage Outreach leader here, wanted them to experience worship with us. We sang a few different worship songs and then closed the night singing Amazing Grace. Katherine has informed me that she is going to chain herself to her bed on Saturday so she doesn't have to go home. She wants to stay.

Tomorrow we will go to the border city of Don Jaibon (I think that's right) to see the market there. We are going so we can truly experience the culture, to see more of the real DR. After that we will see some of the city of Monte Cristi and get to spend a little bit of time at the beach.

Annette, on Saturday we will be JetBlue flight 1109 from JFK arriving at RDU @ 11:54PM.

From the mission field,
Lance
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4th full day in the DR

2011-06-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today started off a little crazy at the betay. The kids were wild. I still think the kids got something out of it, they were just very wound up. Recreation went well but it was hard to get them to listen to much else unless we were singing. We are all definitely getting a good arm workout holding kids. Literally the moment we put one down another one is standing there with arms straight up wanting to be picked up. Tonight during our team devotion/debriefing of the day I asked something about something good that happened today and Ruby, Katherine, Donna, and Libby all said, "I picked up a naked kid!" It was hilarious to see how proud they were of that fact.

Amber woke up stuffy and not feeling too great but she cleared up once we got going. Coates also woke up not feeling to great but he didn't clear up so he stayed back and slept this morning. Don't worry Annette we are taking care of your baby boy. He got to feeling better and helped out this afternoon.

It was as if something clicked with the boys at the orphanage today. They all seemed to finally open up to us. We read to them this afternoon and of course my kid kept picking out the books that were only spanish. Thankfully he would only let me "read" a sentence or two before flipping the page, because I was struggling with my redneck spanish. At one point he got out a book with loads of objects and the spanish and English word beside them. I'm still not sure but I think he was trying to quiz me.

We worked in the field again (see attached picture). It is always funny when its time to head back because the boys will not let us carry the hoes they want to see how many they can manage to carry. They will start yelling at us if we try to walk back with one or help them out.

As soon we were done in the field (before even walking back) the Haitian kid found me and managed to communicate that I needed to go get the gloves and a ball. I was real excited. I just could not find the small glove and he wasn't happy about it. He kept telling me over and over (in spanish) that he needed a smaller one. I tried my best with the little spanish I knew to tell him I couldn't find it but he didn't care. Finally after he sent me looking for the 5th time I managed to locate it. We were playing catch but Donna made me move because she was also playing catch and was afraid she'd hit me with the ball since she apparently can't aim well. Coates found him a hammock today in the storage room and got that thing strung up between two trees. He had a nice siesta (see attached picture).

Tonight was really fun. We had activity night with the boys. We started out with a big game (too much to explain) that involved a lot of running and us making idiots of ourselves. Then we sat down at the tables where we eat and played games like connect 4 or trouble with them.

Tomorrow will be our last day at the betay, we are all sad about that. Going to the betay has been a highlight of this experience. It has been eye opening to go out into the community and see how people are living.

Mrs. Susan, Ruby wants you to call her work to make sure she is not on the schedule for Sunday and she says for you to bring Josh to the airport.

Please continue to pray for us. Amber and Coates both need healing and Brandon is starting to feel a little sick. It seems to be going around, a few of the long term volunteers have been feeling bad too. Thankfully with most its seemed to be a short lived bug.

-Lance

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3rd full day in the DR

2011-06-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Today went really well. We managed to get things more organized in the betay. All of the kids seemed to have a great time. We've been working on Spanish literacy with them and we've been trying to teach them some English (along with the Bible and recreation stations). Thankfully it isn't just our Winter Park team. There are multiple long term volunteers here that are pretty fluent in Spanish.

I noticed that Coates didn't have the naked children hanging on him today. He seemed to shuffle them over to Brandon. All the kids seemed to have really warmed up to us. They all want to be held at the same time. If we don't pick them up that doesn't phase them they just start climbing us. At one point Jared was holding 2 kids and I'm pretty sure there was a 3rd making his way up Jared's back. Jared walked over to me and goes "here take one...please." Each day we find ourselves wishing we had more time at the betay. So many of those kids just want to be held and loved. When we were heading back to the bus Donna had one girl attached to her. Donna completely let go and the girl didn't budge. We literally had to peel the girl off of her.

We are having a tough time with the boys at the orphanaget. Part of that is due to the fact that the long term volunteers from the 2 orphanages switched this past weekend so the boys only have a bond with on person here. We brainstormed tonight and are going to try approaching it from a different angle tomorrow.

It never ceases to amaze me how its the simple, unplanned moments in which love is best communicated. Tonight during free time before supper we were playing with the boys from the orphanage and I got to play catch with a small Haitian kid who has been picked on since he got here. It was neat seeing him open up through a game of catch.

It is great to see that our team, as tired as we all me be, is always ready every night for the next day to spend more time with the kids. Both Katherine and Donna are trying to figure out how to fit one in their suit cases.

By the way, all of you are welcome to write back. I don't keep my phone on all day, but whenever I cut it on I receive all my emails. Everyone loves hearing whatever email responses I get. I will relay whatever messages you send. Annette, today I had Donna read your email in her best Annette voice so Matthew would feel at home.

-Lance

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VBS in the DR

2011-06-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a betay for VBS. It definitely not what we expected. To say it was wild and chaotic doesn't really cover it, but we adapted and it turned out really good. A couple of the older boys from the orphanage came with us to help explain the games and activities. It was great seeing them step into leadership positions. They will be helping us all week, which is a first for them. The kids seemed to live every moment of it. From singing the songs to the makeshift english bingo we created to playing freeze tag. As we left a lot of then walked us to our bus. We are all looking forward to going back in the morning. See the attached pictures of the VBS at the betay.

When we first arrived at the betay we began gathering the kids. Two of the little boys grabbed Coates' hand and then one reached for Coates to pick him up. So Coates picks him up and it was about this point that Coates realizes what the rest of us already knew - the boy had a shirt on but was completely naked from the waist down. Coates: "No, no, no, no..." and he sets the boy back on the ground and says, "Let's just hold hands." By this point we are all losing it. Later today when we were talking about it Coates said, "Lance, I felt like I done something wrong!" I was crying I was laughing so hard.

This afternoon we were working with the boys at the orphanage. That didn't go as planned, but again we adapted. We did manage to teach some of the creation story to them. As we were going out to work in the field with the boys we thought we were going to get a really bad storm but it passed.

We have a projector so tonight we had a movie night with the boys. We watched Shrek in Spanish (with English subtitles). About 10 minutes in Coates gets up and comes back to where I'm sitting and says, "I can't understand it!"

Around 9 each night we walk over to the church here on the grounds and have devotions with all the volunteers. The light wasn't working tonight and while they were trying to get that figured out someone with a flashlight pointed out a nice sized spider on the floor about to crawl under Libby's feet. She turned into stretch Armstrong and had her feet behind her head. I thought she was going to do a back flip out of the chair. Then I turned around to find Katherine standing on the tallest thing she could find. And she has spent the rest of the night combing the ground in front of her with a flashlight looking for spiders.

Donna has entertained us during down time today with her best Annette Coates voice. She is keeping Matthew in line.

Its been hot during the day but not too humid. Tonight it got pretty cool. During the movie most of our group put on long sleeves.

Tomorrows schedule should look a lot like today's. Hopefully knowing a little more what to expect will help tomorrow to be even better than today.

-Lance

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1st full day in the DR

2011-06-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

We got to the Jaibon orphanage around 10:30 last night, had a quick introduction and basic rules of operation then off to bed. We are way out in the country so the stars are beautiful. Amber and I are in a tent, the rest of the boys have a tent (see attached picture) and the rest of the girls are in a ramada, which is basically a building with some bunk beds and mosquito netting over each bed. Donna said she fell asleep with her foot straight up in the air to keep the net off her face.

In the middle of the night the rooster woke us up making a strange noise. I rolled over to put my ear plugs in and Amber said "what is that??" I responded "Katherine McGirt." Somehow Katherine didn't think that was real funny when we told her this morning. This morning Amber swore we had animals doing laps around our tent last night.

Brandon got up about 5 mins before breakfast and dude slept hard, he had the imprint of his mattress on his face for a solid hour (he wouldn't let me take a good picture though).

Church was awesome this morning. (see attached picture) The boys from the orphanage sang for us. No clue what they were singing but it was good. It was definitely a different service from what we are used to in America. Partly due to the kid that was apparently amazed by my hair and spent the better part of the service switching between scratching my scalp and trying to pull my hair out. After church we continued with our orientation and had lunch and then my favorite part of the cultural experience...seista. Unfortunately it was way too hot in the tents to sleep so I found a good shade tree to sleep under - everyone just spread out during this time.

After seista we did all the planning for thd VBS camps we are doing this week. In the morning our group is going out into the community to a betay (basically a plantation). Libby and Amber will work with the older girls, Donna and another volunteer have the younger girls. Coates and Brandon have the younger boys and I have thr older boys. We are all group leaders taking the groups to the different stations. Jared will be teaching English, Katherine and Ruby are in charge of arts & crafts/recreation.

In the afternoon we will be back here working with thr boys at the orphanage. That will run differently. Everyday we will do either Spanish or English with them, then we will also teach from the Bible and then we will do some gardening work projects with the boys.

It has been fun today during down time to hang out with the boys. There was one boy that Jared and I were playing with that kept trying to talk to me. At which point I would look at Jared to try and translate. Jared kept telling the boy I didn't speak Spanish but he didn't care, he just had a nice long conversation with me (see attached picture). Libby and Donna played a little baseball with some of the boys.

The food has been great and everyone is incredibly nice and we enjoy working with them (the long term volunteers).

Be praying for us as we trying to work with all the kids and communicate God's love to them despite the language barrier we face. I was excited during our group time tonight to hear everyone welcoming the challenge of working with the kids even though most of them can't speak English and most of us can't speak Spanish.

I will try each day to send pictures of different people.

-Lance

PS - this email (and in sure all the ones this week will be the same) is being typed as I'm about to fall asleep. It has not been edited. Please forgive me if parts do not make sense.
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In the DR

2011-06-25T18:40:00.001-07:00

We just got on our bus, which is tiny and jam packed. We gave about an hour ride to the orphanage in Jaibon (I manage to pronounce that word wrong everytime I say it).

Its an understatement to say that today was interesting. At RDU they informed us that we couldn't take the action packers we had because they aren't allowed during the summer (which turned out good because all that would have never fit on this bus), so we bought a huge duffel bag, consolidated what we could and sent the rest back with Annette and Rodney. Coates was entertaining to watch as we made our descent to Miami. He couldn't get his ears unclogged so he just kept banging his head. Then in the Miami airport some of the girls had gone to get some coffee, all of the sudden I hear over the intercom, "Paging Katherine Ann McGirt, please come to gate B2 to claim your passport." My phone was still resetting itself so I took off sprinting through the airport trying to find her. Finally I managed to call her and she thought I was joking. Thankfully we got the passport back and now we ask her every 5 minutes if she has it. Later, Libby, Donna, and Amber had gone to eat. They start boarding for our flight so I message Amber, no response. They call for our group so I call, no response. The line is getting really short so I call again, still no response. We are just over 10 mins before takeoff at this point. Thankfully I saw them...talking to a girl who had on an Orphanage Outreach T-shirt. I ran over to them and got them to hurry to get their bags (Kenny this is why Libby didn't call - she got a little sidetracked). Thankfully we all got on the flight just in time.

Our flights have been good. Katherine and Ruby almost started wrestling while we waiting for luggage (big surprise). Then when we went through immigration Katherine left her passport on the counter, they had to call her back. We are still driving through Santiago right now. Katherine is giving us a play by play of what we are seeing. Donna tried to convince the bus driver that she should drive but he didn't go for it.

Ruby and Katherine say they are sorry for not calling their mothers when were in Miami. Kenny, Libby wants an update on the games, did you go back home tonight. Isabella, Donna says hey and she loves you. Coates says, "I miss my mama!" Jared said, "Be sure to tell my mom I'm alive."

Everyone is doing well. I will update more tomorrow.

-Lance

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The Dominican Republic Team is off!

2011-06-25T06:47:00.001-07:00

The journey ends - or does it just begin ?

2011-06-02T19:08:00.001-07:00

GOD BLESS HAITI

100 degree heat + hard physical work x 8 days = Pooped Out!!!

2011-06-02T19:03:00.001-07:00

Sunrise and Goodbyes Wednseday June 1

2011-06-02T17:43:00.001-07:00

The last day of an amazing journey

2011-06-02T04:08:00.001-07:00

Our day started at "0:dark30", we said quick goodbyes and we left Gr Goave at 5:15. Traffic was heavy and we barely made our flight that left on time at 9am Haitian time. Flight was smooth, ask Jay how smooth his was(got bumped up into 1st class). Arrived in FLL and cleared customs and immigration without any problem, well except one- George was asked by the U. S. Customs agent if he had anything to declare and his answer was , " well, I declare it has been a very HOT week". Thankfully, he let him back into the U. S..

We spent the afternoon in the airport and had a really relaxing time talking and joking about the weeks' experiences and trying to process everything in preparation for our return to "our personal new normal" lives. I say that because none of us will ever be the same after our experiences. Our God is an awesome God and He has blessed the people of Haiti in a very special way. I hope either our stories or our pictures that we share with you all will give you some idea of this team's story.

Please pray for the people of Haiti every day!

Bondye beni ou,

Haiti 6

Tuesday May 31st

2011-05-31T19:21:00.001-07:00

We completed our last day of work building 2 more cage basket walls for the next team to use on their rubble house. Plus, we actually did get to work on a 4th rubble house as it turned out just down the street one was being finished on the inside and they needed some more rubble dumped at the very top of the perimeter walls to allow the concrete masons to take the finish all the way to the top of the house. So we shoveled and wheelbarrowed the rubble and dumped the rubble in place to finish the job.

Gilbertsville team worked with us the whole day and we said our goodbyes but not before more than one of them said to us, " we sure would like to come back when you do", and "ya'll(well maybe it was youz guyz since they are from NY) sure understand helping others and having a good time at the same time". Can I get an AMEN !!!!!

We have been touched by so many, but we have also touched many and the love of Jesus has shown through us this whole week. We have done much good and we have shown love for our neighbor as thy self.

We will awake at 4:30 to leave at 5am and make the 2 1/2 hr trip to Port-au-Prince Airport. Our flight leaves at 9am and takes us to Ft Lauderdale arriving around noon Wednesday. Once we clear customs, we will have until 8:30 before our flight leaves to take us on the last leg to Myrtle Beach.

If all goes as planned, we should be back in Wilmington around 11:30. Please pray for our safety and smooth "sailing".

We are very sad to leave our many friends here, but we are all excited and anxious to be reunited with our family and loved ones.

Bye from Haiti,

Jay, Donna, Ann, Woody, George and Wesley

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2011-05-31T02:57:00.001-07:00

Pictures Monday May 29

2011-05-31T02:50:00.001-07:00

Monday May 30

2011-05-30T19:48:00.001-07:00

I know it was Memorial Day in the U. S. and what a great day to remember those that have served. It was a memorable day in Haiti as our team working alongside the Gilbertsville team completed our third rubble house. Franklin and his 2 children Kevin and Martina will be living there. They lost their home in the earthquake and had been living in a makeshift home consisting of tarp walls and scrap lumber. He was so thankful and appreciative of our work, and Kevin worked on the job site every minute we did. We had met Kevin last year around the Siloe school site.

He was very sweet and funny, making faces and cutting up with us all week long.

We were scheduled to play baseball this pm, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. We all wanted to finish the rubble house first and then a rain shower came so we "recalculated" our schedule.

Also tomorrow, we will likely make some more basket cage walls for the next teams coming in for their rubble houses. We can't start a 4th house because the foreman for that site has been injured. We pray for his quick recovery in time for them to stay on schedule with the next team coming into the country.

This evening we went for a walk downtown with Tiga and FINALLY got one of those widely talked about local smoothies. It was worth the wait and so refreshing to us all after the heat and work of the day.

But we are already talking about the sad part - Leaving on Wednesday morning. This has been such a wonderful experience for us all and it is going to be very hard to leave.

Thank you church for allowing us to be your missionaries here. We may be blessing some with our work and ministry here, but we have all been touched immensely and blessed beyond measure.

Good night-

Haiti 6- Jay, George, Donna, Ann, Woody and Wesley

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Sunday May 29 Mothers Day

2011-05-29T19:33:00.001-07:00

We started the day as you well know seeing and offering a warm "bon jour" at the Open Door service thanks to skype technology. It was great to be able to tune in and for our team members to see and talk to loved ones during the service. After that we celebrated Mothers Day in Haiti at our church service we attended at Siloe Baptist. All of the mothers received a flower as they entered the service and the oldest Mother was recognized and presented with a gift. We were introduced to the congregation and offered our thanks to being received so warmly by the Haitian people. There was lots of singing and praising, with one of the highlights being a sweet children's song for the mother's performed by the children's choir. The scripture for the day was Psalms 61. One hymm we sang was "There is power in the blood" . The sermon text was from various parts of Proverbs all dealing with the significance of the woman(wife) in the home, family,church all tied to the recognition and celebration around Mother's Day.

We all left there feeling we had truly had a worshipful experience that was very special. Again, there is not a church building yet, but under that tin roof, sitting on wooden benches you knew God was present

We spent the majority of the afternoon at a beautiful quiet secluded beach named Tayima Beach. Just a beautiful unspoiled Caribbean setting with small lobster boats carved out of mango trees dotting the seaside lined with coconut trees, palm trees, banana trees, bougainvilleas and hibiscus.
We all swam in the warm calm Caribbean sea and were served fresh conch for a mid day snack and spent some time collecting shells.. Our visit was interrupted with a light rain shower so we made the trip back to the Conscience Intl compound just in time to shower off the salt and sand and eat dinner.

Afterward we talked about the Psalms 61 text and how it was such an encouragement to the Haitians after all they had been through to lean on the rock of the Lord.God is definitely our strong tower against all foes. We also talked about the church service experience and what a meaningful service it had been.

Still no trip to the smoothie shop, I think Tiga is just teasing us and holding out until the last night to give us that treat,

By the way, he says no other team here to date has accomplished what we have. He just wasn't aware our team includes all of you !!!!!!

Got to go get some rest because tomorrow - "we are going to make buckets fly!!!!".

En Jezi,

Haiti Team

Everyone waits patiently to talk to family in Haiti

2011-05-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

Belvidere says Hi to George in Haiti

2011-05-29T06:10:00.000-07:00

Jay gets to Skype from Haiti

2011-05-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Haiti team Skypes home

2011-05-29T06:08:00.001-07:00

Saturday

2011-05-28T18:42:00.000-07:00

The "rubble rumba" started today at Rubble House site #3. We broke out the music and started dancing, singing and generally having way to much fun considering we were working in somewhere between 106 and 108 degree heat. But we had the young Haitian crew dancing too and they loved it. It really enabled the work to go much faster, smoother and the comraderie was priceless! Our leader "Tiga" even shook his booty a little!!!!

We stopped for the day at lunchtime and prepped for the basketball event scheduled for around 3pm. Several of the schools knew about the event and we went to a courtyard of a nearby Catholic school and used their court. We had a great turnout of around 50 youth of all ages. The youngest ones knew very little about the game, but we were surprised at how skillful the older ones are in the game. In fact, the oldest ones really know how to play a mean game of street ball!

We donated 9 baskeballs of various sizes, a full instruction and rules manual , a regulation goal with net and the hardware to mount it. All of this will go to the Siloe church school as they introduce the sport to their students once they can complete their courtyard. On another day we will support the Gilbertsville team as they lead a baseball activity for the children. It was great fun and everyone joined in the fellowship.

We came back for a delicious meal of fried planteen, spicy slaw, pasta salad and (hold on) fresh goat! Most went back for seconds, it was scrumptuous! George said," he wasn't going to be offended any more when someone told him he smelled like a goat!"

We just had a nice shower that hopefully will cool off things a little for tomorrow and church. We are all looking forward to that service and hope our own Open Door can visit with us tomorrow morning during Open Door. Say a little prayer that the connection is good.

Thank you for all of your prayerful support.

In His Care,

Haiti Team at the "rubble rumba"

Friday May 27

2011-05-27T17:56:00.001-07:00

We spent the entire day at the rubble house sites working alongside the team from Gilbertsville. We almost completed "rubbling" the two houses, the one for Eva Alea and we met the lady that will be living in the other rubble house. Her name is Cennita Joachin. She will live there with her 3 children, right now I don't know their ages but we will find out before we leave.
She is so excited and so thankful to have a home as she lost hers in the earthquake also. I have included a picture of her standing beside her new house. She has such a sweet spirit and is so appreciative of our efforts to help her have this home.
Tomorrow, we will finish rubbling and maybe even start on a third house, we are not sure yet. But tomorrow afternoon we are gathering at the Siloe Church and school and having an afternoon of baseball and basketball with the area children and teens. We brought the basketball equipment and Gilbertsville brought the baseball stuff. Incidently, Gilbertsville is very near Cooperstown, NY where the Baseball Hall of Fame is, so it just seems right that they introduce baseball and the North Carolina group take care of basketball. But I think we can take em on both!!!!!!!
Thank you for continuing to lift us up in your prayers.
Blessings from Haiti,
Your Haiti Team.

2011-05-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Thursday May 26.

What a beautiful day! We did a lot of hard work today and made some wonderful new friendships along the way. We met the team from Gilbertsville, NY and they worked alongside some of our team on a rubble house site prepping it and pouring the first stage of rubble into the basket walls. The rest of our team stayed at the camp site and made additional basket walls that will complete what's needed for the second rubble house we will work on this week. Everyone is very tired and during our team time this evening we turned down a trip to a local smoothie shop for some well earned sleep. But we did find out that Eva-alea and her family of six or more will be occupying one of the homes. She is around 60 years old and lost her house in the earthquake. One of the Haitian foremen is named Pedro(yes that is right!), and he lost both parents, a grandmother and we think several other family in the earthquake. His father's name was Jesus. Wow, what a testimony he is as he is such a happy spirited person and a very good worker. He is so positive to have gone through so much, as he is 26 years old.

We are feeling a mighty God present here with us and in the hearts of the Haitian people that we are working alongside.

Good Night!

Jenny Clinic

2011-05-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

We visited the Medical Clinic at the SBF/School/Church site on Wednesday too. This is the building that our team last year built and this year we funded the shelves and upfit of the interior so that the clinic could be fully utilized. Now the shelves are full as you can see and so many Haitians are benefiting from the medicines provided . Jenny Jenkins the nurse here (who the clinic is named after) was very excited about the numbers of people that the clinic can reach now with God's provisions.

Day 1 in Grand Goave

2011-05-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

We arrived right on time as our flight touched down at 7:50am local time(one hour behind DST). We were met by "Tiga" and David from Conscience International and made our 2+ hour trip out to Grand Goave. From my view there hasn't been a lot of improvement made in the 10 months since last here, but they are starting to work on the roads and folks are hopeful that the new President will be able to start making a difference in the overall situation. Once we arrived at the Conscience Intl guest house we immediately wanted to go visit our CBF folks which are located just around the corner. We were amazed to see the progress made on construction of the school. It was great to see the children in the classrooms that are complete and to see what their plans are to finish the overall project. We also reunited with so many we had met last year and that was very heartwarming. Ann, Jay and George were amazed at the sights they encountered and were impacted deeply by first impressions.

We finished a great lunch and began building the basket walls for one of the rubble houses that we will work on this week.

We wrapped up work around 5 and just finished dinner and talking to Alex who manages the Conscience Intl operation locally.

I will try to send some pictures of the days activities as well.

Thank you church family for your prayers and prayer cards, they are already providing us much needed strength and encouragement.

Blessings,

Wesley and the Haiti team.

Team Haiti

2011-05-25T03:14:00.000-07:00

Great start to our journey. We feel your prayers. Jay, George, Donna, Ann, Woody and Wesley

2011-05-25T02:52:00.001-07:00

Enjoying a delicious seafood dinner (our last meal without beans for a week). Our waitress asked about our shirts and we described the rubble house concept. She wanted to know if we were architects. We said no just the laborers. But we know who the architect is! God is the master designer, architect and His plans are perfect. Every once in awhile he let's folks like us have the privilege of being His hands and feet. We are His laborers this week. Pray for our strength to carry out His plan.
Bondye beni ou church,

Haiti Team Begins their Journey

2011-05-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well we are off to a great start . We left Wilmington right at 1pm, and our flight left Myrtle Beach on time at 4:45. We arrived in Ft Lauderdale around 9pm after a stop in Atlanta. We just finished a great seafood meal at a local favorite spot.

We have already bonded as a team and sense God’s presence all around us. There was a gorgeous sunset as we flew above the clouds on our approach into Ft Lauderdale that was absolutely breathtaking. Our God is such an awesome God!

Some of us already have nicknames – Pappy, Mama, Gump just to name a few, so the jabs are going at a brisk pace too!

Enjoy the picture , from left to right – Jay Simmons, George Hodnett, Donna Hoehlein, Ann Suttles, Jonathan Woods and Wesley Hunter.

We are leaving Ft Lauderdale on a 7am flight to Port au Prince where the staff from CBF/Conscience Intl will “hopefully” be waiting to pick us up upon arrival and then we’ll make the 2 1/2 – 3 hour drive over to Grand Goave.

We feel your prayers to encourage us and keep us strong.

Bon swai

WPB Haiti Team

Westfall Newsletter is Posted

2011-03-11T03:44:00.000-08:00

The Westfalls, in India, have posted their latest newsletter to Winter
Park's website. Check out what God is doing in Bangalore!

http://winterparkbaptist.org/#/serve/missions-partnerships

Church Without Walls- January 2011 (a)

2011-01-10T15:38:00.001-08:00

Every second Sunday Winter Park serves a warm, healthy meal to the
attenders of the Church Without Walls. Various groups around
Wilmington volunteer for other Sundays. The kids were so thankful.
The adult just loved the chocolate chip cookies- guess we're all kids
at heart.

Thanks to everyone who is dedicated to this amazing way to love our community!

Church Without Walls- January 2011 (b)

2011-01-10T15:35:00.001-08:00

Candy Cane Tree Sponsorship Update

2010-12-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who has helped with the Candy Cane Tree this year! ALL of the 80 children who were on our tree now have sponsors. This is a record number of children sponsored which translates to a record number of families who have a little more breathing room at Christmas. These sponsorships are more than gifts and toys, they are small rays of hope for families in need that live right here in Wilmington.

God bless your generosity!

Remaining Candy Cane Tree Sponsorships

2010-12-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

These are the remaining Children on the Candy Cane Tree for 2010. We just received this list on 12/9/2010 and would love to have them all sponsored. Remember, the lists below are "wish lists" and are not required. Any donation is appreciated. Please return all unwrapped gifts to the church office as soon as you are able.

To sponsor a child do 2 things:
1. Email: mike@winterparkbaptist.org with the child's ID and your contact information
2. Leave a Comment stating which child you are sponsoring so there are no duplicates (no need to list your name).

Person # 160289
Age 12, Male
- Lil Wayne CD- I’m not a human being (if censored which is sold at Wal-mart)
- UFC fighter toys
- MP3 player
- Shirts size XL for dress and school
- Pants size 36 waist (likes skinny jeans)
- Jacket size XL
- Nike or Adidas shoes (size 12 ½ to 13)
- Socks (size 9-13) and underwear (boys size 34-36)

Person # 271395 (
Sponsored :-)

Person # 199397
Sponsored :-)

Person K004
Male age 17
- Skateboard
- Sneakers (Size 13)
- Clothes (Pants, Size 34; Shirts XL)
- IPOD

Person M004
Sponsored :-)

Person M013
Age 12, Male
- Dr. Dre "the beats" laptop
- Anything age appropriate

Person 559437
Age 9, Male
- Shirts and pants size 14-16
- Shoe size 7 1/2
- Bike 20"
- Roller Skates
- Nintendo DSI
- Skateboard
- Boxing glove set

Person 441592
Age 11, Female
- Pants size 14, ladies
- Shirts Size large ladies
- Shoes 8 1/2
- Air Hog with video camera (Wal-mart)
- Anything age appropriate

Person # 122789 (sibling 4 of 4)
Age 13, Female
- IPod Touch
- Gift Card- Wal-Mart, JC Penny, Old Navy and/or Sears
- Size 7 black long snow boots

Person # 449638
Sponsored :-)

Water = Survival

2010-10-03T04:49:00.001-07:00

Faucets for Grand Goave! These faucets will prevent water from leaking out every time the power turns on and the water pump engages. Saving every precious drop of water is a matter of survival.

Journey IN India - 7/30

2010-07-30T04:59:00.001-07:00

FAITH LIKE A CHILD
"He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Mat 18:2-4

Here are some images from Grace children's home where Heather and I shared a devotion time with the 15 girls. We danced, sang, acted out The Good Samaritan, shared thoughts on helping others, prayed and played games. It was a wonderful time of sharing God's word and seeing His Joy reflected in the lives of these girls. When we prayed, they each prayed standing up and fervently thanked God for different things and so innocently requested their needs to Him. They instilled in me the need for simple and specific prayers. We were both so blessed by our time with them!

Please pray for safe travel, I will leave Bangalore at 2:15am early tomorrow morning India time. I will arrive in Raleigh to the smiling face of my mother at 6:25pm Saturday! Thank you for your love and support! I cannot wait to share with all of you the faithfulness of our Lord!

His,
Tammy

Journey In India - 7/27

2010-07-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

"Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose." Philippians 2:1-2

We had a wonderful day with the children and the ladies at the health education this past Saturday! We woke up early and started setting up the church we were using by 7:30am! We put together the bags with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, and reminder cards. We put out the mats and set up the video equipment. When I stepped outside to see the children lined up to come in, it brought joy to my heart. They were all dress in their best outfits and were neatly groomed. They were very excited for this big day! Each of them were all smiles as they checked in and made their way to the mat area. We put them in groups of 6 or so around a bucket that they would use during teeth brushing. My group had 5 girls around the age of 10. They were very attentive as Cokie shared a devotion at the beginning, prayed, and then started the presentation. We practiced brushing teeth and the girls giggled as they actually put paste on their brushes and began to brush! It was a lot of fun! The hand washing section went the same way, their silliness continued! Afterwards, we sent the children out with lunch and told them to tell their mommies to come at 3pm! During the break, we sang and prayed.

After eating lunch, we set the stage to get ready for the ladies! Let it not be a surprise, I was a greeter at the door as the ladies came in! They were also dressed very nicely and seemed eager to learn. We also decided that they were probably very happy just to sit down for 5 minutes! Cokie began again with prayer and started telling the ladies about the health problems they could have if they did not brush. They all seemed interested in knowing about the health conditions. My group had 4 women and they seemed to enjoy our time together. Cokie told us later that after the prayer to end the session, a lady came up to her and asked her how she could be a more compassionate person. I began to think about how people need to learn to have compassion for their neighbor.

It was a beautiful day. Not only because of the beautiful children and ladies (2 men), but also because the light of the Lord shown so brightly throughout every interaction and in every conversation. So, as you practice hospitality with a humble heart, do not forget to show compassion to those around you. Thank you so much for your prayers and love.
His,
Tammy

Home from Haiti

2010-07-25T12:31:00.001-07:00

We arrived to a warm reunion with our loved ones at the Myrtle Beach airport around 10:00pm Saturday night. Then we circled and prayed for the amazing weeks' experience God provided us and the loving embraces we received once home.
After driving back to Wilmington, we all likely settled in around midnight, threw our dusty bags down and began to try to describe to our families a few of the highlights of the journey. However, that process of "processing" everything, re-acclimating back into our routines and answering the inquiries of so many begins Sunday. It will be hard to describe adequately what we did experience, sometimes there aren't words. As far as our team's spiritual lives go, we will never be the same. We have had the privilege of sharing God's word in a special way, we have "gone about doing good", and we have used our teaspoons to try to "put things to right" in a impoverished village in a suffering nation.

Thank you church for your prayers, your prayer cards, your contributions to our mission whether it be a knitted cap, a dress, a pair of work gloves or a soccer ball. Thank you for giving us the privilege of being the face that represented Winter Park Baptist to a loving people in Grand Goave, Haiti that are in desperate need of a helping hand and a encouraging word.

As the Sun sets(picture) on our initial efforts in Haiti, let's not stop here. The relationships and bonds of our two congregations(picture) have been God ordained and the love is real that exists between us and our Haitian brothers and sisters. If we believe in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission then we need to use our teaspoon that God gave each of us to serve the least of these.....(Matt 25:40).

Fwe en Jezi(My brothers in Jesus)

Bondye beni ou(God bless you)

Our last day in Haiti

2010-07-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

Good morning from Grand Goave,

We are putting on the finishing touches with our building that will be used by the church school for various functions. But God has just put the initial touches on HIS work to be done here. We all talked at length last night (while we were sharing on the roof under the moonlight cooled by a wonderful breeze) about how we felt and how God had touched us all this week.

Now within minutes we must say our goodbye’s and all have said how they are going to be sad to see us go. And when are you coming back.

Over and over those thoughts will resonate within each of us as we think about this experience and what will God ask of us next for these people.

We can only hope that we will be privileged to be a part of HIS plans.

Enjoy the pictures of this last night and morning and pray for our safe travels today and tomorrow.

Bondye beni ou,

Mission Team in Haiti-Woody, Wesley, Steve, Gloria and Donna <<...>> <<...>> <<...>> <<...>>
Grand Guave, Haiti.

Hey from Haiti on Thursday

2010-07-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon or Bonswai-

We have successfully erected the 12x16 building and are getting ready to put the corrugated metal roof on this afternoon before the evening rains come. We are all starting to feel sad because we know our time is getting short. We have already started to say some goodbyes and have all shed a few tears already at the thought of this week ending. Since it takes almost 3 hours to get to Port au Prince from Grand Goave, we will need to leave around lunchtime. WE are completing an errand for the medical clinic by delivering some xray results to a Dr’s office in PAP.

Woody has been active in the clinic this week, especially early on while Tori was not here, but has also helped in the last few days.

Last evening there was a beautiful double rainbow that came just after a rain shower. We all took pictures at the awesome sight and many neighborhood residents also came to the edge of the river to see.

Last night at devotion time, we looked at Phil 2:3-5 and all felt like we had been humbled as we have seen God work in so many wonderful ways but we must not stop here. If we are to be likeminded we must do much more. These are a very “worthy” people.

Today we looked at the rubble house that has been built and we also took a short walk among one of the tent camps next to our house. There were some very eye-opening sights as we have seen all week.

We are all getting tired to some extent, but our hearts hurt for these beautiful people. We are leaving in two days, they must go on here and look to God for strength and hope.

We have many brothers and sisters in Christ here, and they believe that we are praying for them as well. The manifestation of their hope in God is in us to some degree.

I have asked several close to me to read and pray Eph 3:14-21 a beautiful prayer of encouragement and evidence of God’s love.

Enjoy the pictures.

Pray for our safe travels beginning tomorrow.

<<...>> <<...>> <<...>> <<...>>

The Haiti Missionary Team
Grand Guave, Haiti.

Hello from Haiti on Wednesday, July 21

2010-07-21T12:21:00.001-07:00

We are at lunch break after a hard morning of finishing the wall, prepping for the bond beam to be poured(the chenage), pronounced shinaz. the temperature is somewhat nicer than yesterday afternoon. I will attempt to send a picture we took of the thermometer yesterday afternoon after we put it in the Sunlight. It was brutal, but we survived. God provided a very cooling rain late yesterday afternoon that lasted 3-4 hours and flooded everything. We prayed for the hundreds of thousands in the tents and tarp/box homes. They must have had a horrible night, while we slept in relative luxury under a watertight roof with a conventional bathroom.
We had a very "interesting" meal last night, very native and tasty. The meat was well, just ask Donna.
Last night we were very tired and 3 of us met for awhile and talked about the day because we felt like the Haitian work team "turned the corner" for us. they seemed to respect our willingness to help them, not show them a better way. To do what they said, and to do it very well I might add. They respect our work ethic and see our servant hearts. We offered them water at breaks before we drank. They were completely and delightfully surprised at that gesture.
many have asked us if we are coming back. Are we?
It is clouding up, probably another rainstorm on the way.
Today I have had fresh cherry juice, avocados, fresh bananas, canipes, and of course, beans and rice.
en Jezi,
Haiti five
The pics are the thermometer reading in the Sun, Wesley and Maxie( he has already said he will be sad on Friday since we are leaving then), and the beautiful sunrise this am after the stormy rainy night.

Haiti: todays images

2010-07-20T11:42:00.001-07:00

Steve and Maxie shaping rebar, "Baby" cutting up, Two beautiful girls getting some water from the well, our masons building the sold, and Hanson a mason's helper keeping his face out of the Sun.
bonswai,

Haiti: Its Tuesday . . .

2010-07-20T11:26:00.001-07:00

It is another beautiful , but hot day in Grand Goave. Temps have already reached 96 "in the shade". Blessedly, we are not working very hard, but assisting the Haitian masons as they build the "sold" (foundation wall), and then we will pour the "shinaz" bond beam that evens and ties the foundation together and levels it. Once the "j" bolts are in the exact place with the floor system, then we can erect the walls of the house.

We just finished a wonderful lunch of fish and yes more beans and rice with a wonderful Kreyol sauce. We also had some fresh sun ripened bananas that are absolutely wonderful, much better than the ones we get at home.

We continue to fall deeper in love with the people that we are meeting, talking to and witnessing to. Some have deep faith, some ask questions about "why", and our team does as well. We talked last night about Proverbs 3: 5-6 and know that we can count on God and can lean on Him.

Last evening after supper, the mens chorus of the church was practicing and the music was beautiful. The men were led by our coordinator, Jeansen . He is a very special young man.

I hope the images are coming through, the internet connection is very "iffy".

We all miss our families, but we are adding to our family of friends here. Pray for these people every day, they need so much, they are our neighbors-Matthew 22: 39.

Bonswai-
Steve, Donna, Gloria, Woody and Wesley

Journey IN India - 7/19

2010-07-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!"

Well, a few days have gone by and 2 more children's home visits were made to deliver clothes! First, we made our way back to Missionary Children's home and this time all the children were home from school. Some boys were playing cricket and others were washing some clothes. They were glad to try on the clothes and loved the shorts, shirts, and dresses! There were smiles all around!

We then visited Refuge Children's home where we were greeted with some more smiling faces and "good evening auntie!" The girls tried on their dresses and the boys tried on their shorts and shirts! They all looked so good and said thank you a million times! After they ate their snack, they sang 2 praise songs and danced for us! Refuge has grown to 15 children (9 girls and 6 boys)! They have recently been blessed by an additional house where the boys sleep and they all come to- get her to eat and play. All of them are healthy and doing well in their studies!

I chose this scripture because of the obvious clothing subject, but also as a great reminder for us all. If we will have faith that God knows our needs and trust that He will provide for us, would we not live in the freedom He wants for us? Today,put your worries into His hands and watch Him work!

Please pray for the health education we will have this Saturday. We will be teaching hand washing and brushing teeth. Thank you for your continued prayers, love, and support!

His,
Tammy

Haiti: First images from the team

2010-07-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

Well we made it and we are all feeling very well. It is Sunday , we had a
beautiful church service with lots of joyful praise music, clapping and
singing.

We just finished lunch prepared by a lovely Haitian volunteer. It was delicious, and it did include rice and beans.

We have attached some of the images of the last 24 hours, Steve and our volunteer coordinator Jeanson(pronounced Johnson), some of the devastation seen on our way out to base camp at Grand Goave,Tim Brendle(CBF onsite coordinator) and Jeanson leading our orientation session, the view from our bedroom window into a neighboring tent city(there are hundreds of them) (we are in a new volunteer house, no tents for this team!), images from the church service this am, a lady in the neighborhood getting her water from the well water provided by this CBF camp, a little soccer game sprung us as soon as I brought out a soccer ball, and a hair salon as well for Donna and Gloria. Finally, the beautiful faces of "baby" and "Maxie".

We have fallen in love with the people of Haiti already. Pray for them, they have nothing but the hope that God provides. You can see the despair in their eyes, but they trust in God and they sing of His Love.

Bay Bay,
The Haiti team

Haiti: Hello From Grand Goave, Haiti

2010-07-18T13:16:00.001-07:00

We are all well. It is Sunday after lunch and a beautiful church service in God's presence under a canopy of blue and white tarps.

the service was well attended by over 100 local men women children and two goats. we were introduced and shared how blessed we felt to be in Haiti and to know they are our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. We sang, clapped and rejoiced in God's love and promise for better days for the Haitians.

They are troubled but hopeful and stand on a strong faith guided and fed by the Holy Spirit.

The countryside is beautiful but the devastation is enormous. Families are living anywhere they can and surviving on the absolute minimum.

We are staying in a newly constructed volunteer house(yea, no tents!). However, we had no electricity last night, and little water.

This pm we hope to visit some more of the area around Grand Goave but we just had a terrific rain shower with lots of wind.

Our team has bonded so well and we have all fallen in love with the people we have met(the children are sooooooo beautiful).

We worked a little yesterday, but will start building a metal frame house tomorrow.

We will try to send a few pictures as well

Bondye beni ou,

Your brothers and sisters on mission for HIM in Haiti

Dresses, Shirts and Shorts

2010-07-17T04:34:00.001-07:00

The dresses, shirts and shorts that were made by so many of the members at Winter Park have made it to India! Just take a look at these smiles and you decide if it has made a difference. The children began to dance and sing wearing their new clothes that were made with love just for them. You can learn more about the Agape Children's Home at http://agapefellowshiptrust.com

With Joy,
Tammy, Cokie and Jay

Haiti Mission Team

2010-07-16T07:05:00.001-07:00

We are set to begin our journey today. Jonathan Woods, Steve Rosser, Donna Hoehlein, Gloria Lee and myself are flying out of Myrtle Beach today at 5pm. We will arrive in Port-au-Prince tomorrow morning and make the 3+ hour trip to Grand Goave by truck where we will stay for the week. We are all anxious, excited and full of anticipation as to how God will use each of us to minister to the people we will meet and work with in Haiti. We are taking each one of you with us as we show them God's love, offer them a ray of hope and hopefully improve their life in some small "teaspoon's amount". We will try to go about doing good and put things to right.

We covet your continued prayers for our safety, strength, and success. We go knowing the Holy Spirit will fuel us and God is with us.

To God be the Glory.
Bondye beni ou(God Bless you)
Wesley Hunter,
<<HaitiTeamPicPreTrip 001.jpg>>

Journey IN India - 7/15

2010-07-15T05:13:00.001-07:00

"You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." 1 Peter 5:5

The way God teaches us a familiar scripture through new experiences reminds me that His word is living and breathing in our lives. I have had the chance to visit 2 of the 6 children's homes, the Urban India Ministry (UIM) offices, and a slum village.

During the visit to Missionary Children's Home, I was humbled by the simple living. While there, I talked to a 15year old boy living there. He was shy, but was willing to answer questions about school and things he liked to do and did so with a humble nature.

At the Agape Children's home, we were greeted by smiles and each one told me their name before I got through the door! They all sat in a circle as we told them about the cricket camp at the end of the month. Their faces lit up and they were very excited to hear that we would play together each day with children from the other homes. We then passed out the clothes
that ladies from Winter Park Baptist made. The oldest boy read the card included that had a message that God love them. They tried on the clothes and liked them very much! As we talked, they were sharing 3 of the boys had made up a dance and were not able to share it at school, so I ask them if they minded sharing it with us! The answer was YES! I was humbled by them sharing their gift of dance with us. The other children watched, smiled, and clapped at the end giving their "brothers" encouragement! Then the dance party broke out with some of the girls and the younger boys joining in! It made my heart smile.

In the village, we were privileged to meet one of the UIM staff members families and visit where he and his family lived. With my heart guarded a bit, I sat quietly (shocker, I know) and took in the experience. It was only after the visit that I realized the magnitude of their humble hospitality.

As you practice hospitality, may a humble spirit be in your hearts. Please continue to pray about consistent power. Also, pray for an upcoming health education program on July 24th and the Cricket camp for the children July 25th-30th. Thank you all for your love and support. Feel free to comment, I would love to hear from you!

His,
Tammy

Journey IN India

2010-07-11T05:19:00.001-07:00

"Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling." 1 Peter 4:9

So simple, yet it means so much. And why do we not practice it
more often? What seems like a calculated effort for me, comes
very natural to the people I have met here. From Jubilant helping
me at baggage claim to Cokie and Jay welcoming me into their
lives here to Jubilant's family cooking us a traditional Carolla meal
today. The hospitality was felt as soon as we drove up. Everyone
was so glad to see us, I never felt like a visitor. Immediately, I was
family. We ate off banana leaves, which acted as place mats and
plates. We had rice with several different vegetarian dishes. We
all ate with our fingers. There are pictures to show my students
that Ms. Pruden was eating with her fingers! The women served
us and the men first, then Cokie and I sat with the women as they
ate. I will have to admit that it was not easy at first to accept that
type of hospitality, but I knew it was a part of their culture. One of
the highlights was spending time with Jubilant and Roshni's 3 mo.
old baby girl! She is as sweet as can be! I had to pry her out of the
arms of Cokie (American grandma) to hold her. It was very special.

Backtrack:
Yesterday, after seeing their new house and having coffee, we had a
night out with some younger friends of Cokie and Jay. They took
the 6 of us out to dinner at Hard Rock Cafe- Bangalore. It was such
a fun time of fellowship with new friends! God has truly shown me
what authentic hospitality is.

Near future:
Tonight we are meeting with Phillip, who I will be help in organizing
the cricket camps for the children. Tomorrow we will be meeting
with some of the leaders from Urban Medical Missions. Through-
out this week, we will be visiting the children's homes, meeting
staff and the kids. I will also get the opportunity to meet the people
at Provision Asia who serve those with physical and mental handicaps.

Please pray about the electricity being more consistent so to keep the
battery backup full. It seems when there is a great deal of construction,
residential power is turned off in zones around the city. Bangalore likes
to do one thing at a time.

My challenge to you is to practice some hospitality this week. It means
more to those you serve than you may realize.

His,
Tammy

PS. My bags did arrive!!!

Journey IN India

2010-07-08T00:50:00.001-07:00

I have made it safely to India! Thank you all for your prayers for my traveling, I had no problems and all planes were on time! My luggage did not arrive in Bangalore
last night, but it will arrive in the next couple days! Jay and a friend named Jubilant picked me up at the airport! I was glad that Jubilant found the girl who had on
the brown jacket and neon green backpack! He helped me fill out the paperwork for the baggage claim!

I saw joy in some different ways throughout the journey here! I definitely felt the joy and peace of God throughout the trip. I saw joy in a husband who was bringing his wife who has MS from Canada to India for a surgery to help ease the symptoms of the disease. The joy and love in his eyes and the way he cared for her made me think of the way God sees us. It also represented for me how God calls us to act towards each other.

Jay and Cokie are doing well and have welcomed me with open arms. I already begun the process of meeting all of their friends and the dogs! Please pray for my jetlag and the upcoming sports camps with the children's homes!

His,
Tammy

JOURNEY TO INDIA

2010-07-06T10:11:00.001-07:00

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love."
1 Corinthians 16:13-14

While I wait for my flight to start this journey, I am filled with God's peace and love knowing He is the one who I will learn to lean on in new ways during this time. As I stay on guard and stand firm in my faith, I will take courage and find strength in God's love! And I intend on doing everything in His Love! I am taking you all with me as I go, thank you so much for your love and support!

His,
Tammy
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Pictures are worth a lot more than a Thousand Words -

2009-10-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday October 8th - Mexico Mission

2009-10-08T20:57:00.001-07:00

After a short night of rest for the weary our team went out the door EARLY (0615) to help serve breakfast to school children before their day begins. A small group of women at Zavala Ministries had fried bologna sandwiches with jalapino peppers. This Ministry started with a dream of now deceased Pastor Zavala and is being continued by his Daughter and Son-in-Law. - The dream and concept was that a child could not suceed in school without a healthy breakfast. This is the only decent meal many of these children receive on any given day. - These children, who have meager material possessions exhibited the same exemplery behavior and happiness as we have observed with the children of the families we have come into contact with.

We then proceeded to the work site of a different house that had been built four months ago. Due to cancellations of teams the roof had not been poured. - This was an extremely arduous task and the the temperature hovered in the 90s, but the obvious appreciation of the recipient family knowing that the major task required to move into their new home is now accomplished made us realize why we are here doing GOD's work. However: the highlight of the day was the dedication of the home we came to Reynosa to build. This was done in a worship service here at the Faith Ministry Compound.

Since this is our last night in Reynosa we had the Fiesta at the Faith Ministry Compound where we are staying. - This has been a tradition for Winter Park and other mission teams. - Approximately 60 people including 15 families attended. - After prayer the Mission Team prepared and served Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, chili, soda, chips, topped off with home cooked brownies. - This is a special occasion and the guest families and children dressed in their best attire. The idea of loving your neighbor as stated in Luke 10: vs 25-28 was evident this evening and all week and we all hope to follow this example in our daily lives in Wilmington.

Thank you for your continued prayers- Dios te bendiga,

October mission team

Wednesday was a Great Day - October 7

2009-10-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

We really did have a great day today with plenty of highs and a tough visit to the trash dump area seeing the "poorest of the poor".

There was so much friendly interaction with our coworkers, our amigo workers and the neighbors' children. In the morning, we played soccer in the dirt road street, we stretched a 12 X 12 across several cinder blocks and lined up coloring books with crayons for the area children to color. There was a little bit of dancing (didn't know Lynnette had those moves!). Then in the afternoon, we held a tremendous bible school at the Naranjito church. Renee and Pastor Castillo led the story time and then those beautiful children(and a few adults too) made all kinds of neat little crafts to remind them of the love of Jesus. My stained glass cross will always have a special place in my heart as it was colored by a very special and close amigo friend from my first year here.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention - we built a house today too! Our family is so loving and again today Karina(the Mother) fed the entire construction team. The floor and the ring was poured. All that is left are the final two courses of block, that David, George and Jan say they will do if we keep them in sweet tea and Key Lime Pie. We will pour a roof on another house tomorrow am and hopefully(if the weather permits)- finish our house.

We ended up the beautiful day we had with a visit to one of the main trash dump areas. Families live there in just deplorable conditions. We handed out a "survival kit" of a 10 liter bottle of drinking water, bags of beans and rice, a Bible in Spanish and toothpaste and toothbrushes. The 70-75 families were so appreciative. I really felt like God's servant even though it seems like such a small contribution to their constant struggles and impoverished lifestyle.

Tonight we held onto John 15:17 during our devotion time- God demands that we love each other. That really is pretty simple isn't it? It seems these wonderful people of Reynosa do a much better job of it than most of us do every day.

Dios te bendiga,

Wesley(el Presidente)

Mexico Mission Trip Oct 3-10 209

2009-10-06T21:37:00.001-07:00

Work is progressing well at the house. - We have gotten to know the recipients better. - The Mother (Karina) and her four children have come out to interact with the team. - Additionally Karina has prepared lunch for our team daily. - She prepared the meals over an open fire in her existing wooden shanty. This cost her a day of her husband's wages, but she reflects joy in her giving. - During the daily Church service conducted by the founder of Faith Ministries (Deantine Guerrera) he announced that 35 teams which were expected during 2009 had cancelled. - This of course meant that 35 families did not get homes this year. - When Karina heard that she wept realizing it could have been her that would not have gotten a home.

After work this afternoon we visited the Faith Ministry Health Clinic. - The Clinic is staffed by one Doctor and one Nurse. - The clinic operates five days a week and is only able to accept the first 35 walk-in patients (and we literally mean "walk-in") as many of the patients get up in the middle of the night to walk miles on long dusty roads in hopes of being one of the 35 who will be seen. - This is essentially a free clinic as most of the patients can not afford to pay, but NO ONE is turned away. - During the tour the Nurse advised that due to lack of funds to purchase common medicines (aspirin, etc.,) most of the patients who come in tomorrow will not be dispensed any medication for their ailments. - A visit to the on-site Pharmacy confirmed that fact. There was no doubt that GOD had placed this need in our laps. - Nurse Betty's eyes filled with tears when the team decided to contribute $200 to cover medication for the rest of this week. We were able to do this thanks to the donations of many Winter Park individuals and classes. - The Team feels that GOD has laid this portion of the ministry on their hearts to be an on-going project.

David Rodriguez (Director of Faith Ministries) stated in a sermon Monday "Take care of the possible and GOD will take care of the impossible". We are placing our desire to continue this project in GOD's hands and trusting HIM to lead us to do what seems impossible, but we know that "ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH CHRIST..."

Oct Mission Team alive and well

2009-10-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

We finally got an Internet connection here in Reynosa. - The Saturday early morning flight out of Wilmington to McAllen, TX via Atlanta, GA and Memphis, Tenn went smoothly. We attended Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen and were reenforced by the message that we are doing the Lord's work. - After taking care of all the Logistics (Food shopping, etc.,.) in McAllen we arrived in Reynosa Sunday afternoon. - We were immediately greeted by the children and they came rushing into the court yard when the gate was opened. - It was obvious that a connection had been well established in earlier trips by WPBC. - The ride into Reynosa opened everyone's eyes as we observed the poverty and minimal living conditions of the structures the Reynosa residents live in. - One of the first time team members was so shocked by the abject poverty that (he/she) was speechless.

After our prayer time we discussed what it means to the recipient of this home we are building. - It was noted that although Katrina victims lost almost everything prior the rebuilding effort that Reynosa residents literally had and have NOTHING so the home will be even more meaningful. - The first day of work went very well and we met the recipient of the home. - The home is being built for a family (Father, Mother and four children). - They had been told for many, many months that the Lord will provide them a home. - They were told two days before we arrived that the Lord had provided and their home would be built this week. - Psalm 37, vs 7 applies. "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him". The family knows that the Lord has provided them this home.

Reynosa,Mexico Mission Team

Reynosa August 2009 (Final)

2009-08-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends

We are at the airport in McAllen Texas after a wonderful week and emotional
goodbye. On Thursday we completed the concrete ring and had the dedication
for the house. Nora and all three of her children were there along with her
mother and stepfather Fernando. Fernando has a quiet but wonderful spirit.
He was on the jobsite every day allowing us to work, but stepping in to
correct our blocks as needed, but he always did so in a very unassuming
manner. The dedication involved a ceremony with the family receiving the
home and all of the workers (volunteers and those working for faith
ministry) who were involved in the construction of the home. We prayed for
the family and their safety in their new home.

That afternoon we did our second trip to the landfill. This area is where
the least of the least have squatted and set up home. Due to the generous
support of many friends and family we were able to drop off a total of 117
2.5 gallon bottles of purified water. We also had 100 dresses for the girls
and toys for the boys. We also finished handing out the rest of the
toothbrushes though the children definitely preferred the candy.

Friday we did our second roof and this was the home of Francisco. He is 17
years of age and is an extremely hard worker. His home backs on to another
area landfill and the steep slop up to the home presented a challenge. We
created a bucket line straight from where the concrete was being mixed so we
needed a lot more cooperation to get this done in a timely manner.

Friday ended with two fiestas. At lunch we helped celebrate Dentine
Geurerro¹s 70th birthday. Food was donated by the local community and there
was music and delicious grilled cactus to complement the chicken. It was
great to watch how our Mexican amigos plan a fiesta! In the evening we had
the American fiesta to thank all of the Amigos for their help. Everyone was
in attendance, including Juaqima and the entire family for whom we built a
home last year. The night ended with a piñata and all the ninos had a blast
with this. It really was a perfect way to end the night. The goodbyes were
tearful. We made many close connections and saying goodbye was very tough,
but tempered by the knowledge that we would see them again soon.

We would like to end our blog with a request. We met a family, Maria and her
two beautiful and sweet daughters Ana Alejandra who is 11 and 7 year old
Angela Sofia (see blog picture log). Maria has been volunteering for seven
years but her family has yet to receive a home because they have been unable
to obtain land. Angela Sofia has a degenerative condition that is resulting
in the loss of sight in her right eye. Her mother is deaf and also has
additional health problems. Maria works to keep her girls in school and this
has made it difficult for her to also raise enough funds for the land. We
are undertaking a drive to raise the money to do so and we would like your
help. If you are reading this and feel moved to help, please consider a
donation to Faith Ministry. Any amount will make a difference in this cause.
Please give your checks to any of the seven team members (Julian, Donna,
Johnnie, Don, Woody, Kelly or Len), and we will send all of the funds
together to be directed to this worthy cause.

If you have followed this blog, please let this be the beginning of the
journey rather than the end. With enough support this can be the start of a
new life for this family as well.

We look forward to seeing our friends and family, but our hearts will also
be with our amigos in Mexico.

Dios te bendiga! (God bless you!)

Reynosa August 2009

2009-08-13T05:25:00.001-07:00

Hola from Mexico. The travel to Mexico went well and without incident. We
had a peaceful night at Melody Lane that prepared us well for the start of
the journey. We have spent the first two days focusing on kindness, love for
our Mexican neighbors, and how to best bring this spirit back home. (It
always seems harder to do that.)
Today (Monday) we built the four walls and they seemed mostly straight :).
We would like to thank Steve for his parking lot demonstration of brick
laying before we left.
Today we also met the family for whom we are building the house. Nora, the
mother and head of the household is very sweet and an excellent cook, as she
treated us to lunch. She has three daughters and the youngest child is a
cute little boy. They were at the job site all day helping despite the heat.
We look forward to spending more time with them this week. We also enjoyed
seeing many familiar faces from last year, especially the children who enter
the church facility where we are staying at night. Tonight they started
playing basketball, but the real interest picked up when a big soccer game
broke out. The younger ones were painting ceramic figures with us, and the
most special painters were two little girls (Alicia and Leslie) who used
Woody (Jonathan Woods) as their canvas. (A picture of which should be on the
blog.)
Thank you for making us feel loved and supported from your emails. We are
looking forward to the opportunities to connect with our Amigos in love and
kindness tomorrow!

Dear Friends
The connections have been difficult so our blog is a bit behind.
We will update our last two days. Tuesday we completed the floor on our
house and we had the opportunity to tour the neighborhood. The children were
our guides and everyone was extremely welcoming. They did however, point out
that Mexico beat USA in soccer (plenty of viva Mexico! Chants).
Wednesday was a busy day as we did a roof and it was the hottest day (over
110). As the day wore on, the breaks got longer and everyone moved slower.
However, this did give us more time to speak to our Amigos on the job site.
After lunch we had vacation bible school with approximately 30 children in
the church. The pastor read Noah's ark to the children and we did arts and
crafts. All of the children appeared to very much enjoy the activities and
the attention.
The most moving part of the day was a visit to a nearby landfill where
many families have squatted. We handed out 50 2.5 gallon bottles of water,
toothbrushes and toothpaste donated by Jewell and Jewell dentists, and many
of the beautiful dresses made by the women of the church. Many of the little
girls who received the dresses ran off only to return seconds later sporting
those dresses. Of course we took several pictures of those little beauties
and they are posted on the web.
The day ended with a rousing game of basketball with the neighborhood
children in the compound and a walk around the neighborhood where Johnnie
held up the American end in a street soccer game (more chants of viva
Mexico!)
We are very much enjoying our time here, but we do miss our friends,
family, and home.

Love the team

Test

2009-08-13T03:20:00.001-07:00

Test email posting

Mike Womble
(sent from a mobile device)

2009-07-31T10:59:00.001-07:00

2009-07-31T10:58:00.001-07:00

2009-07-31T10:56:00.001-07:00

Hola from Mexico!!!

Apologies for not having blogged since Monday, we were locked out of the office here at the compound and therefore without a computer. This week has been extremely productive and a blessing to us all. The people we have met/reunited with have been absolutely wonderful. Our long-term volunteers were great translators until their departure to Reynosa on Wednesday.

As of today we have essentially built three houses. Monday we laid the ten courses of block on Lorenas house and have since poured the columns and ring and laid the final two courses of block on top of the ring. Lorena has two sons and a daughter. At the house of Nicholas, ten courses have also been laid and columns and ring have been poured. This house was a bit of a challenge due to its size and structure...there was an inner wall separating main living space from a baño - a bathroom. Still we had a great time working with our Mexican amigos and providing for a wonderful family. Nicholas has a wife named Romelia and a 3 year old son named Jesus. Today we laid the ten courses on Carmens house. Carmen has three sons.

Our devotions this week have been centered around materialism and the wealth of the United States compared with that of the rest of the world. We have discussed each others guilt at the way we live and the things we do, whether or not our spending habits are acceptable in the eyes of God. The excerpts from books and scripture we have read has helped us to better understand these issues.

For me, Mexico is a home away from home. It has truly been a blessing to be here with members of Winter Park who have become somewhat like my family. This group especially, because of size, has bonded. I have been able to get to know the personalities of each person here and to grow closer with them through our work and through the presence of God here. Sometimes when Im home, going to school or working, I get caught up in life - in the petty differences between others, in the insignificant little things that consume my existence. Here we are just people, with the bare necessities and the love of God to keep us going. And for all I can see, it is enough.

Thank you for those who came across our first blog or who were involved with the Mexico mission prior to our coming and who supported us through thoughts and prayer. The power of your faith is never to be underestimated and surely carried us through this week of high temperature and strenuous labor. God bless you all; see you soon!!!

2009-07-27T17:11:00.001-07:00

Greetings from Miguel Aleman!!!

We are having a fantastic week so far.

Today (Monday) we laid the 10 courses of block on our first house. The heat was pretty intense...at about 5 P.M. it was still about 102 degrees in the rooms here at the compound. Our group of 6 people worked extremely well with the volunteers and with Mexican helpers to finish our task.

We are sharing the compound with another group from Northern VA. With them are a husband and wife, dentist and assistant. They are running a dental clinic throughout this entire week. There is a Christian organization in the states that provides machinery for such efforts. They see around 15 patients per day. This will be very important to the people in the area as they otherwise would not have dental care.

Because of the speculated violence, the swine flu scare in the media, and possibly because of the current economic crisis in the United States, there have been only four teams this entire summer season in Miguel Aleman. These four teams, however, have been able to complete 14 houses, but there were many who were not able to receive their houses because of the 20+ cancellations this year. The atmosphere is unchanged...still the jolly mexicans, the long term volunteers. There arent many people around the compound because of the few teams that have been here this summer, but in the streets as we drive from jobsite to jobsite and to and from the compound, there is no difference in security or in social atmosphere. It is such a disappointment that so many teams have cancelled in the Mexicans time of need.

We will lay block for another house this week and will hopefully get the chance to pour two roofs. Please pray that the we have good health, cooler weather and a continued breeze as our jobsite is in direct sunlight. We are thankful that we are here and that God is using our hands and feet, our minds and bodies to minister to these people.

More Bancroft House Pictures 1-24-09

2009-01-26T18:12:00.000-08:00

Bancroft House Workday 1-24-09

2009-01-26T18:05:00.001-08:00

These are pictures from the workday at the Bancroft House on Saturday Jan. 24. Our community and college ministry moved into the house early in January after several months of renovations on the inside. We were able to make good progress on the most pressing outside needs on this day with the help of a seasoned and enthusiastic crew of volunteers. It drizzled off and on but we hardly noticed as we warmed to our task. The end result was a newly-framed roof for the front porch which will last many years, putting an end to the leaks that had damaged the interior of the house and the porch ceiling. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Steve

oct 9 2008

2008-10-09T21:06:00.001-07:00

The sun sets in Mexico and I write from the porch on the second floor of our compound here in Reynosa. A boy sits on the roof adjacent to the building I'm in and he writes something as well. Today was a very busy day, and though I can't record everything, I'll try to convey most of it as best I can.

This morning we left the compound at 6:30 to go to a ministry in Reynosa called Cavala. Each morning a group of women arrive between 4 and 4:30 in order to prepare breakfast for 60 children before they go to school. This morning before dawn we arrived outside the church compound, piled out of the van, and meandered toward the building among the groggy-eyed, quiet children. We had a short devotional with a reading and a song, then went into the "mess hall" where the meal was served. This morning the breakfast was spaghetti with meat sauce, served with jalapeno peppers and a choice of juice. Some of us poured, some of us scooped noodles, and others interacted with children, but all of us were met with smiling faces and "thank you's" all around. Light filled the room as the sun rose, and the noise level went up with it - the children had full bellies and were anxious to be off to school. Seeing a ministry participate in something as basic as providing breakfast for hungry children was truly wonderful, especially seeing the respect from the children to the women cooks and leaders.

Our work today was to complete the 2 rows of block on top of the ring, and to put a plaque on the wall with all our names for the recipient of the house, Betty. Each day at lunch time this week, Betty has brought some sort of food for us. Most of the time the Americans travel back to the compound to eat sandwiches and chips, and the Mexicans eat some of their own food as well as some of ours. This week, eating on the jobsite, sitting on cinderblocks or piles of boards beside our amigos was really important in the building of relationships between American and Mexican workers. After lunch, we came back to the compound for the church service held for the dedication of the house.

After lunch our group traveled back to the Cevala ministry to help with some jobs that needed to be done there. The men built tables while the women primed the stucco walls of four classrooms that were recently built on the roof of the compound's main building. There were a few children assisting us in our efforts to prime the walls. I venture to guess that the 2 boys were 7 and 10 and the girl was 7, as well. They were relatively quiet, but very lively in their paint-rolling - they plopped the sponges down in the deep ends of plastic paint trays, obviously so excited to paint that they bypassed rolling off some excess paint. The result - I've got primer in my hair, I've got primer enough to share, I've got primer here and there, I've got primer EVERYWHERE. I can't say that I didn't enjoy the experience - the children are more hard working and happy than any I've encountered. Upon finishing, 2 rooms had been primed from floor to ceiling.

After leaving Cevala, we went to the dump in Reynosa nearest our compound. The evening before, in preparation for our early morning, Donna and I made and bagged sandwiches for the 11 of us from the US, 20 worker amigos, and 25+ amigos from the dump. As we labeled the bags as such, the question arose of what to write on the bags with sandwiches designated for the people living at the dump. Donna suggested "Lake" instead of "Dump". My immediate thoughts surrounding "Lake" were these - green grass and people who were merely "less fortunate" than me. We could take them food, maybe share a few sandwiches on a red plaid blanket, laugh over Mexican soda and chips, and bade them farewell with blessings and wishes of good health. When I arrived at the dump this afternoon, all images of any normalcy vanished. My image of the meaning of "society" is now in shambles. Don't get me wrong - the cats and dogs still fought, the men played soccer, the donkeys brayed while towing a load, the women cackled, babies cried, and birds chirped, but all else was chaos.

The square mile or so that I envision to be the area that we refer to as the "dump" was a mess of roads, treacherously muddy under standing water from our mid-week rain, and a winding system of small ponds and "islands" - islands of flat muck where birds bearing the resemblance of herons were perched, even islands of land jutting out of the water like molded pieces of clay, suporting what appeared to be dwellings for humans. We drove down the aforementioned roads and handed out toys, cosmetics, toilitries, and large jugs of water. Almost immediately after we handed the first child a toy, we were surrounded - by friends of the first child, by friends of the friends, family of friends of friends, moms and grandmothers bartering with us, almost pleading in hopes of getting one more item for them or their children. It soon appeared that our plentiful supplies had dwindled to almost nothing. We barely had time to tell the people that the gifts were from God before they would reach to us and our bags for more. The street quickly became mobbed. The desperation, the tremendous need became apparent in these first few moments and encounters. What was most upsetting to me was the overwhelming feeling of helplessness. Yes, we came to a place that could very appropriately be called the armpit of the world, with gifts and supplies that will, for the short term, mean a lot to the children and people. For some who we touched, that meaning will be much more than the longevity of a toy or supply of water. Still, I couldn't seem to suppress the overwhelming sentiment that I was in a hell of sorts. Still, the children smiled and the thanks were plentiful. "Let go and let God"

Tomorow is our last day of work, and we are to pour a roof. It's the toughest job by far but involves a large bit of teamwork which always proves to be really great for any group. Thank you all for your prayers and support, from Lynchburg to Wilminton.

I end with an indirect quote from J. Tatom that I heard earlier this week and that came to me as I watched the children running up and down the streets in the dump - that is, to remember that the moon that you all see tonight is the same one that those children gaze at. We all live under the same sky, the same sun, the same moon, the same God.