Caroline's Promise News

  We were so sad to hear of the tragic passing of Melissa Roberts .  When she lived in Wilson, N.C. she joined Eastgate Community Church (formerly Wilson Community Church) on trips to Guatemala where she was a bright light and encouragement to everyone she met.  Our hearts go out to her husband, Brian and daughter, Sabrina.  We join with her friends from Wilson who are shocked and grieving the loss of such a beautiful person.   Containers used to store water  Her friends from the Wilson community were looking for a way to honor Melissa and we felt that meeting a need and helping to find a solution was exactly something that Melissa would get behind.  We recently learned that the families in Gerona are in desperate need of containers to store water.  Because they do not have access to running water, they are dependent on trucks from the government that deliver water every other day.  The problem is that many families don't have containers to s...

We are thrilled for the opportunity to provide life saving water filters and hygiene training to our communities in Guatemala this summer.  We will begin this project in June with 50 families in the community of Gerona. Each water filter will last 10 years and provide an easy and effective way to purify water. Our friends at Just One Africa have been using these filters in Kenya and we are thankful for their willingness to help us with our plan.  Check out their video of how the filters work.  Each filter is $65.  If you would like to be a part of this project, donate here.  Be sure to follow us on social media to catch all of the water filter updates to come!

As 2018 comes to a close we want to share stories of how your partnership has helped us live out the core values   of Caroline's Promise We value Isaiah 61, which means we work to: 1. Proclaim good news to the poor and comfort the brokenhearted 2. Proclaim freedom for the captives and bring prisoners out of darkness Our next story comes from Grace Andino who shares a powerful experience she had this past summer.  "Over the past few years, we have been partnering with a community in Guatemala called Gerona. At first, many people felt closed off, not feeling like they had space in their hearts for new friends. But after a few years, it has become the highlight of each week to visit this community. For years, we were ministering to only children. Parents were never seen, especially fathers. However, little by little, some mothers began coming to church and now there is a very strong presence of women in the community attending church weekly. When ministering ...

On #GivingTuesday (November 27, 2018) YOU can help us raise money to bring clean water to the community of Gerona by creating a personal fundraising page on Facebook. We spent time this past year, surveying this community and found that the greatest need is clean water.  We are committed to providing effective and sustainable water filters that will cost $65 per family.  Our goal for #GivingTuesday is $13,000 which will provide filters to 200 families! On Tuesday, Facebook will not only waive the transaction fees for donations made on Facebook Fundraising Pages but together with Pay Pal they will match $7 Million of those donations!   The giving starts on Tuesday at 8am EST (7am Central, 6am Mountain, and 5 am Pacific) and will be given until the $7Million is gone. We know from experience that the matching dollars are usually gone within 30 minutes.  How can you help? Set up a Facebook fundraising page prior to Tuesday morning and then...

In October of 2017 we met with families from the community of Gerona.  We wanted to know how we could best partner with them.  When Lisa asked, "What are your dreams for your family & community?" they looked at her like she had 4 heads. She rephrased the question..... "What are the greatest needs in your community?" One thing that we heard over and over was how the kids are struggling in school.  We knew that our older kids were repeating grades several times but in that moment we realized what part of the problem was.  A lot of the parents are illiterate and therefore don't have the resources to help prepare their kids for school.  When they enter first grade they are already years behind where the government expects them to be. We left that meeting asking God how we could best help them with this need.  We have identified property in Gerona where we could build a ministry center.  This place could serve many needs including a churc...

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...

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...

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,...

Through the years our partners at the Adonai Church have had a program where kids memorize scripture.  They are rewarded for participating and the child who memorizes the most verses receives a special prize.  We have been with young adults from the church who participated in the program as children and have been so impressed with how the scripture has stayed in their hearts and minds. They continued this program in the community of Gerona and we are so proud of their hard work! Juana Marleni memorized the most scripture.  Please pray with us that God will bring these scriptures to their minds when they need it most!

It's that time of year again!  Iglesia Adonai, our partner church in Guatemala is hosting two camps for teens in November.  The youth and leaders from Adonai are planning the camps and raising support for their trip.  They have asked us to partner with them to sponsor teens from the community of Gerona to attend. Teens ages 12-14 will attend camp November 4 and 5th and teens ages 15 - 20 will attend November 25 and 26.  The cost is $40 per teen and donations can be made here.   If you would like to sponsor a specific teen please look at the photo album here and comment underneath their photo.  Thanks for partnering with us!  We are trusting God to continue the work that He has been doing in their lives.

When you sponsor a child with Caroline's Promise, you're not only investing in that child, but you're supporting their family and the community.  We currently have need for sponsors of kids in the following projects: Casita Adonai - Your sponsorship pays for part of the child's tuition while the parent pays the other portion.  Gerona Community - Your sponsorship provides food for the child and their family. Follow the links (click the community) for a list of kids who need sponsors and instructions to get started! Thanks for helping us spread the word!

  Words can't express how proud we are of the youth from Adonai Church in Guatemala City.  They have worked hard to develop a discipleship and outreach program that is amazing!  In addition, they have been raising funds to attend their high school aged camp November 25-27.  They began months ago by creating banks and teaching on the importance of saving.  From there they hosted a ton of fundraisers and have been able to raise the funds for their youth group to attend camp. Now they need our help!  They would love for 25 of the older teens from their Gerona church plant to attend camp as well.  The cost is $40 per teen and we're looking for a total of $1000. If you would like to partner with the Adonai Youth and support a teen from Gerona, please follow this link.  Thank you for helping us celebrate the Adonai Youth and their hard work, while making a way for the teens in Gerona to attend camp.  

A week or so ago was the first day of middle school for a lot of students and  their parents in our area. For the student it comes with first day pictures, first day outfits, first day excitement, and first day fears. Parents will have fears too...  Will they make friends? Will they eat a good lunch? Will they remember to bring all of their assignments home? Will they be bullied?  Those don't sound like small fears... especially the bullying part.  All valid questions.  I know a group of parents who sent their kids off to 6th grade at the beginning of this year. They have the same valid fears too.  Will they make friends? Will they eat a good lunch? Will they remember to bring all of their assignments home? Will they be bullied?   What will we do next year? Will I keep them home? Will they go to public school? Will they be in a gang? Will they be murdered by a gang? Will they be the murderer in a gang? Wait! Those are not the same questi...