August ’14 Highlights (Photo Blog)

   I cannot believe how quickly this month has flown by! It has been a month filled with amazing visitors, great ministry, and incredible adventures. Here are the highlights… 

   This month we launched the Abide website and kicked off fundraising for the foster home. So far, around $11,000 have come in for the building of the home. Now, we only need $59,000 more in order to break ground in January. (Pictured above for morning prayer at the Abide land). If you haven't yet made a tax-deductible donation to help build the Abide home, you can do so through our website http://abideinlove.org. Please pray for favor in the fundraising and help us make this dream a reality. 

 

    We started the month with a purity retreat on the beach with our kids from Santa Matilde, Nuevo Amanecer and the team from Independence Hill Baptist Church. It was such a beautiful time with them worshipping together, talking about the importance of purity, adventure swimming through a grove of mangrove trees, and celebrating with six of the youth from Santa Matilde as they were baptized. 

 

    Cadence and I worked with the team from IHBC all week serving as translators for them. It was a great week with all of our Santa Matilde loves visiting families, running a superhero themed VBS for the kids, and praying over the sick. I really loved being a part of this team and watching them minster to the precious families here in Santa Matilde. Hearts were changed on both sides. It's a beautiful thing! 

 

   I was able to get out to visit several of our schools this month. It was great meeting with teachers, checking in on our students (like sweet 1st grader, Heidiling- pictured above), and monitoring their progress. I love to see that our sponsored kids are doing better in school as we continue to empower them to succeed. 

 

   We spent as much time as we could with sweet Lydia and the Bustillo family. (Cadence and I pictured with Lydia above). Lydia continues to struggle with her health issues. She is currently back in the hospital in Managua. Please pray for her healing. We need a miracle in order to see this sweet girl's health restored. I know that the Lord is capable. Please join us in praying for her complete healing! 

 

   Through a generous donation, New Song has been able to run a three month trial feeding program at our Sunday schools. We have been feeding 200 children per week just at our Sunday school program in Candelaria. All of the meals are augmented with moringa so that children are getting an abundance of needed vitamins and minerals in their meal. Leo, pictured above, loves his food at Sunday school! This program has been such a blessing. This has been a really difficult time for families in our community. This is the season of unemployment, but it is also a particularly dry rainy season. Without the rain, crops aren't being harvested and food prices are rising every day. I'm talking every week with families that have no food. Just this morning, a mom told me that her daughter fainted in school last week due to lack of food. I'm glad that we're able to help in this small way. 

 

    The last update is not ministry related; it's a personal blessing. At the end of the month I was able to take a dream trip to visit Machu Picchu. This is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I have ever been! We took a 4 day/3 night hike through the jungle trail to Machu Picchu. We mountain biked through the Andes, whitewater rafted, zip lined, hiked for hours, and climbed both Machu Picchu and Waynapicchu. It was beautiful and a dream come true!