Mother/Daughter Team in Guatemala

The mother/daughter team in Guatemala has been sharing the story of Esther this week to girls, ages 4-18, and encouraging them to be brave and trust God. It's a great story considering Esther wasn't just beautiful and courageous -- she was an orphan, too. Our hope is for these children to learn that when they trust God, they can overcome anything. They can go on to do something big with their lives.

We've all been learning to lean on God and trust him in his infinite goodness this week. It's hard to sweep in and spend two hours with a group of children, only to leave and never know your impact. We want to see the fruit. We want to be a part of it. But that isn't always our role in life. Our role is to play our part, the part given to us by God. This week, our role has been to laugh and sing, to play and love; to give as many hugs and kisses possible and to pray without ceasing. We'll let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

Looking at the Big Picture

¡Hola! and greetings from Lima, Peru. My name is Kristen Haas, and I am a part of the Ash Creek Baptist Church team from Azle, Texas. This week I have had the opportunity to visit an oprhanage for boys called El Hogar de Los Niños en Ancon. We are conducting a Vacation Bible School there complete with teaching them how to play drum rhythms, recreation and games, building and decorating wooden derby cars, and a bible study session. I can tell the boys are enjoying our time with them, and they have really touched my heart in an amazing way.


As a part of our Vacation Bible School at the orphanage, my job is to help with recreation. I love helping with recreation, I believe it is where God intended for me to be. We have played two games with them in the past two days, and it is amazing to watch the boys comprehend the game. They have gone from not knowing how to play the game to having a really good time. I have enjoyed running and playing with them. I have created a special bond with them through the games. We celebate our victories together and protect each other during the games. We laugh and smile and really bring out the competitive side in each other. Even though I can only understand a small amount of Spanish, I believe playing and laughing together has conveyed words that we could never speak to each other. The boys and I run alongside each other with smiles on our faces, and it is a joy I will never forget experiencing.

Today was also the day that we gave each of the boys a new pair of shoes. It was amazing to see how excited the boys were to receive them. They ran to get into line, and they were jumping up and down in excitement. As they received their new pair of shoes, their faces lit up. I felt like a true servant of God as I ran around looking for the right size shoe for the boys and as I knelt down to put the shoes on their feet. It was a truly humbling experience.


I also met a boy named Alexis on day one, and we have created a special bond over the past three days. He is thirteen years old, I can tell he is very intelligent. He asks me questions about the American culture, and is very interested in learning the English language. He gives me hugs and tells me he loves me, and I tell him that I love him too. And I truly do. I desire the best for him, and it breaks my heart to know that he has had a rough life. I am posting a picture of his on this blog post. He is holding the pair of shoes he received today, and he was able to get the white shoes that he wanted. He was very happy.

The past three days at the boys home has changed my view of the world. The experience has been very emotional for me, and at times all I can do is cry about it. I have prayed to God several times about what I am feeling. Why these boys? Why have I been fortunate enough to have the life I have, a family to support and love me, and the possessions I am able to own? I am heart-broken by these questions. I do not think that it is fair, but I have been told that I need to look at the big picture and what God has in store for them. I have come to realize that love and hope are the only things these boys need, and I am one of the people bringing them these two essential things. God has sent our team here to bring them love and be a shining beacon of hope for the boys. I pray that our actions are conveying God´s love to them, and I ask that all of you do the same.

Tomorrow is our last days with the boys. We are going to see the movie Up! which will ve very exciting for them and us. Most of them have probably never experienced going to the movie theatre before. It is going to be awesome! It will also be our last session of Vacation Bible School with the boys tomorrow afternoon. They will be playing their drum piece for us, racing their derby cars, and hearing the story of Jesus´ resurrection. Even though it is a day filled with fun, the day is going to end in sorrow. I am not ready to leave these boys yet. The whole team is not ready to leave these boys yet. The goodbyes are going to be the most difficult part for all of us. I become very sad and cry just thinking about it. If you´re reading this please pray for our goodbyes. Pray that we will leave a lasting impact on these boys and that they will forever remember our love for them. But most importantly, pray that they know that they will always have God´s love. And I pray that it will bring hope and peace to their lives.

I have learned to look at the big picture from this experience. I am leaving relationships and friends that I have made behind. I am going to have to say goodbye to Alexis, something that I am dreading. However, these boys will forever remember the experiences we brought to them. The different worlds that we live in are only temporary. The hardships these boys face are only temporary. Our time with God in heaven is eternal, and we are leaving that hope for eternal happiness behind with the boys.

Mothers and Daughters in Guatemala

By Jenny Pope

This week I’m leading a team of mothers and daughters in Guatemala. My mom Kay is even traveling with me, which is a first for her and me! There’s something really special about serving with your mom (or daughter); and yet, there’s something kind of ironic, too. As we made team introductions yesterday, almost every person in the room referred to their mother or daughter as their “best friend.” And less than two hours later, we’re holding 2-year olds whose mothers abandoned them at birth. Children who have never known what it’s like to have a mother, much less to call her their best friend.

I’ll have to admit, yesterday was hard. We spent the morning at Casa Alegria, a government-run baby home in Guatemala City. There are about 50 children, from infancy to 6 years old, wandering the courtyard aimlessly. When we arrived at the home, we were told to wear surgical masks to protect ourselves from the children’s germs. Then we were told not to hold the babies too much, because they weren’t used to it and when we left they would cry. Talk about a warm welcome!

It didn’t take long for us to ignore both of those messages – we removed our masks from time to time, and the children were quickly in our arms. We brought bubbles and sidewalk chalk, and played with some of the few toys they had outside. There were two caregivers for all 50 children. Two – and they were exhausted. Watching those children, many who are already showing signs of aggression or apathy, it made me sad to think of their future. It’s hard to come into an orphanage and play with a child for two hours, then leave and hope for the best. But truthfully, that’s what God has called us to do. We are to pray for these children, and we are to trust in him knowing he will protect and provide for those children in his way.

In the afternoon, we went to Remar orphanage to do Vacation Bible School with 7-13 year old girls. We quickly realized that the expected group of 30 girls was going to be much larger as a number of boys arrived, as well as older girls. We shared the story of Esther with the children and then made some paper crowns, covered with stickers and jewels. They loved playing with the crafts and spending time with us. It was a much more upbeat part of our day! The team did an awesome job organizing a lot of chaos in a short amount of time, and I’m excited to see what they will accomplish throughout the rest of the week.

Here are a few photos from our first day:

Kay Hartgraves, my mom, holds a little girl at Casa Alegria.
They look like twins in their pink shirts!

This little girl, Diana, was a bit of a loner.

Dana Bennett blows bubbles with a little boy at Casa Alegria.

As you can tell, the bubbles were a big hit!

This little girl broke her leg when throwing a temper tantrum in her crib. She smashed her leg so hard against the side of the crib, it fractured.

Sandy Alberts removes her mask and kisses a little girl at Casa Alegria.

Laughter needs no translation

Hello! Or, as they say here in Lima, Peru, Hola! My name is Ariel, and I am with the Ash Creek Baptist Church of Azle, Texas. Today was our first full day in Peru. Through God´s grace, we had a safe journey, and none of us are ill or travel-weary.

Today was a day of firsts for many of us, both cultural and spiritual. We from Texas saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time and experienced sixty degree weather in July, things we don´t normally see or do. For many of us, it was also the first time to go to an orphanage. When we first arrived, many of us were shy and nervous around the boys. It was the first time to become tongue-tied around an eight-year-old boy, but what could we say? How could we convey the love of the Father to them when we didn´t even share the same language?

We wanted to say so much and convey love and tenderness, but the language barrier was like a brick wall. After a few games, something new and exciting happened. We started forming relationships through a broken mix of spanglish and hand gestures. These relationships that we started with these boys were different from the ones we have with others in America. For the first time, we cared for people without expecting anything in return. All we wanted to do was to make these boys smile and laugh, whether they remember us or not.

As we were playing a game of Tag, something struck me for the first time. Laughter is universal. Giving a smile needs no translation. Sometimes our Father does not give us words to use because we don´t need words. I pray that each person on this trip may find some way to show love and hope for these boys, in whatever language, whatever way. Thank you God for this opportunity to be here in the city of Lima.

Interns in Guatemala!

Hola from Guatemala City!

My name is Allie Maultsby, and I am an intern from Dallas, TX.

We have just completed two weeks in the city of Xela, it was quite an adventure! Lots of children to love. We had the opportunity to work with the individuals team, who was made up eight different people from all over the United States. It was such a delight to work alongside people with similar hearts and passion. They brought several fun crafts for the kids to make, including T-Shirts, sugar cookies to decorate, and some fun necklaces. The kids had a great time!

The schedule was a little different this week. We had one cleaning day where we helped clean windows and walls of the orphanage in the morning, and in the afternoon we got to visit the second orphanage. This was quite a treat because we thought last weekend was the last time we would get to see them. They were so excited to see us again! The last day, the First Lady of Guatemala was expected to visit. A lot of preparations were taken to welcome her. Unfortunately, she did not make the day we were there- that would have been a great cultural experience!

We spent a restful weekend at a beautiful lake and shopping in Antigua. It provided for a much needed refuel, and we are ready to finish up our last week traveling to different orphanages in Guatemala City and Antigua.

Thank you very much for your support and prayers- the trip has been incredibly successful because of your efforts.

Peru Interns..."Beauty for Ashes"

It has been a beautiful week for us here in Peru. We had the opportunity to spend time with some precious girls who left a deep imprint on our hearts...we were supposed to be ministering to them, but they in turn ministered to us with their joy and how they shared their love. Each one of them have been hurt by others, but that didn't stop them from loving us.

We began the week by showing them how BAD Americans are at volleyball (well, at least these Americans), so they got a good dose of laughter. We shared our testimonies with them, did crafts, played endless games of partner tag (they LOVE it) and shared secrets and gifts. But most importantly, we (well, Giuli, our in-country staff) told them the story of Esther, which they had never heard, and shared the gospel with them. Our prayer for them was the memory verse that we taught them, that God would give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes (Isaiah 61:3). And for one of these sweet girls, that is already a reality. This is my friend Norma...she has experienced more than anyone ever should in life, yet she dreams of becoming a nurse so she can help needy children. She gets up at 5 am every morning so she can lead prayers for the little girls there, and she loves God. What a testimony of "beauty for ashes."

It was very hard for us to leave on Friday, and we really had no idea that we had made that much of a difference to them, but as we loaded our van, they clung tightly to us. Then, as we were pulling out, they all lined up across the gate with their caretaker so we couldn't leave, chanting "You won't leave!" When they finally parted, they all sang the worship song we had taught them this week. So beautiful.

Interns in Latvia!!

Ramie Stewart
Lejasstrazdi, Latvia

Our team is just about to embark on our last adventure in Latvia. We will get there this afternoon and start our VBS program tomorrow and continue until Friday, when we will head back to Riga. We left with broken and burdened hearts from our stay at Lejasstrazdi. We were there for a week and a half, interacting with the kids from 8:30am-11:00pm, and we experienced God moving more than we could begin to explain. We left sad to be leaving those that we grew close to but more importantly we left filled by the Holy Spirit from things He has put in our hearts through these kids and their joy. We got to see one kid, Gatis, come to Christ and several others that seeds were either planted or watered from previous mission groups. Tate Springs, a church from Arlington Texas, mission group came to Lejasstrazdi, and this year makes their 6th year in a row to come and serve orphans here in Latvia. I can’t explain what a blessing it has been for our team to serve along with them and learn from their leadership and their experiences in previous years. Tate Springs came knowing several of the children from years past (some for all 6 years), which made it really neat to hear the changes of the kids. Last week we did a VBS program with them, and taught about Jesus’ power and the power we have through Him. We had around 15 kids everyday. We also had the opportunity to go bowling with the kids, take them to the beach and go to “Cineville” where a Latvian historical movie was filmed. At Cineville we dressed up in the soldier costumes (the picture showing) and played fort of a hide and seek game. It was so touching to watch even the 17 year old bys play like little boys, they enjoyed all the fun experiences, and it was such a gift to watch their faces of excitement. “Paldies” (thank you in Latvian) for all the prayers!! We have one more week of this amazing opportunity and can’t wait to share more with all of our families and friends, but we will be sad to leave! God bless!

Interns from Russia

Good Afternoon,

Another great week in Russia, this week by far has been our hardest camp. Orphanage number 14 was full of rough boys that love to hit one another and be very mean bullies. Our ultimate goal as a team was to love them and that was difficult at many times. VBS with this orphanage went great as the kids were interested and participated which was a great answer to prayer, something we thought would be impossible. We also were able to give the orphanage more balls, candy and craft items. Continue to pray for Team Russia as we meet up with a group from Amarillo and leave La pohinka on Saturday morning. Also continue to pray for our safety as we leave to come home on Saturday!

Julie Pride

Interns in Kenya

Hello from the Java house in Nairobi. We safely flew into the city on Sunday night on a slightly larger plane the than the last flight we took to Kitale, which was a PROPELLOR jet!!! Oh the adventures of Africa!

We have been so taken with the different culture that Nairobi offers, its diversity is head spinning. You need only drive five minutes within the city and you will have passed an area of slums, the luxury hotels where business men converse and negotiate, as well as a thousand market vendors selling fresh mangos, school uniform socks and an abundance of Nike swooshes ☺

We consider it our great joy to be serving two areas while here in Nairobi. On Monday we visitited our two sites for the coming week and a half. The Korogocho Slum, our 1st site, is a quick 30 minute drive from our apartment. It’s sickening to describe the contrast. It’s so hard to paint a mental picture of the destitution. Within the 3 sq miles of shacks constructed from metal tops of oil containers and sheet metal, one million people make their homes and lives. Driving into them was like entering into a different world where survival etched the faces of the old men smoking hand rolled cigarettes, and fearlessness characterized the young ones who wonder the alleys of their “neighborhood” with a practiced totter.

After driving through what seemed endless faces and stares, we arrived at the gates of the school! I was reminded of the passage in Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus’ parable teaching on salt and light. The school is a blinding light into their world of deep darkness. Its students are by far the most motivated that we’ve encountered so far. They understand that education is their only hope of ending the devastating cycle of poverty that they were born into. The youngest learn English and the alphabet, while the older students are taught trades such as woodworking and hair dressing.

The sweet children, clad in their matching, yet disheveled uniforms, furiously wave their greeting to us as soon as our matatu pulls into their sight. Its humbling to realize how great of a privilege it us to be sent, and enabled to minister to the least of these. Scripture has come alive to our team as we pray to become the hands and feet of Jesus to these orphans, students, and teachers - all who are so welcoming and so desperately needy.

Our second site is The Baptist Children’s home, which is set further outside downtown Nairobi, on a beautiful spacious campus. It houses a clinic, church, technical learning center, orphanage and school. Simba, their social worker, explained to us that they have a thriving ministry within the surrounding community because of the physical need that they are able to meet.

Some of our favorite moments of ministry spent at the BCC, happened at 2:00 in the Technical Learning Center with the beautiful young ladies of the tailoring class. Zipporah their teacher glows with an inner beauty and joy, as she described to us that she is simply, “A worshipper.” The girls blossom under her instruction, not only in sewing but also in their faith journey. We were blessed to be able to participate in their worship time, which can only be described as literally heavenly. They all tightly close their eyes, and open their hearts as they bellow in both Swahili and English how faithful their Father has been, how He provides and protects and how worthy He is of praise. Although they lack in resources, riches and titles, they have gained much in their worship of the King.


We continue to learn so much more than we teach, and grow so much more than we can ever nurture. I will leave you with these lyrics by Sara Groves from her song, I saw what I saw, that she wrote after a trip she took to work with orphans in Uganda. It has been our hearts anthem for this trip and will remain as we continue to pursue Christ’s call on our lives.

I saw what I saw and I can’t forget it
I heard what I heard and I can’t go back
I know what I know and I can’t deny it
Something on the road cut me to the soul

Your pain has changed me
Your dream inspires
Your face a memory
Your hope a fire
Your courage asks me, “What am I afraid of”
And what I know of love.