Viva Italia!!

I’m passionate about learning!  I’m also passionate about art, music, and food. So when all of these things are combined….it makes for a wonderful time (at least in my opinion). 

Recently we had an event at the Back2Back group house for the children of Bonfil.  It was an art & culture night where they learned about Italy, ate Italian food, and saw paintings & sculptures by Michelangelo.  

Before everything started, I was in the kitchen with a few of the girls from Bonfil and I had to get into the fridge for something.  When I opened the door the girls stopped what they were doing and looked inside. Both of them had the same expression on their faces and stood there and said….Wow!  They were amazed by all the food that was in the fridge. Sometimes I forget all the things I have….like food in the fridge because it’s normal for me, but seeing their reaction I was reminded it’s not normal for them. 

One of the main reasons we wanted to have a night of art & culture was to expand their world beyond where they live.  Many of these kids don’t see much outside of their immediate community.  So we started the night by giving the children a passport with their picture in it, and they were given a stamp in their passport to get into the event.  

For dinner we ate baked ziti with salad and rolls while Italian music played in the background. This type of dinner was a new experience for these children, so it was fun to explain what parmesan cheese was and how to use it on the pasta.  After dinner our tutor in Bonfil (Itamar) talked about Italy and focused on some fun facts about the country and where it is located.  She then taught us about Michelangelo and some of his famous paintings & sculptures.  We saw a picture of the Sistine Chapel, Pieta, and David. 

Fun facts about Italy                                                                        Baked ziti....yum!

To top off the night we made copies of The Creation of Adam, where the hand of God is reaching out to touch Adam’s finger.  We taped the copies to the tables….flipped the tables upside down, and asked the children to climb under and start coloring.  We did this to help them understand how hard it might have been for Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling.  At one point I couldn't stand it any longer, I just had to see what the children were doing and why they were so quiet.  So I crawled under one of the tables and joined Danny & Ana.  They both were so engaged in what they were doing I just loved watching them.  

Danny                                                                   Danny & Julie                                                        Ana on the far right

Under the table I had “a moment” where God’s Presence was so obvious and completely overwhelming.  He loves these children so much!  They are His masterpiece.  I began to think about what it takes to create a masterpiece.  Typically, it doesn’t happen quickly. It took Michelangelo four years to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and 6 years to paint the altar.  I thought of words that could describe what it takes to make a masterpiece.  Words like passion, perseverance, patience, process, and beauty.   The process of change and transformed lives takes time.  That night I looked at Ana and Danny realizing that it may take years to see what God is doing in their lives, but along the way I can see pieces of His masterpiece coming together to create something beautiful.  

Ana with Kristin Lakes (Renovia team from Indianapolis, IN)

Mision Educarte - Rossy's - Bonfil

Some of the children in Bonfil - they were so eager to help paint

There are two girls who live in Bonfil we’ve gotten to know better this summer.  They make us smile every time we are with them because of their sweet yet spunky personalities.  We know that God has a great plan for their lives!  Recently, we discovered that neither of them can read, and struggle with the abc’s and numbers.  We know that they are not alone in their educational struggles and want to provide after school tutors every day who can help the children of Bonfil.  We are trying to be more intentional with the educational programming at Mision Educarte.  For years, the kids in the neighborhood have heard about Jesus through Rossy’s classes.  Every Wednesday & Saturday she has a Bible class with a craft and feeds the children.  For 19 years she’s done this alone.  We started working with Rossy in January 2013 to provide her with additional resources, bring teams, provide a hot meal, and help her with the Bible classes.  Because we believe in going deep with our ministry partners, we have been evaluating the children and the program to determine their biggest needs and how we can help.  Our desire is that the children will love God with all their heart, soul and mind, but we also want to help make a difference in their educational, physical, emotional, and social needs. 

This summer we took one mission team (Horizon Church College Group) to go and paint the community of apartments – called a cuartaria - where many of the children live.  The one room apartments are about 12 x 15 feet.  Most apartments share one community bathroom and only have a small electric stove for cooking.  The mission team was able to repaint the entire lower level of this cuarteria.  The kids and some of their Mom’s helped with the painting. We also had VBS every Tuesday night with the help of many local volunteers.

Praise & worship time

Samuel is one of our faithful volunteers who helped with VBS

Small group time

Pasta verde....yum!

Beltway Baptist Church helping prepare to serve the kids dinner.

Singing the Psalms...

Julie, Jeny, Erick & Adela - 2011

Jeny 2011

This is Jeny in 2011.  Back2Back had just started working with her and her family. In order to help her Mom - who was a widow - keep her children.  At the time we thought of it as “orphan prevention” but it’s really Family Preservation.  Family Preservation helps families stay together.  Oti, Jeny’s Mom, needed help, to provide and care for her 8 children.  At the time we started working with Oti, she was desperate and ready to take some of her children to an orphanage (a Casa Hogar or what we call a Children’s Home). I love this picture of Jeny because it captures her personality so well.  She always has a smile and is full of love.  In 2011 she was 10 years old and never attended school.  Back2Back saw the need to help her get into school and hired a tutor to come every day after school to help her with her homework.  This was important because her mother cannot read or write and we wanted to make sure she was getting the help she needed.

Jeny 2014

This is Jeny now, 3 years later.  She loves to read, she’s excelling in school, and she still has a smile that lights up her face.  Recently, Sarah, who is part of our staff, gave Jeny a Bible. Jeny was so excited to start reading it.  Sarah asked Jeny if she had a favorite book of the Bible and Jeny wasn’t sure.  Sarah said…"the Psalms are songs they used to sing in Bible times"…knowing that Jeny has often said she wants to be a singer when she grows up.  So Jeny asked Sarah, “do you know what the tune is to this Psalm?"  Sarah answered…."No." Jeny didn’t miss a beat. She said….”I know.” And started singing the Psalm. Making up an upbeat melody.  How precious that must have been to Jesus, to hear Jeny singing a Psalm! 

2014 Mother's Day Card from Jeny

This is the Mother’s Day Card Jeny made for me this year.  She had no idea how much I needed that card.  It was the first Mother’s Day in 21 years I wasn’t able to be with either of my children (Eliza & Nick).  She wrote I love you Julie." Just what I needed to hear!  Please continue to pray for Jeny.  I know God has great things in store and I can’t wait to see the rest of her story.

EL ROI - The God Who Sees...

When my children were little we would listen to the same cassette tape anytime we were driving.  It was Steve Green’s Hide it in your heart Bible melodies…do everything without complaining, do everything without arguing so that you can become blameless and pure children of God (Phil 2:14).  Lately, I’ve had to remind myself of this verse often. I remember the song and sing it in my head.

Our work here has been overwhelming and I have felt so inadequate and tired.  I find when I take my eyes off Jesus I start to sink and give into complaining.  I have realized that complaining never makes anything better, it only contributes to the downward spiral of negative emotions.  I think that is why God told us to take captive every thought.....to think on good things. So when I start to complain or focus on a problem I stop and pray and praise God that He sees the situation.  I recently started a 30 day praise challenge (book by Becky Harling).  It’s been great in redirecting my thoughts and leading me to praise God for who He is.

Checking the man's blood sugar levels

I can praise Him because He is the God who sees….my strong tower, the God I can trust.  He sees the man in Bonfil who wanders around without a home - who can’t hear and can’t speak.  He came recently to a medical outreach in Bonfil. The doctor examined him and he (the man with no name) checked out alright.  The medical team decided to stop what they were doing and pray for this man....who God sees.  As we were praying, even though the man couldn’t hear anything he began to weep.  We all felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in that place, and it was evident even to the man who couldn’t hear.

Choosing to find beauty...a wall at the Tres Reyes Community Center

God sees the little 6 year old girl in Tres Reyes who is being treated for STD’s.  He sees the little girl with heart problems, the children who are neglected, the broken hearted and abused, and He cares so deeply.  He longs for restoration and I can trust Him with all of this.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13)

EL ROI – The God Who Sees

Word for the Year.......MORE

In 2007, our family was asked to help start a new church plant in Caledonia, MI. In October of that year, along with about 50 other individuals, we launched Journey Church. At the first service of the 2008, our pastor, asked the congregation to identify a "Word for the Year." A word that God was giving us that would define a goal, a new direction, or just an area that God was laying on our hearts. That first year my word was "Waiting." I was waiting, although not very patiently, to see if God  was going to call our family to the mission field. (In case you didn't know, He did.)

Ever since that first year of identifying God's Word for the Year for me, Julie and I, along with Journey Church, have continued this practice. We have found it very helpful and signficant. So this year, when Julie and I began talking about our Word for the Year, she quickly identified "Joy" as her word. For me, it took awhile, but just this past week, God gave me the word "Appetite." My prayer and ongoing pursuit is to have an appetite ONLY for God. Not for what He can do for me. Not for comfort. Not for anything this world has to offer.

In-Depth Parenting classes by a
licensed therapist and volunteer

Yesterday, Julie and I were listening to the "Word for the Year" message online, and our pastor spoke of the word God gave him for Journey Church for 2014. That got Julie and I thinking - is there a Word for the Year for our site? Our staff team? Our ministry partners? And you know what, we believe the same word that our pastor chose for Journey is a great one for our site - "MORE."

More depth with the children and families we serve
More miracles
More kids excelling in school
More lives transformed
More restoration of families

More progress with the Tres Reyes Community Center
More volunteers

Kids at Rossy's  reading the Action Bible

More Staff
More teams
More team members, whose lives are deeply
impacted when they care for the Fatherless and Widows
More wisdom and discernment
More of an appetite for God

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 the glory. (Ephesians 3:20)

Pray with us that God will give us Immeasrably More, all for His glory and honor.