Monday, July 23, 2012

My Heart is Burdened

My heart is so burdened for Village of Hope--Guatemala.  I don't know why I feel as strongly as I do, but the why really doesn't matter.  It's the what am I going to do about it that matters.  My precious friend, Amy Block, and her family are missionaries who are in the process of starting this brand new mission in Guatemala.  They're trying to build a village that will house special needs orphans, providing faith, family, and future to the least of these.


Please read the post below (written by Amy Block) and prayerfully consider donating to help Village of Hope meet the needs of so many hurting, helpless, and hopeless people in Guatemala.  They need our support more than words can accurately portray.  Oh how I wish I could make everything all better for everyone, but for now, I'll settle for making a difference however God will allow, even if that means just giving $10.  That $10 will help bring HOPE to one person in Guatemala who wouldn't have hope without that donation.  I can do that.  I pray you will, too.

PS  I'm planning to take two of our children on a mission trip to Guatemala in August to serve at Village of Hope.  I can't stand forking money over to airline tickets when that money could be going to the village.  If you have any free tickets/airline miles you'd like to donate to our trip, please let me know.  We would be most grateful.

Now, here's the post by Amy that I'd love for y'all to read and donate to Village of Hope so they can do more for families like the one you're going to read about below:


Written by Amy Block 


I am a list maker. I learned that from my mama.


To me, being able to cross things off my ‘to do’ list, to grab my pen and scratch through a job as ‘finished’ signifies accomplishment.



Yet, ever since moving to Guatemala I have noticed that the Lord has been teaching me a different way. Since living here I rarely have the opportunity to cross things off. Actually, rarely do I even have time to make a list. And while I fully admit that can sometimes be overwhelming, what I have learned is that I need to allow the Lord the freedom to direct how I spend my days.


The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? Proverbs 20:24


And so each morning, without fail, I get on my knees and ask God to show me what He has for me to that day... and that list in my head changes drastically.


A few days back God brought this precious family into our lives and they helped me see my to do list in a new light.




Aura Marina and her seven children live in a little village called Chi Tuk not far from Village of Hope. The main thing on Aura Marina's 'to do' list every day- is to simply survive.


As we visited with Aura Marina and her children, asked about their needs, prayed for them and got to know them better -for whatever reason the Lord brought my ‘list’ to mind. He reminded me that the bathrooms I complained about cleaning were a blessing…



                                                                   (family bathroom)


That the dinner ideas I had so often whined about trying to come up with were a blessing…



                                           (Aura Marina and her only means of cooking for her 7 kids)

And that the leaky roof we had been experiencing really wasn’t that big of a deal after all…



                                  (one bedroom, dirt floor home Aura Marina and her 7 kids live in)

And what I couldn’t help but wonder was how many times in the past I had allowed satan to distract me, to fill my head and my heart with my own shallow complaints, my own selfish wants, and my own agenda- that in the long run really don’t even matter. How much time had I wasted focusing on my own little world… when the world around me was crying out for Him?


So today I challenge you to ask God to arrange your 'to do' list for the day. I challenge you to not get so caught up in your own kingdom- that you forget about His.


If you would like to partner with us here at Village of Hope in helping families like Aura Marinas you can visit us at: Lifesong for Orphans- Guatemala.

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