Monday, December 3, 2012
Fw: Belize update on Catarina
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Belize update on Catarina
Hey Everyone,Some of us visited with Catarina yesterday and she is great; smiling and laughing at us as usual. One of our girls took her a photo album with pictures of her family when we visited them in Belize in July; she was so excited!Mr. Juan is really missing home, his wife and family.Attached a photo of Catarina with some of her friends from Morristown.Blessings, Carla
Tim Tam
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Tim Tam: update on Catarina Ishim
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Thursday, August 2, 2012
Belize update: Catarina Ishim
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Thursday, June 21, 2012
From Tim Tam: Caterina Ishim?
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Home Again
One of the highlights for me is being able to work with EFCA's Touch Global. It's an extremely well organized group, and the staff is amazing. We had gotten to know some of the staff last year, and we loved reconnecting with them this year. This is Ronnie, Jen, Katie, and Chelsea.
It was a great trip, and I'm sure it may not be our last trip to New Orleans. Katrina may have hit awhile ago, but 25% of the homes in New Orleans are still not lived in, and 40% of the homes in the 9th ward have either been leveled are uninhabited. Keep praying for New Orleans, EFCA, and for all those living there!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Work Days 4 and 5
It's been a full but good few days.
We have continued working at the various sites, and building relationships with the various home owners.
Mary Hart was so appreciative of her team, that she bought them a good ole Louisiana meal for lunch on Thursday (catfish, fried chicken, sweet potatoes, gumbo on rice, cake).
The group at Walter's house all but finished the fence today (fri).
The group at the Upper Room Church took on a massive project of trying to scrape of the old layer of floor to leave just the concrete underneath. They made good headway. And in the mean time had some good conversations with neighbors in the area. A highlight for Scott was getting to join a few of the local teens in a pick up basketball game.
The 4th team spent a few days working on the house of a man named Michael (a fascinating man, who it turns out is a very talented musician).
Tonight we are going out to dinner to enjoy some time together and the food!
Tomorrow morning we will get on the road early to start our drive back to Arlington. Please pray for safe travels.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Work Day 3
Yesterday marked our half way point, and a good day of ministry.
About half our group started the day on a prayer walk at the House of Hope (a relatively new church ministry in the upper 9th ward). We were able to walk through the neighborhood, meet a few people. A highlight of our time there was stopping to visit Ms. Ruby. Part of our group worked on our house last year and really built a strong realtionship with her. We were able to check in with her, see how the work on her house is coming, pray with her. It was wonderful to see her!
All of the crews continued on their jobs with good success.
Later in the day, we had a block party at the Upper Room Church. we cooked a few dozen hotdogs, handed out some bottles of water, played games with a few of the kids. We met a few of the neighbors, and learned a lot o what it has been like to live in New Orleans post-Katrina.
Today the other half of our group will be spending the morning doing a prayer walk at the House of Hope, and then we all are working on our sites
Thank you for your prayers!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Work Day 2
The crew working at Mary and Tiny's house had another busy but full day. They made enough progress that they were even able to start painting in places.
In the midst of their productivity, the team took a prayer walk and had a great time interacting with the community.
The team at Walter's house continued working at putting up his fence.
Two exciting things happened though as the day unfolded. One is that we are hoping to begin work on his neighbor's property by the end of the week to get it to the point where it wont be fined (and thus taken over by the city). Hopefully the necessary paper work is being filled out now so that work can start ASAP. Praying for everything to fall into place.
Also, a lot of the neighbors just started stopping by the see what was happening, and why this crew of volunteers was helping out their friend Walter. And this is in a neighborhood where a lot of the houses have been destroyed and their are a great deal of vacant lots - but word got around, and people came by. And several of those people stayed to help. It was a great chance to get to know people, hear their stories and share the real reason we are down here doing this work.
The team at the Upper Room Church spending the day sanding down the pews in the balcony, and painting the balcony.
While on a prayer walk, they met a guy named Fred, who shared with them photos of his house after Katrina (which had nine feet of water in it). They had a chance to pray with and for him.
This morning most of our team is starting off the day with a prayer walk at the House of Hope in New Orleans.
We will then divide into 4 teams (one extra work crew today), and finish the day with a block party at the Upper Room Church.
Please pray for our day at the worksites, for productive work, for good interactions with people in the community.
Pray for Trevor, who has tonsilitis. After resting all day yesterday and getting the right mediciation he fells a lot better but would still appreciate your prayers.
Pray for our block party tonight.
Thanks,
The New Orleans Mission Team
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
First Day on the Worksite
We had a great first day on the worksite.
The team that went to Mary's house met both Mary and her husband Tiny (who is not so Tiny in stature). It turns out that in addition to losing their money to ahook contractor, their house was was also bulgarized and coper stolen from the roof (leaving the ceiling damaged). The group was able to get some good work done with the work on the dry wall, etc.
The group building the fence met their homeowners. Walter was told by the city if they didn't put up a 6 foot fence they would be fined. The city is assigning a lot of fines right now for people not maintaining things (like grass according to a certain height etc). And if people didn't meet the regulations, or cant pay their fines their property is being seized to pay the fines. Thankfully Walter is going to have his fence built in time, but Walter's neighbor who has been in the hospital for the last 2 years has not been able to maintain his home. He is at risk for losing his property because of fines he cant pay. The team is hoping to finish up the fence either today or tomorrow.
The 3rd team is working on The Upper Room Church. It is a wonderful building that had four feet of water damage because of the storm, damage because of weather over the last 8 years, and vandalism. But they are hoping to restore it so that they can use it to minister to those in the area. We met one woman who said she had two sons who were around 19-20 years old. We asked them where they hung out, and she said no where that the area was so run down that there was no where to really hang out or play ball.
We are returning to our same 3 sites tonight to work, and looking forward to building more relationships.
Please pray for Trevor, who we think has an ear infection.
Pray for our team, as they are working hard, in the heat and humidity. Pray for our safety, pray for good spirits
Please pray for the relationships among our team, with the EFCA team, and with the team from North Carolina. Pray that in all that we say or do we can glorify God.
Pray that we may be a light to Christ in all we do.
With love and blessings,
The New Orleans Mission Team
Monday, June 11, 2012
Job Sites
We are off to our 3 job sites this morning.
The first is owned by a woman named Mary Hart. About 5 years ago, she paid a contractor to work on her house. He did a phenomenal job making a pretty looking roof. But the roof leaked causing major damage in the house. And at that point, the contractor left with Mary's money. Lew's team is going to go in this morning to do some gutting and to assess what needs to be done.
Our 2nd job is actually a fence installation. This family lives in the lower 9th ward and has to have their fence up by June 20th or face serious ramifications. Pastor Gerald (who EFCA works with on prayer walks) ask us to help us with this fence. Rob will be leading this team.
The 3rd job is at the Upper Room Church. A church from Slidell has come and planted this church in a church/school. We are going to do some initial painting/prepping.
Please pray for us as we go out to the sites
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Concert of Prayer
"@katiehooksnola: Students from First Presbyterian of Arlington TX swaying and singing praises to our God during concert of prayer! http://t.co/TmwLTYZT"
Safely in LA
We have made it safely to Covington, LA (which is our home base for the week). It was a smooth, easy trip down. We arrived just in time for orientation and prayer.
There is one other group here with us for the week, from High Point, NC.
Rest of the night will involve time in prayer, settling in, time in devotion (just our group), and a much needed early bed time.
Rob preached this morning and will br flying to New Orleans in the morning- pray for his safe arrival.
In the morning, we will divide into our work teams, and head out to meet the homeowners. Pray for good meetings, and a good first day of work.
Thanks for your prayers! We appreciate every one of them!
The New Orleans Mission Team
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Leaving tomorrow for New Orleans
leaving to make the drive to New Orleans. We are partnering with the
disaster relief branch of EFCA.
I am very excited to see what God is going to do while we are there
-please pray for our team members, they range in age from 13 to 80.
Some of us have traveled together on mission trips before and for
others this will be there first trip of this nature. Pray that God can
bring us together, and that we may be able to grow together and hold
one annother accountabile.
- pray specifically for our summer youth intern, Lora Cordova. Going
on a mission trip for her will be a new experience, and I am praying
that it will open her heart to hear even more clearly what God is
speaking to her.
- pray for the youth guys coming on this trip, those that are good
friends, and those that are coming in barely knowing anyone.
-pray for the girls coming. It's a smaller group than the guys. but
may they form a bond, and feel as if they are making an impact with
the work they are doing.
- pray for our adults - Lew, Homer, Rob, Sophie, Scott, Lora, Russell.
Help us to stay rested and to have a great time as we get to serve,
play, and do God's work.
-pray for our interactions with the people of NEW ORLEANS. Some of
the people we have the privilege of meeting have been struggling since
the storm. What a humbling privilege that God allows us to be the ones
to serve them in their time of need.
Pray that we may be willing servants, that we may preach Christ
crucified, but that we also learn and walk away with full hearts.
Thanks you for your prayers!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Katarina Photo
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Thursday, May 24, 2012
From Tim Tam: Katarina update
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Thursday, May 17, 2012
From Tim Tam: Katarina update
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Monday, May 14, 2012
From Tim Tam: Katarina Update
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Thursday, May 10, 2012
From Tim Tam: Update on Katarina
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Monday, April 23, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
From Tim Tam: Catarina Update=?UTF-8?B?4oCmLi5UdW1vciAg?=surgery q
-----Original message-----
From: Tim Tam <timtam@twaw.org>
To: Tim Tam <timtam@twaw.org>
Sent: Sat, Apr 7, 2012 04:19:05 GMT+00:00
Subject: From Tim Tam: Catarina Update…..Tumor surgery qMy apologies if you already received these from Carla.I get so many requests for updates on this, it is easier to send to my whole address book.Tim TamFrom: Hearts of christ Hoc <heartsofchristhoc@yahoo.com>Subject: Catarina UpdateHey Everyone,Catarina will be admitted to the hospital (this) morning around 6am. She is scheduled for trach and G-tube at 7:45am. We are told she will be in ICU after this is completed tomorrow and kept there until after recovery from the tumor removal surgery which is scheduled for next week.Her MRI showed no parasites and all scans were good confirming no metastasis which is a Big Praise!Continue in prayer!Blessings, Carla JenningsHello Everyone,Today was the first of a long process for Catarina. The surgeons have the trach and the feeding tube in place. She was frightened and she cried as we prayed over her before surgery. She was in surgery for these procedures about two hours. She did very well and was taken to ICU after recovery. The doctors, the nurses, and everyone at the hospital has been so good and kind to Catarina; she has had some very special attention.She will remain in ICU until next Friday when she will be taken for the removal of the tumor. Once removed, the plastic surgeon will begin the reconstruction. Her expected hospital stay is 3 weeks. It's a long road ahead so continue to pray.Good Friday!Blessings, Carla
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
prayer request
An update on yesterday's concrete pour at the Valley of Peace School - it went well - God is good! Way to go Kenny!! |
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
From Tim Tam: Belize update on Baby Raquel and Catarina q
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Prayer Request from Belize
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From Tim Tam: Special Request q
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Sunday, March 18, 2012
Final Belize prayer update
"O LORD, our LORD, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise... ." Psalm 8:1-2a
Received from the Belize Team at 5:17 PM…
We done reach (translation - we have reached the DFW airport). It was an AMAZING trip. We cannot thank each of you enough for all of your prayers. Hopefully in the next week or two we will have pictures and stories posted on our missions blog, fpcamissions.blogspot.com.
Blessings and love,
The 2012 Belize Team
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
forever and ever! Amen.
Eph. 3:20-21
Way to pray, good and faithful prayer warriors!
Belize prayer update 13
Received from the Belize Team at 11:40 AM…
We are in the early stages of our journey back to the DFW area. We have checked in at the airport here at Belize, and are about to board for Houston. Please pray for a smooth journey.
Praise God and continue praying!
Belize prayer update 12
Received from the Belize Team at 11:45 PM Saturday…
After a wonderful evening with Belizean friends we got up early this morning [Saturday] for breakfast with one of the YES girls and her baby. Today [Saturday] we also debriefed-had some time relaxing and praying in Scripture. Tomorrow [Sunday] our first flight is at 11 and we will return to DFW after 5 PM. Please be in prayer for travel mercies.
Praise God for the incredible time the team has had while in Belize; for the work that was accomplished but, more importantly, for the ministry God has allowed them to have and to receive.
Please pray…
· for team members’ emotions as they say their goodbyes
· that packing, travel to and check-in at the airport would be problem free
· for team members’ emotions as they leave Belize and transition from the amazing time they’ve had while in Belize
· for travel mercies
· that all their luggage arrives with them
· “Pray that we wouldn’t have a “mountaintop" experience, but that we would truly be changed more into the image of Jesus” [from the prayer journal]
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
1 Peter 2:2-3
Friday, March 16, 2012
Belize prayer update 11
Received from the Belize Team at 7:30 this evening…
Every day we are here we are amazed at God's provision and his answer to prayer. It has been humbling to be able to be a part of the YES girls’ lives and to be able to serve that community by working on their two buildings. We have deepened relationships in new ways this year, and it truly was hard to say good-bye, but good to know that these relationships will be continued in the time to come.
The Belize City work crew finished the job of painting the interior. They are still working on the bathroom even as I type this. They finished painting the room, and it looks fantastic. Jim's comment was, "I wish we had another week to knock out even more."
The Lord's Bank work crew continued painting. Though the rooms they were working on were two-toned, they worked diligently and efficiently and painted the two main rooms.
A good portion of the group had the privilege of taking the YES girls on a field trip. To say the girls had a good time is an understatement. But it wasn't just about having fun. You can tell that there was a certain level of trust established, and our conversations, prayer, and sharing continued throughout the day.
We truly appreciate your prayers, for us, for those we interacted with, for the girls, and for the staff of us.
Pray that we would leave changed by God; not just through the experiences we had, but that we would desire to know Him more after this week of serving.
Pray for our safety as we travel home.
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Belize prayer update 10
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Colossians 1:28-29
Received from the Belize Team at 7:30 PM…
As my text mentioned earlier, our day started with a wonderful time of worship. We sang a few songs (and the girls taught us a few songs). Presley, Jenn, and Tara led a devotional, and what emerged was a time of sharing as the girls opened up about the reality of things they struggle with on a daily basis - everything from insecurity, to abuse, to the recent loss of a sibling. We were able to spend some time, talking, praying, and worshipping with the girls.
We transitioned to our "normal" activities with a small group activity, and then it was time to start the day. By that time though a couple of our group members had already gotten a jump start on the daily "grocery shopping" (or rather taking Yolanda to the market) and the Belize City crew was hard at work.
The Belize City crew continued painting (both inside and on the roof), and they started putting up walls (because they had torn some down yesterday).
The Lord's Bank work crew worked hard! If you have seen pictures of YES in the past, one thing you know is that Pastor Ruth loves bright colors. It definitely wasn't a surprise that she had lots of bright colors picked out for the new building we are working on. Our crew worked hard (they actually worked well past quitting time yesterday to get things done, and finally had to be told to stop), and primed and painted today. The rooms look absolutely lit up with some color on the wall!
Some of the girls worked on the quilt today, and tried their hand at hand stitching (learning a completely new skill). Ben taught all the girls to make woven bracelets, which they loved! And during our bracelet making time, we had more good conversations and times of prayer.
Suzie taught her computer class. Today they practiced typing in Microsoft Word and had an introduction to Microsoft Excel. One of the girls really enjoyed learning how to make formulas in Excel to perform math. Each girl was also able to show their presentations to new people. It was so wonderful to see their big smiles full of confidence for what they had accomplished. We also spent time taking a few pictures of each girl so that they could post pictures to Facebook. It was a full day for the computer class.
We sent Scot off to BERT where he taught more classes today.
Tina was able to connect with Mike and Yodi again of the church in Orange Walk. They gave her a sketch of the planned roof hoping that she could come up with a more cost efficient plan, and Tina used her engineering skills to organize the information and brainstorm a new plan. God has truly used all of our gifts and talents this week through reaching out to others!
Sophie and Michelle met with Ian, who is an ombudsman here in Belize, and is the international track and field representative as well. Ian explained that there is no place for track and field to be practiced, and there are also no sports equipment. Running has never been a sport here in Belize, but Ian believes that giving kids the opportunity to run will keep them out of harm's way. He is looking for support of the sport and possibly more coaches. He initially reached out to us hoping for the empty container in our church parking lot, and we were excited to meet someone with such love and compassion for the children of Belize.
Thank you all for the prayers! They have definitely been lifted up and helpful as we saw today.
Praise God for…
· … the wonderful time of worship this morning and the opportunity it brought for good conversation with the girls
· … the continued endurance and good progress in so many areas; construction, sewing, computers, and BERT
· … the way God is glorifying Himself in using the gifts and talents He's given team members to serve in unique and varied ways
Please pray for…
· … a renewed strength from God as we work, that we would depend on Him for our energy
· … for opportunities to interact with the people of Belize; that we can understand their joys and hardships
· … for team member's eyes to be open to see how God is at work in, around, and through them
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40: 29-31