Caroline's Promise News

It's never easy, leaving Guatemala. There are always mixed emotions. You want to get home and see your family, you want to take a hot shower, you want to have a coke with ICE:) But I don't ever really want to leave. Saturday seemed like a fight from the moment I woke up. When you pay to stay in a nice, safe hotel in Guatemala City you kind of expect hot water. 3am and a cold shower was just what I needed I guess to get me going. The boys on the other hand did NOT want to get up. It's like their 2 weeks of being in Guatemala had come to a head. Cameron was struggling. I went downstairs to find that most of our Asheboro team had gotten on the shuttle to the airport, but not all of them. The next hour was craziness, trying to get everyone to the airport. There were plenty of other guests at the hotel who didn't mind jumping in front of our team - forcing their way on the shuttle and separating our team. One of the kids on our team, Taylor was throwing up and onc...

At Caroline's Promise we're all about helping people process their mission trip and ask the question, "What is God teaching me and how is this trip going to change my life?" We ask team members to list their favorite memories from the trip and then narrow them down to the top 4. Then we look to see if there is a theme to these events. This is our first attempt to bring families on a mission trip. In a lot of ways it was an experiment. We had some doubts about how it would work - if at all. Tonight we were blessed to hear how God continues to work in the lives of team members - especially the children! Here are some comments: * This trip taught me about having faith in God. Faith that He would provide the finances, faith for the trip, faith that He will take care of these kids. * I learned that God answers prayers - we have to keep praying. * I learned that I need to be thankful for what I have. * I miss and love my family. I need to spend more time with my l...

One of our bus drivers called Thursday night to say that the people in Solola were going to be protesting/blocking the road on Friday morning. His suggestion was that we leave Eagle's Nest at 6 AM!!!! So - we rolled out of bed before the sun came up and headed back to Guatemala City. God has provided us with a beautiful hotel and the team has been resting, swimming, taking hot showers! We'll debrief tonight and eat our last dinner with the Asheboro team. We leave the hotel at 4am Saturday and should be back in Raleigh by 5pm Saturday. God has been so good to us these past 2 weeks. It's a privilege to serve with Him in this beautiful country. We have mixed feelings about returning home. I personally can't wait to see my Caroline! But I'll miss this place and these people. Keep checking back as we add pictures and testimonies from team members! Thanks for your prayers and your support!

Our team from Asheboro has been at Eagle's Nest all week. They haven't had great internet access so you'll have to check back later this week for an update on their trip. We were blessed to join them on Thursday for ministry in San Antonio Chacaya. Our friends Ron & Jose coordinated the day. We took a bigger boat across the lake to this little village that is off the beaten path. There's not even a boat dock! We just pulled up to the shore and put a plank out to walk on. The children from the village heard the boat and came running out to meet us. It was precious. The walk up to the school was anything but precious! Think mud, manure from every animal you can think of, walking through corn fields, not a real path - you get the picture! When we made it to the little road we looked out to see our boat leaving. It reminded me of a scene from Survivor! This by far was one of the highlights of our 2 weeks here. The school was started by a group of indivuals who truly jus...

After a sleepless night in Antigua we drove to Chimaltenango. For those of you who have been with us to Lake Atitlan - you might remember this town. It's the one where everyone changes tires. Dirty, smelly town. I affectionately call it the "Tire Town." I now know that on the outskirts of the town is a precious Children's Home called "Agua Viva." Over 80 boys and girls live there. They loved the capes that the ladies from Shady Grove and students in Raleigh had made for them. I'll never forget the 2 little boys - maybe 4 years old - running around with their capes flying behind them. Thank you ladies for using your gifts. Your love is making a lot of kids smile:) On our way to Eagle's Nest we ran into a little trouble. At one point traffic came to a complete halt on the Pan American Highway. It was getting dark and to be honest, I was a little nervous. Our wonderful Guatemalan driver, Hector got out to see what was going on. The people of Solola were...

We're finally back in the city - with internet!! Here's a recap of the rest of our incredible week! On Tuesday we drove to the beautiful city of Antigua. Everyone enjoyed a few hours in this old town and then we headed to San Cristobal, Mixco - outside of Guatemala City. We were honored to share with the girls at Prince of Peace Children's Home. This place has ministered to girls ages 4-19 for years. It's a peaceful, beautiful home and the girls seemed glad to have us. As we drove up it started raining.....HARD. The building where we were to do our program has a tin roof and the harder it rained, the harder it was to hear each other speak. Things were delayed because of the rain. We prayed and before long the rain slowed enough that the girls could join us and we could start. After we did the Children of the King skit the team performed an abstinence themed skit called "The Princess and the Kiss." During the craft we took the girls to another room, 2 or 3 at a...

We were blessed this week to meet Tita. What an amazing woman! She ministers to children and their families in the ghetto of Guatemala. God is using her to change a generation! Please remember Tita and the children of La Limonada in your prayers. We are excited to see how God will use Caroline's Promise to help them in the days to come.

On Monday we went to one of our favorite places - Hannah's Hope Children's Home in Guatemala City. This is the home connected to All God's Children Adoption Agency out of Portland, Oregon. It also happens to be where Caroline spent her first 5 months! The moment we walked into the older kids' house Barbara remembered that it was where we first saw Caroline. The kids started coming in and were so excited to have a group minister to them. Diana did an excellent job of communicating the message and the kids totally got it! One little boy kept saying "hijos de Dios!" (Children of God). Katherine and Lea Ann dressed each child as a prince or princess and they made their grand entrance as everyone cheered! Anna's crafts were a huge hit and we even received requests to sing again:) Several of the team went into the room where a few special needs children were resting. Team members prayed for each child and for their special mothers (care givers). As we were leavi...

Child sponsorship works! Our family has sponsored Daniel for several years. We met him 2 years ago and were so excited to get to see him again this year! The sponsorship provides many things for him - but the most important to us is that He is learning about Jesus! Daniel is consistently at the top of the group as far as Scripture memorization. What a joy to watch him grow and how cool for our boys to share in his life! $30 a month is a small investment to change a child's life:)

One of the highlights of these mission trips is meeting the kids that we sponsor through World Hope International. The kids are always excited to meet their sponsors but the sponsors are the ones who receive the real blessings! Today Barbara met her little girl, Ana who is 10 and lives in Guatemala City. The zoo was a blast! Lots of animals, new friends, and the rain stayed away until the very end! Pray for us tomorrow. We'll be at a school and Hannah's Hope Children's Home.

Our first day has been awesome so far! We attended church at Iglesia Adonai in Guatemala City. It was a joy to see how this church has grown. The team enjoyed doing crafts and the Children of the King Program with the children there. We're on our way to the zoo! We're taking 10 children from the church who have memorized chapters 4, 5, and 6 of the Book of John! Wow! Photos to come:)

As we debriefed last night team members listed their top 4 experiences of the week. Over and over they mentioned our time with the kids sponsored by Compassion International. This is our 2nd year with this precious group of kids and once again God used them to bless us! Before we shared our skit and carnival with them they shared a cultural presentation of songs and dramas. One of our favorites was this one. The little girl shared her heart with several boys who ripped it to pieces. Toward the end of the skit this little boy walked in and shared his Bible with her. She asked Jesus into her heart and God gave her a new heart. Everyone was touched!

On Wednesday we spent the day at Eagle's Nest Children's Home. Our first job was to move the children out of the home and into a separate building so that we could clean the home. What a job!!! The team took turns helping with the children, cleaning the home, and finishing our projects. We built shelves and storage boxes for the cabanas. Eagle's Nest is not just a children's home. It's a retreat center as well that hosts groups of all types. This generates income that helps keep the home open. The storage boxes and shelves will be used in the cabanas for guests that come for retreats. On Thursday we took a boat across Lake Atitlan to a village called San Juan. Several team members sponsor children through World Hope International and were able to meet the child they sponsor. What a precious day! While they visited the rest of the team delivered school supplies at a Christian school. A bumpy, WET boat ride back across the lake and an afternoon or shopping...

Praise the Lord for better internet access! We appreciate your prayers and feel them. Don't stop! We've had a little sickness. Casey had stomach issues Monday but was great by this morning. Jennifer Glover has struggled with stomach and aches. Katy has had stomach stuff and is weak but is feeling much better. Lisa is getting a cold. So - we'd appreciate your prayers that it will stop and noone else will feel bad. On Monday afternoon we ministered to 150 kids who are sponsored by Compassion International. It was a precious time. They presented music and drama to us which was powerful and we did the Children of the King skit and a carnival. What fun! We ran out of prizes at some of the games, but Garrett had extra gifts in his bag that were perfect! Thank you Jamie for sending those with him. It was like you were here with us! Today, Tuesday, we drove about 30 minutes on a really rough road to the prettiest little town called San Jose Chacaya. It was incredibly ...