Leaving for Guatemala

We are excited to leave for Guatemala tomorrow...

Thank you for your support in the following areas:

1. Praise God we are fully funded.
2. Thank you for all the wonderful items that were donated for us to take with us.
3. We value your continued prayer support.

We are planning to update this blog daily so check back often for trip updates!

Connecting with the local church

One of our goals this year is to try and connect more with the local churches. We will be doing this in a number of ways:

1. Attending Galilea church on one Sunday and Nazaret church on the other
2. Partnering with the Galilea church by focusing our construction efforts on the school in the remote village of Zapote
3. Hosting a picnic at the Oasis on Sunday afternoon for families from the Nazaret church
4. Planning  a work day at Nazaret church on Saturday with men from the church (instead of a team day trip)
5. Purchasing a projector for the church in Zapote so they can host movie nights for the community

Please pray that our efforts are successful and that good relations would be build between New Hope Church, Kids Alive, the Nazaret church and the Galilea church for the glory and advancement of God's Kingdom!

Team Picture

Jon, Randy, Kory, Tim O, Chris, Kyle, Dan

Tim B, Lisa, Neil, Ken, Doug, Sandy, Dave

2014 Trip

Our next trip to Guatemala is scheduled for February 28 - March 10, 2014. Flights have been booked, deposits paid to Kids Alive and fund raising is well underway! We are meeting regularly as a team and already starting to bond and grow together. If you would like to contribute financially to the trip please contact Tim Bodkin. The best way you can support us is to pray - see prayer requests to the right!

Supporters Lunch

You are invited to join us on Sunday, April 14 at 12:30 pm right after church in Family Center B to see a video, hear testimonies and give prayers of thanksgiving for the trip. Please RSVP to one of the team members you supported.

Safely Home

After some minor flight delays the team arrived home safely late last night (actually early this morning). It was a great week, God is doing an amazing work in the lives of the girls there - thanks for your prayers!

Retreat and Bonfire with the girls

Today was a day of teamwork. We started the morning preparing for the half day retreat, getting rooms ready for crafts, teaching, games and prayer. Every person had a part to play and the staff at the Oasis were ready for the translation part. We had the girls split into four groups, and each group had one of our team members and a missionary to translate, each group then rotated from one station to another. The day was a blast, and so much energy and joy went into it.

Dave helping with the craft

Kyle helping with the flower pots

Tony and Sandy teach

Randy and Cory playing games

The girls praying

Doug helping write and draw on the canvas

Cory and Greg demonstrate a game!

Making the craft

The team singing to the girls

Finished prayer room

A place of peace

We finished off the day with a bonfire, singing songs and roasting marshmallows. We had an amazing day, and the girls thoroughly enjoyed it.

Today was our final day of construction to finish projects for the week. After finishing the block work on the guard house. We cleaned out the inside, and removed a lot of dirt for the concrete floor to be installed by future teams coming down.

Hand dug 6 - 7 cubic yards of dirt.

Had some tough roots to pull out also.

Cabinets were finished, painted, and installed in the multi purpose building. The team also made up some much needed hangers for the team rooms.

New cabinets going up in Bethany Center

Lisa Adding new Murals

The prayer room was finished in the Fountain of Peace building. This will be a wonderful place to pray and be one with The Lord, for the girls and also the staff here at the Oasis.
We then got to enjoy a lot of time playing and talking with the girls as we were getting ready for our dinner with the girls at the Ester house.  The girls at the Ester house are the Independence program girls. They are 18 and older, and learning to live on their own to ready themselves for life after the Oasis. Earlier in the week they had invited us over for dinner, and we could not say no.

This was the first time the girls had invited a team for dinner.

Josh and Susan Ma were our team hosts.

 They prepared for us a nice meal of Lasagna, salad, and fruit. To finish it off they had made a Carrot cake to celebrate the Birthdays of Kyle and Lisa. It was the best meal of the week. The highlight for me was Tony doing our nightly devotions after dinner. Not only doing it for us, but also in Spanish for the girls, kind of a two for one. A magnificent job by Tony. Thanks.

The Independence Girls showing great hospitality. 

Tomorrow we have our retreat with the girls, and we are really looking forward to the lessons we can help teach about The Lord. We will have prayer sessions, games, crafts, and a great time learning the Word of God.  This has been another successful year down here at the Oasis. Not only the work we have done on the grounds, but the work we do with our relationships to the girls and the staff at the Oasis.

Mark

Thursday Morning at The Oasis

We woke up this morning to a foggy start. It is still beautiful in Guatemala, even in the fog! We started the day with  team devotions and then breakfast....a yummy skillet, (at least I say it was, because I was the cook!). Then we broke off into our work groups: Block layers, cabinet makers, painters, and Prayer Chapel remodel.

Tim with Domingo finishing top course.

Randy demonstrating proper trowel handling technique.

The block layers finished laying all the block today for the guard house. They will finish that project up tomorrow by digging out about three inches of dirt from the floor to level out the ground, so then the cement floor can be poured next week.

Dave helping with custom cabinets.

The cabinet makers and painters worked together to get all the cabinets painted and assembled so that they can be installed into two offices tomorrow. The two offices also got their walls freshly painted. Lisa will be adding some small mural details to each office tomorrow.

Cabinet Master Dan cutting shelves.

Extreme Make-over underway.

The Prayer Chapel remodel is coming along well. The walls got a fresh painting. The rooms got cleaned. The murals are finished and the sewing has begun. Tomorrow will be a day like those last hours of Home Makeover making sure all the final details are done before the reveal....can't wait to see it all come together.

Off to school.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner in Antigua as a team hosting the missionaries to say thank you for all they do for the girls, staff and especially the girls at the Oasis. What an amazing team of missionaries who serve Christ so well. Another shout out to this wonderful team God has put together to minister to the girls here at the Oasis.

Tomorrow is our final work day here at the Oasis. We thank you in advance for your continued prayers for good health, stamina, and team unity. May God be glorified and praised for His goodness to us!

Adios,
Kyle  

Day 5 - Construction continues & devotions with the girls

Day five started quietly saying adios to the cheerful girls as they headed to school for the day. We began our work day with a quick project update in the Bodega (tool garage) as we needed to switch a few team members jobs around.  Several are not feeling well as we seem to be experiencing some issues with illness. We would cherish your prayers for us in this specific area. 

Much was still accomplished today,despite the down team members with more  painting rooms in the multipurpose building, more block work for a new guard shack, cabinet building and special work on a prayer chapel. 

Each day we see more and more of why God has led us to this place, the Oasis. The Girls... God is working in the hearts of these sweet precious ones, and we get to see His work first hand. What a gift it is to encounter the joy, the smiles and the healing that goes on here that is transforming lives forever.

We stopped work a little early tonight to join the girls, Tia's and staff for their weekly Oasis community devotion time. We started with a few worship songs, with a few of the younger girls, along with missionaries Josh and wife Susan, leading us. Then it was time for the Tia's to share Character quality "sightings" that occurred with the girls this week. It was great to see how proud the girls were, (and even some of the team members who sponsor one of the girls!),when their name was mentioned by their Tia praising them for being kind, servant-hearted, or helpful. These are qualities they are always trying to teach and re-enforce. Then missionary Addie got up and shared the memory verse that they were going to memorize for the next week. It was Romans 5:1. Addie went on to give a small devotional as to what it meant. Then the girls broke out into their small groups to begin the memorization...amazing how quickly these girls learn! It is so great how important scripture memorization is here at the Oasis. Thanks missionary Jenny for interpreting for us gringos!   
    

Cory the painter...

Kyle's new find, see the smile.

Dave takes a moment to help out

Tony... thinking...

Yes, Randy can paint and he's good too...

Tim talking things over with Doug's wife Sara

Sweet songs from the girls

The block guys, Mark & Doug 

Precious time with the girls...

Josh our leader and his wife Susan.

Good Night, Doug & Kyle