August 27, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,
          Isn't God awesome? I think of all the names He is and one that really comes to mind is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides. Most of you know how God has provided the past few years for me and those around me. The past 5 years I have served Him in Romania, India, China, and Peru. God has really blessed me with opportunities to show His love to those who don't know who He is. And yet again, He has provided another opportunity to serve Him. I went to Trujillo, Peru in June to pray about and meet the people I will now be serving with at Hogar de Esperanza Infantil Albergue .... what we would refer to as an orphanage. He confirmed in my heart that I am to train under them and serve with them for the next year starting in November. While I am there, I will be closely working with a madre, helping her out anyway that I can. And also teaching the younger ones English, and giving them one-on-one attention and 1ove .... God's love! There are 3 children I will be specifically working with: Jose David, Erika, and Zuleika.  Click on any of their pictures for a closer look and use your browser's back button to return.

          Jose David has a cleft palate and cleft lip. His lip is fixed, but his palate isn't. Due to the hole in the roof of his mouth, he has a hard time talking. He is so smart, and a typical little two-year-old! He loves to sing! One day while we were playing with play-dough and coloring, he tried his best to sing "Jesus Loves Me"! It was so cute! Jose David's mother abandoned him at the hospital and has been with the Albergue since he got out of the hospital.

          Erika is a sweet little helper. She clung on to me a lot of the time. Some of that had to do with being her Madre for a few days. She loves to tattle and does a good job at it .... including that cute little whine! Her favorite word I think is "mira" which means "look" in Spanish. She would always point to whoever was doing something disobedient and tell us "mira". She loves to play with play-dough and color. Her mother is 17-years-old and is unable to take care of her at this time. This is the reason she is at the Albergue. Her mother had her at l5-years-old. I can't imagine having a child at such a young age! On Saturdays, the family members have the opportunity to visit with the children, and Erika's mother does come often.

          Zuleika is the youngest child at the Albergue. She is about 2-years-old now. She never talked before we got there. She is from an abusive home and has 4 other siblings at the Albergue. She does smile though! We were teaching them manners in English, and she said "please"! Now that you know a little bit about the kids I will be working with, let me tell you about what God has in store for the next year while working with these kids and the staff at the orphanage.

          Some of you know the vision God has given me. I am to open an orphanage, have a school in it, and have the children adopted out. I had been unsure on how to go about training for this, and God, in His perfect timing and plans, knew exactly what was going on, even though I didn't. I did
my DTS with YWAM in 2004, and needed money to do a 2nd school if I wanted to go on staff with them, which I still am praying about if that is the route to go long-term. Before going into fulltime , ministry, I needed to payoff my student loans and some debt. I have been working the past 3 years to pay that off. Last summer I went to China, and knew after coming home that I was to serve a
year in training starting the fall of 2007. I started the paperwork after paying off my student loans in March of this year. There were some red flags in going back to China with the organization I was with. They wanted me to go to language school at the university in Beijing. I knew that wasn't what God wanted at this time. When I started seeing these red flags, God led another couple into my life. I was working in the photo lab at Wal-Mart when I got a call from another store. There was a customer looking for a specific camera, and wanted 2 of the same one. They didn't have any in-stock. We had several, and held them for her. Naturally I asked what the purpose of the cameras would be used for, and that was when my mouth dropped! She told me that one was going to an orphanage in Peru!!! The customer, Vickie and her husband, David, had been praying about another female volunteer to serve for a year at the Albergue. That was when I took down her information and looked into the process of training under this orphanage.
          After visiting this summer, I knew 100% that this was where God wanted me to be for a year. I will be training under them, learning how to run an orphanage, and doing anything and everything they need me to do. Specifically I will be working with the 3 children mentioned above. I am excited to see what God has in store for this year! I appreciate all your prayerful support over the past 5 or more years, and I pray that you will continue to prayerfully support me as I take another step of faith towards God's calling on my life.  I will also be raising financial support through giving. The cost of the trip will be $3500 for the whole year. The Albergue will provide my housing and food, but I will need to provide my transportation and my needs there. I won't have to have a visa, but will have to leave the country every 90 days, which is an eleven to twelve hour bus ride to Ecuador, at an estimated expense of $150 per trip. In addition to prayer support, if God has led you to financially support me, you may send a check made out to me to my home address. I will forward the donation information to David and Vickie Miller. who will send a tax deduction receipt early 2008. To those of you who financially supported me this summer, you will also receive your receipt early
2008.
          You can access more information about my previous trip, the orphanage, and my contact information on my home page. If you would like more information or would like a presentation of the exploratory trip or the journey to come, you are more than welcome to contact me anytime. My phone number is (816)729-2729. Due to my work schedule, I may not answer the phone call right away, but will return it as soon as possible. May God bless you always! Please continue to serve Him, for He is worthy of all our service. I love all of you, and will miss you while I am gone. I will have email and phone access while I am there! Thank you for taking the time to read this letter! I hope to hear from you soon, and may God bless you abundantly as you have me over the years

13 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them.  Mark 10:13-16