This week and next will be kind of strange in that we have a team from Trinity BC coming to serve half of this week with Eastside BC and half of next week with Bethel BC. It has really made the time go by fast, since instead of 7 days of normal schedule, everything changes after about 4 days and then again after 4 days, etc. It’s fun though. It does make it hard to remember who is on what team, however!
Mary’s daughter Teresa is here with the Trinity team. I know that Mary loves having her here. They look like twins and you rarely see one without the other following along. It’s very cute! Teresa is so sweet. I’m so glad to get to know her better.
We did the usual church service visits with teams. I know that the VOH church plants have loved having the teams come every week to share testimonies and messages.
Overall, this week the team did 6 church services, 9 fiestas, 1 conference, 4 feeding center visits and saw 464 people accept Christ. A couple of the team members stayed back for part of a day with illness, but were fine after a short while. The heat can take a toll on a body quickly.
I spent some quality time with the interns and we ate out a couple of times. I did a lot of emails and worked many hours on the feeding center sponsor tracking reports. I also got some time alone walking downtown and getting a haircut. It was a good week.
Everyone is getting tired as we have week after week. But it’s all good. We are happy to serve.
God has been talking to me in many ways and through many people. Some don’t even know that He is working through them at the time. He is faithful!
I’m excited to see what all He has planned for me in the near and far future. I love serving Him!!!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
July 13-20, 2013 Charleston AR team
The day started with prayer with the interns and some work on the team house. I got the chance to get some computer work done. I love it when it’s quiet! I even got a morning nap in!
The girls and I ran around town for a little bit. I took them to Pan y Paz French Bakery. They fell in love! We stopped in at La Unión and then got back to the team house to welcome the team later in the day.
My sweet friend Estefanie came over with her cousin form Costa Rica. José is one of my favorite people, even though I have only gotten to spend a few days with him. I was so happy to get to see him again!
Sunday was a day of worship and work. I also got to spend time talking with some friends and emailing a lot. What would we do without technology??!!
The team of 25 had a busy week of 10 worship services, 8 fiestas/street evangelism, 4 days of VBS, 2 feeding center visits, 5 days of construction and 358 salvations!! It was hot and tiring, but the team was great and enjoyed it very much!
I did my usual thing of helping Johana with feeding center stuff, doing the feeding center tracking on the computer, working on plans for the October teams (who are focusing on Women’s Ministry), eating out when I got the chance, doing laundry and just having a blast being here.
I’m still doing the Believing God Bible Study and am almost to the end. It has been so wonderful. The timing of when I could actually spend time on it was perfect for what I was going through on any given day. God is so faithful!
I bought my plane tickets for my return to Nica on Aug 29 and departure to the US on Dec 3. That’s a big chunk of change, but it’s better now that I fly less often and stay here longer.
One exciting thing that happened during the week was a frog jumped into my room! I’m so glad that a team member saw it happen and got that stinker out! I would have had a heart attack (literally) if I would have found it on my own. Oh my!!! I hate those things!
One of our workers (and new Pastor) Saturnino has a daughter who is very, very sick. She has had a problem with bleeding from a hemangioma since she was 4 years old. She is now 12. She was in the hospital again and the doctors say they can’t do anything more for her. She has had surgeries in the past. The hospital ran out of blood for her. German’s wife, Johana went to the hospital to give blood. We all have been praying for a miracle for her. Saturnino’s wife is pregnant now and I worry about her being so stressed over Ivania’s sickness. We really want to keep that family in our prayers. Saturnino said she is doing a little better and the doctors let her go home for now. Praying for a miracle!
Saturday was a day of flipping the rooms for the next team and resting a bit. I did get the chance to take the interns out for dinner. We are exploring different restaurants. I want them to have a blast while they are here and to see all of León that they can.
I finally got the time to call Deanna and check in with her. She is ready for me to get back ‘home’ to her house. I have to say that I have missed her very much! I can’t wait to get back to that sanctuary of love that she provides for me. It will be a quick visit of only 3 weeks, but it will be wonderful!
God is so good to take care of me. He has shown me so many things these past 2 months. Some have been very hard to endure, but He is faithful and has been right beside me (and before me and behind me and supporting me…) all along. I love Him so much!!
The girls and I ran around town for a little bit. I took them to Pan y Paz French Bakery. They fell in love! We stopped in at La Unión and then got back to the team house to welcome the team later in the day.
My sweet friend Estefanie came over with her cousin form Costa Rica. José is one of my favorite people, even though I have only gotten to spend a few days with him. I was so happy to get to see him again!
Sunday was a day of worship and work. I also got to spend time talking with some friends and emailing a lot. What would we do without technology??!!
The team of 25 had a busy week of 10 worship services, 8 fiestas/street evangelism, 4 days of VBS, 2 feeding center visits, 5 days of construction and 358 salvations!! It was hot and tiring, but the team was great and enjoyed it very much!
I did my usual thing of helping Johana with feeding center stuff, doing the feeding center tracking on the computer, working on plans for the October teams (who are focusing on Women’s Ministry), eating out when I got the chance, doing laundry and just having a blast being here.
I’m still doing the Believing God Bible Study and am almost to the end. It has been so wonderful. The timing of when I could actually spend time on it was perfect for what I was going through on any given day. God is so faithful!
I bought my plane tickets for my return to Nica on Aug 29 and departure to the US on Dec 3. That’s a big chunk of change, but it’s better now that I fly less often and stay here longer.
One exciting thing that happened during the week was a frog jumped into my room! I’m so glad that a team member saw it happen and got that stinker out! I would have had a heart attack (literally) if I would have found it on my own. Oh my!!! I hate those things!
One of our workers (and new Pastor) Saturnino has a daughter who is very, very sick. She has had a problem with bleeding from a hemangioma since she was 4 years old. She is now 12. She was in the hospital again and the doctors say they can’t do anything more for her. She has had surgeries in the past. The hospital ran out of blood for her. German’s wife, Johana went to the hospital to give blood. We all have been praying for a miracle for her. Saturnino’s wife is pregnant now and I worry about her being so stressed over Ivania’s sickness. We really want to keep that family in our prayers. Saturnino said she is doing a little better and the doctors let her go home for now. Praying for a miracle!
Saturday was a day of flipping the rooms for the next team and resting a bit. I did get the chance to take the interns out for dinner. We are exploring different restaurants. I want them to have a blast while they are here and to see all of León that they can.
I finally got the time to call Deanna and check in with her. She is ready for me to get back ‘home’ to her house. I have to say that I have missed her very much! I can’t wait to get back to that sanctuary of love that she provides for me. It will be a quick visit of only 3 weeks, but it will be wonderful!
God is so good to take care of me. He has shown me so many things these past 2 months. Some have been very hard to endure, but He is faithful and has been right beside me (and before me and behind me and supporting me…) all along. I love Him so much!!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
July 7-12, 2013 special team
Special Team
This week was very special with a few people from different churches coming and going and overlapping. It was a great change of pace!
We had Ralph, Connie and their son Seth, Buddy, Ashley and their son Cody, Joni and Stan, Lynn & Rusty, Lindsey, and the 3 interns from FBC Rogers. Some people were scheduled on different days due to cost of flights, some missed their flights and had to come a day later, etc. Cody even extended his ticket to stay an extra week as an intern!
It was a low key week as far as fiestas and even having a schedule written in, well, written at all. Lol we had a lovely week of fellowship, 7 fiestas/street evangelism events, 5 worship services, 5 feeding center visits, 5 days of construction, 2 clothing giveaways and 205 salvations.
On Friday afternoon, we dedicated the new house for Aracely’s family. It was a beautiful time. She was in tears the whole time. It was a 8 year plan for them and they had been buying materials brick by brick and putting the walls up as they could afford over the last 7 years. It was a huge blessing for them to see it all finished. While we were at their house, there was a strong downpour of rain. We could confirm that the roof was watertight! We had ridden in our school bus, so there was a couple of guys who thought we were the public transportation (which is old school buses). They got on and we took them back into León with us. It was a father and son both named Marvin. Rusty shared the Gospel with them and they accepted Christ right there on the ride back into town!
We went to worship service at Agusto Cesar Sandino church, which has the new Pastor Saturnino. The rain had quit and we had lovely music a cappella and also with Buddy playing his guitar. I loved the service. Then it was back to the team house for dinner.
During the week, Lindsey got to go with Johana and I to one of the feeding centers and take lots of pictures of the kids and see the feeding center from cooking to serving. The kids loved her blonde hair. She is so pretty and they called her Barbie.
All in all, it was a wonderful week and we had lots of fun serving and being blessed by the crazy schedule and lovely atmosphere. I love it when God takes our plans and makes them His!!! After all, HE’s the one who has it all figured out! We just get in his way sometimes! But He is patient and forgiving. Love Him!!!
This week was very special with a few people from different churches coming and going and overlapping. It was a great change of pace!
We had Ralph, Connie and their son Seth, Buddy, Ashley and their son Cody, Joni and Stan, Lynn & Rusty, Lindsey, and the 3 interns from FBC Rogers. Some people were scheduled on different days due to cost of flights, some missed their flights and had to come a day later, etc. Cody even extended his ticket to stay an extra week as an intern!
It was a low key week as far as fiestas and even having a schedule written in, well, written at all. Lol we had a lovely week of fellowship, 7 fiestas/street evangelism events, 5 worship services, 5 feeding center visits, 5 days of construction, 2 clothing giveaways and 205 salvations.
On Friday afternoon, we dedicated the new house for Aracely’s family. It was a beautiful time. She was in tears the whole time. It was a 8 year plan for them and they had been buying materials brick by brick and putting the walls up as they could afford over the last 7 years. It was a huge blessing for them to see it all finished. While we were at their house, there was a strong downpour of rain. We could confirm that the roof was watertight! We had ridden in our school bus, so there was a couple of guys who thought we were the public transportation (which is old school buses). They got on and we took them back into León with us. It was a father and son both named Marvin. Rusty shared the Gospel with them and they accepted Christ right there on the ride back into town!
We went to worship service at Agusto Cesar Sandino church, which has the new Pastor Saturnino. The rain had quit and we had lovely music a cappella and also with Buddy playing his guitar. I loved the service. Then it was back to the team house for dinner.
During the week, Lindsey got to go with Johana and I to one of the feeding centers and take lots of pictures of the kids and see the feeding center from cooking to serving. The kids loved her blonde hair. She is so pretty and they called her Barbie.
All in all, it was a wonderful week and we had lots of fun serving and being blessed by the crazy schedule and lovely atmosphere. I love it when God takes our plans and makes them His!!! After all, HE’s the one who has it all figured out! We just get in his way sometimes! But He is patient and forgiving. Love Him!!!
June 29- July 6, 2013 Highland BC
Highland Baptist Church, New Iberia LA
This is one of my all time favorite teams. I just love this church. You can feel such a peace and unity in the teams when they come here. I can only imagine how sweet the atmosphere is at their church in LA.
One of the friends I met through NYC is the Youth Pastor and it’s always so wonderful to see him. God has networked people and churches through all of us and it’s fun to see how connected we all are when we get a glimpse of the big picture of God’s plans. How enormous His plans are and how they would blow our minds if we are shown too much at a time! Lol
This week was fun. There were 30 on the team plus Nick as an intern. Tori came on Monday to be an intern for 2 weeks, so she joined the mix starting on Tues. There were 11 church services, 8 fiestas/street evangelism events, 4 days of VBS, a pastor’s conference, 3 feeding center visits and 4 days of construction. There were a total of 602 salvations for the week.
Everyone had a great time serving together and there was a lot of sharing and worshiping at the team house at night. The team went to the volcano to zip line for their fun day. They got back in time for a late dinner of pizza after shopping.
I was busy going with Johana to work on cleaning up some files for the feeding centers and also helped Lesly with team grocery shopping and errands. I had a ton of computer work to do and kept very busy myself.
It was hard to say goodbye to Nick. He did get to meet the 3 new interns coming from FBC Rogers AR (my home church) and he was sad not to get to stay and work with them. But after 5 weeks, he needed to get back home. He is really missed, though!
It was a lovely week and I was very blessed.
This is one of my all time favorite teams. I just love this church. You can feel such a peace and unity in the teams when they come here. I can only imagine how sweet the atmosphere is at their church in LA.
One of the friends I met through NYC is the Youth Pastor and it’s always so wonderful to see him. God has networked people and churches through all of us and it’s fun to see how connected we all are when we get a glimpse of the big picture of God’s plans. How enormous His plans are and how they would blow our minds if we are shown too much at a time! Lol
This week was fun. There were 30 on the team plus Nick as an intern. Tori came on Monday to be an intern for 2 weeks, so she joined the mix starting on Tues. There were 11 church services, 8 fiestas/street evangelism events, 4 days of VBS, a pastor’s conference, 3 feeding center visits and 4 days of construction. There were a total of 602 salvations for the week.
Everyone had a great time serving together and there was a lot of sharing and worshiping at the team house at night. The team went to the volcano to zip line for their fun day. They got back in time for a late dinner of pizza after shopping.
I was busy going with Johana to work on cleaning up some files for the feeding centers and also helped Lesly with team grocery shopping and errands. I had a ton of computer work to do and kept very busy myself.
It was hard to say goodbye to Nick. He did get to meet the 3 new interns coming from FBC Rogers AR (my home church) and he was sad not to get to stay and work with them. But after 5 weeks, he needed to get back home. He is really missed, though!
It was a lovely week and I was very blessed.
June 22-28, 2013 Crosslife Church
Crosslife Church from El Dorado AR is one of our long-time supporters. They brought the biggest team that we have had so far. 59 people came and we were busting at the seams, but we made it work! Building 5 new showers, toilet, sink units helped with the extra people. We had people everywhere!
Counting the interns, VOH staff, translators, drivers, etc., the ladies were cooking for over 120 servings per meal. It was crazy! The washing dishes seemed never ending. Refilling the freezer with water bottles was a 3 time a day chore. Keeping the large water bottles on the dispensers was a multiple times a day event, too. It was a challenge, but it was great!
There were 12 church services, 15 fiestas/street evangelism events, 4 school visits, 2 days of VBS, 5 feeding center visits, 3 days of dentistry for 74 people and 5 days of construction (the support poles and roof were put on the church at ACS). There were 1,356 salvations that week! It was a very busy and fruitful week!
The interns were hustling like crazy, but it was good to be back at the team house for every meal. We snuck away a couple of times for some free time and devotions and sharing. I so enjoyed this group of interns! While the team went on a fun day, I took the interns downtown and we had a blast. We hit the coffee shop a lot. I don’t usually drink coffee, even though I love it, but I think I had 3 mochaccinos that week! Lol
It was fun and a wonderful blessing to have this team here. It’s always fun to see people who have been here before, especially when they are friends on facebook!
6 of the interns left with the team on Saturday. Only Nick is left for one more week to work with his home church who arrived Saturday night. I started missing Calen, Fred, Rachel, Adam, Kyle and Morgan before they even got out of León! I pray for them and wish them the very best that God has in store for them!
God blesses me with friends from all over the place! He is so sweet to me!
Counting the interns, VOH staff, translators, drivers, etc., the ladies were cooking for over 120 servings per meal. It was crazy! The washing dishes seemed never ending. Refilling the freezer with water bottles was a 3 time a day chore. Keeping the large water bottles on the dispensers was a multiple times a day event, too. It was a challenge, but it was great!
There were 12 church services, 15 fiestas/street evangelism events, 4 school visits, 2 days of VBS, 5 feeding center visits, 3 days of dentistry for 74 people and 5 days of construction (the support poles and roof were put on the church at ACS). There were 1,356 salvations that week! It was a very busy and fruitful week!
The interns were hustling like crazy, but it was good to be back at the team house for every meal. We snuck away a couple of times for some free time and devotions and sharing. I so enjoyed this group of interns! While the team went on a fun day, I took the interns downtown and we had a blast. We hit the coffee shop a lot. I don’t usually drink coffee, even though I love it, but I think I had 3 mochaccinos that week! Lol
It was fun and a wonderful blessing to have this team here. It’s always fun to see people who have been here before, especially when they are friends on facebook!
6 of the interns left with the team on Saturday. Only Nick is left for one more week to work with his home church who arrived Saturday night. I started missing Calen, Fred, Rachel, Adam, Kyle and Morgan before they even got out of León! I pray for them and wish them the very best that God has in store for them!
God blesses me with friends from all over the place! He is so sweet to me!
June 15-21, 2013 Three churches
Crusade in Telica
This week was special in the that we had 3 different churches represented, 2 for the first time here. Central Baptist Church of Jonesboro AR, Victory Way Baptist of VA and Shenandoah Heights Baptist Church of VA. There were 42 total team members, plus the 7 interns.
There were 5 church services, 16 fiestas/street evangelism events, 8 school visits, 3 conferences, 5 feeding center visits, 3 crusade services, 7 radio/tv broadcasts and 4 days of construction! There was a total of 1,526 salvations for the week!
We had people coming and going everywhere! It was very exciting!
I got the blessing of going with the women to the Women’s Conference one morning. It was fun to get to bond a little bit with some of the ladies on the team. Also, the host church was very welcoming. We had a raffle and gave away some nice body lotions and stuff. Then the grand prize was a bicycle! The lady who won it was soooo happy! For here in Nica, that’s like winning a car!
There was a little bit of sickness for a couple of people and I stayed back at the team house instead of going to the crusade a couple of nights to watch over them. I even got the blessing of cleaning up one person’s dinner after he made it ‘to’ the bathroom, but not to the commode! A missionary has to be ready for everything!
I helped Lesly with grocery buying and other errands as needed. After the team would leave for ministry, I would help clean up after them and fill the freezer with water bottles, fill the coke box, etc. Also, with everyone gone, I could get good internet signal, so I got a lot of work done on the computer.
I got the chance to run and get a quick haircut one afternoon. I got a little yucky stomach myself for a few days, but a few doses of Cipro knocks that right out!
It was fun to have this team here. It seems like the weeks go by soooo fast. But it’s a blessing every week for us!
This week was special in the that we had 3 different churches represented, 2 for the first time here. Central Baptist Church of Jonesboro AR, Victory Way Baptist of VA and Shenandoah Heights Baptist Church of VA. There were 42 total team members, plus the 7 interns.
There were 5 church services, 16 fiestas/street evangelism events, 8 school visits, 3 conferences, 5 feeding center visits, 3 crusade services, 7 radio/tv broadcasts and 4 days of construction! There was a total of 1,526 salvations for the week!
We had people coming and going everywhere! It was very exciting!
I got the blessing of going with the women to the Women’s Conference one morning. It was fun to get to bond a little bit with some of the ladies on the team. Also, the host church was very welcoming. We had a raffle and gave away some nice body lotions and stuff. Then the grand prize was a bicycle! The lady who won it was soooo happy! For here in Nica, that’s like winning a car!
There was a little bit of sickness for a couple of people and I stayed back at the team house instead of going to the crusade a couple of nights to watch over them. I even got the blessing of cleaning up one person’s dinner after he made it ‘to’ the bathroom, but not to the commode! A missionary has to be ready for everything!
I helped Lesly with grocery buying and other errands as needed. After the team would leave for ministry, I would help clean up after them and fill the freezer with water bottles, fill the coke box, etc. Also, with everyone gone, I could get good internet signal, so I got a lot of work done on the computer.
I got the chance to run and get a quick haircut one afternoon. I got a little yucky stomach myself for a few days, but a few doses of Cipro knocks that right out!
It was fun to have this team here. It seems like the weeks go by soooo fast. But it’s a blessing every week for us!
June 9-14, 2013 Ronnie Hill Crusade
Ronnie Hill Crusade in Chinandega
Ronnie always brings a team made up of people from different churches who come together here to work hard for the week. It’s interesting for us to see the dynamics of the team. We are used to teams where everyone knows each other (usually from the same church). It’s really fun to see everyone coming together as one big team.
A Ronnie Hill week is one of the most busy that we have all year. The team goes morning, afternoon and evening every day. There is very little ‘down’ time. Since the ministry area was in Chinandega (about an hour away), the team left right after breakfast with supplies for many Fiestas, school visits, conferences, tv & radio spots, as well as street evangelism. Lunch was prepared here at the team house and delivered to the team at a church in Chinandega. Dinner was delivered the same way. Then the team stayed for the evening’s crusade services.
The team was tired each night, but very excited to see what God was doing in Chinandega. On a few nights, a few of the team members needed to stay back to rest. I liked getting to spend time with them one-on-one.
The Interns were awesome! They not only prepared all of the ministry supplies each night, they also served the meals and cleaned up after. Then when they got back to the team house, they put all the dinner stuff away. In addition to all of that, they also washed dishes after breakfast and manned the VOH store when the team was on the premises and managed to be sweet and cheerful! They didn’t get hardly any rest at all. I called them Ninjas and each morning we would have a prayer together to cover them for the hard day’s work. (At the end we did some Ninja chops with our hands, just because I’m silly and like to have fun!)
The Interns and I managed to cover our 4 weeks devotion lessons over 3 weeks of the month of July. I truly loved having those times together with them. They encouraged me so much. We had lovely share time. God blessed me with those wonderful young people!
Anyway… back to the crusade week. There were 37 people on the team and 7 interns. 17 churches services were attended, plus 3 crusade services. There were 32 fiestas/street evangelism events, 16 school visits, 3 conferences, 2 feeding center visits and 7 radio/tv broadcasts. There were a total of 3,547 salvations that week. What an awesome week!
God blessed the team, the ministry, the churches and the people of Chinandega beyond measure! He is Awesome!
Ronnie always brings a team made up of people from different churches who come together here to work hard for the week. It’s interesting for us to see the dynamics of the team. We are used to teams where everyone knows each other (usually from the same church). It’s really fun to see everyone coming together as one big team.
A Ronnie Hill week is one of the most busy that we have all year. The team goes morning, afternoon and evening every day. There is very little ‘down’ time. Since the ministry area was in Chinandega (about an hour away), the team left right after breakfast with supplies for many Fiestas, school visits, conferences, tv & radio spots, as well as street evangelism. Lunch was prepared here at the team house and delivered to the team at a church in Chinandega. Dinner was delivered the same way. Then the team stayed for the evening’s crusade services.
The team was tired each night, but very excited to see what God was doing in Chinandega. On a few nights, a few of the team members needed to stay back to rest. I liked getting to spend time with them one-on-one.
The Interns were awesome! They not only prepared all of the ministry supplies each night, they also served the meals and cleaned up after. Then when they got back to the team house, they put all the dinner stuff away. In addition to all of that, they also washed dishes after breakfast and manned the VOH store when the team was on the premises and managed to be sweet and cheerful! They didn’t get hardly any rest at all. I called them Ninjas and each morning we would have a prayer together to cover them for the hard day’s work. (At the end we did some Ninja chops with our hands, just because I’m silly and like to have fun!)
The Interns and I managed to cover our 4 weeks devotion lessons over 3 weeks of the month of July. I truly loved having those times together with them. They encouraged me so much. We had lovely share time. God blessed me with those wonderful young people!
Anyway… back to the crusade week. There were 37 people on the team and 7 interns. 17 churches services were attended, plus 3 crusade services. There were 32 fiestas/street evangelism events, 16 school visits, 3 conferences, 2 feeding center visits and 7 radio/tv broadcasts. There were a total of 3,547 salvations that week. What an awesome week!
God blessed the team, the ministry, the churches and the people of Chinandega beyond measure! He is Awesome!
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