Caroline's Promise News

This whole "7 Days of Celebration" idea came to me (Lisa) a few weeks before Erik & Samuel died in an accident.  I was so confident that God was asking me to use the last 7 days of 2017 to CELEBRATE all that He had done.  He had led me to readings on the Feast of Tabernacles, a time when the Israelites gathered to celebrate how God had provided and protected them during their 40 years in the wilderness.  It seemed like a great idea.  Share a story a day for 7 days, celebrating all that God had done in and through the ministry of Caroline's Promise.  Easy, right? And then I received the call that rocked my world.  It was a snowy, Friday afternoon in North Carolina and I was waiting to have a video conference with our partners in Guatemala.  I wasn't shocked to see Delmi's name pop up on my phone but I was shocked to hear her weeping hysterically on the other end of the line.  I'm not sure I have cried on that level before.  In the h...

During my second trip to Guatemala, I knew I wanted to find a child to sponsor through Caroline's Promise. Over the two weeks I was there, I prayed that God would reveal which child he wanted me to sponsor. One morning, I was praying for my sponsor child and asking God to make it clear which child he wanted me to sponsor. The same day we were giving out parasite medicine to all the kids at the school, which they absolutely hated.  I had been particularly drawn to one boy in the Prepa class, and we had bonded over the week. When we were giving out the medicine, I was with a friend in the Prepa class. All the kids were complaining about the parasite medicine and some were even spitting it out when we gave it to them. I gave the medicine to the child I had been bonding with over the week and he reluctantly swallowed the pills. He came back about five minutes later with a disgusted look on his face, took my hands, and threw the medicine up STRAIGHT INTO MY HANDS...

As we continue our 7 Days of Celebration we want to share the story of our friend, *Maria*.   Extortion is a major issue in Guatemala.  It's not unheard of for gang members to go to people who own businesses and demand that they pay them or they will be killed.  Extortion was a part of every day life for Maria.  She owned a small cafe and for 10 years she gave the same extortionist $4 a day.  For 10 years.  Every day.  10 years.   One day in September Maria didn't have the $4 so the man shot her.....7 times.  It was a miracle that she survived and we were blessed to meet her in October when we visited a neighborhood Bible Study in her community.  The people that our partners had been investing in for several years had started investing in Maria.  They took her in, helped her, and loved on her.  And that night she asked Jesus into her heart.  It was a beautiful moment.  We saw her a few weeks later whe...

Several years ago God gave me a dream of teaching welding to young adults in our partner communities in Guatemala.  You may ask "Why welding?"   Well, if you know me and my family, it makes sense. I'm the daughter of a welder.  My Dad, Kenneth Best was the son of a welder and both of his brothers are welders.  Through the years he and my Mom built a successful business that my brother, Brian now runs.  My Dad taught me what it means to have a strong work ethic and I watched his business grow, even in the toughest economy, making a way for him to pay for my college education and most of graduate school. Through the years I would see young men in Guatemala search for a job that paid decent money and over and over I saw them struggle.    If only they could learn how to weld.      In January my brother, Brian traveled with me to Guatemala where we met with the Director of the Welding Program at Intecap (technical sch...

Merry Christmas! Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus. What a special baby, to say the least. As we were thinking of stories from 2017 to celebrate, we immediately thought of a baby in Guatemala and how God spared his sweet life.  We didn't plan to take a medical mission team, but God made it clear that this was his plan. (You can read how that happened  here ) At the end of the first day of clinics, a mom showed up with a baby that was less than a year old. She didn't live in the community but was visiting a friend whose kids attend our Sunday afternoon Kids' Church. Dr. Smith and our Guatemalan doctor, Tiffany Quan, both realized that the child was near death. Tiffany jumped into the back of a truck with the mom and baby and took them to the nearest fire department where they were rushed to a local hospital. The mood was somber as we boarded the bus, each of us realizing that unless God intervened, baby Marvin would not live for very long.  Two days later,...

Merry Christmas! I, (Lisa), was reading recently about the Feast of the Tabernacles. This was a time of joyous celebration as the Israelites gathered to celebrate God's continued provision for them in the current harvest and remembered His provision and protection during the 40 years in the wilderness. It was a time of great celebration. Some theologians believe that Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles.  While on Earth, Jesus kept the Feast of Tabernacles. In John 7:37-38 we see him standing in the temple and crying out:  "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38) I love this quote that I found from this  website : "This feast, like all of the feasts of Israel, consistently reminded the Jews and should remind Christians as well that God has promised to deliver His people from the bondage of sin and deliver them from t...

As many of you know, two of our boys in Guatemala lost their lives in an accident. Casita Adonai, the church in Guatemala, has helped with the cost of the funeral. However, there is still a financial need. In addition, Caroline's Promise would like to like to send a counseling team to Guatemala to help with this tragedy. Because this is an unexpected trip, we are asking for your support to cover airfare for a team of 4. The trip will take place in January, and the team will offer counseling to the family and members of Casita Adonai who have given so much of themselves to the family.  Our prayer is that in helping them, they can also learn ways to help others in the future.  You can view the donation page by clicking  here

We are happy to announce our 2018 Missions Trips & Dates! You can view all the trips and dates  here . The application and $100 deposit is due January 15th.   Please email us at lisaholbrook@carolinespromise.net or call 336-699-7340 if you have questions!

Our next sponsorship story is unique! This story is from Zaira, a mother in Guatemala. Her children attend Casita Adonai and are in the sponsorship program!  To find out more about sponsorship and to see children who need sponsored, click  here

Our next sponsorship story is from the Dimora family!  When I think of child sponsorship, I think of families and generations changed… How communities are changed.  We sponsor Gabi, a 21 year old young lady (who has been attending further schooling to try and attend college), and Corine, a 3 year old girl, from the same family group. The head of the family is Azucena. She leads a family of her own children, who are adults and many grandchildren. Gabi is Azucena’s daughter and Corine is Azucena’s granddaughter. Corine’s mom (Another of Azucena’s daughter’s) died in child birth of Corine. Gabi has taken the responsibility to raise Corine (her niece) as her daughter. Gabi and Corine, and many other grandchildren, live with Azucena in Gerona, an area outside Guatemala City that we work in. Many of the grandchildren also have sponsors.  I look at this whole family and the influence sponsorship has had… Azucena was a different woman when I met her 3 yea...

Our next sponsorship story is from Melissa Brown! Sponsoring surprised me...in good ways. I started sponsoring a teen through Caroline's Promise in April 2016. Over the years, I had sponsored kids through other organizations and had low expectations going in. That all changed quickly. I got to pack a gallon size bag & write a letter to my sponsor girl, Claudia. She was getting a real present picked out by me, well a lot of little ones, not a generic present I tacked on money for one month. As I have gotten to know her, I love putting presents in the bag throughout the year as I buy something she would like.   I was surprised one day with a picture taken during a trip to Guatemala from Lisa Holbrook, the Director of Caroline's Promise. It was of Claudia!! Throughout my time sponsoring Claudia, I have had the chance to celebrate her Quincenera by sending a letter and present, get great letters and artwork from her, and make sure that she was able to attend a lea...

Mary shared her sponsorship story weeks ago before we found out about Erik. We are asking for prayers for Erik's family and for Mary during this difficult time. Mary shared these sweet words on her Facebook page today. Can you see how sweet this boy was? How friendly and loving? What a gift to have had any time at all knowing this precious child, and I almost missed it. I never meant to get involved in child sponsorship when I first went to Guatemala six years ago, but I am so glad I have. I can't tell you how much richer my heart is for the relationships I have made there and how much God has grown me through the experience of being part of a vulnerable child's life. Learn to do good; Seek justice; Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless; Plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:17) I really had no intentions of sponsoring a child when I went on my first mission trip to Guatemala six years ago. I had a child I was sponsoring through another organization, so I fel...

Our next sponsorship story is from Brooke St. Clair! Partnering with Caroline's Promise has been a blessing for many reasons. I have personally found a lot of amazing relationships and deep healing in my life. However, thinking about the partnership we have in Guatemala, I can't help but think of the way that child sponsorship has impacted my life.  In 2012 I went to Guatemala for the first time and met a kid that changed my life in ways that are hard to describe. When I left, after only spending one week there, all I could think about was how am I getting back. If you know me and we've ever talked about Guatemala at all, there's a good chance that I've told you about Carlos.  When I met Carlos in 2012, I knew he would always hold a special place in my heart. We've written letters throughout the years, and I have had the absolute privilege of knowing his family. Without a doubt, they are my family, and I love them more than I ever thought po...

Our next sponsorship story is from Dave & Amy Hicks! We arrived in Guatemala City on a rainy Friday afternoon. My husband, Dave, and I had joined a multi-generational group from our church in Greensboro, North Carolina, to spend a week ministering to the needs of children and adults in the Central American country. It had taken some convincing on Dave's part to persuade me to go. Each time he would mention the short-term missions trip, I found myself enumerating in great detail the dozens of reason why I simply could not go.  "Who will take care of my aging mother?" "What if I get sick?" "What if I can't eat the food?" "I can't even speak the language" "I'm not sure where Guatemala is on the map!" "What if they discover I have nothing to offer?" But the still small voice in my hear would not be deterred, and I became that somehow God would show me why I was present "for such a ti...