Offering

Last Sunday,our team was introduced to the congregation that hosts Compassion Project BO-329.  As we walked forward after the service,I realized what I saw in front of me was the offering plate.

Maybe one or two dollars?

How do you minister to 300 children from families with absolutely nothing from resources like this?

God takes the little, and blesses it a lot.  Sometimes it comes out looking like this…

SPONSORSHIP!!

Unless you are present in a Compassion Project you cannot comprehend the scope of ministry that occurs here.  The Compassion staff is amazing.  The Compassion cooks are amazing.  The children are fed well, taught essential hygiene, given basic medical care and given help and encouragement with their education.  They are taught how to share, to listen, to cooperate.

Most of all, they are introduced to the Love of Christ.

THEY EXHIBIT JOY…

WHEN THEY HAVE EVERY REASON TO LOOK DOWNCAST

THEIR SMILES LIGHT UP THE ROOM…

WHEN ONE WOULD EXPECT A SAD FACE

THEY ARE AN OFFERING!

…AN OFFERING TO A GOD WHO LOVES THEM “THROUGH” A SPONSOR.

Take a look at some of the sights and sounds of the offering this week…

 

Sharing Good News

It is always a sweet day when we realize that God has allowed us the privilege of being His ambassador of love.  How crazy is that!  The whole idea that we get the amazing GIFT of being the one to spread some love, hope, and joy to these BEAUTIFUL children, in His name?

These are a few glimpses into the lives of some of our team members ambassadors today.

Jennifer met this precious child, Julio, who is considered a “street child”.  He is not a part of the Compassion Program, but attends the church where Compassion serves.  We were blessed to have him visit with us this week.

Julio captured Jennifer’s heart from the first hour that we were there and she hasn’t taken her eyes off of him.  She received permission from the staff to bring him in some special gifts. Since he can not be sponsored at this time and therefore does not receive letters, Jennifer wrote him a letter so he can have one to keep.

She also made him a bag of gifts and one for his family.  Jennifer has one of the most tender hearts I have ever seen and I was fully prepared for her to break out in the ugly cry. However, Julio had some pretty big tears of gratitude too.  He was overwhelmed.

Then there was the moment where Craig and Amanda Akridge met Renee.  Amanda sponsors Renee and since she attends this project, Amanda did not have to wait until child visit day to get to meet her.  Renee and her twin sister have  been here every day.

Even though Renee has a twin sister, Amanda immediately knew which one was Renee!

Of course,  we can not skip the exciting moments of today when we told two children that they now have sponsors!!!

Like this child… Sebastian.

All we had to do was send this picture to one family and BAM!  Sebastian is now sponsored by a loving family who has requested that we pack him up in our suitcase, but we have talked them into sticking to letters and prayers for now.

And then there was Dayanna.

Dee Ann Henderson could only take so much of this tender little heart and, well….

Here we ago again, sharing the good news.

It went something like this:

“Dayanna, do you have a sponsor?” (even though we already knew the answer”)

“No”

“Are some of your friends sponsored?”

“Yes”

“Do they get letters from their sponsors?”

“Yes”

“How would it feel to get letters from a sponsor?”

“Good”

Would you like to have a sponsor?

“Yes”

Well, we have some good news for you today……”

It really is an amazing mission!  “One child at a time!!”

Oh, and by the way, there are still some children who are still waiting for that good news…

Like Luis….

Can we share some good news, on your behalf?  This little fellow was PRECIOUS!!!!

His name is LUIS.

 

No Words

Continuing to witness God’s stories in so many lives.  To many words and no idea where to begin.  Pictures might do a better job for the time being…

 

Some stories are just better with pictures…

 

 

 

God’s Stories…

God has allowed our team the privilege of seeing “His Story” being written in the lives of so many of these children.  Trying to choose which “story” to write about is nearly impossible.

This one was hard to pass up…

Introducing Yennnifer to her new sponsor family, the Clontz's from Huntsville, Alabama!

Today we had the rare privilege of telling this princess, Yennifer, the wonderful news that she now has a brand new sponsor.  You see, Yenifer was once sponsored, but for whatever reason her sponsor was unable to continue.  Even though Compassion through the Church will continue to provide all of the same services to Yennifer, each of these children still desperately need someone to tell them how uniquely they are loved and treasured in God’s eyes.

Yennifer is getting just that!  She now has a sponsor… one of our pastors at TUMC!  We were privileged to be the ambassadors to tell Yenifer that Sherill and her family will love her and never drop her.  Promising her that they will write to her and watching Yennifer’s eyes grow with excitement was priceless.

And bou did she have questions about the Clonzt’s!  By the way Sherill, she wants to know when you are going to be here to visit???

Yennifer showing off her new picture of the Clontz's and the wonderful backpack full of gifts they have sent her!!

Having the chance to see how sponsors lives are touching the lives of these children all the way across the world is like God letting us have a sneak peek at His story before it is complete.  They are growing, developing, finding hope and joy where one would think it  was impossible!

His story is being written on every page of their poverty filled lives and He IS making beauty from ashes!

God’s grace has provided a way for His story to be written, and through sponsorship and partnership with  the local church here in Bolivia, He is using many of you as a vehicle for that to happen. The Body of Christ, the Church, was a pretty awesome idea!

This is a sneak peak as some of the “stories” that are being written…

 

Getting ready to head out for Day One at the Project. Pumping up soccer balls!!

 

On Wings and Prayers

We OBEYED the call to “GO”.

You PRAYED for our team to arrive safely AND to secure Visas on arrival.

We FLEW, and FLEW, and FLEW.. (traveling on 4 different planes in 5 different cities and 3 different countries) for over 24 hours.

Checking In..40 Bags!

Waiting for connection in Washington, D.C.

And, by the grace of God ….. WE ARRIVED!!!

Our team arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia around 1:30am Sunday morning safe and sound.  We were blessed to walk into the Bolivian airport and stand in line as, one by one, we were issued visas, with no questions asked!

After Visas, our next biggest concern had been getting all of the supplies we brought into the country through customs … without having to deal with explaining the “contents” of our luggage.

Let’s admit it,  we appear to be the traveling representatives of  an  “Oriental Trading/ VBS ” magazine!  We have suitcases that are loaded down with 50 lbs of finger flashlights, glow necklaces, foam board, wooden crosses, sharpie markers, and grass skirts!  Questionable travelers?  One could say so.

The wonderful news is that there was such a large crowd at the baggage claim and customs at 2:30am in the morning, that no one was being stopped or checked regarding the contents of their bags.  Praise God!

All luggage in our possession made it through!

On the other hand, there are 10-12 pieces of our teams luggage that did not end up making it to Santa Cruz.  Some of it clothes and personal items, some of it VBS supplies. Could you please pray specifically for the TACA flights that come in tonight to arrive with the remainder of our luggage?

We are trusting God with these details.  The same God who carried us here, carried us through Visa approval and customs… is the same God who does not know the meaning of the words “hard” and “easy”.  It is all the same to Him.  He is able.

With or without additional clothing and VBS supplies…we are here to serve in His name and for His glory!  Would you join us in praying that  we continue on this path, regardless of supplies?

 

Watering an Oak Tree

Meet Gilberto!

He is 18 years old and lives in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.  My friend Pat has been sponsoring Gilberto since he was 6 years old!  While Pat will not be able to travel to Bolivia with us, our team is honored to get to visit Gilberto on her behalf.

Gilberto Supaybe

We will be working at Gilberto’s church for 3 days and even visiting his home to spend some time with him and his family. Our team is visiting the homes of several young children, but Gilberto will be one of the few older teens we get to visit next week.  We are all looking forward to some more in depth communication and insight on what life is like for a young man who has been sponsored for 12 years.

But on Monday, everything changed.

Pat called me to tell me of a letter she had just opened from Gilberto.

He wrote to tell her that His sister had died three days earlier.  The letter was dated on March 27th.

When I asked Pat about the rest of Gilberto’s family, she told me that from the time she began sponsoring Gilberto as a little boy, he had only been with his mother and sister.

Several years ago, his mother died.

He and his sister were very close. He had been asking Pat to pray for his sister in his past few letters.  He had only said that “she was ill”.  He now says in his most recent letter that he doesn’t know what to do.  Pat says that the grief Gilberto expressed in the letter was simply overwhelming.

“Hang on!”  We want to say… “Hang on!  We are on our way!”

But in reality, what can we do?  Bring a gift?  Say a prayer?  Hang out and play soccer for a few days? Put on a Vacation Bible School and convince ourselves that we have made made a difference?

Who do we think WE are?

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”    I Corinthians 12:27

But that seems like a quick “Sunday School” answer…Who are we to even approach this orphan (and so many others) to comfort them or to share the Gospel with them?

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit —fruit that will last.  Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  This is my command:  Love each other.”  John 15:16-17

But God…this seems like such an overwhelming task.  We feel so weak and so ill-equipped.

“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,‘ Says the LORD Almighty.”    Zechariah 3:6

So we GO.

We GO as the Body of Christ, already feeling the call that we stated on the very first blog post.  Created in His image, we are called to:

“Bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, …. To comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

Isaiah 61:1-3

And what does God say that He has in store for those who were once captive to a hopeless and broken heart, that now walk in freedom?

“They will be called OAKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, A PLANTING OF THE LORD FOR THE DISPLAY OF HIS SPLENDOR!”  Isaiah 61: 3

Please pray for Gilberto this week.

We have the privilege of visiting a young man that our Father has called “An Oak of Righteousness”.  He can be used by God to display His glory to a suffering family, community, country and world.

Please pray that we do what we have been called to do this week…

We are going to Bolivia to water one of God’s oak trees.

 

Sponsors Sending Gifts of Love

This could  get a little bit heavy!  And what loving sponsor decided to send a box of marbles to their child?  Would Mark and Susan Grunwald happen to know anything about this?  Ha Ha!!

In a generous show of support to our team (by the way of a fundraiser), many of you paid $20 to have us transport a gallon size zip lock bag filled with goodies to your sponsored child.  This has been one of the most rewarding parts of planning thus far!

These gift bags have been coming in every day.  This suitcase is only one of several that is packed to the brim with 50 pounds of love!  Our church has between 70-75 children that are sponsored in Bolivia and it seems that many of these sponsors are thankful for the opportunity to send a small token of their love to their child.

When our team arrives in Bolivia on June 11, we will not only be visiting the sponsored children of the 20 team members on the trip.  Instead, we will be representing the sponsors from the entire body of Trinity United Methodist.  For that matter, we will be representing sponsors from all over the world. A visit to a Compassion Project from any sponsor reassures the children that sponsors really DO exist behind the letters that they cling to.

Even though our trip will be limited to two specific projects, (BO-343 and BO-349), we will have contact with the director of the Bolivia country office from Compassion.  He has offered to take any gifts that we bring for children from all over the country back to the the projects where they attend.  That is when we will hand over these suitcases…these ziplock bags that represent so much more than words can express or a gallon size bag can contain.

Before ending this story, we must mention our rule breaker, Judy Daniel!  We know that Judy has probably followed every rule there is her entire life and the time had come for her to break out of her shell.  Wouldn’t you know that it would be the love for a child that would make her do it!  And of course, her amazing sewing skills would be used in the process!!

  When Judy approached me to ask if she could sew a quilt for Joan, her sponsored child…how was I supposed to say no!  Of course it would not fit in a gallon sized zip lock bag, but I will empty out my suitcase if I have to in order get this beautiful gift of love to Joan!  I have no doubt that Joan’s entire project will be talking about the gift of love from his sponsor.

Sponsor Judy Daniel, holding the beautiful quilt she made for Joan, her sponsored child in Bolivia.

Mrs. Daniel sewed this tag right onto the quilt! I pray that this child never doubts that he is loved!

Please know that all of your children will be SO SURPRISED when they receive their gifts!  It may take you about 2-3 months to receive a letter from them acknowledging that they received your gift, so don’t be concerned if it takes a little while.

If your child lives in another country and you are wishing that you could provide your sponsored child with a special gift, remember that you can always send a birthday or personal gift to your child or you may send a family gift to their family.  The only difference is that you are trusting the Compassion staff at the child’s project to purchase the gift for you.  Visit this site to learn more about sending gifts in this manner:  Giving a Gift to Your Sponsored Child.    Of course, you are always welcome to call Compassion’s toll-free number at 1-800-336-7676.  They  are SO helpful!

Thankful to be serving in His name,

Debbi

 

Commissioned!

This morning, our team was called  before the church and given a task, a responsibility… a job.  We were “commissioned” to go forth and share the good news of Christ with our voices, our hands and feet, and our very lives.

For those of you who will be following us on this mission and will be praying for this team, you might be interested in knowing where we will be and what we will be doing while in Bolivia.  This is our “FLEXIBLE” Itinerary:

Sunday 6/12

1:34 am – Group arrives into Santa Cruz.  (Prays and waits patiently in line for “visas on arrival”)

8:30 am – Attend Church at the project where we will be serving

12:00 am – Lunch with pastors and Compassion Leaders in Bolivia

2:30 pm – Return to Hotel and rest

5:00 pm – Cultural and Compassion Orientation

6:30 pm – Dinner at the Hotel  (AND BEDTIME!!!)

Monday – Wednesday 6/13 – 6/15

Breakfast at Hotel

8:00 am – Group heads to Compassion  Project (BO-339) to work with children

9:00 am – Mission work (Repair, painting, VBS with 100 Children)

12:00 pm – Lunch with children and staff at the project

1:30 pm – Continue mission work / repair and painting at project.  2nd group of children (130 of them) come to project for another round of VBS!

4:30 pm – Return to hotel

6:30 pm – Dinner and debriefing

Thursday 6/16

Breakfast at Hotel

8:00 am – Team departs for different Compassion Project (BO-343)

9:00am – Compassion Project 343 has asked to host us!  We will be blessed to spend the day in “relational” ministry.  This translates into… we get to love on these kids all day!

12:30 pm – Lunch at project. We will be serving the children and staff

2:00 pm – Games with children / Home visits

4:30 pm – Return to Hotel for Dinner and Debriefing

Friday 6/17

Breakfast at hotel

9:00 am – Meeting our Sponsored Children!! We will each get to spend the day with the children we sponsor, their families and their project directors!

12:30 pm – Lunch with sponsored children

2:30 pm – Time to say goodbye : (

3:30 pm – Shopping at the market

6:30 pm – Farewell Dinner

Saturday 6/18

Early Morning Departure

5:00 am – Check out of Hotel and load up bus

7:55 am – Group departs for US.  Will Arrive in Miami around 5:30pm, spend the night there and then return to Nashville around 9:30am Sunday morning.

 

The Body… The Team!

Trip Guides / Journals

Many of you reading this blog have supported this trip with your prayers and even your financial support. The majority of our team members could not have gone without your help. We are so thankful for your generosity.

A theme that we have  adopted for our trip has been “The Body of Christ”. We feel that we are simply a small part of the larger body that is going as a representation of The Church. For that reason, we urge you to join us.  This is just as much your trip as ours.  YOU are on this mission team!

While we try to include you with pictures and stories along the way, we also will be looking for you on our journey. Please post your comments and prayers as they will encourage our team members to pursue the path that Christ initially called them on.  This prayer and encouragement will be important  to the team in the midst of culture shock, tropical temperatures, third world customs, inconvenient travel issues, hearts broken by what they witness, and lives open to what the Holy Spirit may be revealing to each of us.

We are truly grateful for your support and long for your prayers and continued encouragement. What a privilege it is to use technology in this manner to take you along! (Assuming the internet connections are all working in our hotel in Bolivia)

So, check back often or even subscribe to this blog and have it delivered to your email as each new post is entered during our week of travel.  In the meantime, these are some very specific areas that you could be praying for our trip:

• Bolivian Visas:  Due to a shortage of stickers at the Bolivian Embassy, we will have to attempt to get visas upon arrival.  Might not be a fun thing to do at 1:30am, but such is the case with third world travel. Pray specifically for patience, and that everyone receives visas with no problems! 
• Our trip leader, Patricia Jones just led a Blogger’s Tour with Compassion International this past week in the Philippines.  Please pray for her this week as she will come home, grab as much family time as she can with her husband and three daughters, attempt to recover from jet lag,  and head off to Bolivia with us.  Pray for her safety, hey physical energy, her family, and her heart.
• Pray for our sponsored children as they anticipate our arrival. Many will be flown in to Santa Cruz to see us.  They probably have not left their villages before, and definitely never flown on a plane before!  Pray for their sweet little hearts to be calmed this week as they anticipate their trip…and our arrival.
• Pray for no flight delays as our connections will be critical with several connections to make.

Thank you for your prayers and your encouragement.  Now,  buckle up…we fly out in 7 days!

In Jesus,

Debbi Akers