Guatemala Update!

Caryn is back from Guatemala! The staff and students had a great time and God did some amazing things.

Four Lifelines staff from UVM and 10 students left March 6th and returned on the 14th. They were working with and thru a ministry to orphans & the poor in Guatemala called Forever Changed International.

In our desire to bring hope & love to people, we received so much more in return....

We loved on orphans at the orphanage where we stayed, many of whom have no chance for adoption... they loved us back with abandon & changed our lives & hearts with their smiles. We painted a bedroom for the two oldest girls (pictured sitting on their new bedding). The girl on the right in Ingrid... Click here to read the story of how she & her 3 siblings were rescued from an abusive & neglectful situation & taken to the orphanage just last month.

We hiked up to mountain villages where we brought food, toys & medical supplies to some of the most beautiful people on the planet.

We also brought food, clothes & gifts to a women's prison where children are allowed to stay with their mothers for the first 4 years of their lives... we cried & prayed with one mother as she described her fears of the day when her daughter, now 2 years old, would have to leave. This particular woman entered the prison 2 months pregnant, and wrongly serves a 40-year sentence for a crime committed while her entire church watched her singing in her church choir in the ghetto.

We spent a few days in what used to be considered an extremely dangerous and gang-ridden ghetto bringing in gifts, listening to stories of faith, praying, and attending church with the people of God there. We were all greatly moved by how the faithfulness of a few people has transformed this center of poverty into a still-poor, but spiritually growing & much safer place for families to live & love together.

Our last day in Guatemala, we brought food, clothes, & a few toys into the city dump where many Guatemalans actually make their home, literally living off the garbage there. I was humbled by the chance to give just a little to these people - even the youngest of whom uttered "gracias" with each loaf of bread we gave out.

The most exciting part of our trip was how God worked in the lives of the students in our group... all were greatly impacted & many made decisions for the first time to seek after Jesus & allow Him to work in their lives. Pray the Holy Spirit would continue to be at work in our lives & show us how to bring the great & wonderful things we learned back to "real life."

God speaks to me.

maize hutton is a very talented woman who creates beautiful, smile-inducing things from the stuff most of us would find ordinary or even cast away... her original product, the "mommy tag", is a sweet tribute to moms crafted from silver that she recycles from old film (along with all her silver jewelry creations). i've been admiring her work, & following her daily creations, finds, & thoughts on her blog at maizehutton.com since finding the site several weeks ago.

wednesday afternoon, i stopped at my PO box to find a package waiting for me with maize hutton written stylishly in the upper left... i tore it open & promptly started crying in the chiang mai post office parking lot. you can see the contents in the squares above, but i'm afraid they probably don't totally explain my emotional outburst :). while i LOVE gifts to begin with, have an affection for old books, & melt over anything shiny & personalized, i really need to share more of the story (& you're probably wondering why a lady who makes jewelry for celebrities sent me a package, anyway - not that i totally know the answer to that question**)...

i've struggled on & off as a Christian with "performance" issues.... after first learning about a God who knows me totally & loves me without condition, i slowly forgot about His unconditional acceptance of me & worried a lot more about "doing things" to please Him, rather than "being" His child. as a result, i've often felt distant from Him... not really feeling His love or hearing His voice...
lately, i've felt God "wooing" me back to Him - in the midst of feeling a bit burnt out from serving a God who i often saw as a drill sargeant rather than a loving Father - i've heard His voice (through a few good books, including the Bible, and some trusted friends) reminding me to rest... to "be" His child & to stop trying to "do" things for Him. it's been a hard transition... learning to rest in Him when i found a lot of my significance in the things i was doing for Him.
at the suggestion of a friend, i've been asking Him for confirmation of His love & to hear His voice more clearly again.
so, as you can imagine, the package was very special.... the handmade necklace reminding me of His special, individual love for me (also a visual reminder of the love He showed me in giving me a wonderful husband)... and the book (a 3rd grade sunday school reader titled simply, God Speaks to Me) reminding me to be His child & that He does, indeed, still want to speak to me.

how is God speaking to you? i pray you'd have ears to listen & eyes to see just how He is showing you His love today.

-caryn

**apparently, when i commented on maize's blog, she clicked on the link to my blog (where she found mike's name & learned a bit about us)... other than her being an amazing woman with huge heart, i don't really know why she chose to bless me with this wonderful package... but i do know that i heard God's voice inside that padded envelope.


"God works in mysterious ways and through others when you least expect it." -maize hutton

(from her reply to my thank you email, in which i explained a bit about my story & why her gift meant so much)

thanks again, maize!

Tired and Busy?

Caryn came across this book called, "When I Relax I Feel Guilty" by Tim Hansel. This guy started Summit Expeditions, now called Summit Adventures. Anyway, I think it is a very appropriate book for out culture...and for me. Here is an excerpt I read this morning:

Tim Hansel writes, "Some of us need to read the following letter written by an anonymous friar in a monastery in Nebraska late in his life. We probably not only need to read it, but we need to allow it to seep down into the marrow of our tired and serious bones.

'If I had my life to live over again, I'd try to make more mistakes next time.

I would relax, I would limber up, I would be sillier than I have been this trip.

I know of very few things I would take seriously.

I would take more trips. I would be crazier.

I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets.

I would do more walking and looking.

I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would have more actual troubles, and fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who lives life prophylactically and sensibly hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again I'd have more of them.

In fact, I'd try to have nothing else, just moments, one after another, instead of living so many ahead each day. I've been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, aspirin, and a parachute.

If I had to do it over again I would go places, do things, and travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over I would start barefooted earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.

I would play hookey more.

I wouldn't make such good grades, except by accident.

I would ride on more merry-go-rounds.

I'd pick more daises.'"

out of the loop

thanks for all of your fun comments... we treasure each one... sorry we've not had time to respond or update the blog lately! any special requests for content? i know i need to get some pics op of our local markets!

we were out of town for work most of last month... we returned on tuesday with just enough time to do laundry & pack for our our next recording trip...

we leave early tomorrow morning & would appreciate your prayers!

We just returned from our last recording trip to a neighboring country a few days ago… thanks SOOO much for your prayers!

*We have very few technical problems – the least I have experienced on ANY trip.

*We were able to record, mix, & edit the Film, Audio/Radio product, & Old Testament introduction/close on the field – that means we got to hand the finished products to this people group to take back to their village BEFORE we left the country last month. This is usually at least a 3-9 month process – when the recordings are normally sent back to the Studio in Orlando to edit & mix, then returned to the field for approval.

*We finished ahead of schedule & were able to enjoy the scenery & a few days of relaxation.

We leave early tomorrow morning for Chiang Rai (a city in Thailand just north of Chiang Mai) to record a children's product in the Akha language. Please pray:

*As we travel with our supervisor, Doug, & his daughter, Rachel, to Chiang Rai (Mike will be driving us in our truck).

*For a good quality recording that will communicate the Message clearly to the Akha people in Thailand and the neighboring countries where they live.

*That we would be an encouragement to the ministry we are working with & the children they care for at Akha Outreach (go to http://akhachildren.com/homepage.htm for more information on their ministry).

*That Rachel would enjoy her time with us – she is 12 and has a heart for working with orphans.

More later… thanks again for all of your prayers and encouragement…

women's Bible study

we've been studying the book of Isaiah. today we discussed chapter 42... how Jesus was a servant (as prophesied many years before his coming), & how that enables & encourages us to serve others.