Picnic and fun day for the girls

We had a great Saturday here at the Oasis. It started out at lunch where we BBQ'd hot dogs and hamburgers for the girls and the Tia's. It went really well except for the charcoal did not quite want to start so the meal was delayed about fifteen minutes. The girls still loved the food.

 Afterward we all played games with Randy the Game Master. Some of the games we played were with balloons which went all over the place because of the wind. We also did a number of relay races and "Steal the Bacon", which the girls had a lot of fun with.

Dennis closed out the games by praying for the group. Then we had a rousing game of soccer where five of the guys played against the girls. Some of the girls had pity for us and played on our side. It was a very fun afternoon.

For lunch we fed them, for dinner they fed us. We had a typical Guatemala dinner that the girls normally have. Xochitl and I went to the Purple House, which is the same house that I have been to for the past four years. It was nice to have Xochitl there to help cross the language barrier. We talked about what they were going to be doing in the future and about what it was like at home in Minnesota. The evening ended with the Tia asking to say a prayer for us, after which, Xochitl prayed for the girls. To finish off the day our team closed with recap and devotions.

~Dan

We arrived safely. Thanks for your prayers!

Buenas Noches!

After standing in long lines at the Minneapolis airport with only twenty minutes to make it to our terminal, a few instances of heavy turbulence, we made it successfully to Guatemala. All our baggage arrived and there were minimal issues with customs. Our KAG Team Hosts, Matt and Nora, were waiting there for us and gave the team our first look at the newest member of their family, baby Eva.

Unloading our gear and supplies upon arrival. 

Meeting Matt & Nora's new baby, Eva.

 After we loaded up the fifteen passenger van with our baggage we started making the hour plus drive through traffic towards San Lucas.The familiar smells and sounds of Guatemala (Dust, vehicle exhaust, honking horns, wood fires) started to present themselves. We are always impressed with the way Matt and Nora are able to maneuver through what most of us would consider extreme and aggressive driving conditions.

The girls are always willing to take us on in soccer or basketball.

Arriving at the Oasis we quickly downloaded our bags and sorted our personal belongings from the tools and equipment. The girls where still in their houses when we arrived finishing up a Bible class or one of the their counseling sessions. Most of the girls were out and about after our team received a orientation brief from Matt on some of the changes to the KAG program. There were hugs and laughs as the girls greeted us and we started the process of getting to know some of the girls for the first time. A few of the team played basketball with the girls while a couple of the Oasis staff went over the weekly projects.

After the girls returned to their houses for the night, the team sat down for a dinner of corn and rice, mixed with a beef and potato stew.  For devotions we discussed Christ's mission for the poor, oppressed, and afflicted. There was insightful dialog and a renewed commitment to be on the alert in our daily lives for instances to 'do onto the least of these".

After a very early flight this morning, we are looking forward to a good nights sleep...That is if the dogs and roosters don't keep us up all night.

Caleb


P.S. Team member Xochitl Cachon's father was admitted into the hospital just hours before we left Minnesota. Please pray for him and his doctors as he is fighting both pneumonia and influenza. Pray for Xochitl as she shoulders this burden from down here in Guatemala. Thank you.

And we're off!

T-minus 6 hours and counting. Our 5AM departure is approaching fast. Thanks to God that we should get out between snow storms without any flight delays. We hope.

We were able to gather together at church this evening to share pizza and prayer with our families. What a sweet time of fellowship and anticipation together. Afterwards we loaded up many of the items we're bringing down to the staff and missionaries at The Oasis. Thanks to your generous support, we were able to buy badly needed replacement tools and supplies they can't get in Guatemala easily. We filled up at least a half dozen extra suit cases.

Please pray for traveling mercies and safety on our flights down there and also on the roads in Guatemala. With little to no traffic laws or enforcement, we covet your prayers for us in this area.

Lord willing, we'll have an update for you once we're settled in at The Oasis late Friday.
Thanks friends!

Ever-Onward!

2019 Service Team Preparing to Go.

We want to thank all of you who are adding us to your prayer lists and who have donated to make this years mission possible. Through many of you, the Team is now fully funded as we come down the home stretch of the next 2 weeks before we depart. We praise God for His provision!

The 2019 New Hope Team is:
Front L to R: Tim Oberg, Jerry Hoffman, Xochitl Cachon, Randy Moselle, Dennis Briones, Neil Johnson.
Back Row L to R: Caleb Oberg, Greg Stoesz, Dan Sandberg, Kory Koehler, Chris Shedd.

Please continue to pray for our Spiritual and Physical protection, Team Unity, Safe travels, Proper attitudes, Strong connections with whoever we meet, Opportunities to share Jesus' love, Openness to God working in our lives, Deeper relationships with all we contact.

We value your prayer support and have seen how important it is while we are down there serving.
Stay tuned to this blog as we will be reporting daily events, projects, and ongoing prayer requests.

Gracias Friends!

Sunday - goodbyes / travel / home...

Ending our week…Blessed!

Our week’s work is finished and as always, the construction work we do is secondary to the relationships we share with our brothers and sisters in Christ and the kids at the Oasis as well as the Source of Hope school in Zapote. We are encouraged to see the ministry here growing and adding support staff to help bring healing to these girls who have had their souls shattered by horrible abuse. They come to the Oasis broken, feeling worthless, angry, and alone.

But that is not the end of the story.

Bringing the reality of the love of Jesus to these girls, the missionaries, therapists and social workers here are breaking through the hardness the enemy has sown in their lives. We are seeing traumatized girls learn of their identity in Christ, and that they are precious to Him. By reminding them that they are also precious to us, we receive a great blessing in the love that is shared between us.

Thank you again for your support and prayers for our health and safety. This was one of the first years in a long time that no one on the Team came down sick at all during our time there. We could feel your prayers.  Continue to pray with us for healing for these girls, as well as strength, patience, and protection for the missionaries and staff at The Oasis as they do the tough day-to-day work with these precious lives. 

Thank you!

Tim

“The New Hope Team with Matt & Nora Vos, team liaisons and drivers, along with Janie Dukes, wife of Field Director Corbey Dukes.”

Saturday - rest / reflection / prayer

The team traveled to the pacific coast for a day of rest, reflection and prayer. What a week we’ve had… This time was quite welcomed by all. We gathered several times during the day as a team to reflect and share about our time in here in Guatemala. Such a sweet time recalling the many special times with the girls, a meal in their homes, soccer games, playing catch or just talking. It was great remembering how God is using the Oasis for His good work. Our construction work almost seems to pale in comparison to these times. We had much to praise God for and to pray for, as each of us had unique experiences to share.

Doug

Friday - Our last day :( what an AMAZING week

Great verse for the day: Verse Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and acknowledge Him and he will direct your path. We started our day as we watched the volcano Fuego puff up a cloud of ash as it does so regularly and with many morning greetings as the girls pass by. Devos were sweet as we embraced our last work day. 

The week started with many projects we were going to do and were wondering if we could get to them them all. Each of us desired to get as much done as we could prior to cleaning up all the tools and materials that were around each of the work areas. The painting and sheet rocking at the Bethany house or multi-purpose building needed a lot of cleaning following the wall building and painting. The Bodega was full of wood dust and material scraps from the many cabinets that were built. Every tool and leftover material needed to be brought back to the Bodega. The day was a bit of a fever pitch as we wrapped up. God has been gracious to us and we have completed many of these projects.   

Construction wise we completed four new offices, finished sanding and painting several other offices, built custom storage benches for each, built a large new work surface / storage table and especially spent precious with the girls. There were as every day, sweet interactions with the girls as they went about their days. Hugs were frequent and brief conversations with our struggling Spanish as we talked with them and greeted many throughout the day. Looking back over the week we played soccer with the girls, just simple hola’s and lots of high fives. These were our favorite times…  Friday evening we got a chance to reflect on the week to share with each other on our time there and the interactions / God sightings and special moments. It’s been an amazing week…

Dan

Saludos desde Guatemala (Hello from Guatemala)

Hi everyone, today is our sixth day in Guatemala and like all the other days we have seen God at work in not only our lives but the lives of the girls here at the Oasis. Every morning we meet in the team room with everyone having breakfast. I would like to point out that Cory has been a blessing to the team by making eggs for whoever wants some. Thank you Cory! We started off with our team devotion reading Matthew 6:25-34 with God’s Word reminding us not to be anxious. Not to be anxious about whatever we may be going thru, about our families back home, about the girls here at the Oasis or the boys and girls in Zapote. We are to come to God first, trust Him and live by faith. After devotions it’s off to work we go. I’ve had the privilege of working with Dan every day. He is a great leader and an expert at what he does. The Missionaries office needed a table with storage space on the bottom so today we worked on creating storage cabinets. Our goal is to finish and install them tomorrow morning. Others from the team worked on painting the therapy rooms for the girls while others are finishing up more offices. We took our lunch break at 1:45pm. We look forward to having lunch every day because we get to spend time with the girls, laughing with them and getting to know them a little more. The fact that I speak Spanish has been such a blessing. The girls love joking with me and ask me how to say things in English. It was such a surprise to them to know that I speak both English and Spanish. One of them said to me that she’d like to be able to speak both languages one day. After lunch the girls get to go on their walk around the campus and we all get to go back to work. We finished working at 5pm and some of us went for a walk to Chicamen while the other stayed behind and played soccer with the girls. The visit to Chicamen is a yearly tradition. Tim loves taking pictures of children and families in the community and every year he brings them the photo he took of them the past year. The families are so thankful and enjoy seeing how much their kids have grown. A sweet 3 year old named Hugo came running as we left and gave me a beautiful red flower. What a cutie <3. It’s so neat to see how the community is so welcoming and loving despite of the language barrier and different race. The people that live around Oasis are very poor economically but rich in hospitality. After our walk the team had a short time to rest and mingle. The guys were playing with a walking stick insect. It was neat to see it but of course from far. We met for dinner and Randy shared a devotional with the team that left us with the questions that Jesus asked Simon Peter; “Do you love me?” Jn. 21:15. We pray that our answer will always be, “Yes Lord, I love you”. We finished of our day by  having brownies with vanilla ice cream on top. Thank you Tim for being such a great baker, it was yummy! I hope this gives you a glimpse of our day. Please continue to pray for us as we finish the physical work here at Oasis and the spiritual work with the girls. Please pray that God continue to shine His love on the girls and that we as a team won’t miss those divine appointments He has prepared for us to share with them. 

Thank you for you prayers.

Xochitl.

Wednesday... What a day!

Today half our team went to the remote village of Zapote while the other half remained at the Oasis. The Oasis team continued on with the tasks of hanging drywall, taping and mudding, as well as applying additional coats of paint.  The primary focus of the Zapote team was to tackle small maintenance projects, and the major task of getting photographs of all 220 kids at the KAG Source of Hope school. All the photos were taken by Tim with the help of Dennis, Xochitl, and Pam as crowd control.  The photos are used by Kids Alive for sponsorship of the kids in Zapote. Meaghen De Aku (Burge) is the KAG missionary located in Zapote and she gave the team a tour and update of the school as well as around the village.  She introduced us to Jorge, who was a student of the first class to graduate from the school and is first generation in his family to pursue higher education.  He received his degree in Physical Education and is now the PE coach at the school. 

After finishing the tasks at the school, the team made their way through the village to the church Iglesia Galilea (which is a church plant from the one in San Lucas by the same name). This was the location of the school prior to the completion of the new site around 2010.  We spoke with pastor and he shared the amazing Church growth that continues to take place in spite of the pagan influence in the village.  He also showed us their a new food initiative that helps to grow fresh vegetables and tilapia for the community. 

Tim was able to distribute pictures to families whom he took pictures of in previous years.  The joy and smiles on their faces for this seemingly simple gesture helps one understand what true gratitude is.  One family that received these pictures includes a boy that has been featured in a previous KAG video. His name is Elmer and on top of all the other maladies shared amongst the children of Zapote he suffers from epilepsy.  His mother informed us that he ran out of the little medication that the government provides them and has been going without for quite some time.  Any commotion by his surroundings has the potential to set off his life threatening seizures.  Thankfully God provides and a medical team will be visiting in a few weeks on their six month rotation and hopefully they will be able to provide him with a six month or more supply of his medication.  There are many kids in Zepote that need sponsorship, so if you feel lead, please visit the Kids Alive Guatemala homepage. 

At the end of the day the New Hope Church team was able to attend group devotions and service with the girls of the Oasis and their house moms.  The service included a departure of one of the house moms, which always leaves many feeling a little melancholy. Sharing in praise songs lead by the girls was also very encouraging because we were able to the passion they have for God and their faith.  Some of the girls shared how they recognized the values they are all being taught in there housemates this week.  Korby, the KAG site lead, facilitated the devotions afterword reinforcing those values.

It was a good day! 

~Caleb

Tuesday

1 Peter 4:10,  Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Colossians 4:5-6, Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

The words that come to mind as I think back on this day are Service and Presence (in the moment).

The girls we interact with at the Oasis have experienced what no child should ever experience. Their stories of neglect and abuse are unimaginable to most of us. Interactions with mothers as young as eleven or twelve years old are confounding to the mind. Yet the Lord’s presence here is palpable. He is at work. He is evident. He is present. You can feel and experience the Lord’s presence and action here at the Oasis like nowhere else in life. It is a blessing to be able to come here and serve. This place has a way of distilling what is important and focusing you in the moment. This is the day that the Lord has made…and this is a place where you can focus on his creation. It is also a place where you can use whatever gifts we have received to truly serve others.

This morning started out with huge cinnamon rolls brought by one of the missionaries…and if that isn’t a great way to start a day, I don’t know what is!

It was a day of continued work in the Bethany Center; painting walls, building the walls for four new offices, building benches, sanding, mudding and taping. But the greatest work was done in the middle of the day, sharing an hour of lunch with the girls. Hearing them laugh, making them laugh, hugging them, high-fiving them, listening to them and generally trying to help them to understand that they matter to us. That they are important. That they are worthy of the time and the attention. That we are present here with them because they deserve our presence.

After the regular day of work at The Oasis was completed, we were blessed with the opportunity to serve one of the husband-and-wife missionary teams. On Monday we found out that the couple had rented a new home and that they were going to be moving this week. It was really a joy to be able to surprise them with the offer of moving them. To the best of my knowledge, “Two Men and a Truck” doesn’t operate in Guatemala…but thirteen missionaries and three trucks can get a couple people moved very quickly! It was really fun to see them into their new home and it was heartwarming to hear their sincere thanks for the effort. The work these folks do in Guatemala day-in, day-out week-in, week-out, all year around is amazing. To be able to assist them in a small way was a blessing to us.

With the moving, dinner came a little later than normal and was accompanied by Doug Johnson giving us his testimony about a life in missions, topped off with the last sixteen years serving at Kids Alive Guatemala. Truly an inspiring story from a Man of God.

Great end to another great day here in Guatemala.

Chris