Caroline's Promise News

If you want to see an incredible journey of faith, take the time to watch this beautiful video of the Mullis Family's adoption!

Two years ago this month our family began to pray about and to discuss adoption. We decided that what was best for our family was one baby boy. Looking back now, I have to laugh at how little control we had over our circumstances and how God was using everything that happened, from the agency we chose to the people we met to direct us to the two children He had for us. Yes, I said two. Not the baby boy we were planning, but a strong, handsome 10 year old boy and a beautiful baby girl. God is funny that way. He takes our plans, turns them inside out and show us exactly what we wanted might not be the best thing for us, but what HE has is so much better. One month after our paperwork was in Ethiopia, we received word, through another family in our agency, about a 9 year old boy in Ethiopia who was what they called a double orphan. Both of his parents had died. His sister had been adopted through another family and he was completely alone in Ethiopia. So much loss in one short...

A few months ago Steven Martinez of Pennsylvania contacted his former Bible College Professor, Dan Cruver. Steven's parents are from Guatemala but have lived in the states for years. Steven and his beautiful wife Ashley were planning a trip to Guatemala to visit family and were looking for a project that supported orphans. They asked Dan for ideas and he sent them to us! As we talked we realized that they would be in Guatemala the same time we were! So they worked it into their schedule to visit the school and attend church with us. Steven and Ashley asked if there was a project that their church, could support. We told them about the computer lab that we are trying to build at Casita and they joined the cause, raising over $1200! We were thrilled to meet Steven, Ashley, and his parents, Osberto and Esther. As we talked with Delmy we learned that her father was actually Osberto's pastor when he lived in Guatemala City! And Delmy grew up with Osberto's aunts. What ...

One of the goals of our child sponsorship program in Guatemala is to meet the physical needs of the kids. We've been looking at things we can do to prevent illness and improve the health of the kids. All of them have been receiving vitamins each weekday at school and this summer we implemented daily brushing of teeth. Our teams were also able to purchase and give deworming medicine to the kids which will continue every 6 months. Team one was able to host a medical clinic for the children and their families where they learned that many of the kids were sick, even though they didn't appear to be. Delmy had told us in the spring that a lot of the kids were complaining about their head hurting. She wondered if their vision was poor. Dr. Amy Harper of Kernersville, NC provided us with an eye chart and medicine for the kids. Our plans were to screen the kids and then hopefully find a place where those who needed further attention could receive a formal eye exam. One day I deci...

Guatemala Summer 2011 , a set on Flickr. The summer 2011 Guatemala family mission trip photo collection is nearly complete! Check it out...

We are blessed to have teachers join us on our short term mission trips. They offer special workshops for teachers and consultation for our partner schools. Several of the kids on our 2011 Guatemala Family Team had Diana Saavedra for first grade at Jones Elementary in Greensboro, NC. The kids thought it would be fun to host a Green Eggs & Ham Party at Casita - just like they did in first grade. Diana was more than willing to help the kids get it together. The Casita Kids and teachers came to school in their pajamas and made Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat hats. Diana read the story and Denise gave a devotional. Everyone ate green eggs and ham and paraded through the school! They ended up in the new library where they celebrated and Pastor Carlos prayed. t was a fun day for all but especially rewarding to see that God can use our kids to come up with ministry that really works!

Our friend, Rob Mitchell wrote the book, Castaway Kid to share his life as an orphan. God has used the book to open any eyes to what it feels like to be an orphan. We were thrilled to learn that the book was being published in Spanish and Rob was generous to give Caroline's Promise 96 copies to share in Guatemala. What a gift! Last week we hosted a special program for the ladies of our partner church, Iglesia Adonai. Team member, Denise Shelton shared a devotional and all of the ladies received a personal copy of Rob's book, called "Solo" in the Spanish version. The ladies were thrilled and our prayer is that God will use Rob's story to open their eyes and move them to action on behalf of the orphans and vulnerable children in their community. Most of these ladies don't own books of their own. We've been able to donate books that they share but to have their own copy is a true gift! The remaining copies will be shared with pastors in Guatemala. Tha...

If you were involved with Caroline's Promise in the past year you will surely remember us bugging you to vote, vote, vote for us to receive a Kindermusik Grant! Well, your persistence paid off and we received $1000 to build a library at Casita. I guess we just didn't understand how few children actually own books here in Guatemala. We've checked prices while we've been here and a book that would cost $8 in the US is around $28 here. That's crazy! With the Kindermusik grant we were able to purchase books from Usborne Books and they matched that 100%! New Life Ch urch in Maryland contributed money that allowed us to purchase beautiful Christian books this week. When we arrived in Guatemala we got busy cleaning and painting what was once a storage closet. Our teams sorted and coded the books, recorded books on cd, and helped the teachers develop guidelines for the use of the library. In the end over 300 books filled the room, including excellent teaching re...

Douglas and Oneida live in the community around Iglesia Adonai with their three beautiful girls. They serve daily in the church and are in many ways the "right hand" of Pastor Carlos and Delmi. The job market in Guatemala is far worse than in the states and Douglas has been without work for a long time. He has been an angel to us this week - accompanying us everywhere we go, assisting with work projects, and becoming our friend. Douglas is intelligent, practical and a true servant. As the church and school treasurer he is a vital part of the ministry. We are thrilled that Douglas will be helping with our child sponsorship program at Casita. This will provide a little income for Douglas. Will you join us in praying for a more permanent job? Oneida is an excellent seamstress and has taught many women in the church to sew. Her next project is to teach the older girls at Casita to crochet. While they learn a new skill there will be many opportunities to talk about the ...

While our team spent the afternoon in Antigua, Douglas and Clemente stayed at the bus. A 16 year old girl named Dexie approached them with food that she was selling. She began to tell them her story of her anger toward her parents and how she had left home. Over the course of the next hour and a half Douglas and Clemente shared Jesus with her. At the end of their time together Dexie asked Jesus into her heart. Will you join us in praying that God will bring others into her life who can disciple and help her with her new found faith?

Several months ago Delmi Rivas, founder of Casita Adonai visited Caroline's Promise in North Carolina. While she was there she learned how local preschools have consignment sales in an effort to raise funds for their school and help the community. Although this concept is foreign to Guatemalans, Delmi was adventurous and told us to give it a try! More than a year ago one of our grant families donated a lot of clothes but we just weren't able to take them until now. A group of ladies from Shady Grove Wesleyan tagged all the clothes and once we were in Guatemala we explained the sale to the parents of the kids at Casita. They caught on quickly and were excited to participate. 11 women consigned their clothes, raising money for their families and approximately 100 people attended. In the end over $400 was raised for the school. That's a lot considering all of the items were under $1.00! We are excited that these ladies are learning how to give back to the school and C...

We were blessed this trip to have Heather Tuttle join us. She has amazing experience, having taught in Korea and a very poor area of High Point. Heather organized our library, taught math classes, helped organize the teacher supply room, painted a lot, and fell, in love with a little girl named Jennifer at Kairos House. Thanks for assisting with our Teacher Team Heather! It was great to get to know you! "This week in Guatemala has gone by so quickly. I'm amazed at what God is doing here. Especially at the school, Casita Adonai. The thing that has stood out to me the most is the students' spirits. Thougt they are living in extreme poverty and many of them are orphans, each one of them has such a pure and innocent heart. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing here. The Bible talks about how God brings beauty out of ashes and that is exactly what He is doing here!"

On Monday we again spent the day at Casita Adonai. Many team members taught classes to the students, who ranged from Pre-K to 4th grade. We taught several subjects, including math, drama, English, Spanish, physical education, and Bible. We had team members translating for those who did not speak Spanish. The kids were so happy to see us, and really enjoyed having our team members in their classrooms. After school, we went back to painting. Some of the team members also began sorting and tagging clothes for our upcoming consignment sale on Thursday. .