Over the fourth of July weekend, when our family was home cooking hotdogs and having barbeques, we had an adventure all our own. We spent our weekend in Livingston, a little island community about an hour boat ride away. From the moment we set our feet on the dock, it was one surprise after another. We walked in a parade, performed at a church, baptized one of our team members in the ocean, and rode in a speedboat over the caribbean. The Lord blessed us with big beautiful adventures, but the most impactful was when we met Jesus in a little shack.  Her name is Justine, she lives in a...

Here is a quick picture of what a typical day in Guatemala might look like: 1. A torrential downpour that can last for up to an hour and result in being completely drenched. 2. Losing power at random times and then not knowing when it will come back on again. A great time to get out the headlight! 3. Only being able to drink purified water because we are in a third world country and would be super sick if we drank anything else. 4. Drinking out of plastic bags that you bite the end of off and generally end up spilling all over yourself at some point. 5. Freezing cold showers that take your...

  “Before me no God was formed nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am The Lord and apart from me there is no savior” Isaiah 43:11-12   Thinking back to four weeks ago I realized something really unfortunate. As a baby Christian who honestly knew nothing about missionary work, I came into this mission trip with a “Savior’s mentality.” So here we are three weeks into this mission trip, standing ankle deep in rotting garbage and Vicks Vapor Rub under our noses. As we do every week there is worship, prayer, the most excited hand washing I have ever...

The God i serve is a God of hope. He is The One who came to save the lost, set the captives free, and beat death itself. He offers us a life filled with living hope, because He is living hope Himself! 1 Peter 1:3 sums it up pretty nicely, “According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself.” I think I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me explain. Every Thursday we go to the city dump. We serve lunch, we wash the kiddos’ hands, we give out more tortillas than I can count, we laugh, we...

Hello there, I saw a quote by A.W. Tozer that said, “To see the glory of God, there must be self sacrifice involved.” Going farther in God is never something easily attained. It’s uncomfortable, messy, frustrating, scary, a test of trust, and death is involved….a death of me. Death of my fears, worries, plans, desires, SELFISHNESS, comfort, and ease. The path we walk on becomes more narrow and we are more aware of ourselves and where our feet lead us. We realize that the fear and stress surrounding us can’t fit on this path any longer. We realize that we...

  When preparing to leave for Guatemala, I also prepared my heart to be away from my family for two months. I talk with my mother and father every day, and they are a huge part of my life. Preparing to leave, meant that I would be without my family. The thought was, ït’s okay, I have God and he’s enough.”This is true, but he had something so much bigger planned.  I expected my team to be close, and for us to know eachother well, but the amount of love we share shocked me. These people I met three weeks ago are my confidants, my shoulders to cry on, the...

Love That’s it. That’s all it’s about. Not much more to it. I feel like a lot of times we try and over complicate things. I know I have but everything is a matter of love. God’s love. God brought me to two verses, John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” The Mission Good week. Our team went to the trash dump again, as we will continue to do every Thursday. It was great....

We step out of the van and the view is indescribable.  You see palm trees and beautiful mountains… Then you see trash. In this valley, everything is garbage. The road is lined with shacks where the people sit and keep their stuff during the day, we had passed all their houses on the way there. There are children running around and playing in the trash. They are beautiful and they are so excited to see us but their surroundings were astonishing. These children were beautiful yet they ate and played in the garbage. I got to know one mother fairly well and I prayed for her toothache. I...

  As a team, we have individually been reading through John and discussing one chapter each morning at breakfast. Yesterday as we were discussing John 7, we noticed something interesting.   “Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.’” 7:16   “… I am not here on my own authority. He who sent me, however, is truthful.” 7:28   Jesus was continually pointing back to God the Father. As He is an equal part of the Trinity, He could have easily and rightfully accepted the glory for Himself....