In the beginning…
In reality, the beginning was long, long before this journey was made evident to either of us. But, we will start from when God’s Plan for this journey began to flourish in my heart…
_____________________________________________
In 2003, I was asked to be part of our church’s youth mission trip for a couple of reasons. 1 – They needed another adult to help out, and 2 – Our daughter, Brianna, was hoping to go, but with her diabetes, there was uncertainty about how she would feel with many changes in her activity and diet. So with that in mind, I agreed to participate. I had it in my mind that I was going as a “chaperone”, but during this week long mission trip, God stirred something in me that I never experienced before. I really did not even know what it was, but now looking back, I can see the wonderful orchestration of His Plan.
Seeing and experiencing things like never before in my life, there were many questions, ideas and this odd feeling inside of me that began changing everything in my heart. I kept asking God, “How can I make a difference?” Well, after being home a few weeks, things started to get back to “normal”, but there was a moment that has always remained very clear. While lying in bed one night, I said to Butch, “I know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a missionary!” I usually do not come out with things like that, nor did I have any idea what a missionary was, but it was one of those statements that kept playing over and over in my head. Now at the age of 43, I figured my life was pretty much planned out. Wrong! It was just beginning…
_____________________________________________
Then it was Butch’s turn. Here we are in Jamaica on Butch’s first mission trip. We were there with a team from the church we were attending at the time and with about thirty other people from church’s Texas and Indiana. Butch was working hard to, as usual, to get the job done and trying to cope with fact that they do not do things the “right way” was a big adjustment, and he was adjusting quite well. But that spark was just not there. Until the last day we were there and Butch stood up and said, “I get it! I get why I am here!” God showed him how so many people, of so many ages and with different backgrounds can come to one place and Serve The Lord in Unity! No arguing, backstabbing, foul language. Everyone was doing their part to serve. Just Perfect Unity!
With both of us seeing God work through us and others in ways like we never knew, we both had a strong desire to continue serving God in this way.
_____________________________________________
So our journey continues….
Over the years, we have traveled on many different mission trips to many different places, Mexico, Jamaica, The Bahamas and even Africa. While this was all great, we felt we were just “putting on bandaids” as we traveled from one country to another and not really "making a difference" with these short term trips. We hope to find a place we could really focus on and carry out God’s Plan. After some praying and talking we truly felt that Jamaica was where God wanted us.
Jamaica is a beautiful island, but it also is filled with much poverty and need. The difference we could make here could have a great impact on the lives of so many. So, Jamaica it was! We had some money and we purchased land and immediately began to build a mission house. We hoped to use this as a place for missionaries and teams to stay while serving, and also as a type of community center, to help the people learn a trade, to read or whatever other need was placed in our heart.
Things were moving slow, but we did not have any time limits. We were also working along with a church and school in the community of Barrett Hall, which also needed much help and we began visiting there often. Sometimes we worked on the mission home, sometimes at the school, and sometimes both. But during the past couple of years, for some unknown reason to us, things pretty much stopped. When we had money, we did not have time and vice versa. We still remained patient and hoped for things to change. Well they did, but we had not realized what was happening.
Our home church had decided to sponsor a family from Jacksonville, FL, who were friends with our Pastor, and were moving to Guatemala to Serve God as part of 12x12 Love Project . We were excited for them because we too had the same desire, but in Jamaica. Then we were asked to lead a mission team to Guatemala to help and experience what life is like there. Serving God anywhere we were sent was always a great experience, but we still had our hearts set on Jamaica.
In August of 2011, we lead a team with 4 other friends and members of our church to Magdalena Milpas Altas, Guatemala. I just fell in love with everything about this community. It was such a beautiful place, and the people just captured my heart. When it came time to leave there, I had a very difficult time because even though we were there for only one week, I felt like I was home. Not “home” like in your comfy house “home”, but “home”, where God wanted me to be. Again, God allowed me to experience new and glorious things about Him and His Plan for me. Butch, as always, was working hard and developed great bonds with many of the men he worked side by side with each day. Even though he did not speak the language, God took care of that and filled voids that not even words can fill.
We began talking about splitting our time between home in New Jersey, Barrett Hall, Jamaica and Magdalena Milpas Altas, Guatemala. It seemed like a pretty good idea, but then again, here we would be just putting on bigger "band aids" and not really focusing on the plan God had for us and more than likely running ourselves ragged.
Our next trip to Guatemala was May, 2012. This is when it all came together. You see, all of this time, God was working on both Butch and I. We really needed to “grow-up” in our faith and trust in God. We kinda had the idea right, but not the place. We both needed, and still need, to focus on what God wants for us, and of us, and not our own desires. Once both of us understood, then God’s Plan for us became quite clear.
In reality, the beginning was long, long before this journey was made evident to either of us. But, we will start from when God’s Plan for this journey began to flourish in my heart…
_____________________________________________
In 2003, I was asked to be part of our church’s youth mission trip for a couple of reasons. 1 – They needed another adult to help out, and 2 – Our daughter, Brianna, was hoping to go, but with her diabetes, there was uncertainty about how she would feel with many changes in her activity and diet. So with that in mind, I agreed to participate. I had it in my mind that I was going as a “chaperone”, but during this week long mission trip, God stirred something in me that I never experienced before. I really did not even know what it was, but now looking back, I can see the wonderful orchestration of His Plan.
Seeing and experiencing things like never before in my life, there were many questions, ideas and this odd feeling inside of me that began changing everything in my heart. I kept asking God, “How can I make a difference?” Well, after being home a few weeks, things started to get back to “normal”, but there was a moment that has always remained very clear. While lying in bed one night, I said to Butch, “I know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a missionary!” I usually do not come out with things like that, nor did I have any idea what a missionary was, but it was one of those statements that kept playing over and over in my head. Now at the age of 43, I figured my life was pretty much planned out. Wrong! It was just beginning…
_____________________________________________
Then it was Butch’s turn. Here we are in Jamaica on Butch’s first mission trip. We were there with a team from the church we were attending at the time and with about thirty other people from church’s Texas and Indiana. Butch was working hard to, as usual, to get the job done and trying to cope with fact that they do not do things the “right way” was a big adjustment, and he was adjusting quite well. But that spark was just not there. Until the last day we were there and Butch stood up and said, “I get it! I get why I am here!” God showed him how so many people, of so many ages and with different backgrounds can come to one place and Serve The Lord in Unity! No arguing, backstabbing, foul language. Everyone was doing their part to serve. Just Perfect Unity!
With both of us seeing God work through us and others in ways like we never knew, we both had a strong desire to continue serving God in this way.
_____________________________________________
So our journey continues….
Over the years, we have traveled on many different mission trips to many different places, Mexico, Jamaica, The Bahamas and even Africa. While this was all great, we felt we were just “putting on bandaids” as we traveled from one country to another and not really "making a difference" with these short term trips. We hope to find a place we could really focus on and carry out God’s Plan. After some praying and talking we truly felt that Jamaica was where God wanted us.
Jamaica is a beautiful island, but it also is filled with much poverty and need. The difference we could make here could have a great impact on the lives of so many. So, Jamaica it was! We had some money and we purchased land and immediately began to build a mission house. We hoped to use this as a place for missionaries and teams to stay while serving, and also as a type of community center, to help the people learn a trade, to read or whatever other need was placed in our heart.
Things were moving slow, but we did not have any time limits. We were also working along with a church and school in the community of Barrett Hall, which also needed much help and we began visiting there often. Sometimes we worked on the mission home, sometimes at the school, and sometimes both. But during the past couple of years, for some unknown reason to us, things pretty much stopped. When we had money, we did not have time and vice versa. We still remained patient and hoped for things to change. Well they did, but we had not realized what was happening.
Our home church had decided to sponsor a family from Jacksonville, FL, who were friends with our Pastor, and were moving to Guatemala to Serve God as part of 12x12 Love Project . We were excited for them because we too had the same desire, but in Jamaica. Then we were asked to lead a mission team to Guatemala to help and experience what life is like there. Serving God anywhere we were sent was always a great experience, but we still had our hearts set on Jamaica.
In August of 2011, we lead a team with 4 other friends and members of our church to Magdalena Milpas Altas, Guatemala. I just fell in love with everything about this community. It was such a beautiful place, and the people just captured my heart. When it came time to leave there, I had a very difficult time because even though we were there for only one week, I felt like I was home. Not “home” like in your comfy house “home”, but “home”, where God wanted me to be. Again, God allowed me to experience new and glorious things about Him and His Plan for me. Butch, as always, was working hard and developed great bonds with many of the men he worked side by side with each day. Even though he did not speak the language, God took care of that and filled voids that not even words can fill.
We began talking about splitting our time between home in New Jersey, Barrett Hall, Jamaica and Magdalena Milpas Altas, Guatemala. It seemed like a pretty good idea, but then again, here we would be just putting on bigger "band aids" and not really focusing on the plan God had for us and more than likely running ourselves ragged.
Our next trip to Guatemala was May, 2012. This is when it all came together. You see, all of this time, God was working on both Butch and I. We really needed to “grow-up” in our faith and trust in God. We kinda had the idea right, but not the place. We both needed, and still need, to focus on what God wants for us, and of us, and not our own desires. Once both of us understood, then God’s Plan for us became quite clear.
