Living out a life of Thanksgiving…

Without hesitation, when asked, people all over America this Thanksgiving will respond by saying the very thing they are most thankful for in their lives is their family.

Family… the very thing that literally millions of children face life without.

Here at Village of Hope we understand the importance of family and that is why we exist- to bring FAITH, FAMILY and a FUTURE to those who have none.  We choose to do ‘family style’ homes for orphans instead of an institution because we understand that is what the Lord desires.

A Father to the Fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families. Psalm 68:5-6

There is simply no biblical model for institutional care - so while clothing, feeding and giving toys to a child are all wonderful things- the one thing a child truly needs- is a family to call their own.  A mother and a father who are willing to invest in their future, help them discover their gifts and strengths- to care for them , encourage them and show them they have a purpose and they matter.

Because international adoptions are closed in Guatemala the orphans here have little hope of being adopted into a forever family.  These children must face a bleak future- alone.  We cannot stop but to ask ourselves-how will these children be able to one day function in a family unit? But even more- how can they have a clear view of their God who loves them if they don’t have an earthly father to model who He is?

We all know living in an institution isn’t what is best for a child- studies prove it- but more importantly we have seen it with our own eyes.  The “fatherless” are the most vulnerable people in the world because they lack the very person God intended to protect and provide. But as the body of Christ we have a responsibility to live out James 1:27- to care for orphans.  We are called to action.

At Village of Hope each child will be placed in a family- in a home- with a mother and father figure who will be the ones who tuck them in at night, pray with them, help them with their homework, cook dinner with them, counsel them and teach them.

This Thanksgiving we challenge you to gather your precious family around the table, enjoy the blessings the Lord has provided- and then give back out of that abundance. Encourage your family to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of the children in Guatemala.  Thank Him through your obedience by caring for the orphan in a tangible way. Together your family, aunts, uncles, cousins truly can make a difference in the life of a child.

 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40

To purchase a brick in your family’s name…. 

Give HOPE, brick by brick. Village of Hope - Guatemala from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

We have been blessed by a generous donor who is matching the next $3,000 in bricks purchased! This means that each brick you buy, up to the first $3,000, will be DOUBLED… doesn’t get much better than that!

-Buy 10 bricks/$250 - Get a free VOH tshirt!

-Buy 20 bricks/$500 – Get a free VOH tshirt and VOH bag.

-Buy 40 bricks/$1,000 – Get a free VOH tshirt, VOH bag, and a necklace/earring set hand-made by a Guatemalan woman.

-Buy 100 bricks/$2,500 - An engraved plate  (2" x 4") with your family name on the wall in one of the homes for children as a reminder of those that provided that wall and prayed for each of them.

-Buy 200 bricks/$5,000 - A plaque ( 12" x 10") with a photo and text (of your choice) will be hung in the home and the room will be named after your family (painted on the wall)

-Buy 1,200 bricks/$30,000 – Provide an entire HOME for a FAMILY! Get a free VOH tshirt, VOH bag, plaque (as described above), and family name on the outside of the home.

**As you reflect on all that you are thankful for, please consider giving toward one of the above options in honor or memory of a loved one! Though some of our family may not be on this earth any more, their legacy lives on and can bless the lives of those without a family! 

Rosa

I'm not even sure how to write this post... I'm not even sure I have the words to express what we saw- and felt.  But I want so very badly for you to know. I felt like someone needed to hear. Mostly because I don't think things like this should happen in today's world... Somehow, we shouldn't let this be.

  Today after Spanish class Addie and I headed out the door for a brisk walk. Rainy season is almost over and the sun was shining bright. We threw on our tennis shoes and laughed all the way down the driveway. Living here in Guatemala I have quickly learned that each day is unique in it's own- and even when I think I have seen it all- I haven't.

As we rounded the corner, about a block from our house, we looked ahead and saw a young girl walking down the lane. She began to sway and then stumble. Immediately something inside my heart broke, because I knew her situation was not good. The closer we got to her I was able to realize just how much in need she was. On her frail body hung a pair of baggy jeans that looked like they once belonged to a man. The zipper was broken and a belt hugged them tight around her tiny waste. She was covered in mud, her feet looked like those of an 80 year old woman and her hair was covered in lice. But what stopped me dead in my tracks was the dirt around her lips and in the corner of her mouth- evidence of her need to find anything she could to take the pains away from her rumbling belly.

She was obviously startled, so we approached her slowly asking if she needed any help. Without barely looking up she quietly asked permission to pick some fruit off of a bush along the lane. We told her that she was welcome to them and asked her if she would like something to eat. With all the strength she could muster- she looked up and nodded. We asked if she'd like to come to our house- yet seeming afraid she declined, so we told her we would be right back to her. We quickly ran as fast as we could back to Village of Hope and grabbed some warm clothing and threw as much food as we could find in a big bag-  beans, rice, corn meal, jelly and bread then headed back.

Peeking around the corner of a brick wall, she waited.

 I don't think I have ever seen a child so frail and so emotionless in my entire life. It seemed as if it took every ounce of energy she had left just to breath. It was almost as if she had lost the ability to still hope. The pain of this world had completely numbed her. I wish I had a picture for you to be able to see with your own eyes- only I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that to her.

We found out her name was Rosa and she is 13 years old. She has 10 siblings. We asked where her parents were and she told us they too were out looking for food. She said she didn't go to school- or to church- because she needed to work with her family. We asked if we could give her a ride home and for a minute she agreed- and then once again the fear over came her and she mumbled that she didn't have that far to go and started to walk away. We pointed to Village of Hope and told her if she ever needed anything we would be there. As we watched her tiny skeleton of a body climb the hill I couldn't help but to be torn once again by the injustice of this world. Children should not be starving. They should be swinging on swings, running on a soccer field, picking dandelions, hanging out with friends, sitting around the dinner table with their family laughing, talking, dreaming.

If you would, right now in the quiet of your own home, could you stop and pray for Rosa?

Lord thank you for putting Rosa in our path today. I pray that her belly is full tonight and that somehow she felt your presence and realized how much you care. God help us to appreciate what we have, to live simply and to give out of our abundance so that little girls like Rosa won't go without.

Proverbs 31:8 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”


.

What to do when you live on the side of a mountain...

 and mama's busy packing for the states...

 and daddy is busy weeding?

We DIG for treasure of course!

And we slide...

And we get REAL dirty...

 

 

And our clothes will never be the same again...

 

 

Next we try to fly kites ('try' being the key word here)

 

 

 

After that it's onto a game of soccer... 

 

Until our big brother joins in and beats us all...

Even our dog is worn out...

 

But we cannot help but to smile...

And love our life~

 

 

On the side of the mountain. :)

Family time...

One of the hardest things about going on the mission field is protecting family time and finding a balance. Everywhere we look there are urgent needs- and that can be overwhelming. One thing we have been working very hard on is to not allow ourselves to get burned out. Our family time, our children, our marriage still need our attention- or else we will allow our first ministry- our family- to fall apart. So today, we did something we have not been doing often enough- we took a break. We headed to Antigua to just walk around, enjoy the beauty and the rich culture. I, of course, couldn't help but to bring my camera along. :) I could spend hours just staring at the faces of my beautiful children. I love how God brought each of us together from different cultures, with diffent colors, and different backgrounds. In our house we celebrate those differences and thank God every.single.day for allowing us the privilege of being a family. :)

 

Building HOPE- together

Most of us can remember a time in our lives when we felt rejected.

A time when we felt like we didn’t matter. Whether it be the time we were chosen last on recess for the kickball game, or the time we didn’t get invited to the birthday party that everyone else was invited to- we have all felt the sting of rejection.

So what breaks my heart is when I think about how an orphan child living with HIV/AIDS must feel living in a society who constantly treats them as the least, the last and the lowest.

Our God given vision here at Village of Hope is to give these children faith, family, and a future. Yet much work needs to be done in order for the vision to become a reality. But what we know without a doubt is that we are not just building buildings- we are building homes and we are building HOPE.

Right now this very minute there are children waiting. Children who are living with HIV in a culture that rejects them. Schools do not want to accept them; most orphanages do not want to accept them either. And so they wait –in hopes that one day someone will welcome them in, wraps their loving arms around them and tell them they are valued, cherished and loved. And we wait- for the body of Christ to come together and make the vision of Village of Hope a reality for these children.


Give HOPE, brick by brick. Village of Hope - Guatemala from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

Village of Hope still needs $184,500 for such things as homes for the first orphans and their house parents, retaining walls, perimeter walls, and gates for safety and protection. These things will provide safety, home and HOPE for these orphans.

How can we do this?

Little by little, brick by brick- together we can build the foundation these children need to come to know the one who loves them so much He CHOSE them.

Little by little, brick by brick, together we can build HOPE for their future.

What that will take is for you and I to realize that the God in heaven that is crazy about these children is crazy about us as well. What He wants for us is so much more than a new sweater, a new electronic toy or the latest isomething or other this Christmas. He wants for us is to quit wasting our time, our resources and our talents on the things in this world that do not matter- and invest in the things that do~ His Kingdom.

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. Proverbs 24 3-4

To help GIVE faith, family and a future to the children at Village of Hope please visit see our
webpage here.

Indicate that you are purchasing a brick for someone as a gift and we will have a personalized card sent to you to give them. :)

You are invited...

IF you live in the Bloomington/Normal Illinois area

we'd love if you joined our family. 

 

            Hope to see you there!!!

How much do you matter? (repost)

One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.

~ Mother Teresa

Image with me for a minute…
Right now, today… you are small and alone.
You are hungry and lost.
You have no home, no parents, and seemingly no future.
You are scared, and weak, from days without food. You have no where to go, no where to be.
People walk by you but they don’t even look your way.
 It’s like you are invisible, nothing.
You keep walking, your feet are bleeding and sore… and yet still you manage to cling to the small bit of hope, the little voice inside your head that says maybe, just maybe, one day things will get better.
Maybe one day -you will matter.
It is getting dark outside- inside your fear is growing.
Where will you go?
Your heart is beating faster, and your fear becomes over whelming, consuming your every thought.
Then you see it, a dirty, broken cardboard box and you bow your head thanking God for His provision.
For you have found it- shelter.
Safety, if only for one night.
You slip underneath it, hugging yourself, vowing once again not to cry- because by now you know tears are a waste of your strength.
Your eyes become heavy, despite the sweltering temperature.
As you begin to drift off to sleep you pray, hoping, dreaming, of a family of your own one day...
of a place where you will matter...
to someone.

Half away around the world is a family...

They are just sitting down to dinner together.

They are smiling and their laughter fills the room.

Dinner is served and they bow their heads and they pray- thanking God for their many blessings… their home, their job, the food that is set before them.

They lift their heads and go back to the laughter and the joy.

They talk of their upcoming vacation plans, the lunch date they shared with a friend today and the movie they plan to see this coming weekend.

More laughter, more excitement, more.

As the leftovers are scraped into the garbage can and the table is cleaned up, hot bubble bathes are taken by all.

Evening settles in, and the family slips under their down comforters preparing for a good nights sleep.

Before turning out the lights, the husband leans over to kiss his wife good-night. She shyly smiles at him and begins to tell him that she has been feeling that perhaps God is calling them to adopt.

The room grows quiet as they are both lost in their own thoughts… their minds are flooded with questions, concern, and then inevitably -fear.

How could they manage?
Another child?
Why, they already have two!
Where would they put the child?
Who would share a room?
How could they afford to adopt?
Would they be able to take that vacation?
What would people think?
What if the child, you know, caused ‘problems’?

As their eyelids become heavy, they begin to drift off to sleep... and they think to themselves ‘surely not’.

Surely God knows this is not convenient.

Surely God wants them to take that vacation they deserve...

Surely he knows how busy they are.

They have plans and they have dreams.

As sleep overcomes them, the temperature in their master bedroom is perfect… and their pillows are fluffed to perfection.

Life is good for them, just as they had planned...

Because after all, they matter...

Too much...
 

to themselves.
 

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. "- 1 John 3:16-20

Behind the pistol.

There are sometimes places and situations in life that we never expect to find ourselves. That is just the way life is sometimes. Even if we make all of the right moves, even if we make all the right plans, all the right choices- there will be times of trials. And while those times are scary, difficult, and not at all what we'd hoped for- I find comfort in the fact that knowing no matter what the circumstance- or no matter what the outcome- the Lord is there to hold us through it.

Many of you may or may not have heard that yesterday our family was robbed at gun point on the way home from the bank yesterday just a few blocks from Village of Hope. Todd, Addisyn, Kaden, Carson, Havyn and I had gone out that afternoon to run some errands. Just normal, everyday stuff- stopping by the market for fruit and running into the bank to exchange some money for projects being done throughout the week. About 4 minutes after leaving the bank and a few minutes from Village of Hope, in a busy area with cars and people everywhere- we were suddenly surrounded and trapped in by two cars as two males with a gun jumped out and began screaming and pointing the gun at our heads.

As I have replayed those moments over and over in my head like the scenes from a bad movie- more than ever before I am certain about one thing- how fragile our lives are and our need for the Jesus.

 A lots of things go through your mind when you have a gun pointed at your head. The screams of your children from the back seat, the pleading of your husband next to you and the angry words coming from the one holding the gun... and yet somehow, over all of the noise of this world- I could still hear my shepherds voice reminding me that He was there. Oh how faithful our God is. And through that reminder, I was able to take my focus off he gun and look instead into the eyes of the man holding it.

 In that moment, instead of feeling fear- I felt an even greater passion to share Jesus with this lost world.

Because in this mans eyes, I saw a soul who was lost, hurt, and desperate. Desperate for safety, desperate for love, desperate for peace- and the money that he took will never bring that to him. The only place he will ever find what he was longing for is in the arms of the one who loves Him no matter what crime he committed.

We spent a lot of time praying as a family that night. Praying that daddy would be able to let go of the guilt of not being able to protect his family and the Lords money, praying that our children would have those images erased from their little minds and praying for these men to somehow find the Lord.

 Sometime later that night as we were counting our losses and going over the list of valuables that was taken, Addisyn reminded me that inside of my purse that was taken was a bible...

and I couldn't help but to call that a gain.

Would you please join us in praying for these men?

Lord, thank you for who you are and for what you have already done for us regardless of who we are and what mistakes we have made.  Lord I pray for these men who stole from you and I ask your forgiveness upon them. I ask Lord for them to somehow come to know who you are.  Lord forgive me for the times in my life when I have missed an opportunity to share you with a stranger, with a neighbor, a family member or a friend- for that may have made all the difference. Forgive me for the times I have failed to be bold and live my life in such a way that people couldn't help but to long to know you more. Forgive me Lord for looking the other way when I see someone in need of you. Lord may you use our lives and everything we have to bring you glory. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.


 

Happy Birthday Keegan

Happy 20th Birthday Keegan!!

There are simply no words to say how proud we are of you. We hate not being there by your side on your birthday but we hope you are SURROUNDED by people who love and adore you as much as we all do here.

We love you and we are so thankful God gave us you!!

So excited to announce...

Our new super cool,

you cannot live without them...

Village of Hope Tshirts!!!

 Get yours here today!!!