Hot Dog!

If you ever served hot dogs in Charleston, you will be interested in this. Praise the Lord!

Post and Courier article on the Hot Dog Ministry

Wrap Up

“God, thank you for sending all the Gringo’s who help us”
-Gabby, 5 year old island girl

So the past month has been a whirlwind. I feel like the days are flying by. Kendall and I have decided to move back to the states. We will be returning Nov. 5th and Kendall will be going back to school at ECU in the Spring. I am praying and looking for a job in Greenville so lift that up to the Lord for me as well if you don’t mind.

We have been working hard with the kids in French Harbour and the kids at the orphanage. We are still doing our mentoring program where we meet once a week as a large group and throughout the week I spend time one on one with the kids. Kendall has started making and selling jewelry with one of the mothers and we are helping another mother write her autobiography. The kids are frustrating at times but I love them and am so blessed to be able to work with them. Tonight we prayed with the kids for a while and I had four of them come around me and lay their hands on me while praying for God to give me a job. The kids pray with authority so I ask them to pray for me any chance I get. Last time I asked one of the kids to pray for something specific, the prayer was answered in less than 48 hours.

As we prepare to return to the states we are really stepping out on faith in many directions. I have been working with these kids for almost 2 years and there isn’t really anyone who is going to step in and continue the work I have been doing as of yet. I have faith though that the Lord will provide and continue the good work he has started in their lives. There are two American’s who are living here and talking about starting a ministry with the same kids I work with, we are taking a tour of the community with them tom. Also my good friend Roberto has been working with the kids as well and will possibly keep our Tuesday night meeting going. I know that the Lord has used me in their lives and most of those kids have made decisions to follow Him. I believe God will work it out; if the ministry we started should continue, it will if not then something else is coming.

We are also stepping out on faith with everything that goes along with a life in the states. Apartment, cars, insurance, cell phones, jobs, school, ministry, getting there and moving to Greenville. All of these things are on my mind daily as we prepare to return but I have a peace when I give them to God. I will do my part but I know in the end God will have it His way and He will provide. God will receive the glory. Just the other day we were trying to decide whether or not to take our dog back to the states because it costs $200 for the flight and about $200 for a dog kennel. We talked about it and I made up my mind that if we could find a cheap kennel we could consider taking her back. The next day, a lady I didn’t even know gave us a kennel for free.

While we are still here though I am doing my best to make the most of every moment. We are preparing for home but also staying focused here. Pray for us to love these kids well over the next 3 weeks and to take up our crosses daily.


Here is a short exerpt from Carolina’s book that we are helping her write:

I was raised with no love, I found love out there on the street. With people that are not my family and not my color I found love. It may sound crazy but I am telling the truth.
-Carolina

Sometimes I look around and things are so dark, but I don’t question God. I say, “ Lord, thank you for the hardness of today, I would thank the Lord for it and when I look around in the evening, food is on my table. I didn’t question God why things were so hard. He knows the reason why. I say the same things to my the boys, “if you get one little piece of semita and one glass of water, you give God thanks, because some people out there don’t even get that to eat.” And that’s real.
-Carolina

The day the Lord has made

Today is beautiful. I woke up with my amazing wife dragging me out of bed at 6:00 to go to the gym. Kendall is teaching a yoga classes at the local gym now so it forces me to get up and go get some exercise as well. I did the yoga class once and I decided I am going to stick to the weight room for now, my legs were killing me. After the workout, we came back to the house, cooked breakfast, made coffee and started the day. Lizzy, our dog, has been sick so we took her to the vet to get some antibiotics and also to get her rabies shot so that she has what she needs for us to bring her back to the States. She was terrified in the vet's office and knocked my coffee on the floor, fail. I think that was God telling me I didn't need that third cup.

After the vet, we went to the cell phone store because our internet connection hasn't been working. We waited in three different lines for someone to finally tell us there was nothing they could do to help us. The greatest thing this country has taught me is patience. You don't understand inefficient until you live in Central America.

Following the internet issue we went back to the gym. No we are not obsessed with exercise but Kendall and I have decided to be each others personal trainers and today was my day to train her. We worked out for another 45 min. or so and then I went to meet up with some of the kids from French Harbour. One of the boys has recently gotten a job and he told me he was going to use part of his pay check to buy trash bags so that we could all go pick up trash in their community and around the church. He said he believed that if he used his pay check to do something good like this that God would provide more. So today we picked up trash.

It was some nasty trash but with the four of us and an hour or so we filled up 3 big black bags full. We only covered the church and about 100yds of street but that was enough for today. The other kids saw us and were asking when they get to do the same so I think some more trash days are on the horizon.

US

'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'
With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called 'One nation under God!'

-Billy Graham

Jumble

So one night this summer while I was in the states i got a call from Roatan. It was Mrs. Carolina who was with a whole bunch of the boys we work with on the island. She talked to me about life for a minute then told me how all the boys had accepted Jesus. They were super excited to tell me all about it. I was so excited to here about their experiences and to encourage them over the phone. It was such a reminder to me of the ways God works in His time.

So I got back here this summer and I am overwhelmed by how God has been working on their hearts. Over the last week I have had a few conversations with the kids and it excites me to see their desire to live out the life they have chosen but I also see the challenge laid before them. They all live in an extremely dark environment where nothing Godly is esteemed or held high. Every day consists of interactions and temptations with drugs, sex and violence. They have taken the first step toward Jesus but the path laid before them is long and hard. Its is for all of us but especially for these kids. The only Jesus they have been shown is a Jesus of rules and judgement. So they don't really understand grace and mercy. When one of them makes a mistake or does something they don't view as "Christian," they feel condemned and the people around them don't help. They are expected by others to be perfect once they have accepted Christ and if they are not, they will hear about it from their families, friends and people in church. God has brought Kendall and I back here to teach them about God's grace and to teach them what a Christian truly is.

The judgement is not their only hurdle. I believe Satan is battling for their souls. Tuesday at our mentoring program I sat with Gus for a while and I felt an evil presence pressing in on him. Its like I could see the fight taking place between good and evil. He has such a desire to change and live a life for Christ but he is being tugged back to his former life. It has been easy for me to get discouraged with all of this but I am leaning on the hope of Christ and what He has called us to do here. Pray for us and for the kids we work with, they need more breakthrough and protection.

As for Kendall and I we are loving the married life. We are getting used to living together and figuring out each others ticks. I don't like my towel to lay on the toilet or for our dog to get on the bed, Kendall hates dishes in the sink and clutter. We are learning one thing at a time. Our most frequent dinner has become frozen pizzas but we have been balancing it out with healthy smoothies and a lot of water.

We are working at the children's home 2 mornings a week, working at a resort 1-3 days a week, and mentoring kids from French Harbour throughout the week. Our schedule has not been consistent up to this point but I think we are beginning to figure it out.

The island is Hot, Hot, Hot so we have been sweating it out since we got back but last week we received and awesome blessing. I was talking with a friend who told us someone she knows wanted to donate an A/C to her but she didn't need it. She offered it to us and we were all for it. two days later I drove out east to meet the donor and to take the A/C's out of his house. It was a long and hot job but we got it out and 2 days later we were sleeping in a cool room. We are so thankful for God's provision. This is the first A/C I have had on this island and it has made the last 2 nights amazing.

Thanks for reading, Much love!

USA to Costa to Roatan

So Kendall and I have been back on the island for a week after an amazing honeymoon to Costa Rica. It was the perfect trip, we spent 3 nights at a small hotel near a volcano and 4 nights on the pacific coast. We spent most of our time just relaxing and enjoying the places we were but we did get out a few times to explore. We went to some hot springs one day, got massages, rode horses, played Tennis and visited a couple local towns. Check out the pictures:

Volcano Arenal

For Real!

Its been so good to be back and an amazing 2 weeks of marriage! Kendall and I have already jumped into work with the street kids in French Harbour and the kids at the Children's Home. And we have been starting to see how different this season of life here in Roatan is going to be. A good friend of mine has been running the mentoring program while I have been going and he has really molded it into what it should be. It has been good for me to work with him this week and see things that I never would have realized. He grew up in a very similar environment to these kids so he understands them at a level that is impossible for me. I know the Lord has brought us together to give these kids what they need and to love them in the way he desires us to. As of now Kendall and I are working at the Children's home 2-3 days a week, mentoring 2 days a week and working for a resort 3 days a week for our apartment and food costs. Keep us in your prayers! Thank you and much love!

P.S. We had an amazing time at the wedding! Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated with us!

The Park

This was something I wrote after our trip through Nicaragua last year. Kendall and I spent new years eve in a park in Leon, Nicaragua. As we walked through the park and prayed for the people around us we were moved by the brokenness in this world but also by the beauty of God in people. The people I am writing about are not real but compilations of many people I have encountered over the last two years in Central America.

The human figure is created in the image of God! You can see the creator in everything around you, you only have to open your eyes.

The park is full of life tonight. People are everywhere, doing business, falling in love, falling in lust, searching for a hand out, and bargaining for a deal. They are made in his image but have fallen from the throne to depths undiscovered. There is one man standing on the East side of the park dreaming up the rout to his next fix. Paulo has just come off of a high and is desperate to fill the void which is increasing by the minute. He has nothing left; his “wife” has left (or bean left) and his 5 year old twin boys have been been abandoned with no father to present a picture of what a man should be. He traded his last 4 meals for a temporary high and he will chase that facade to the grave. His next move will be to rob Jillian who has just come off of a 12 hour shift as house keeper. Her wages are necessary to provide dinner for her 6 children and mother. Like most Central American families, Jillian is a single mom who raises her kids with the help of her mother. Again there is no positive male figure present in the lives of these kids, so they will grow up believing what society says a man and a father are. They show no emotion (except anger), they do not trust anyone and value is found in accomplishments. Ruining a woman adds a notch to the belt; men always leave, they yell, they watch sports and yell some more, men run from real issues and hide any weakness with an unbreakable exterior. Jillian will most likely lose connection with her sons in adolescents as they build up resentment and that shell that they believe is necessary for survival. She will not lose her daughters because they will lose their men; the women are united in their loss.

Darkness may saturate the world around us but God has dominion. As I stand here watching the world go by and lives fall apart I am filled with the Hope that only comes from my God! He came for the broken, he came for the lost, he came to bring light to the dark……. Satan may have a foot hold in this world but he is powerless to the name of Jesus Christ! I proclaim that name as I walk into the darkness, nothing will stand against me! I am his torch bearer, I am his light in this park tonight!