Not literally. This is just a fun way to let everyone know that I will be using this month to "catch up" on all my blogs and pictures. I want to apologize for the lack of blogs, I have several written but sometimes I have limited Internet and in all honesty I have had a lack of inspiration to post them or to write more, but that season is finally over! I am extending many thanks to everyone who has been patient in my writings. Make sure to check back later this week for the new blogs :)
As mentioned in a previous blog I have become very close with two of the younger girls here at Mi Casa Kids International. We have easily become sisters to each other. The first time I met them I knew that I would have a great friendship with them because they instantly reminded me of the girls that I used to be a nanny for. The next day I went to the store to buy supplies for our many grand adventures. I bought make-up, paper, crayons, hair clips, movies, and popcorn. Here is a little insight to our time spent together…
At the beginning of the month the ministry host, Bob, told the team that the kids might ask us to adopt them. This blew my mind a little. I thought, How in the world am I going to be able to look the child in the eyes and tell them: I really like you, but sorry I can't adopt you. He then explained that the kids understand that we cannot adopt them and when they ask this question is simply means to adopt them as a friend. Meaning that after we leave we still continue to pray for them, that we message them on FB or write them long letters telling them how much we miss them. This I can do. This I have done. Rosita and Ceci are now and forevermore my sisters.
Meet Rosita:
Meet Ceci:
Finished results to the makeover:
You have officially met my new sisters :) These girls will always have a piece of my heart and I pray everyday that they will always remember Feb - March 2012. In writing this blog ( which I will send a copy to the girls )
I want them to know that someone truly cares about them.
I want them to see the potential that I see in them and that God has for them.
I want them to grow up and be the woman of God that I know they are called to be.
I want them to feel the love that they so often showed to me.
The ministry that my team has been working with this month while in El Salvador is called Mi Casa Kids International, an orphanage. Our main focus this month is to improve the look of the ministry site as well as invest time and life into the children.
Mi Casa Kids International is one ministry with two houses: one house for the boys and another house for the girls. There are 10 girls and 6 boys that live here fulltime. From my team the ladies live with the girls in their house while the guys live with the boys in their house. Each house is a full sized house including a kitchen, several bathrooms, living room, dining room, and several bedrooms. The boys house is larger because it also includes the main office for the ministry.
The children living here all have incredible stories of how God has brought them from nothing into this wonderful place. The team spent a couple of nights sharing our testimonies with the children and in return listening to them share with us as well. It was an amazing night and so great to see how much God has blessed them.
A typical day this month includes: Waking up, eating breakfast, team prayer, painting both ministry houses, eating lunch, helping the kids with homework, playtime, eating dinner, watching TV, feedback then bedtime. Our days are very full and of course are centered on the children. Our time with the children usually includes watching Disney Channel ( in Spanish ), going to the park, watching movies, dance parties, and doing makeovers with the girls ( and sometimes even the boys ). The time with the kids always brings smiles, laughter, and lots of love.
I have become very close with the younger girls, Ceci and Rosita, they are sisters and I feel as though I have become a big sister to them. I help them with their homework and teach them how to speak English and for a reward we often have girls’ night that consists of makeovers and watching High School Musical.
This month has been a great blessing for my team. This ministry is full of God’s love and I know that it will be very hard to leave this place; the whole team feels as though this is where we belong. Ultimately, when it comes to Mi Casa Kids International, it is very clear to see that this place is not an orphanage, it is a home.
First: Go to the bottom of this blog and hit play on the video. You don't have to watch it, but the song does need to play while you read the story.
Last month I had a team mate give me a little inspiration talk. She looked me in the eyes and shared this from her heart...
Sitting on the bus to the school today, I closed my eyes and asked the Lord to speak. As I listened to "Beautiful Things" by Gungor, he gave me this breathtaking vision:
From a ground eye vision, I saw a cobblestone street with a tiny red flower growing from the cracks. The flower tried to sprout up, but people kept trampling over it. It would push up and then once again get stepped on, this happened over and over. Then it was as if a force field surrounded this flower and everyone then had to walk around it. The flower was given a chance to grow and blossom. Raindrops began to fall down onto the petals, slowly at first and then falling faster into a gushing rush. The water built up inside the petals until it poured over onto the cobblestone and into the roots of other crushed flowers. The other flowers then began to sprout up. I asked the Lord where the rain was coming from and He spoke, "It isn't rain, these are tears. And this beautiful red flower is Lynnsey." He continued to say that he was bringing you into a season where no one will trample of you anymore. You will grow and blossom and all the tears you have cried will be used to help others grow.
:) A smile instantly swept across my face, followed by my eyes tearing up. It is so great to see how amazing God is. That he has plans for me that are far greater than I could ever imagine. I am praying that the season in this vision is a season that I am able to walk in while on the Race. It is my biggest dream to be able to spread the love of God to those who feel lost and I am so excited to be able to use all the things God has spoken to me in the process. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged, donated, and prayed about my trip. It means so much and I want you to know that it is because of your help that I am able to accomplish this vision.
Cornflakes and soiled sheets, this is what I smell most days that I go minister at the Abuelo House. The Abuelo House ( aka elderly home ) is a main ministry that we attended while in Antigua and I'll admit that it was very challenging. I remember the very first day we arrived at the Abuelo House, it was quite awkward to say the least. We weren't really sure what to do. I know that every time I see an elderly home on tv the people are usually playing checkers, eating jello, or watching tv, but here in Guatemala none of that happens. The team decided that we would each pick a person and try to have a conversation ( with the few Spanish words that we know ). Having conversations made the visits less awkward, but all the more difficult. For the most part we would ask simple questions then sit in silence until we could think of another simple question to ask in broken Spanish. In order to make the visits to the Abuelo House less awkward and more intentional we would talk to the same person each visit we made. Here is the story of the man I would visit with.....
I picked a man who always seemed to be drawing when I came to visit. I picked him for two reasons: He likes to draw and I like to color so I figured it was a perfect match and also in the midst of the silence moments of our conversation he could continuing drawing which would result in him never being bored. The first couple of visits with him I would take my coloring book and pretend to having a coloring contest with him ( of course, I would always win ). He would often tell me of the pictures that we was drawing and I would sit there nodding my head pretending to understand what he was saying. One day the explanation of his drawings led into telling his life story. He speaks very fast and very soft so I literally only caught every fourteenth word that he said and I made up the rest by his hand gestures. This is his story.... :)
He once was a shrimp boatman. He lived on the boat weeks at a time and sometimes when he caught the shrimp they would bite his fingers. He also once climbed a mountain. It was a very muddy mountain; therefore, he had to wear tall rain boots. And sometimes he would make the international sign for money and when he did he always seemed to make a creepy laugh, so I'm guessing that he once found a hidden treasure chest. So in putting the whole story together this is what I got... I'm sure that he took his shrimp boat to a secret island. Once on the island he had to climb a mountain. It was a very muddy mountain. Once at the top of the mountain he found a hidden treasure chest. Sounds like a pretty legit life story to me :) In the midst of him telling his story my heart broke as I sat back and really looked at the man telling the me his life story. It made me wonder, " How often does he get to share his story?"
Many more thoughts crossed my mind such as:
Does he have a family?
Does his family ever visit?
Does he like it here?
How did he end up here?
And all these thoughts brought along one big thought....
My grandparents.
I love my grandparents so much. They are my greatest influence, spiritual leaders, and my heroes. It was very hard for me to leave them for 11 months ( and of course I still have Skype, Facebook, and text ) I could NEVER imagine placing them in a nursing home and never going to visit them. In that moment I was reminded of a conversation I once had with my grandma:
Me: Grandma, you know that I'm going to live with you for the rest of my life, right?
Grandma: Lynnsey, what about when you get married?
Me: Hello, your house is big enough for all of us.
Grandma: Don't you think your husband might have a problem with that?
Me: Well thats his problem. I love you way too much to ever leave you.
Grandma: Wouldn't it just be easier to put me in a nursing home?
Me: I would never do that! But if your some reason I absolutely had to, you would be the envy of the nursing home because I would come visit you everyday!
Grandma: Aw, Lynnsey, that is very sweet.
Me: Wait, I just had a great idea! We could get bunk beds in your room! Don't worry, I'll let you have the bottom.
I could never imagine leaving my family in a nursing home and never visiting them again and in that moment I felt very sad for the elderly people who now surrounded me. I never want to know what it is like to be "alone" with no family, no spouse, only to spend my days alone in a chair surrounded by others who have lost the same and are now sitting alone as well.
That visit was a large wake up call. A call to be more intentional with people and the time that I have with them. I extend this wake up call to all who reads my blog. Please don't take time you have with your loved ones forgranted. Cherish.Each.Moment. Laugh.Love.And.Be.Loved
The main ministry we have been helping with here in Antigua, Guatemala is teaching valuable life lessons to the children in the schools of the nearby communities. It has been a great time and a wonderful blessing to both the kids and my team. The first week of teaching we did simple introductions of ourselves. We told them our name, age, where we are from, and a simple fact. Although the week started our simple it became so much more than that.
The first lesson we taught was on the subject "values". We taught the children the definition of a value and explained the five main places that our values are established from: family, friends, church, media, and school. We discussed the story of David and Bathsheba to give them an example of values and to explain that even though sometime we may fail, God always forgives us if we ask. The second lesson we taught was on the subject of "identity" and we explained to the children that our identity is in Christ. We told the children that even though we may all look different, each person is unique and made beautiful, for we are all made in the image of God.
Quick facts about the schools:
Most of the schools are very poor and some do not receive funding from the government.
The schools are very small. Ex: one school has 400 children in only 6 rooms ( room size is about that of a normal bedroom )
A lot of the schools are attended for only half a day ( usually from 7 am - 12 pm )
Although I came to teach the children here a lesson, they in return have also taught me one as well. For me junior high and high school was easy. I was a great student. I did all my homework, I was never skipped class, and I always listened to the teachers; however, they reminded me that school is so much more than that. School has a lot to do with friends. Peer pressure was never a big deal to me, but here is Guatemala it is. One day as we taught a certain class of third graders the lesson of influence we asked the kids if they have ever been influenced or persuaded to do something and I was completely shocked by the answer. Now mind you that this was a third grade class! I was expecting silly answers like "I was once dared to hold a girls hand" or "I was double dared to give a funny answer to the teacher in class" these are the simple things that happened when I was third grade; however, to my surprise many of the answers were about drugs and alcohol. Kids told story after story of being pressured to drink, one kid made a joke about cocaine, and several had admitted that when under pressure they gave in. I was floored! I talked to our ministry host more about this and he admitted that these things were most likely true. He gave me some statistics of underage drinking among children ages 10-18....
74% had at least one drink of alcohol on one or more days during their life
26% had their first drink of alcohol, other than a few sips, before age 13
43% had at least one drink of alcohol on one or more occasion in the past 30 days
26% had five or more drinks of alcohol in a row (i.e. binge drinking) in the past 30 days.
4% had at least one drink of alcohol on school property on one or more of the past 30 days
My heart broke when I read these statistics. I no longer looked upon the children as innocent, but God opened my eyes to truly see what is being exposed to children at such a young age. That day I made it my prayer to pray for all the children who are being exposed to this. I prayed that God starts changing the lives of these children. I prayed that God reveals Himself to the children everyday. I prayed that parents take a true interest in their children and do as the Bible says in raising them according to His Word. This prayer may have started in Guatemala, but I know that with the help of all who read this that prayer can change the lives of the children all around the world. Let's do our part in being involved in the lives of our children and the children around us. Let's do our part as the body of Christ and show our children the true love of God. Let's do our part in lifting up a simple, but well worthy prayer to the God with whom nothing is impossible.
This is a picture of the last class we taught. We asked the children to stand up if they wanted to take a stand against the statistics of their country. As you can tell, all the children stood up. We then prayed over the kids.
I have decided to start a new category called "Alphabet" in which I will go through the alphabet in order posting things that start with the letter of the week. I find it very interesting that my first city just so happens to start with an A :)
Antigua...
Antigua, Guatemala is a very beautiful place! It is full of life, love, and lots of color. Antigua is a rather large city; however, the population of the people who actually live here is a not very large. Antigua is a very popular place to set up a local business, take Spanish classes, visit the big market, and has lots of tourist attractions such as the churches and volcanoes. I am very glad that Antigua is the first city on my trip that I am able to stay in due to the fact that it is a very touristic place, it helps the weaning process from America. Here are several things I have been excited to see in Antigua...
Antigua is the home of a very large market. While most of the market is indoors there are lots of booths set up outside. The market does seem to have some organization in the sections such as fresh food, clothes, flowers, electronics, and tourist accessories. The market is a very busy place and can sometimes be a little overwhelming; however, if you visit on the right day at the right time it can be a wonderful place to be. My team has already seemed to pick "favorite" booths that we shop from; however, there are also sections in which I try to avoid such as the meat isle ( its so stinky! ) and the movie section ( I have already bought 10 movies and a TV season, but who can blame me they are so cheap!! )
I found the only store in all of Antigua that sells Dr. Pepper!!
Black refried beans with sour creama and bananas is so good. ( Who would have ever thought?! )
The third picture contains the movies I have bought so far. They are so cheap!
My favorite thing about Antigua is that the town is full of so much color and surround by nature. I love walking down the streets passing all the colorful buildings and seeing lots of flowers in bloom. In Antigua, all the colors come to life! The sky seems bluer, the flowers are more vivid, and the buildings are so bright.( it could be that maybe I'm so excited that when I walk down the street I don't see just plain ole white or tan houses as I do back in the states, I mean who honestly doesn't want to live in an orange or baby blue house?! ) But honestly, the best part of the city is probably that it is completely surrounded by mountains and volcanoes. I'm not really much of a nature person, but it's impossible to look around everyday and not thank God for all His beauty.
Below I have posted some pictures of things I have been glad to find in Antigua along with some pictures of everyday life items and how they are different from the States.
Antigua does have a McDonalds! Along with Burger King and a Subway.
The middle picture is the Guatemalan taxi.
Cream cheese! Its expensive, but so worth the money :)
So here I am finally in Antigua, Guatemala ( I've been here for a week, sorry that I was not able to blog earlier ). My team arrived in Antigua last Friday. We have weekends off for our Sabbath day in which we walk around town, go to the market, and rest from all the busyness of the week. Last weekend as I was walking around town my mind was completely blown. Antigua is very cute and colorful, but because I am no longer in the states I expected it to be poor and dirty, and although there are poor and dirty parts ( which there are in every city ) there is so much more beauty here. As I walked down the streets and looked around at all the houses and businesses I would see several buildings that looked old or not taken care of, many that had paint falling off or big dirt spots and my first reaction was that the place was dirty and somewhere that I would probably want to avoid; however, to my surprise as I walked by the open door to the building the inside was so beautiful! Not only was the inside very nice, but it was so big! I was completely surprised by what was on the inside. God bought to my mind the simple saying that we all know, "Don't judge a book by its cover". I was immediately humbled and apologetic for the way that I was looking at the buildings. My mind then wandered to how many of us also judge people the same way. Just because people do not also look the best in the way they dress or because they may not have the best and newest toys, many of us automatically write them off but its time for us to take the time to look what is beyond the outer appearance and really get to see what is on the inside. We all know the story of David and Goliath, but do we all remember why God chose David? God said to Samuel: " Do not judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." I have made it my prayer to see things the way that God sees them. I pray that you also make this your prayer so that the world may be changed through God's overflowing love and mercy.
I have attached some pictures of the hostel in which I am staying. The outside may have paint falling off, but once you walk inwhat you see is beauty. This place is wonderful and such a blessing.
Our activity for the day was for our team to come up with a team name: that we all agree on, all imput on, and that brings light to what our team is truly about. Thus, Shadowfeet was born.
Here is the story behind Shawdowfeet:
As the team sat at Starbucks all sipping coffee, because we all know that coffee helps you think, we first decided to establish one word that described what we want from this 11 month journey. The following words were given: truth, beauty, adventure, messanger, great commission, and love. I did not at that time give my word. As we were conversating a reference to the verse Romans 10:15 was spoken. Then soon after a teammate spilled coffee on my foot. As I went to the restroom to wash off my foot I thought about when Peter, on his way to the temple, passed by a man and his shadow touched the man and healed him, and I decided that was what I wanted for my journey.
I instantly saw the word Shadoowfeet flash into my mind. I knew that it was God breathed.
I ran back to tell the group and as soon as I spoke we all saw that in the word shadowfeet all of our spoken words came to life. The Spirit moved and we all came to agreeance that we are Shadowfeet!
A couple of years ago I had a good friend go to Africa on a missions trip. Knowing my passion for missions and my desire to go to Africa, I asked her to bring me something back, in which she agreed. Soon after her return from Africa we met up to talk about her amazing journey. She told me about the people, the culture, the food, etc. and at the end of the talk she pulled out a beautiful orange bracelet. ( Orange is one of my favorite colors ) As I reached for the bracelet she told me that there was a story behind the bracelet that she needed to tell me. I figured the story was about how it was made or about the family who made it, but this is how the story went...
" We were at the market shopping around and I remembered that you wanted me to bring you something back, so I began looking around for things that interested you, which of course is jewelry. I came upon these pretty orange bracelets and I knew that they were just your style, so I picked them up to purchase. As I was looking at the bracelets I noticed that one of them had a random blue bead in the middle of all the orange beads, seeing this as a defect, I put the bracelets down and continued to looked. However, as I was walking away I heard the Lord say, " Go back and buy those bracelets." As I reasoned with the Lord that the bracelets were defective, He spoke again saying, "You see the blue bead as out of place, a bead in the wrong spot, but I see that bead as going outside her box into a place that is not her own. Lynnsey is that blue bead. She will be obedient in going to the places that I call her. She will be the blue bead that stands out in the midst of all the orange beads."
Needless to say I was so moved and overjoyed, that was a great revaluation from God and a huge building block in my call to missions. I wore the bracelets everyday for the longest time, until one day a little kid was pulling on the bracelet and it broke :( Sometimes I wish that I still had the bracelets to wear so that on days that I am discouraged I can look down and be reminded of God's plan for my life, however, the story and His plan are always in my heart and I will always remember that I AM that ONE BLUE BEAD.
