Lauren's Life in Guatemala

I need to be refilled!

2012-01-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

Next week I am headed to Colorado for a week long debriefing and renewal week at Mission Training International. Almost nine years ago, I went there for a three week missionary training. It was a powerful time that really helped me adjust to missionary life. Now that I will be based in NJ for this upcoming season, I will be attending the "Debriefing and Renewal week." Why is this needed? Mission Training Int'l explains it like this:

"Going through this time of transition with other cross-cultural workers is vital. The insight gained from those with similar experiences provides both a sense of being understood as well as a fresh, objective perspective. The groups are kept small so that individual reflection and discussion can be meaningful.
The primary emphasis is on recognizing God’s hand in past events and anticipating the next step for which God is preparing you. "

I'll be flying to Colorado on January 20th. I will be spending two days with good friends and spiritual mentors, Phyllis and Denny and also Debra and Jen, both Mission Impact staff members. On Sunday, Jen and I are both going to Mission Training Int'l.

I'm excited to have a chance to process the last nearly decade of my life! I am still serving full time with Mission Impact but now I'm moving into a slightly different role and as a result will have more time in the USA sharing with different churches and working with short term teams that are preparing to come to Guatemala.

More than anything, I NEED this week. I need a chance to reflect, cry, pray, seek God's face, and be renewed.

Would you consider a one time tax deductible donation to help me pay for this? (It costs $1100 with airfare.) Any size donation will be a great encouragement to me as I walk this path.
Please take a minute and donate through www.missionimpact.com and choose "donate today" from the left hand side.

Please pray that I will tune my ears to hear God's voice clearly and that He will renew my heart, my mind and my spirit and I look to the next decade serving Him!

-Lauren

things i will miss!

2011-09-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

I will be departing Guatemala after the school year is complete. Our graduations are scheduled for the last week of October. I'm really looking forward to sharing my plan with the children and their families and to let them know that I will be traveling to Guatemala various times throughout the year. My departure is planned for November 7th, and I've been thinking about all the things in Guatemala I love. Here's a few of the things I will miss in the every day life of Guatemala:

Picking limes off the tree in my backyard

Seeing 3 volcanos each day as I drive

The colors of the traditional Mayan clothes.

Hugs, hugs and more hugs from the girls at Proximos Pasos.

Wonderful coffee grown in the Volcanic soil around Antigua!

Really cheap fruits and veggies

The laid back rhythm of Latin culture.

Black sand beaches with amazing views of God’s creativity through the sunset and stars above.

Change is a coming.....

2011-09-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've heard by now....after nearly 9 years in Guatemala, change is on the horizon, and I'm pretty excited about it. I left when I was 20. I was sooo scared, excited, but knew God would take care of me. I am returning at 29. Still a bit scared, quite excited, and sure God will take care of me.

Around April of this year, I sensed God releasing me to return to New Jersey. At the time I wasn't sure if that meant leaving Mission Impact all together, maybe getting a job teaching Spanish, or finishing school. I tried really hard to figure it all out during the months of May and June. I cried a lot, stressed a lot, begged God to tell me everything. What was his 1 year, 5 year and 10 year plan for me??

I went as far as sitting in a room with worship music and a journal and told God I wasn't planning on leaving until He revealed his plan for the next phase of my life. Well, that didn't go as planned, after 45 minutes, I fell asleep on the bed and took a 2 hour nap. Oops. No real revelations there. I left confused and frustrated.

In that frustration God spoke quietly to me. "Go back home, and trust Me through the transition process." Hmmm, not exactly earth moving, writing on the wall, but that's when He brought to mind one of my favorite verses in Psalm 46:10 "Be still- quiet down- and know that I am God-surrender control and let Me lead you."

I realized that I am not supposed to know the whole story. I am to trust my Abba Father and hold His hand on this journey.

A few people have asked me all those questions that deep down inside I wish I knew all the answers to:

What are you going to do? Right now, I'm moving back to New Jersey, and working hard to be an advocate for the children living in Guatemalan villages who need sponsorship so they can go to school. I am still required to raise support, thank you in advance for continuing to bless me with your financial support! I will still be traveling to Guatemala throughout the year, and leading short term teams from some of my supporting churches, but my home base will be in New Jersey.
Where are you going to go to church? I'm not sure. I'm in contact with a lot of great supporting churches. I'm asking God to lead me to the church He wants me to be planted in, so I can flourish.
Are you going to buy a car? I'm trusting God to provide the vehicle He knows I need. I will be traveling alot around the USA sharing about the Child Sponsorship Program. I need a reliable car. He will provide for me....that's true in Guatemala and it will be true in New Jersey!
Do you have a place to live? In February 2012, I'm planning to rent a place in the Blackwood area designed for Missionaries on break. It's $200/month more than I was paying in Guatemala so I am asking God to provide additional supporters to help cover the increase.
How long are you going to do this for? I'm not sure. I will go where God leads me, when He leads me. I sense He's allowed me to experience some really wonderful and also extremely difficult aspects of missionary life so that I can be an encouragement to other people. My story is full of deep pain and even deeper healing. If He wants to provide a platform for me to share that- I will. Until Abba reveals the next step, I will walk closely and let Him use me in this season.
Don't you know that it's almost impossible to keep a financial support base when you move back to the USA???? Yes, I am aware that missionaries living in the USA tend to have a more difficult time raising support. Why is that? I want my life to be an example of God's faithfulness in all areas. I am following His call and leading and I am trusting HIM to continue to provide for my needs through the amazing body of Christ. He is in control!

Please... Please...Please pray for me in this transition. I am selling my household items and my car. Please specifically pray for a buyer for my car who can pay the right price in US dollars, so I can put that money toward a car in the USA.

Pray for peace of the Lord Jesus in the middle of this transition process.

Are there any other questions you can think of? Share below in the comments.

FLY FREE

2011-02-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

"if you're not DARING TO BELIEVE GOD for the impossible, you may be SLEEPING THROUGH some of the BEST PARTS of your Christian Life." -Pastor Steven Furtick in the book "SUN STAND STILL"

In Guatemala, when you can't afford a security system for your home, you hire an armed guard. A man of 5 feet in stature and about 120 pounds will do. He can hold an outdated sawed off shot gun and protect you from harm. If you can't afford that you can go with razor wire or barbed wire to keep intruders at bay. In the village people go a few steps cheaper and much more clever. They put down a layer of wet cement and one by one place shards of broken glass around the perimeter of their home.

Imagine jumping the fence and reaching for broken shards of a glass Pepsi bottle. Pretty clever when you can't afford an ADT security system.

The house next to Proximos Pasos Girls School uses said security measures to protect their house. I always imagine a crazy party with guests taking turns throwing down bottles to the beat of party music to get the pieces you need. Anyway....yesterday I was looking out the window from our third story window during recess and I took the photo above. Upon closer inspection I saw the following:

A sweet lil' bird landed on the sharp broken glass. These birds are everywhere. I know because a family of them live in the bushes next to my house and almost daily leave their calling card on the driver side door of my car...a la the "wet bandits" from Home Alone.

Back to the story- I was captivated watching this small bird perched on what he found to be a safe landing place. With Mayan girls and soccer balls and plenty of ruckus around me I stared at this little one trying to decide if it was safe to take off and soar. He stayed there for almost five minutes. I quietly watched, and the soccer ball hit me in the back twice and the buns once. Something about the girls yelling "goalllllllllllll!!!!" when it hit me brought me back to my surroundings. I felt like the Lord was saying "Keep watching that bird Lauren, I'm going to teach you something" and then he took off.

The bird was made to fly. high above broken glass. He was made with a purpose and being afraid to leave the shards is keeping him from his purpose. He was made to spread his wings, fly and trust his Maker. The one that cares about each tiny little sparrow and lily of the field and has every hair on your head counted and calls you by name.

I know God was showing me that while it may feel safer to stay perched on the broken glass, I was made for so much more.

I was made to spread my wings in faith and trust my Maker. and we're not talking about the kind of faith that says "Jesus please keep my safe and bless this meal and if it's your will, help my headache to go away."

I recently read the book "Sun Stand Still by Pastor Steven Furtick. The main thing I learned is that we've been called to a much deeper faith, a faith marked by audacity to accomplish the God-sized plan and purpose Yahweh has for us.. (side note: audacity=boldness or daring, especially with confident disregard for personal comfort or conventional thought.)

Joshua was granted entry into the Promised Land, but first had to endure quite a few steps with sand in his shoes as the Israelites wandered in the desert. God commanded him to lead a military battle against the Amorites in order to move into the promised land. The situation was impossible-but not for God. As the day's battle went on, God sent hail stones down on the enemy. Joshua and his army gave it everything they had against this impossibly strong foe, but they needed more time. As the hour of darkness came near, Joshua prayed a pretty amazing and audacious prayer in Joshua 10:12: "O sun stand still over Gibeon, O moon over the Valley of Aijalon."

Joshua asked God for the impossible in order to fulfill the promise and purpose of God. The Bible tells us that God delivered! Verses 13-14 tell us that "the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since....Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel." Now that's a prayer life I want to embrace.

The book talks about activating audacious faith in your life, to believe God for the things He has for your life. Not the brand new car you want for your life, but the plan and destiny designed for you since before your birth. Wow. I can't begin to describe the change in my heart after reading this book....Let me know when you get your copy so we can take this journey together. You won't regret it. Satan doesn't want you to-he loves seeing you on that broken glass, wings tucked safely back, watching time tick by. One more reason to open your heart to God's purpose for your life and FLY FREE.

Toilet Paper

2010-10-14T12:36:00.001-07:00

Missionary Lesson #1

If toiletries could talk...

I remember it well.

The first time I was in a group being taught how to throw toilet paper away.

Why the lesson? Can't you just drop it in the toilet and flush? Oh no my friends, we are outside of the United States now. This isn't Kansas anymore....this is Guatemala. Our plumbing is quite different. We've heard horror stories of how the narrow cement pipes in our charming colonial town date back to before America was even born and how many earthquakes have caused the pipes to shift trapping helpless toilet paper on these rough cement edges, thus backing the whole thing up and creating a glorious disaster.

I've seen them rip apart the cobble stone streets of Antigua to fix pipes that are backed up. It isn't pretty.

I imagine the Guatemalan workers saying something to the effect of, "d*#n gringos. why can't they just throw out their toilet paper like the rest of us?"

Oh Guatemala I love you.

"So you are going to take your used toilet paper and fold it in half. Now fold it in half again. and again. So all you see is...white. Throw it away in the small trash can next to the toilet."

Your careless flushing could cause this...

A sea of questions usually follow:

"WAIT WHAT???"

"Doesn't it, well you know... stink?"

"Um, that's gross, what if you forget and flush it anyway?"

"Ewwww, why?"

"Is that what you have to do at your house?"

The teenage boys on teams think it's awesome. The girls think it's awful. The adults on teams usually come up to me as I'm sitting down for dinner and quietly confess they forgot and flushed it anyway. It usually helps to serve as a nice side dish to the evening's meal. Who among us doesn't want to hear about something you wiped your rear end on while trying to eat dinner?

So now I've been giving these same talks for 8 years and I always chuckle as I watch the various reactions.

"Yes, it does smell, but don't stick your nose in the trash can and you'll survive. We empty the trash every day."

"If you forget and drop it in, go get a stick and fish the sopping mess out of the water and throw it away."

"If you flush it, the world will not end, nor will Guatemala cease to exist, but try not to forget."

"And yes, that's what I do at my house and I've lived to talk and now blog about it."

One thing I rarely say is "Oh yeah, I forget sometimes too, and before i know it....flushhhhhhhhh. oops. sorry Guatemala."

My question is why are we so embarrassed to talk about our...(fill in your favorite word for feces.)
Why is it that even though it happens to all of us, we like to pretend it doesn't. Everyone's (insert same word here) stinks. Let's call a spade a spade. Or a poop a poop, if you will.

More importantly why are we embarrassed to share the truth about the things we struggle with? Why do we think we are the only one struggling with it- whether it's gossip or cheating or lying or lust or pornography or jealousy or pride or judgment or....well the list goes on and on.

Galatians 6:2 says "Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ."

Imagine a situation where you could be totally honest with someone. You could share with them what you are struggling with and they...and here's the the key....would NOT judge you. What would happen if instead judgement, you were given grace?

One of the most freeing things happened to me this July. Two very good friends were visiting me in Guatemala, and one night we were talking about things that have difficult for us in our walk. I shared something with them. I flinched as soon as the words left my mouth expecting them to gasp in judgement. You know the gasp, you probably did it last time someone shared gossip disguised as a prayer request. However, instead of judgement, they responded in love. It was beautiful. It was freeing. It's been an encouragement to me in so many ways. I want other people to have the same freedom.

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16

The best part about being honest is that God is so faithful and loving to forgive us completely.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John1:9

So. Let's start with us. You and Me. Let's be real. If you need to cry. Let's cry. If you need to yell, God can handle it. If you need to confess, I won't judge. I will pray with you. Encourage you. Keep you accountable. All I ask you to do the same for me. If I'm not the person in your life then find that person. And let the freedom to be real flow.

This could change life as we know it...

October Prayer Update!

2010-10-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

What's the most important thing you can do to help me while I am in Guatemala? While large donations are always appreciated....I long to build a family of prayer warriors to surround me and pray with me. In October, will you take some time each day to pray for the following? Muchas Gracias!

1. In the next few weeks the 2010 school year will be coming to an end. Both schools will have graduation services celebrating the accomplishments of our students. Pray that the students who graduate from Kindergarten, Sixth and Ninth grade will be allowed to continue studying. Many of the girls at Proximos Pasos have the desire to go on but their parents pull them out of school as early as third grade to get a full time job selling vegetables or helping at home caring for younger siblings, cleaning and preparing food for the family.

2. November 2-4 we will have a Mission Impact staff retreat. My dear friend Charis is coming to lead worship and one of my favorite pastors, Randy, will be coming to lead the teaching time. Alot of details need to come together still and we are only a few weeks away. Pray God would pour out His Holy Spirit on all of us and we come together to be renewed and refreshed.

3. I'm flying home to NJ on November 10. It's summer. well sort of. Our schools are have "summer break" in November and December so I will be working on sponsorship and Mission Impact projects from home. Pray for safety and provision (a car to drive) while I am home.

4. On December 3 we will be having our awesome fund raising dinner to benefit Proximos Pasos Girls School. I am praying Mirna Perez (the school's director) can join us from Guatemala for the event. She wants to meet all of the wonderful child sponsors from NJ who are helping our girls go to school!

Girls Retreat!

2010-09-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1

Thank you to each person who donated money to make the retreat a possibility!

On Wednesday, August 25 we loaded the bus with 44 excited girls from Proximos Pasos School in Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala. Our destination? A windy 20 minute trip down the volcano to Puerta Dorada, the house where our teams stay, which would serve as our retreat housing for the next 24 hours. I had a team from Cedarbrook Bible Church in Guatemala for the week serving with me. I was so excited to be able to share this experience with them. They were a great help setting up, serving food, and playing with the girls.

In order to attend the retreat, the girls had to bring a small blanket, 3 eggs for breakfast and 2 quetzales (about 25 cents) to buy tortillas. 44 out of the 52 girls in grades 3-6 were able to attend. We brought the girls in, grade by grade, for them to choose their bed and get settled. I was in charge of getting a third grade girls comfortable and helping them choose their spot for the evening. The girls would sit on each of the beds, climb to the top bunks, and repeatedly exclaim "the beds are so soft, how can I choose one?!!?"

We gave the girls bags with soap, shampoo, toothpaste, lotion and stickers as a welcome gift. The girls kept handing me the little bottles asking if they could put the lotion on their hands and face (that's what I'm holding in the photo above.)

I had a full evening of activities planned for the girls, but they wanted to take naps! The girls in my room asked me 9 or 10 times if they could take a nap before dinner. They were so excited to have a warm bed to sleep in, and probably the fact that they didn't have to share the bed with all of their brothers and sisters helped too! After 20 minutes, we called all the girls in the dining room for a "Tea Party" complete with their own tea cup and saucer to take home with them. As we were setting up I realized the girls grow up drinking black coffee here, so we turned it into a "Coffee Party!"

The verse for the retreat I wanted the girls to learn is found in 1 John 3:1 "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" We changed "children" to "daughters" since our goal was for them to understand how special they are to God as his beloved daughters. It was beautiful to here the whole group of girls repeat the verse over and over again to memorize it. I made puzzles of the verse that they worked on to reinforce the verse. I think they had a great time learning God's truth!

We took the girls to dinner at Pollo Campero, which is a Guatemalan sit down version of KFC. We ate chicken, fries, tortillas and ice cream together. Everyone had a great time and laughed alot!

After dinner, Mirna the director of the school, gave a great talk about leaving our old ways in the past and starting brand new since we are God's beloved daughters. We saw God moving in the hearts of our girls and they all made commitments to the Lord for live a life that reflected His love. It was beautiful!

The next morning we shared a great Guatemalan breakfast of eggs, black beans, fresh cheese, and of course more coffee and tortillas. The girls ate up every bit!

We ended our time together with worship and loaded the bus back up to take the girls to Santa Maria again. They were begging to stay another night, so next year, I think we need to have a two night retreat.

Thank you once again for giving the girls a special time to just be girls and feel special!

Santa Maria Soup!

2010-07-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

Jenna and Karry in front of Agua Volcano

This past week two of my dear friends Jenna, Karry and her sweet 11 month old daughter Selah came to visit Guatemala once again for the week. We laughed till we cried and played lots of Canasta...our favorite old lady card game.

Photoshopped? NO WAY! This is just how beautiful the view is in Santa Maria de Jesus.

We visited Proximos Pasos Girls School. Karry used to be the administrator of the school back in 2003-2005. She couldn't believe how the school had grown. God is so Faithful!! There were about 60 girls when Karry was here and now there are 128 girls!

We went to visit but I ended up translating in the morning for a team visiting from Chicago. There was a professional chef on the team and so he presented a lesson to the girls on natural and healthy cooking and cleanliness in the kitchen.

Breaking up the pollo-chicken

The girls loved learning new cooking techniques and were very excited to try the soup we made. It was a fun way to teach a practical life skill to the girls they can use at home. They girls wore aprons they had recently made on the sewing machines donated through the Mission Impact Gift Catalog. The only thing missing for them was a big basket of tortillas!

Teaching the girls to make soup using fresh ingredients.

Chef Daniel teaching the girls to chop onions without our eyes wattering.

He will cover you with his feathers,and under His wings you will find refuge...

2010-07-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

How can we pray for you? It's a question I am often asked and don't always know how to answer because there are a million and one things I could come up with. Here are three things I am asking you to take time out of your day right now for and pray with me.

1. Anointed Creativity- Part of my ministry is working on the Mission Impact calendar, website, gift catalog, newsletters, blog and more. It's very easy to use up MY ideas in the first few minutes. Pray that God will fill my mind with beautiful creativity that we can use to share the message of His Kingdom and cast Vision for more people to be involved with reaching the lost.

2. God's Covering and Protection- We are in the rainy season and hurricane right now which means flooding and mudslides in our mountain region. Please pray that God would send his angels of protection to cover me and our ministries from natural disasters. We are also in a third world country that has an increasingly high level of crime. I know God is with me every step and I ask you to pray that He will supernaturally

protect me from harm that the enemy would send my way.

3. Future Plans- I feel a stirring in my spirit that God will bring a change in the next few years. I don't know what it is, but I am praying for God to lay out his plan for me clearly so that I may follow it. If it means staying in Guatemala than I'm asking God for peace in my heart for that decision. If it means going back to the States to cast vision in the local church for God's kingdom and work around the globe, then I'm asking the Lord to put that in my heart as a consuming desire and the courage to return.

Thanks for praying! This week I am meditating on Psalm 91 1-4. Join me!

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

Crown of Beauty instead of Ashes!

2010-05-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor....
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:1-3

To hear the story of Isabella Xoc is to hear a story of despair turned to hope. Tears turned to laughter. Pain turned to joy.

Her husband died last year after a battle with cancer of the blood. She has 3 daughters, Aury 8, Karla 7 and Nidia 4. Her two oldest daughters attend our school, Proximos Pasos.

Isabella is 26. She grew up an orphan. She married young and worked beside her husband in the vegetable fields on the base of Agua Volcano, as most people do in the village, while earning less than $3 per day. Both Isabella and her husband lived in material poverty. After her husband was diagnosed with cancer, Isabella went door to door asking for help. Neighbors would give her small offerings between 25 cents and $10. She needed $100 a month for his chemotherapy. She sold every gift she received as a newlywed. She sold her dishes, her towels, her pots and pans. Everything. She would work for 12 hours a day in the fields planting and harvesting corn, coffee, green beans, and earn around $3 a day.

Her family would go without eating for 5 or 6 days at a time because they couldn’t afford to put food on the table. Isabella would find discarded tortillas on the ground, wash them off and offer them to her family. Her children didn’t know what it was to have 3 meals a day let alone one. She would come home from a long day of farm labor to find her little girls asleep on the ground from hunger. Her heart was breaking and her husband way dying. Isabella never learned to read as she only attended a few years of school. As her husband lay sick in bed, he would read the Bible to his family. Isabella never paid attention. She believed she was “put on this earth to suffer.”

She had know nothing but sadness in her young life.
Her husband passed away in March of 2009. When someone dies, it’s customary in the village to bring gifts of sugar, coffee, beans and rice to the family to help them through the difficult time. In an area where most families struggle to put beans and tortillas on the table, jealousy can easily manifest itself.
Isabella had to continue working her 12 hour days. She would leave her daughters in the care of a neighbor while she worked. In January of this year, someone entered her humble home, and set fire to the house, while her youngest daughter Nidia lay asleep in the single bed. A neighbor heard Nidia crying and rushed in to rescue her. Isabella continued to believe she was born to suffer.

In February, we offered Isabella a job cleaning our school. She accepted, and brings her 4 year old with her each day. Her two older daughters are both in first grade. She is seeing God’s hand of guidance and provision in her life.

One of our missionaries, Gerber, heard her story and was moved to action. He contacted the local branch of Habitat for Humanity in Guatemala. They agreed to work with us and for $3,700 build her a small, secure house.

On Wednesday, April 28, we dedicated Isabella’s new house to God asking for his protection over every wall, window and room. Isabella shared how she knows this is a gift from God because “no one has ever been this kind to me in my whole life.” She has two small but secure rooms with a bathroom. We still need to continue to raise the rest of the money needed to pay the debt, and know that God will move hearts to provide for her needs. For the first time Isabella has praise on her lips rather than sadness. My heart was touched to see her daughters walking around the new little casa showing us where the bathroom was and where they will soon sleep. I was reminded once again how Jesus heard the cry of a woman in Santa Maria de Jesus and responded. He was faithful to his promise in Isaiah 61 to to bestow on Isabella a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

Catching Up with a Sponsored Child!

2010-04-03T15:28:00.001-07:00

On a mission trip in 2000, I met a 2nd grader
named Oscar Antonio. God put him on my
heart as he was all alone and had very few
friends. My mom and I taught a first grade
Sunday school class and we had the kids
collect a special offering each week to
sponsor his education. In third grade, Oscar
didn’t come to school because he didn’t have
shoes.
My mom took him to the market and
bought him a new pair of shoes. In 6th grade,
he missed the first day of school again
because he couldn’t buy school supplies. I
showed up on his front step with a bag of
supplies and said “Vamos Oscar, you’re
going to school!!” A few years had passed
and I always wondered what happened to
Oscar after he left our school. My mom was
visiting last month along the main road in the
village was Oscar!

He’s turned out to be a
responsible young man, studies English on
the weekends and has a full time job at a
local grocery store. After catching up on the
last few years, he parted with these words:
“I’ll never forget everything you and your
family did for me. You helped me go to
school, and even bought me shoes when you
first met me. Now I have a good job and can
help my family.” Child Sponsorship Works!

2009-08-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

The dental team served at Proximos Pasos and Escuela Vida y Esperanza throughout the week.They provided free dental care to students, staff, and some kids from the villages.

Photos of Construction Team from GCCC in NJ

2009-08-01T09:10:00.001-07:00

I cannot say enough how hard this construction team is working. The above images are from today's work at the school.

Needle in a haystack...on a volcano in Guatemala!

2009-07-31T23:17:00.000-07:00

I want to share the story of a 15 year old boy from the village of Santa Maria de Jesus, a town of 25,000 indigenous Mayan Indians. He came in to the dental clinic on Saturday held at our girls school, Proximos Pasos with an impacted wisdom tooth. Dr Todd, a dentist from NJ who was a part of the team from my sister's home church, worked on his tooth and gave him antibiotics for his severe infection, but he didn’t have everything he needed such as a scalpel to finish. We returned on Wednesday to do the lice wash with the girls at the school. Dr Todd and Pastor Gary ended up joining us even though it wasn’t on the schedule. Dr. Todd wanted to look for the boy who God had put on his heart and finish his dental work now that he had the all important scalpel. The only problem was that we had no idea where he lived, or what his name was. Did I mention that each little house in Santa Maria basically looks the same with a mixture of corrugated metal and corn stalks for walls. We decided to pray for this boy and ask God to lead us to him where he may be. Now I know Bill has made mention of my direct line to God here in Guatemala, and I’ll tell you that the reason I believe things happen when I pray is because I know that my only option is trusting my heavenly father to take care of me and lead me each day. We came together in faith asking God for a miracle. 10 minutes after we prayed, out of “no where” one of the girls at school tugged on my shirt and told me that her brother didn’t go and work in the fields planting corn today because he had a hole in his mouth. I felt God prompting me to pursue this and asked if the girl could take me to her house. I called for Dr. Todd and Pastor Gary to join me. I asked them if they were ready to see a miracle. The little girl led us on a winding adventure down narrow village roads with more twists and turns than I imagined possible. She led us to her front door and prayed in my head once more that this would be the boy’s house. A weary Mayan woman came to the door and eyed us with caution. I told her we were from Proximos Pasos school and that we were looking for a boy….”It’s HIM…It’s really HIM!!!!” Dr Todd yelled as soon as he saw a young man’s head peer out from behind his mother. His mouth was extremely swollen and he looked miserable but a twinkle in his eye said he was glad to see us. His mother invited us into the one room house with the smoke of an open fire swirling throughout the room and only one bed for her and her 11 children. The mother began to cry as she told us that she and her sister had been praying all weekend that God would send the Dentist back to their village to help her son and that God would take care of them. After hearing of her faith, Todd, Gary and I were all wiping away tears as we witnessed this miracle in the making. God heard the cry of a faithful woman and orchestrated an answer by moving each one of us to action. We all joined hands and prayed for the family while thanking God for leading us right to their humble front door. We took the boy, who we found out was named Rolando and his little brother back to the school with us. Dr Todd preformed a surgery right on the third floor patio of the school relieving a lot of pain and eliminating the buildup of infection that was present. Without an X-Ray to make sure that the entire tooth had been removed, Dr Todd had to use his judgment and do the best he could with such limited resources. God had yet another miracle in store for us. He led us to a local dental technicians’ office where they let us use additional anesthesia and suction to make sure the surgery was complete. Dr. Todd offered to pay the man for the use of his office but he would not accept money since we had come to help the people of his village. Our buddy Rolando will be sore for the next few days, but he will good as new after a week’s rest. I saw firsthand the way God cares for his children on that day. In a village of 25,000 people, God led a dentist to the exact house of a family praying for dental care. What a mighty God we serve!e

Guest Post by Bill Hughes (Lauren's equally funny brother in law)

2009-07-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Note From Lauren:
This week my sister Jaci, her husband Bill, and her three kids-Noah 8, Reagan 4, and Jackson 2, are in Guatemala. Bill's keeping his blog updated throughout the week and so I've asked him to do some guest posting on mine. He's a hoot so I know you like reading it!

So, you might be intrigued by the title. In the photo of me above, I am holding a pack of "Jamones Perry" or "Perry Ham." Jamones Perry is a big brand of ham down here that boasts its ham has 98% flavor and 2% fat. I find that funny. Whenever you boast that your product doesn't even muster 100% flavor, there's got to be a problem. They also have a sausage line that boasts being "More Guatemalan Than You." I'm not sure how that translates into a winning marketing strategy by trading on long-held animosities between different people groups in this country that fueled civil war for some 36 years and that only ended in 1994, but hey, go for it. It is my fervent hope to have a Jamones Perry tee-shirt one day. I hope I find one down here.

So, we didn't do much yesterday. It was a day of spending time with Aunt Lauren, food shopping, and giving little kids who traveled for 14 hours nap times. We were able, however, to take a few pictures of the kids at Aunt Lauren's house.

We also went into Guatemala City to a shopping mall for dinner. Pizza Hut. That's right, we had Pizza Hut in Guatemala on a missions trip!

The kids enjoyed playing in a inside park area with a giant tree with a slide on it and various bears, or osos, lying around it. Jackson, as usual was his crazy self and he was chasing a number of the kids there. He did his usual "fight face" by making angry eyes at them and then charging them while pretending to be a monster.

One of the Guatemalan girls was overheard referring to Jackson's "ojos enojados" or in English, his "angry eyes!"

Not exactly the best way to improve American-Guatemalan relations.

Reagan has been a bit of a challenge. Very sleepy. Very cranky. Pray for Princess that this little turtle will get the rest that she needs to be her usual pleasant self.

Noah threw his most beloved brand new Bakugan toy into the neighbor's yard. No word yet on whether the toy is still alive. We have to stop over and chat with the neighbors when they get home to see if we can go into their yard to get his toy. Some of you may remember, of course, that it was only about a week ago that Noah nearly lost another beloved Bakugan toy while on a family walk at home. After stopping at the park to let the kids play, Noah decided to bury his toy in the sand of the volleyball field. We spent a good 30 minutes looking for it, as he forgot where he buried it. Ah, a boy and his toys!

Today we will be meeting with the Director of Mission Impact, Jeff, to discuss the team's schedule and agenda, and then heading to lunch with Gerber's family (one of our highlights from last year!) His family is a wonderful down-to-earth Christian family serving the Lord among some of the poorest folks down here.

Then we will be going out to dinner perhaps in Antigua later tonight. A post to follow.

Cookies, Crocs and....i can't think of anything else that starts with "C"

2009-07-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

July is almost over. so let's take a quick look back.

We made cookies with the girls at Proximos Pasos to share with their fathers for father's day. It was a great success. and by success Imean the girls had lots of fun and the cookies turned out like flat pancakes. The experience of it all was well worth it though. It's always fun to see the girls outside of the classroom.

We received a really great donation of 120 pairs of Crocs from a church in South Carolina. Those funny looking but super comfy plasticy rubbery way to colorful shoes. The girls had
never seen this type of shoe before and we so excited to find
their size and a color that matched their traditional Guatemalan
clothing. Many of the parents can not afford to buy shoes for
their children and the girls were often embarrassed that they
were unable to participate in Gym class. Now they love Gym class with their new shoes.

June

2009-06-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

First question I have- Does anyone really read this blog? I hope so. If you do, leave me a note/comment/prayer request. It does my heart good to read those. I also would love to pray for you! I'm always asking people to pray for me, so I'd like to return the favor!

Below is a picture of me with the Servant Team from Delaware. What a great week. We started out as strangers and ended the week having shared our hearts and some unforgetable experiences. They shared a daily Bible story, song and craft project with the kids in k-6th grade. It was nice to be back in the classroom since I'm not teaching anymore. I don't however miss the lesson plans, grading papers, and parent teacher meetings. ha ha.

Does anyone have any musical instruments that could dontae to our Worship group? The group consists of around 15 of our students and their goal is to share the love of Jesus Christ with their community, country and beyond. Maybe you took flute lessons in middle school but now it just sits in the back of your closet. We can use your old instruments for God's glory here in Guatemala! I have a few teams coming from NJ this summer who could bring them down. The kids really want to learn the violin and saxaphone.

The picture below is Edgar who teaches 4th grade with two of his students

Is it ok to have a favorite student? Maybe not, but this is Gloriangel and she's everyone's favorite. ha ha. Without fail, she finds me and hugs me each time I see her. It's a sweet reminder of God's unconditional love for me.

Below is a picture I took when I peeked in the english classroom where I used to teach.

The last picture is Joselino, the music teacher, leading the Bible verse activity at the public school outreach we did two weeks ago. It was a great success! I believe God was glorified through games, music and drama-and all in a public school!

Hope you enjoy seeing these pictures! Hope to hear from you today!

-Lauren

"Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us." -- Keith Wright

Summer Update and Prayer Requests!

2009-06-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

"Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.”
Isaiah 26:4

The summer is upon us, which means lots and lots of short term mission teams joining us in Guatemala. This week a team of 8 from Avenue United Methodist Church in Delaware are working with us at Escuela Vida y Esperanza (The School of Life and Hope.) They are working in the classrooms assisting teachers and also each day sharing a Bible story, songs and crafts with the kindergarten through fifth grade students. On Friday, we are doing a special outreach at a public school we're well be presenting a lesson on obedience through songs, dramas, music and we even have a chance to share the Gospel. Pray that the children's hearts are open to hear about Jesus!

I wanted to give a small update on my trip to Ixcan with the dental team. Thank you to everyone who lifted me up in prayer during that week. It was an amazing time of growth for me. We saw nearly 160 dental patients a day. I assisted the doctors with translation and also cleaning children's teeth. The conditions were more rugged than anything I deal with on a daily basis but God gave me the grace to be joyful in the midst of it all. I am thankful for the chance to see a whole other side of Guatemala I had only heard about. I now know how to pray more specificly for the ministry of Acts 2:8 that works there throughout the year.

Giving a dental cleaning to one of the young teenagers in Ixcan

The latrine. You don't want to know too much about this. Trust me. Ha.

We found 16 scorpians while painting the kitchen at a local church.

Headed to the Jungle!!!

2009-03-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Wow Is it March already? Time flies when your having fun, working on a new website for Mission Impact, looking for sponsors for nearly 200 children, having a friend from NJ visit for Spring Break and preparing for a whole lot of teams this summer! I have some prayer requests I'd like to share with you and ask that you lift them up in prayer with me.

We recently had a Servant Team from Maine minister with us for two weeks. A few of them accompanied me and two of the teachers on a home visit with one of our first graders, Ana Flor. We brought lunch for everyone to enjoy, Hamburgers (well no bun or relish or anything like that) rice and tortillas. It's always fun to share a meal together.

Ana Flor's family lives a block from Proximos Pasos School so we didn't have to go far. Her family lives in a one room house, with two twin beds, a small table and a small dresser. The roof and walls are made of corrugated metal sheets. Not much protection from the elements. Ana's mother is expecting her fourth child any day now. Her father is a farmer and takes his horse with him to the fields to help haul coffee and vegetables that he grows.

Next week, March 20-27th, I'll be heading to the Jungle! Hechos 2:8 (Acts 2:8) is a Mission Impact ministry that works in north-west Guatemala in the Ixcan area, about 10 hours from where I live. My pal Gerber Perez and his family started the ministry. I'll be going along to help with translation for a team of Dentist that are coming in from Oregon along with Gerber, his parents and Dan, a fellow Mission Impact missionary. We'll be holding a Dental clinic in a few different communities, along with cooking classes with the women and children's activities.

Please pray for me- I'm not exactly the jungle traveling type, but God opened up this opportunity to go and so I want to follow his leading. Some areas you can be praying for:

1. The loooong trip there. I get carsick. blah. the last few hours of the journey are on a very bumpy dirt path. No NJ Turnpike to speak of. Pray that God will protect us on the long trip there and that I won't be hyperventilating into a brown bag or making the caravan stop so I can throw up behind some bushes. haha.

2. Good Health! If you know me at all, you know how easy I seem to contract stomach illnesses here in Guatemala. Please pray God puts a supernatural hedge of protection around our entire team and protects us from any illness-especially those that would send us in a panic to the bathroom. Oh did I mention we'll be sleeping in tents and won't have flushing toilets?

3. The ministry of Hechos 2:8. Pray that we would be a light in the communities we go to for Jesus Christ. We want the people to see Jesus' love through not only our words but our actions.

Got a minute? Drop me an email at Lauren8482@hotmail.com (or through facebook) and let me know you're praying. I would greatly appreciate knowing my brothers and sisters in Christ are lifting these requests up.

2008 in Review!

2009-01-03T06:55:00.000-08:00

Since 2008 just came to an end, I thought it only fitting to take you on a brief journey of the year held for me in Guatemala. The past year has been one of my best years in Guatemala. Here's a few highlights:

*At the beginning of each year I have the challenge of finding more sponsors for our Sowing Hope Child Sponsorship program. We have about 300 children between our 2 schools in the program and only half of them have sponsors. This year God provided over 30 new people who were willing to make a difference in a child's life by sponsoring their education. We made a new Sowing Hope DVD that was a true labor of love! I never knew just how many hours are required to make an 8 minute video, but now I do and it was well worth it. If you'd like to see one, drop me an email at sponsorship@missionimpact.com and I'll be happy to send one your way.

*A team from my home church, Sicklerville United Methodist Church, came down in May on a Servant Team to work beside me in both ministry and construction at both Escuela Vida y Esperanza and Proximos Pasos schools. One of my favorite things is sharing my world in Guatemala with people from home. It was a great time to work together, laugh together and grow together.

* My most beloved and quirky car, LaFerge, forced herself into retirement in September. I really did love this car, even though she had 220,000 miles, broke down on a pretty regular basis and allowed water to pour in through the roof-causing a smell that made many people ask if a street animal got trapped in my car and died. My nephew Noah called LaFerge "a good young bird" but truth be told, she was a 1992 and was ready to stop driving the bumpy mountain roads. Adios LaFerge! Hello VIP Sidney.....

*God knew that for my role in Mission Impact I needed a reliable car that could travel from mountain communities to volcano villages and back again, often in a torrential downpour of rain. He provided exactly what I needed through a fundraising drive at my church and an anonymous donation from a supporter. My current vehicular transport, a 2002 Toyota Rav-4, has been aptly named VIP Sidney. The car has a random sticker on the windshield that says VIP, which rather than removing, I choose to embrace it, and added the name Sidney from my favorite show of old, Alias. The car is perfect for my ministry and stays dry and odorless in the rain :)

*Each year I'm in charge of putting together Mission Impact's yearly calendar and gift catalog. It's a huge project that seems to get bigger each year but it's one of my favorite things to do. I love taking and collecting all the pictures knowing that people all over the US and Guatemala will use the calendar to pray for our missionaries and different ministries. I am really pleased with the finished project this year. You can see the gift catalog at http://www.missionimpact.com/

Thank you for praying for me, for supporting me, and for walking alongside me on this journey!

Visitor Central!

2008-10-25T14:30:00.001-07:00

What a year this has been! It seems that 2008 was the official year for everyone to visit me in Guatemala. From July until October my guest bedroom has been put to good use :)

It has been an amazing blessing to share my world here with so many people I care about. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from their visit!

The first visit was from my sister Jaci and her husband Bill and their 7 year old son Noah. They did a family mission trip and are already planning a return trip next summer!

We spent a week teaching the children worship songs from Jaci's church at home and doing lice washes on the girls and playing lots of soccer!

Noah with his new best buddies, ready to play some soccer!

Jaci is pictured above with a few of the kindergarten girls at Escuela Vida. Bill and I took a few minutes to take a picture with boys at recess time.

Visit numero dos was my friend Ricardo. He spent two weeks in Guatemala building fuel efficiant stoves with our Appropriate Technology ministry and working along side the kindergarten teacher at Escuela Vida y Esperanza.

Here's Ricardo working alongside Mission Impact missionary Margarito building a stove for a poor family.
Below is a picture of Ricardo and I with the kids in kindergarten. Ricardo is a high school English teacher in the states and I think he was glad to get back to students who don't have trouble coloring inside the lines.

Visit number three was my pal Andy who came to visit the first week of August. Andy had just spent 6 months doing mission work in Costa Rica and so he came to visit me in Guatemala on his way back home to New Jersey.

Andy and I once again prove that missionaries are the craziest in the bunch!

Andy, who happens to be quite handy with a camera, helped me get some great shots for 2009 Mission Impact calendar, but of course we wanted to be in a few pictures too!

The same day I dropped Andy off at the airport, I picked my mom up. She usually comes to Guatemala each year but didn't come last year. We decided that skipping a year is no longer an option!

My mom has always loved the kids at my school! She started sponsoring one of the girls when she was in kindergarten and now she's in 7th grade! Below is a picture from a fun night when we went out to dinner at Casa Santo Domingo, which is a 5 star hotel and resturant in the ruins of an old monestary.

The last week of August, my friend Steph from NJ came to Guatemala for 6 days. It was a short visit but we had a great time working with the kids and watching an entire season of "The Office" on DVD!

Steph plaid many a game of jax with the girls at Proximos Pasos school, and didn't let a little issue like a language barrier get in the way! Steph also got to meet Gerber, pictured below, a fellow M.I. missionary. Steph's been praying for Gerber and his family's ministry in the Ixcan area of Guatemala since her church came back from a mission trip here last August.

In October my bestest friend Charis came to Guatemala thinking it was only for 9 days but she ended up staying 16 days! We worked at both schools, studied Spanish in Antigua at a Spanish Learning center and went to Mayan Ruins in Honduras. What a great time :)
Charis and I with the girls at Proximos Pasos. Charis and I taught the girls "Mighty To Save" in Spanish and we had an awesome time of worship with them!

Charis and I took a list minute adventure to Honduras to explore the Mayan ruins in Copan. We had to buy these fashion hats because it was POURING rain for most of the trip and we didn't have any type of rain gear, and now we have these fancy hats as a memory!

Being the Child Sponsorship Director is fun!

2008-10-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a birthday party for one of our students Elvin. He turned 8 this week and his sponsor sent me some money for a birthday party. We had pizza and a Spiderman birthday cake. He's pictured above on the right with his two older brothers, Nixon and Darwin.

A Little Humor And Lot's Of Blessing!

2008-10-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

As you can see I'm standing next to my new handsome pickup truck on the streets of Santa Maria de Jesus. I figure why worry about the road conditions, this bad boy has seen it all and survived (well maybe?) to tell the story....

If you know me at all you know humor is the spice of my life. hope you got a chuckle!

Now for my real car. If you've been to Guatemala on a short term outreach or to visit in the last 5 years you know that the car situation has been a long standing struggle for me. I've never had a reliable car to count on. That means that on many different occasions I was stuck on the side of the road with smoke billowing out of the hood, lost belts in the middle of the highway, had water pouring in through the roof durring the rainy season or found myself rolling backwards down the mountain roads. So I began to pray that God would provide the right car for me, one that would withstand 6 months each year of heavy rain, one that could handle the bumpy, dirt roads on the volcano and one that would be safe. God moved the hearts of many people to make sacrifices that would allow me to purchase a 2002 Toyota Rav-4. It's great in the rain and on mountain roads. Thank you to each person who felt a tug on their heart and responded by giving to my car fund!

The first day of the rest of my blogging life....

2008-09-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

Let me be the first to admit it, I'm not real good with blogging. But when my sister Jaci was here with her husband in July and they set up an awesome blog, i realized just how good it would be to keep my friends and supporters up to date.
Last year, I had an official Mission Impact blog, but then i forgot my password and couldn't seem to come up with the answer to my security question (which was simply the town I was born in, but no matter how many times i typed the correct answer, i couldn't get my password) so I'm starting fresh. Welcome to my blog.

I work at two different schools, Escuela Vida y Esperanza (The School of Life and Hope) in Santa Lucia Milpas Altas, a pre-K through 9th grade school and Proximos Pasos (Next Steps Girls School) an all girls school in Santa Maria de Jesus. I'll be sharing highlights, pictures and prayer requests from both schools

The above picture was taken on September 15, aka Guatemala's Independence Day, with the girls at Proximos Pasos school. The girls are in tipica, which is the clothing of the Mayan Indians. Each girl is wearing the pattern unique to Santa Maria while I am wearing tipica from Patzun, a village an hour away.

Independence day is quite the experience here. The festivities start a few weeks before at school with all kinds of poetry contests, traditional cooking contests, folk dancing contests, etc. They are big into competition around Independence Day. The day before schools light a torch and travel to a different village.The students run with the lit torch all the way back to their own village to carry the light of independence to their people. The highway is full of tired, sweaty students who are excited to participate in this celebration!

On the 15th, each school in the village was asked to come to the main square and share a cultural presentation. Our girls did a dance in the Garifuna style, which is from the Caribbean side of Guatemala. After the presentations, we returned to the school, gave the girls juice and cookies and sent them home to celebrate with their families.

Many of the people in Santa Maria don't like to have their picture taken so I had to sneak this shot while the woman was looking the other way. She seems like a wise old grandmother who would not hesitate to smack me for taking her picture.

During the festivities these two little girls were enjoying their version of a candied apple. Notice the older girl has her baby brother tied to her back-a common site in the village.

Did you know that Santa Maria de Jesus is located on a volcano? Indeed it is! Santa Maria is an indigenous village of over 20,000 people who are direct descendants of the Mayan Indians.

For more information about my ministry, check out our website: http://www.missionimpact.com/