well i have just said goodbye to the kiddos and the ladies at hannahs hope and it was so sad. i really bonded with several of the kiddos, especially the 5 and 6 year old boys. i have some really cute photos of them, and me with them. i can´t wait to share my photos with everyone!!
we are getting ready to gather and hear marvins testimony, so i will try to film as much of it as i can before my battery runs out...or i run out of tape. i hear he tends to go on and on and on....but it is all great from what i understand. he used to be a gangster, and now he is on fire for our God. he is really helping tons of people who live down in the limonada (the ghetto) to learn who God is, and to come to a relationship with him. i got the chance to talk one on one with ashley today and told her that i´d like to help someday down there.....she teaches english down there, and they want to put in a compter lab and try to teach them out to use the internet and computers so that they might get some skills and maybe be able to find jobs. it is so sad though...most people down there can not find jobs simply because they live in the limonada......which is so sad. they cannot get a job, so they canot make any money, so they cannot get out of the limonada, and cannot better themselves. also, practically no one can get a job anywhere in guatemala if they have a tatoo, and it is especially hard for the gangsters...since they are covered with them. hannahs hope does not use that practice and they did hire a girl with a tatoo, but it was a gangster tatoo and the other ladies who worked there were intimidated by the tatoo so they had to fire her. it is really sad....
also, marvin said that they really need clothes down there. i am going to find out how much it would be for me to ship clothes to ashlee at hannahs hope and have her take them down to marvin. so, that is a mission that anyone who feels led to can donate towards. i want to send stuff, but it might be a bit pricy by the time i fill a box with clothes, so once i estimate the price, i will let everyone know and if anyone wants to donate anything, a dollar, 5 dollars, whatever, i will try to get some clothes down there for them in the limonada...
i guess i should go for now.
Amy's Beat
I groove to the beat of my own drums!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
more from Guatemala
hello everyone...mike said you are wondering if i am going to blog again, so here i am . sorry that i have not been on here much, but i have had such long days, and have been so exhausted by the time i have gotten back to the hotel.
the other day we took our bus, then a boat, then rode in the back of a small truck, standing up, crammed in there.....and finally ended up where the mudslide victims live. it was so sad to see all of the damage. i met one kiddo, probably around 10, whos mom and dad were both killed in the mudslide and he has really bad scars on his back and legs where he was injured. it was so sad....
we gave them toys and candy and supplies...soap, toothpaste and brushes etc. they were so greatful for them. the kiddos are so sweet also. i had some just walk up to me, smile at me, and wrap their arms around me. it cant get much better than that!! these kids are dirty, and have who knows what on their skin and hair,but i cannot help but to just hug them and love on them.
we drove to several different locations throughout the mudslide area, and it was so cool....as we were riding in the truck, anytime we saw kids we would throw candy out, and they would just laugh and run to the candy. sometimes they would chase us..it was just too cute. i got some of that on film......they were all so happy. that is what is just so amazing. they dont have hardly anything, they don´t even know when they will have the next meal, or what it might consist of, yet they are so content and full of life! they are hungery and thirsty for Christ though, and fortunately, Ashlee, our guide for the week, is really working with them a lot to teach them, and help them to know Jesus. i will tal more about her and the other people i have met later on.
we did have a bad thing happen yesterday, but God is great and things worked out fine, where it could have been anything from great frustrations to even a tragedy. let me try to explain quickly, because my time is almost up.
first, ashlee is an american, she is 20 and has been working down here with the hannahs hope orphange for 2 years now....more on her later, but she is awesome. i have thought several times this week that i wish i could do what she does. so her mom is here this week also, and will be taking home a 12 year old girl from the orphanage next week that they have adopted, and soon will also take home a 5 year old little boy. anyway we went on this trip to the mudslide victims and to another orphange that i will talk about later...but on our trip back to the city yesterday we were over 2 hours into the trip and ashlee´s mom realized that she left her wallet, with money, credit cards and passport at one of our stops to photo scenery! she was devastated...ashlee and two of the guys who have been hanging with us gathered over 100 bucks (to buy back the stuff from whoever found it) and took busses and hitched back to find it. everything here is worth money...so they figured they would need a bribe to get the stuff back....well long story short, the locals who found it were very honest, but thier mistake was that they turned it into some police to came buy, and the police are very corrupt here....ashlee and the guys found the police and they at first said they did not have it, and then that they did, but took them about 30 mins out into the country before they woudl give it to them. they could have killed all three of them and kept the stuff....but, the two guys, elmer and marvin are ex gangsters...they were able to intimidate the police and they finally gave the stuff back. money was missing....but all else was there...praise God for her getting her passport and praise God for them getting back safely....i can give more details in person but i am out of time
thanks for all of your alls nice words to me about what i am doing...but give that praise to God...ok? i am doing it for Him....and His glory!!!
praise be to God!
love to you all!!! i miss home and my Mike and babies....and all else too!!!!
the other day we took our bus, then a boat, then rode in the back of a small truck, standing up, crammed in there.....and finally ended up where the mudslide victims live. it was so sad to see all of the damage. i met one kiddo, probably around 10, whos mom and dad were both killed in the mudslide and he has really bad scars on his back and legs where he was injured. it was so sad....
we gave them toys and candy and supplies...soap, toothpaste and brushes etc. they were so greatful for them. the kiddos are so sweet also. i had some just walk up to me, smile at me, and wrap their arms around me. it cant get much better than that!! these kids are dirty, and have who knows what on their skin and hair,but i cannot help but to just hug them and love on them.
we drove to several different locations throughout the mudslide area, and it was so cool....as we were riding in the truck, anytime we saw kids we would throw candy out, and they would just laugh and run to the candy. sometimes they would chase us..it was just too cute. i got some of that on film......they were all so happy. that is what is just so amazing. they dont have hardly anything, they don´t even know when they will have the next meal, or what it might consist of, yet they are so content and full of life! they are hungery and thirsty for Christ though, and fortunately, Ashlee, our guide for the week, is really working with them a lot to teach them, and help them to know Jesus. i will tal more about her and the other people i have met later on.
we did have a bad thing happen yesterday, but God is great and things worked out fine, where it could have been anything from great frustrations to even a tragedy. let me try to explain quickly, because my time is almost up.
first, ashlee is an american, she is 20 and has been working down here with the hannahs hope orphange for 2 years now....more on her later, but she is awesome. i have thought several times this week that i wish i could do what she does. so her mom is here this week also, and will be taking home a 12 year old girl from the orphanage next week that they have adopted, and soon will also take home a 5 year old little boy. anyway we went on this trip to the mudslide victims and to another orphange that i will talk about later...but on our trip back to the city yesterday we were over 2 hours into the trip and ashlee´s mom realized that she left her wallet, with money, credit cards and passport at one of our stops to photo scenery! she was devastated...ashlee and two of the guys who have been hanging with us gathered over 100 bucks (to buy back the stuff from whoever found it) and took busses and hitched back to find it. everything here is worth money...so they figured they would need a bribe to get the stuff back....well long story short, the locals who found it were very honest, but thier mistake was that they turned it into some police to came buy, and the police are very corrupt here....ashlee and the guys found the police and they at first said they did not have it, and then that they did, but took them about 30 mins out into the country before they woudl give it to them. they could have killed all three of them and kept the stuff....but, the two guys, elmer and marvin are ex gangsters...they were able to intimidate the police and they finally gave the stuff back. money was missing....but all else was there...praise God for her getting her passport and praise God for them getting back safely....i can give more details in person but i am out of time
thanks for all of your alls nice words to me about what i am doing...but give that praise to God...ok? i am doing it for Him....and His glory!!!
praise be to God!
love to you all!!! i miss home and my Mike and babies....and all else too!!!!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
i figured it out
well, i figured out how to make the @ symbal...you have to hit the alt key, and then 6 and 4, on the number pad, so strange.
forgive the poor grammar and punctuation, but i do not have much time and as i said before, this keyboard is very weird, and if i try to slow down to type correctly, i will run out of time.
hannah´s hope orphanage is awesome. they do a wonderful job there with the kiddos. there are 120 babies, and they are all supposed to go to homes but the paperwork is not done yet. with the problems now in guatemala, it may be a while, or never. the older kids, 2 up are pretty much stuck in the system unless they have an adoption started on them already, unless the country gets back on board with adoptions. they have to get some certifications updated...huge mess here.
we went to the ghetto today........this was the real ghetto. words canot really describe it, and i cannot post photos from here, but you will see them soon. we handed out 150 plus bibles, toys, candy, etc, and it was the bibles that they were chasing us down to ask for. it was awesome. we also had a bunch of tracts so those that did not get bibles at least got that. there was one man who had received a tract and we passed him for a second time and he was reading it and crying. we all went to him and talked to him through one of our locals friends who can sort of speak english and from what we can tell he received christ today. it was awesome.....
those people live there, with hardly anything, yet they are so happy! it is awesome. i am sure there is danger down there, but if given the chance, i´d stay down there for a few days straight if i could. the looks on their faces when we gave them stuff was priceless! they TRUELY appreciated it. and they also just really loved the fact that we went there for them.
we also went into the dump today. there are lots of people who live down there..whole families. the dump is actualy secured by a guard, and we tried and tried to get him to let us in...i believe there was even the talk of money changing hands, and they still would not let us in. then someone told us about another spot where we could get in, sort of, and the people came flocking to us. we had this huge, and i mean huge basket of bread that we had purchased....hand made bread from someone in the ghetto that we had paid the day before to make. the bread as still warm. we gave that out to the people in the dump, and we also had more bibles for them...and it was so cool. they were more hungry for the word of God than for the bread! we were out of bibles in no time..then we just took the bread and some tracts and continued to feed their physical bodies, and hopefuly they will spread about the bibles and their spiritual bodies will be fed as well. there were whole familes living there.....kids were dirty, but again, happy!
at one point we were in zone 3, will explan more about that later, but zone 3 is the most dangerous. that is where they dump is. we were in our tour bus and we had to get into a small van...i think there were 16 in there! it was bottoming out on the speedbumps. we ask why we had to get in there and it was because the closer we got to the dump, if the people could see our white faces in the tour bus, they could possibly follow and surround us and rob us..so we were in the tiny van, with tinted windows...it was all surreal....the bribing, arguing, stares, etc. oh and we are gringas...white americans...that is what they call us
um...sorry for the rambling but i just want to get this on here as fast as i can, and i have so much to say!
i did get my luggage back this afternoon..i am finally wearing clean clothes!! actually, i did have a clean shirt each day..one that someone let me borrow and two that one of the ladies insisted on buying me in the market yesterday. the group that i am with are all great...they are crazy, in love with the lord, and a lot of fun. the more tired we get, the more crazy it gets! ha!
we have been hanging with some people who live in the ghetto...marvin, wife ingrid, son alexandro, and elmer. elmer used to be a part of the ms13 gang, and if you have ever heard of them as i have before i came here, you will know that the only way out of that gang is death or going to prision....well everyone in his gang was killed at one point and he was the only survivor....that was his out, at the time he did not want out, was looking for a new gang to get with and then through an awesome experience he found the lord..and i can tell you that later. i am running out of time........he has an ms 13 tattoo on his chest and he can never let anyone see it or he would likely be killed if the wrong person found out. also, if a man or woman in this country has a tatoo at all they can not get a job, or if they lie and are found out they get fired. and sometimes they can be ask to strip just so that their boss can look for a tatoo if they are mad at them and want a reason to fire them!
i have to run...sorry........tomorrow we are going to aide some mudslide victims.......
love you all!! oh, and i do not have time to proof read this..........so, you are getting it raw!
forgive the poor grammar and punctuation, but i do not have much time and as i said before, this keyboard is very weird, and if i try to slow down to type correctly, i will run out of time.
hannah´s hope orphanage is awesome. they do a wonderful job there with the kiddos. there are 120 babies, and they are all supposed to go to homes but the paperwork is not done yet. with the problems now in guatemala, it may be a while, or never. the older kids, 2 up are pretty much stuck in the system unless they have an adoption started on them already, unless the country gets back on board with adoptions. they have to get some certifications updated...huge mess here.
we went to the ghetto today........this was the real ghetto. words canot really describe it, and i cannot post photos from here, but you will see them soon. we handed out 150 plus bibles, toys, candy, etc, and it was the bibles that they were chasing us down to ask for. it was awesome. we also had a bunch of tracts so those that did not get bibles at least got that. there was one man who had received a tract and we passed him for a second time and he was reading it and crying. we all went to him and talked to him through one of our locals friends who can sort of speak english and from what we can tell he received christ today. it was awesome.....
those people live there, with hardly anything, yet they are so happy! it is awesome. i am sure there is danger down there, but if given the chance, i´d stay down there for a few days straight if i could. the looks on their faces when we gave them stuff was priceless! they TRUELY appreciated it. and they also just really loved the fact that we went there for them.
we also went into the dump today. there are lots of people who live down there..whole families. the dump is actualy secured by a guard, and we tried and tried to get him to let us in...i believe there was even the talk of money changing hands, and they still would not let us in. then someone told us about another spot where we could get in, sort of, and the people came flocking to us. we had this huge, and i mean huge basket of bread that we had purchased....hand made bread from someone in the ghetto that we had paid the day before to make. the bread as still warm. we gave that out to the people in the dump, and we also had more bibles for them...and it was so cool. they were more hungry for the word of God than for the bread! we were out of bibles in no time..then we just took the bread and some tracts and continued to feed their physical bodies, and hopefuly they will spread about the bibles and their spiritual bodies will be fed as well. there were whole familes living there.....kids were dirty, but again, happy!
at one point we were in zone 3, will explan more about that later, but zone 3 is the most dangerous. that is where they dump is. we were in our tour bus and we had to get into a small van...i think there were 16 in there! it was bottoming out on the speedbumps. we ask why we had to get in there and it was because the closer we got to the dump, if the people could see our white faces in the tour bus, they could possibly follow and surround us and rob us..so we were in the tiny van, with tinted windows...it was all surreal....the bribing, arguing, stares, etc. oh and we are gringas...white americans...that is what they call us
um...sorry for the rambling but i just want to get this on here as fast as i can, and i have so much to say!
i did get my luggage back this afternoon..i am finally wearing clean clothes!! actually, i did have a clean shirt each day..one that someone let me borrow and two that one of the ladies insisted on buying me in the market yesterday. the group that i am with are all great...they are crazy, in love with the lord, and a lot of fun. the more tired we get, the more crazy it gets! ha!
we have been hanging with some people who live in the ghetto...marvin, wife ingrid, son alexandro, and elmer. elmer used to be a part of the ms13 gang, and if you have ever heard of them as i have before i came here, you will know that the only way out of that gang is death or going to prision....well everyone in his gang was killed at one point and he was the only survivor....that was his out, at the time he did not want out, was looking for a new gang to get with and then through an awesome experience he found the lord..and i can tell you that later. i am running out of time........he has an ms 13 tattoo on his chest and he can never let anyone see it or he would likely be killed if the wrong person found out. also, if a man or woman in this country has a tatoo at all they can not get a job, or if they lie and are found out they get fired. and sometimes they can be ask to strip just so that their boss can look for a tatoo if they are mad at them and want a reason to fire them!
i have to run...sorry........tomorrow we are going to aide some mudslide victims.......
love you all!! oh, and i do not have time to proof read this..........so, you are getting it raw!
I've arrived!
Well I had to have Mike post this because I cannot figure out how to type in the @ symbol to enter my sign in name to sign into my blog! How frustrating. I am here, but I have no clothes...the airline lost my bag, and i have yet to get it back.
This will be my second night here, and suposedly it will be here either tonight or in the morning, althought they had previously said it would be here by 3pm today. So...other than that, the getting here part was fine. Both of my plane rides were great, and finding my way in Charlotte and here was quite easy.
Today we went to Hannahs Hope for a while and the kiddos used fabric markers to make their own designs on their t-shirts. It was a blast, even though I was only able to talk with them a little bit. Then we spent about an hour holding and feeding babies...there are 120 babies in this home! It was overwhelming the first night when I saw them. We also went to a boys home today....there were over 200 boys there. It was crazy.
I am about out of time here....more later.
This will be my second night here, and suposedly it will be here either tonight or in the morning, althought they had previously said it would be here by 3pm today. So...other than that, the getting here part was fine. Both of my plane rides were great, and finding my way in Charlotte and here was quite easy.
Today we went to Hannahs Hope for a while and the kiddos used fabric markers to make their own designs on their t-shirts. It was a blast, even though I was only able to talk with them a little bit. Then we spent about an hour holding and feeding babies...there are 120 babies in this home! It was overwhelming the first night when I saw them. We also went to a boys home today....there were over 200 boys there. It was crazy.
I am about out of time here....more later.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
God Loved Us........and Sent His Son
Two weeks ago I started teaching a series on the book of Acts in the Bible to our high schoolers at church. This is probably the most extensive, most time consuming set of lessons that I have prepared, and I am really enjoying it a great deal! I have read the book of Acts, probably numerous times, and I have done studies on parts of it throughout my years as a Christian, but I have never set down on my own, and outlined it in order to teach it myself. I have to say that it has been pretty cool. When I am done with this series of lessons, I would like to try to pick another book of the Bible and do the same thing. I might not have as much motivation......right now my motivation of course is that I am teaching it and I have to study it before I can teach it.....but even without that motivation, I want to try to do it. So, if anyone wants to ask me about it in the future, feel free to do so. Maybe that will keep me on my toes.
So, the main theme in Acts.........or as I said today, the recurring theme........is basically what the Bible is all about. God sent Jesus, His Son, to us, we (mankind in general) rejected him, and eventually killed him, and then God brought him back to life......and it does not stop there. The good news is that we (mankind) did made that huge mistake but it is forgivable and correctable! We can still change sides......and choose to join Jesus by realizing what we have done, asking for forgivness for our sins, and believing Jesus is who he said he is and accepting him as the one who will save us from eternal death in hell and eternal separation from God! As I said in class today......I am not sure about the rest of you, but I don't want that!!
OK......so that gives you insight into the book of Acts, as well as into what I have been up to lately. Also, I have enjoyed posting little video's of my nieces, and I don't want to become a blogger who just posts videos all the time, especially of family, but I just have to put this one on here. My beautiful, adorable niece says it all in this short video.........she sums up the whole Bible for us!! Enjoy!!
So, the main theme in Acts.........or as I said today, the recurring theme........is basically what the Bible is all about. God sent Jesus, His Son, to us, we (mankind in general) rejected him, and eventually killed him, and then God brought him back to life......and it does not stop there. The good news is that we (mankind) did made that huge mistake but it is forgivable and correctable! We can still change sides......and choose to join Jesus by realizing what we have done, asking for forgivness for our sins, and believing Jesus is who he said he is and accepting him as the one who will save us from eternal death in hell and eternal separation from God! As I said in class today......I am not sure about the rest of you, but I don't want that!!
OK......so that gives you insight into the book of Acts, as well as into what I have been up to lately. Also, I have enjoyed posting little video's of my nieces, and I don't want to become a blogger who just posts videos all the time, especially of family, but I just have to put this one on here. My beautiful, adorable niece says it all in this short video.........she sums up the whole Bible for us!! Enjoy!!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Mike is back!
Hi all..
I am sorry that I have not blogged in a while. I just have not had the desire........or whatever it is, lately.
I did want to say though that Mike's blog is up and running once again. Some of you have asked about it, and I told you that he deleted it, which he did. Well he wanted me to write and let you all know that he has started posting things once again, so if you want to check it out, you can.
Well, now that I am on here, I guess I can write a little bit about what I have been doing. Lately I have been spending many hours working on a series of lessons for teaching the high schoolers. We, the youth leaders, decided that we wanted to teach the book of Acts. I volunteered to do the whole series, minus the week that I will be in Guatemala. So, I have spent many hours going through the book, taking notes, and preparing my lessons. Although it has been time consuming, I have really enjoyed it. I have done indebth studies of certain books of the Bible in different classes or study groups, but I have never just gone through a book on my own and outlined it and researched it for the purpose of teaching it. I have learned a lot by doing this. When I get done I will have a pretty cool study guide for the book of Acts!!!
I guess I should also point out that I only have 11 more days until I leave for Guatemala! I am very excited about this. I have gotten most of the things done to prepare for my trip, but I still have a few more. This will be such an awesome experience, and I am so thankful to God and to all of those who have sponsored me to help make this trip possible. I hope to have an eternal impact on several of the kiddos or even adults down there, but even if it is only one that I impact, it is still all worth it!!
I am sorry that I have not blogged in a while. I just have not had the desire........or whatever it is, lately.
I did want to say though that Mike's blog is up and running once again. Some of you have asked about it, and I told you that he deleted it, which he did. Well he wanted me to write and let you all know that he has started posting things once again, so if you want to check it out, you can.
Well, now that I am on here, I guess I can write a little bit about what I have been doing. Lately I have been spending many hours working on a series of lessons for teaching the high schoolers. We, the youth leaders, decided that we wanted to teach the book of Acts. I volunteered to do the whole series, minus the week that I will be in Guatemala. So, I have spent many hours going through the book, taking notes, and preparing my lessons. Although it has been time consuming, I have really enjoyed it. I have done indebth studies of certain books of the Bible in different classes or study groups, but I have never just gone through a book on my own and outlined it and researched it for the purpose of teaching it. I have learned a lot by doing this. When I get done I will have a pretty cool study guide for the book of Acts!!!
I guess I should also point out that I only have 11 more days until I leave for Guatemala! I am very excited about this. I have gotten most of the things done to prepare for my trip, but I still have a few more. This will be such an awesome experience, and I am so thankful to God and to all of those who have sponsored me to help make this trip possible. I hope to have an eternal impact on several of the kiddos or even adults down there, but even if it is only one that I impact, it is still all worth it!!
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