Tia Outing

The girls at the Oasis live in homes with about 10 girls in each house. They are looked after by house parents called "Tias" (aunties) - these ladies are with the girls 24 hours a day - looking after them, helping them with their homework, cleaning and cooking for them. Thanks to generous donations from friends and family we were able to pay for these ladies to go out for they day. They chose to spend the day at the pool relaxing and having fun, and then enjoyed a nice meal on the way home. They were very grateful for this well deserved break!

Monday pictures

Sunday fun-day and then to work

After church we enjoyed a really fun time with the girls from the Oasis and even a visit from some of the girls from the Esther House. We had planned some relay games for the girls (shown in the pictures from yesterday’s post) and they had a blast! We enjoyed watching them, playing with them and just relaxing and visiting with them on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon!

This morning we awoke to a cool morning, anxious to meet with Doug Johnson, the Kids Alive construction manager, to learn what we were being asked to work on this week. His “wish list” included a lot of updates in the Bethany Center (which the first New Hope Church team poured the footings for in 2004!) such as the building and painting of cabinets and shelving, tearing down of a wall for the expansion of the kitchen pantry (originally built to hold food for serving meals to 40 girls; currently they are serving 105 people), building a wall to divide an office for the staff and the painting and designing of a mural portraying the core values of the ministry and painting of the main dining room. Doug shared that they are also creating a Tech. Center where the older girls will have the opportunity to learn life skills such as cooking, sewing and jewelry making that they can use to earn a living. This Tech. Center is in need of an electrical overhaul. So, it was time to divide and conquer. We made a lot of great progress today on each of the projects and expect to complete those and hopefully more, time permitting.

It’s been a great day. The team is getting along well and we are enjoying time with the sweet girls here. We thank you for your prayers. And we thank God for hearing and answering and being a God who heals.     

Four core values

We had a wonderful weekend together with our friends in Guatemala. Before church on Sunday we had some time with Corbey Dukes, the Field Director of Kids Alive Guatemala, who shared with us some general information about what’s going on with the ministry and some plans for the future. But there’s nothing “general” about what they are doing here. Day after day Corbey and his staff are dealing with the fall out of evil that has been forced upon innocent young girls who have been deeply and repeatedly traumatized. We were painfully reminded of the abuse the girls have endured and the long-term needs they have. He shared with us the four core values they work on with the girls on a regular basis:  1) I am God’s daughter.  Through Jesus Christ, 2) I am clean. 3) I have a purpose and value. 4) I have power, which gives me hope. It was so cool to hear him say, “God is a warrior!” There is healing and transformation happening here.

Prayer Request

Today was a great day but as with life, we had one of those hits we all take in life from time to time. One of our sponsored girls from the Oasis was in church today - at the ending of the service we had time to talk with her and she shared a real concern and prayer request. This girl was the first at the Oasis to have a boyfriend. The poor boy had to go through an inquisition to “date” this girl and most of their dates were here at the Oasis with some 60 plus other girls looking on! Now two years later, they have spoken of marriage as they now complete their schooling. We were told in the conversation with this girl that her boyfriend had fallen and had serious head injury. He has been in hospital for two weeks and we were told that he may not survive. In prior years this girl has shared that her favorite book of the Bible is Job. For this girl and many of these girls here, life has already dealt many blows, and for this girl now, another. Would you pray and ask God to help her stand strong and that God would heal in this situation. This hurts in many ways. However, we do know that God is faithful, God is good, God is caring, and He asks that we offer our requests to Him and in the process, we honor Him. Like any daddy, He loves us and will uphold in all circumstances. This gives us a great opportunity to pray and lift up to Him who is able. Will you join us tonight as we pray for this young man.

Sunday Pics

The power of The Gospel

This morning Pastor Pablo preached at Galilea church from Romans 1:16-17.

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for Jew and then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last."

It was a great message and perfect timing for the congregation that is planning an outreach event next Saturday - only God could have orchestrated this divine appointment. Thanks to Renae for an awesome job translating for us!

Saturday Pictures

Saturday Morning

Typical comments this morning included things such as "I wish I bought ear plugs", "Wow this place is beautiful", "Where's the coffee?" and "Aaahhh - it's good to be back!". The schedule for today includes team orientation, lunch and shopping in Antigua and then a BBQ with the staff and girls this evening. As we get ready for the day we are reminded of the beauty and variety of God's wonderful creation, we are blessed to be here and excited to see what God is going to do this week.

Please pray specifically for Pastor Pablo (one of our new team members) who will be preaching a Galilea church tomorrow morning and also for Kyle who is driving our van this week.

Safe Arrival

We touched down in Guatemala City right on time at 9:06 pm. We arrived safely at the Oasis around 11 after a pretty uneventful journey, all our luggage arrived with us. Off to bed now - buenas noches!