Got a letter from Time Ministries yesterday...

Once again I got caught up in daily life commitments and I missed something BIG that I had been praying for. Dulce Refugio opened it's doors last year! Praise God!
Here is more info...
http://www.timeministries.org/pdfs/dulce2007aug.pdf

Last day....

~This was our last day and Sammy and I finished the mural at Dulce. A group of kids that Mamo has a kids' club with came to see Dulce. There were about 40 little kids that came and sang and prayed while we worked. It was amazing to see these sweet kids and think about the kids that would soon be living inside this house.
~After lunch we went to another orphanage. This one had babies and that was very hard on me. I painted their nails and I loved on them. There was a baby girl the same age as Karlee. There was also a little girl named, “Kendall” there. We took this as a sign from God. We had been praying for a clear answer about whether we should adopt a child or not. I couldn't quit crying when we left the babies. There was a baby boy that had only been there 2 days and wouldn't quit crying. Sammy held him the entire time and he finally calmed down. She let him finger paint on her arms. Also, the men were painting these little 3 and 4 year old girl's nails. It was so touching. When we went to leave there were several boys that were hanging on the gate and wouldn't let us close it . They were crying and begging us not to leave.

day 3

~On the third day we went back to Dulce and worked on the mural some more.
~That afternoon we went back to the orphanage and played with the kids again. I taught some of the kids how to make balloon animals. (Who knew that was a gift that God could use?) This time there was a little boy there who sat by me and played and he gave me a necklace he had made. Also, a really powerful thing happened and that these kids prayed for us. It was unbelievable. One little girl buried her head on Shirley's shoulder and wept.
~That night we were headed out to another park in a really poor area of town and it started raining. It wouldn't stop and it was getting late so, we drove around the neighborhood and prayed for the people there.

Day 2

~On the second day I got to paint a mural on the wall of the orphanage, Dulce Refugio. There was no access to paint so, I had to be creative and I used colored Sharpie markers. We had 3 colors of paint (white, green, and blue). I asked one of the teens that came with us if she wanted to help me paint. We worked until after lunch. The guys dug a ditch for the front gate and fence.
~That afternoon we went to a place called, “Horse Tail Falls”. It was so beautiful. And after dinner we went into town to look around.

~New notes... a year later...

I have to share that when I first became a Christian I prayed that God would give me Christian girlfriends. One of the first Christian girlfriends I had was, Leah. She invested so much time into me. She is a talented artist and she had made her boys a train table with a painted top. I was so impressed with it that she offered to help me paint the table that Lee built for our kids. She taught me the Sharpie marker trick.

Who would have ever known that God would use that "skill" years later in Mexico?

I look at things like that sometimes and marvel at how the details of everyday life and of our everyday walk with Him can be used in unexpected ways. It was an awesome feeling when we finished that mural and I thought to myself, "Thank you, God, that you showed me I do have gifts you can use." My biggest fear before we left was that I would be "dead weight". I'm not talented, or gifted, or special. I can't sing, play guitar, or speak Spanish. I'm a stay-at-home mama. I haven't been a Christian very long. I don't know all the books of the Bible or half the stories my kids come home from Sunday school with.... I am learning all about God with them!

Leah is still one of my very closest friends and I watch her walk with God closely to see where He's taking her... I know I can follow her because she follows the example of Christ.

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ..." 1 Corinthians 11:1

Abuela's House

~That night we went to this really poor area of town to Abuela's House. It's really just a shack about 10' x 20' next to a dump. She lives there with her 10 grandchildren. There is a 4 month old baby there that didn't have a name. When Mamo asked what his name was Abuela asked him, “What's your name?” And so they named the baby, “Mamo”. The first time they went to the shack the baby was drinking rotten milk. They have no electricity to refrigerate the milk and no money for powdered formula. Across from her shack was a soccer field and a basketball court. We walked in two groups up and down the streets and invited people to come to the park. There were about 50 kids that came. Some of the children had visible head lice and were wearing little to no clothing that was filthy rags. There was one little baby about 2 years old who was wearing nothing but a pair of muddy underwear. We got him some shoes and his mom found him a shirt and and I put a little pair of overalls on him. We gave them clothing and stuffed animals and used shoes. We gave the gospel presentation and 3 ladies prayed to receive Christ. Lee and I played this game with these kids and they were having a blast. We gave out stickers and candy.

~Notes... a year later...

I remember being amazed that people actually came to our presentation. When we pulled up and they told us what we were doing I was very skeptical. But we quickly learned the Spanish phrase we needed to say to invite the people to the field. When we got back one of the men on the team had pulled the van seats out to form a little seating area. I was amazed with the number of people who came. I mean they just stopped whatever they were doing and came to hear what we had to say. Also, earlier in the day when I was washing the donated clothing to pass out I remember thinking that I wasn't sure anyone would want any of it. It was old, dated, and had holes and stuff. But the people needed it so badly. They were very happy that we gave them what we had. I had never seen true poverty before that day and they told us this wasn't the worse area they had ministered to.

Day 1

~Monday night I was feeling very afraid and doubtful that God could use me on this mission trip. I prayed that God would show me my gifts and that I would not be afraid. The first morning when we there some of the ladies stayed behind and organized the massive amounts of donations for Dulce. I washed used shoes, stuffed animals, and clothing. I told Lee that I got to use my spiritual “gifts” (laundry and organizing) the first day! We met Amy, who is the director for Time's orphan ministry, and her mom, Shirley, was here and I felt an immediate connection to both women.

~That afternoon we visited our first orphanage. There was a little girl named Lesly who sort of latched onto me and I painted her face and we did crafts together. She was 10 years old. The saddest thing about this orphanage is that the week we came most of the kids' parents had taken them for a week of vacation. The parents have the kids there because they can't afford to keep them. The kids that we visited did not have parents to take them or had parents that were in jail or didn't want them. It was a huge blessing that we came this week to play and love on the kids.

~New reflections... a year later...

I remember being afraid of not knowing any of the team before we left. It's funny to me now because I learned at the end of the trip last year that you really grow much closer, much faster to the people you serve God with. Also, I learned that it really isn't about me anyway...

One of the ladies that I met on the trip, Debbie, has become a very good friend and Lee & I had the privilege of being references for their upcoming adoption. And the man that led the team, John, is married to Rhonda, who went on the China GO trip.

I also noticed that the kids here in Mexico were more "standoffish" than the kids in China. I wonder if they were less trusting of adults because their parents come in and out of their lives.

Monterrey, Mexico

I found my notes from last year's mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico. We went to work on Dulce Refugio Children's Home and spend time with kids in the orphanages there. It was our first mission trip and it gave us a real passion and desire to serve God in orphan ministry.