Do you love me?

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." -1 John 4:12

I was reading through some of my old journals of my last year... and last summer I was able to preach at a church in Burkina. And I was praying a lot about what the Lord would like me to share with the people. And the thing that came to my heart was LOVE! - The love the Lord has for us (the cross.. giving his only son as a sacrifice 'ultimate love'), falling in love with the Lord, loving others, and being examples of HIS LOVE. When going through the points of the sermon and thinking through it all a story came to my heart...

Sometime in the fall of 2012, I was visiting the Old Folks Home in Tijuana, Mexico that we help out. I hadn't been in awhile because of the busyness at the orphanage. And I remember walking around to different people in wheelchairs as they sit outside in the courtyard greeting them... There was a man who rolled up to me and said, "Do you remember me?" I said, yes! I recalled in my mind of a time in the spring when a group of nurses and doctors came to help, and I was the translator for a doctor. I was his shadow helping and translating each thing so we could help the people. This man had a horrible foot infection and we were helping him. Then he said, "Do you love me?" I remember it caught me off guard, and I said, "of course, I love you so much and so does Jesus." Then he said with tears in his eyes, "Really do you love me?" I said, "yes, I love you very much!" He smiled and said, "I love you too."

Later when I was leaving the home, he saw me again and he said loudly, "always remember that I love you!" That moment has stuck in my mind since it happened. I could see in that mans eyes so desperately who much he wanted someone to love him, he just even wanted someone to say it to him. I will never forget those words and moments. I know it was Christ, I could feel that he was moving and speaking.

The Love of God is strong and mighty! It is beyond what we could ever imagine, and it shows up in all places, countries, races, languages, towns, cities, homes, etc.. I read the other day a quote... "ethnic boundaries become ethnic blessings" - John Piper.  That made my heart so happy, because it is so true.. through all of my time serving the Lord in other countries there are moments that are difficult at times with culture and habits... but after awhile when you truly invest in the people you are with, the things that were "difficult" become blessings of learning and growing and love. Of course there will always been struggles.. But I think we all need to change, if I went on to the mission field thinking-- I am going to make a difference in the lives of these people, because I have it all together -- that is not true, it is a two sided relationship... you grow and change and become more like Christ through the people as well. It is not just you giving, but you are gaining a lot! More than you could ever describe... because you are gaining more glimpses of the Kingdom of God!

Comprehending the Love of God is a process that I believe will take me until I meet Jesus face to face.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:32-36

Worth more than gold...

I was wanting to write this story before but I let it pass through my mind. SO here is some stories of my time in Burkina this last year. 

Before I went to Burkina this last time, the Lord put on my heart that I should raise money for Bibles. I wasn't sure who they were going to be for or why it was so heavy on my heart but I put it out there and the response was HUGE! God provided beyond what I could have imagined. Getting to Burkina and speaking with the Pastor of our church, Pastor Valentin, I was realizing the need. He had asked if I would consider buying some Study Bibles in the tribal language for the village Pastors that we work along side. I said, yes of course, if that is a need, then lets do it!

We went to our first evangelism in a village about an hour away from the orphanage. I went with the one american girl who was there, a couple boys from the church, and around 10 pastors from surrounding villages. It was such an amazing time of fellowship. I was able to share with all the Pastors what the Lord had put on my heart! And He had told me that this was a year where the people of Burkina were ready to receive Jesus. One of the Pastors shared that he had the same vision and they had all been praying for their people to come to know Christ. I thought, how amazing is it when God speaks to two people about the same vision, and we were across the world from each other at the time and had never met before. Connections of Jesus!

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the POWER OF GOD!" - 1 Cor. 1:18

When the study bibles came in, Pastor Valentin called me to come to the church to see them. I was so excited and walked over to his home. He started to show me the box of bibles in Moore (the tribal language). There happen to be 4 Pastors visiting that evening in his home, so I said lets give them their bibles! The men were so excited and even had tears in their eyes as we handed them each a study bible in Moore. One of the Pastors said, "Tenielle thank you, this gift is worth more than gold." I will never forget those words. Do I look at my bible literally as the word of God? and see it as more valuable than gold? We can get a bible whenever we want, they are at our fingertips. But for them, it is not that easy.

In that first evangelism we took that box of bibles and gave many Pastors there own study bible and gave bibles to young believers who could read. It was such a precious time seeing their smiles and graditude. I have never seen people so happy to receive the word of God!

Throughout my time, we were able to bless a lot of churches with Bibles and lots of different Pastors with their own study bible in their own language. We even bought out the place that was selling them and they had to have more printed!

With the great gifts that people sent of donations, we were also to buy a sound system for the evangelism team to use to out in the villages, for people to hear from far the word of God. It is a huge blessing as well, and something that the team of African Pastors had been praying for, for a long time.

One Pastor came to the orphanage where I was living to thank me again for everything, we had been able to give his church I believe 15 bibles in Moore and 10 bibles in french, and then him a study bible. He came to me and said, we have been praying for months for bibles. And the Lord spoke to you to complete those prayers. I told him that I was honored to know him and be able to help them. I knew in my heart that the reason God had put those thoughts of bibles in my heart, was because of the prayers of the Burkina people. I visited that mans church on a Sunday morning to sing and meet people. In the service, he had the people who got bibles in his congregation stand up to show me where they had all went. It was amazing to see!

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." -1 Cor. 2:4-5

God is good and always at work! I praise Him each day for His faithfulness and there is not a day that I am not thankful for the amazing Pastors I had the honor of working with in Burkina. Their friendships are something I will always cherish. The other day they wrote me to day, "Tenielle we had a meeting for our next evangelism and we are praying for you! You are always a part of us, no matter how far away you are. Your with us in spirit and heart!" What an amazing gift! I pray for  them each day for victories in their ministries and for the hearts of the Burkina people to be open to receive Christ!

Do I bring You glory?

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of HIS calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." - 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Lately I have been thinking a lot about if I am glorifying the LORD in my everyday walk with him. If our great Savior is pleased by my thoughts, actions, and words. I fight with my flesh a lot in different things but I try so hard to just love the people around with all that I am. I know that I need to be in prayer and in the Word more. An everyday battle as well. I seem to always find myself to "busy" with everything else that I don't just stop and look to our awesome Lord for a moment in gratitude and adoration. 

I am someone who worries about things, lately, finances have been tough for my own personal support. For the first time really in all of my years of missions, I am really low. I know the Lord will provide and I trust in Him, but there are still moments when I find myself thinking, how can I do this?!?! When the orphanage was done to basically nothing in our bank account, I thought LORD PLEASE HELP YOUR CHILDREN! I was crying and begging for the Lord to cover all of our needs. We began fighting and fighting for people to know the need. From the moment I stepped back into Tijuana at the end of September I started to fight day and night. Then in mid-October I was robbed, everything was taken... laptop, phone, passport, money, debit cards, etc... everything to be able to do my job... was gone in 5 minutes. Everyone kept saying to me, Tenielle just praise the Lord that you were not hurt! I just kept thinking about all that I had lost and it slowed me down so much. But in that slowness I had to start trusting the Lord so much more, I had to look to him with the fears I had and the worries of making it to the next day. 

I know that through each storm there is a rainbow, a promise at the end... a learning and growing time. I believe with all of my heart that my God is faithful and that through any trouble-- financial, health, relationships, etc.. that HE can cover each moment. 

As I sat in tears in front of the Lord, asking myself if I bring Him glory. If I please Him at all in my life. If I am truly living as an example... as the hands and feet of our Savior... I found that it isn't with my strength that I can bring Him glory... but just to seek Him so He can work through me.. and glory WILL be shown! 

"Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." -Psalm 37:5-6

Pieces of my heart.

I haven't written in almost a whole year. That is pretty ridiculous. I write normal newsletters every month but since my internet was so bad for so long in Africa, I just gave up on this! So, I wanted to catch everyone up on what the Lord has been doing in Burkina Faso, Tijuana, and in my life.

I went back to Burkina Faso, West Africa and stayed for 8 months working in the orphanage Sheltering Wings. It was truly a great time of growing and learning. Some of my favorite moments were hugging on babies, building relationships with the older children, and going on evangelisms with Pastors into villages. I was so honored to work along side the beautiful people of Burkina and I know that my heart will always have a piece of Africa in it. A part of me is always there! I pray so much for the people I was able to enjoy and I hope so much for the Lord to continue the work in Burkina and have it grow tremendously. 

Me with the 14 Burkina Pastors that I had the honor of working with.

In my time, I enjoyed all of it a lot, not the heat, but all the rest was good :) But my heart was hurting for the people of Tijuana because they were struggling so much finanically. I didn't know what to do, I tried as best as I could from a far to keep helping but it wasn't enough. I prayed a lot to see if God wanted me to go back to help. And in time, He told me yes, go back to City of Angels in Tijuana and help as much as possible until I tell you to move.

So, in July of this year I left Burkina, in tears, knowing that I would see the people again but I would miss them so much. And headed home for a little bit to get all my life figured out, to move back to Mexico. At the end of September, I got in my car with my mom and we drove down from Nebraska to the orphanage. Seeing the kids again, is honestly one of my favorite moments in all of my life. Their joy, smiles, screams, hugs, and kisses uplift my heart and I KNOW that its God working! I was so happy to be back in a place that has been "home" to my heart since 2009.

Walking back into the mission, there has been some problems that I see, that I know the Lord has brought me here to help on. The most being their financial situation. I started updating all the brochures, info, and making sure people knew our need. In time, God is always faithful, and is bringing in everything little by little. Our children have never gone hungry, and it is all the Lord working! I am extremely happy and blessed to be a part of the mission here in Tijuana and also, to help in Africa as well. I don't know how long the Lord will have me here, but I am just listening to His voice until He guides me to the next step.

Our Lord is faithful, He always has been and always will be. Through good and hard times, I trust Him completely. I know without a doubt that I am in the center of God's will for my life! My favorite verse is "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4 ... it reminds me constantly that when I strive after my Savior, I desire Him more, and HE puts His desires in my heart to complete! I don't believe that the desire to serve orphans is something of this world but a longing that only comes from our Lord. And I am honored to be His hands, feet, voice, and everything to love on His people and share the great news of our Savior, Jesus.

Moving Continents-- from Tijuana Mexico to Burkina Faso, West Africa!

“Therefore, I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” –Romans 15:17-20

I haven’t written on my blog in a really long time. I could say that it is that I have been busy, and it is partly that but to be honest it is also me being lazy haha. Well at the beginning of November I left the place that I called home for over 3 years. City of Angels in Tijuana, Mexico truly will always be in my heart until I go home to be with the Lord. I cannot lie, I miss the kids each day but I know that God has a plan beyond what I can see. The whole year was a roller coaster of emotions, difficulties, crying, laughter, joy, growing, learning, love, and grace. I would have never thought in all of my life that I would have been the administrator of an orphanage and mission in Mexico but God surprises me each step of the way in my walk with Him. I was stretched in every way possible.

My last couple of weeks in Tijuana were probably my most difficult. I moved back to the orphanage for my last six weeks or so to be the caretaker of the toddlers and babies at night. I literally shared my bed with a beautiful 16-month-old named Abram. I was able to wake up every morning to him hugging my head and smiling at me. I fell deeply in love with that child. Then in the day I did all of the administrative work. I loved living back with the kids full time. I was incredibly tired but to be with them constantly was something my heart needed. Now on to hard times… Our teens decided to have an uprising against all of us workers! In that time I didn’t really understand what was all going on but I knew it was deeper than what we were seeing, so I took each child one on one and just talked to them about their lives, their hearts, their feelings, and their troubles. Each one broke down in talking about the pain they really feel for their families and some difficulties they were having with everything.

I got to know the kids even more in those moments, we would pray together for their attitudes and their families. I told each of them how much I loved them and that Christ loves them so much more. So much happened with each day, I would find myself in tears almost everyday just praying for strength and words to help these children. More love! More patience! On my last morning, all of the kids were still in bed. I went bed to bed to hug them all goodbye. I kept myself together until I hugged one of my older girls. Then the tears came rolling in… as I hugged our director goodbye, I was bawling. My mom had come to help me move my things back to Nebraska, she was crying as well along with all the workers. We prayed together and I looked over at 4-year-old Antonio with tears streaming down his face as well. I hugged him one more time and told him that I loved him with all my heart. I got in my car to drive away and all of them waved goodbye.

Driving the 20 some hours back home was long and I would find myself crying at random times but it was a great time with my mom. About 5 hours into the trip my mom got sick with a horrible eye infection and couldn’t drive anymore. The first night I only drove to Flagstaff, Arizona because the weather got bad. The next day we drove all the way home to Nebraska and my moms eyes were horrible, for the next week she was home sick. I felt so bad but it was good to be back with her and see all my family and friends. I tried to see as many people as possible and my church prayed over me as well. I was only in the states for less than 3 weeks and wow did it go fast. The week before I was about to come back to Burkina Faso, West Africa, my friend Edouard from Burkina who was in the car accident last August, died unexpectedly. It was a shock and a blow to my heart that I can’t describe. I found myself crying the whole week as I prepared for my trip. I know my sweet brother is now with Jesus and dancing in Heaven.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…” – Isaiah 60:1- 2a

On December 1^st I stepped off the plane back into Burkina. With the hot wind and red dirt hitting my skin, I felt in my heart that I was right where I’m supposed to be. The director of the orphanage and another missionary came to get me at the airport, and then we stayed in the capital for the night. I was so out of it; I only slept maybe 3 hours since I left the morning before from home… then my first night I couldn’t sleep. Finally around 4am I fell asleep for 3 hours and then it was time for us to go. I was so excited to get back to the orphanage about two hours away. When the gates opened to the orphanage my heart jumped in excitement. All of the kids were at church but I went to visit the babies first. They were SO big! I got to see my sponsor baby again, Marie! She is now 2 and half years old… and super sassy! After a little bit, she figured out who I was again.

After a little bit the older children started to come back from church! They all walked in, so incredibly tall and grown up! With big smiles the greeted me and asked how I was. It was a joyous time of catching up! Over the last month, God has really been working. And I feel so blessed to be His daughter and to be able to be here in Burkina. It is difficult to not have Edouard here but I know right now, he is perfect and in the glory!

So much has happened and each day I am in awe of God’s goodness. I love all the new babies and children with all of my heart. There are so many that seem to have captured my heart the moment I met them. One little 4-year-old named Gelilu really has me. He is incredibly loving and so smart! Each day he runs to me for a hug and tells me so many stories. His cute smile and chubby belly captures me more and more. He is one of the children at the orphanage who is HIV+ and it breaks my heart to know that, but I am so thankful to be part of a place that can care for children like him.

I will write again soon with some more stories of food distribution to our sponsored children, worship, adorable little ones, buying bibles, evangelism, and Christmas in Africa! Thank you all so much for your constant prayers, love, and support—I am overwhelmed by how great God really is! He is moving and working constantly… open up your eyes and heart to MORE of our Savior and what HE has in store for your life… He will surprise you and take you places you would have never dreamed! Happy New Year!

“But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, You are my God. My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Let your face shine upon your servant, save me in your unfailing love.”- Psalm 31:14-16

My first experience in the Hospice in 2008

I wrote this paper for my English class in my first year of Bible College about my first experience in seeing the Hospice in 2008. I thought I would share how the Lord changed me in just a couple of moments.
**The picture here is of my first patient that passed away when I started helping more in 2009- he was a young man my own age. Was found in the street beaten almost to death and we didn't even know his real name.

Death and Despair vs. Hope and Peace

My forest green t-shirt and blue jeans swayed with the steps of my weak, sick, emotionally drained, and sleep-deprived body following my heart.  Shaky from a long week of building I knew I had to keep moving. My lime green and white tennis shoes, covered in Mexican dirt and sawdust, stepped down into a room that I was hesitant to see.

Cement floors covered in dirt, wooden ceilings falling in, beds lining up so tightly that walking was a challenge. The stench of sewer, dust, garbage, and sickness filled my nostrils. The taste of dirt surrounded my mouth and grime coated my skin. The sound of people chatting away and cars driving by bounced off the run-down white paneling.

My eyes glanced over to my right as I saw a Hispanic man lying in a poorly padded hospital bed. IVs hanging from coat hangers stretched over to his arms.  His body was motionless as each breath was a gasp. He was disconnected from the things around him. He seemed to be in a coma of some sort. The owner told me he needed surgery to be able to make it.

Next to him laid a man whose eyes have stayed vividly in my mind since the first moment I saw him. As I gazed into his bleak eyes I saw a look of terror and concern. It seemed like he felt he needed to hide everything but his head from us. His dirty brown hands clinched tightly to an old blue blanket as he held it up to his chin. He peered at me with wonder and hope. His black and gray hair was short and almost clean cut. His skin seemed frail and thin. I heard that he couldn’t walk, but I felt as I looked at him as if I was further adrift than he was.

To my left sat a shirtless young man. His smile brought warmness to my heart and he touched my hand gently as I passed by. His fingers were folded in, paralyzed from a drug deal that had gone awry six years before. After being stabbed in the neck 14 times with an ice pick, his life was spared but his suffering from one night was still prevalent in his life today. His hair and mustache were a caramel brown and he was covered from the waist down with white sheets. Appearing in his dark eyes I saw a chance of hope and happiness. I asked him if I could sing for him and the other bed-ridden patients. He looked at me and nodded with a great big smile.

I stood at the foot of his bed, focusing on the five patients in the room with only two in an apparent state of awareness. A friend, Andy, stood beside me: a tall boy with curly brownish-blonde hair and a light wooden colored acoustic guitar hanging from his shoulders. I looked at him for the start of the song. I gazed over around the room, seeing another man in a coma and a lady that had a stroke not too long before we came.

The man lay stiff in a white hospital robe with blue triangles spread out all around the fabric. His mouth was wide open, a breathing tube stretched from his nose to a tank helping him survive. His legs were long, brown, and dirty hanging out of white blankets. IVs hung from a tall metal stand next to his small-gated bed.  I wondered what his story could be. I longed to hear about who he had been before this ailment had set in.

The lady’s head cocked to the side snuggled into a pillow. She laid covered in white blankets from her neck down. Her gray and black, curly, shoulder-length hair covered most of her face. I assumed that she was either asleep or in a coma from the stroke. Her body faced mostly to the side, cradled in her hospital bed. She was the only woman that the facility was holding at the time.

The owner, a short middle-aged man, took people in after the hospital in Tijuana rejected them. The hospital would throw patients on the curb to die for not being able to pay or not having family. He had a smile and persona that made me feel comfortable the moment I met him. The power and love of Christ seem to shine through him. He leaned in the doorway awaiting our song with his bright orange shirt glowing through the dimly-lit room.

I stared in disbelief as the guitar chords reverberated through the room. I came in for my cue and the words flowed from my mouth. Each word became harder and harder to verbalize as I thought about them. 

“This is the air I breathe… this is the air I breathe, Your holy presence living in me. “ I thought Do I truly let God’s holy presence dwell in my life?

“This is my daily bread… this is my daily bread, Your very word spoken to me.” Do I let God’s words speak to me? When I read the Word, do I take it to heart?

“And I… I’m desperate for You.” Am I desperate for God? Have I ever been desperate for God?

“And I… I'm lost without You.” I don’t know what it means to be lost without You oh Lord. What is lost?

             More thoughts tore through my mind. What does it mean to be desperate for God? What does it mean to be lost without Him? Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at those abandoned people. With no family, no friends, no home, no money, and even the hospital didn’t want them. Who am I? I’m not faithful! I don’t have faith!

The man gripping his tattered blanket staring at me as I sing, waiting for a 4,000-dollar operation, so he can walk again, has faith. I have nothing close. I don’t know this God of the Bible. I have no idea what it means to suffer. I have a home. I don’t live in a place full of 35 terminal patients living their lives out in peace. This place is smaller than my house. Who am I? Why do I say the name of Jesus but don’t see Him for who He truly is?

Tears flowed down my face. The words filled my heart and I felt like a ton of bricks weighed on my chest. I looked at these people, longing for their faith. I closed my eyes to keep some of my emotions down so I could at least finish the song. The atmosphere was sweet and almost peaceful.  I felt helpless and like a hypocrite to say I am a Christian along with these people. The words became more and more clear as the song finished.

I sang the last note and waited for the guitar to finish. My eyes were almost glued shut in tears. I opened them to see, through blurry vision, the man in front of me smiling and clapping. He was thanking me over and over for coming in and singing.

 I went over to the man whose eyes still burn into my soul. I held my hand out to hold his. He looked surprised, but he quickly let go of the blanket and reached out. His warm, dark, dirty hand met mine and I was changed. With a shaky voice and tears blocking my view I said, “Cristo te ama,” which means ‘Christ loves you’ in Spanish.  With a smile, he squeezed my grimy, tired hand and said with confidence, “Cristo te ama.” His eyes looked straight into mine; they became relaxed and at ease.

I said my goodbyes and hugged some of the men. I walked out thinking I never wanted to leave.  I took each step carefully while leaving the hospice center and smiled at the man who held open the metal gate for my team and me. I wiped the tears off my sun-burned cheeks and headed over to our van. I looked back wondering ‘Why am I so blessed? All I did was visit with them and sing them a couple of songs. How is that a big deal?’ I wanted to do more. I wanted to be something more. These 34 men and one woman captured my heart in a matter of hours. I will never be the same.

Stepping up into the van I found my seat and planted myself next to one of the kids in my group. My tear-stained face hurt and I became completely drained. I peered out the back van window to the hospice center.  It stood as just two little buildings, made of ply- wood, with a blue tarp in between for cover, some old boards tacked onto the roof, and a tall metal gate protecting the individuals within. The atmosphere brought a sense of hope and belonging to my heart. Instead of being a place of death and despair, it seemed to be a place of hope and peace. Jesus is walking in Tijuana and He showed me what it means to truly have faith through those people and I never want to go back to who I was before.  

The Hospice now has a new home! In January of this last year 2012 they moved into their new facility that Baja Vision Ministries built with many groups! Truly a blessing beyond words. 

Glimpses of Faithfulness

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." -Philippians 2:1-4

I haven't written in awhile, life seems to be going so fast. In the last month I have decided that I will be leaving my mission here in Tijuana and heading my way back to Burkina Faso, Africa this coming December. I have such amazing peace in my heart to know that I am on my way to help more people in need. It wasn't an easy decision, I still find myself crying in not being with the kids here in Tijuana but I know that God has a plan for me in Africa that I can't even imagine or see.

God has been so faithful in every little thing lately in life, and for that I am constantly grateful. My friend Jesus is doing so much better! He is going to be 25 years old next week, he is such a miracle of God. I just count everyday more with him a blessing. Thank you Lord, for your constant love towards my friend and I know you have a deep purpose for him! He is still very sick and his kidneys don't work at all.. but he has such strength in his spirit and he comes to the orphanage now all the time.

At City of Angels a lot of our kids are off with family for vacation so we are down to around 15 children. It has been nice rest for the staff but I am so ready to see all the kids again! Last weekend some groups came down to take the kids to the beach in Ensenada for 4 days. Sleeping was not very much fun for me, for I shared my sleeping bag with two little boys who are 4 and 2 year old.. and had the feet of 5 little girls basically on top of me in the tent. But in the end it was all worth it, I would wake up early in the morning to the smile of little 4 year old Josue, telling me that he was ready to go outside and that he loved me.

Some of our children were baptized that weekend in the ocean. It was such a beautiful time of them showing their faith. 13 year old Luis is the one who got my heart the most, for I knew deep down that he knew exactly what he was doing and he is going to be an amazing soldier for the Lord. The whole weekend was a great time of fellowship with other believers and just enjoying the kids laugh and have fun in God's creation. We would literally have to drag the kids out of the water to eat and to sleep. They just enjoy it all so much.

That sunday we got back to the orphanage exhausted and sun-burned. I was so ready for a shower and a bed! After a nap, I woke up to check my emails and saw that there had been a horrible car accident in Africa with the older kids from the orphanage that I worked in. Tears filled my eyes and my heart literally stopped as I was trying to get all the information that I could to see who was hurt and what was even going on. After a little bit I found out that two young men, who I worked with and are actually two of my best friends, were severely injured and in the hospital. Edouard, who is 19, had a skull fracture and Barthelemy, who is 21, had a severe concussion... that night I kept waking up through the night crying and praying for the boys.

That next morning I got all the information about everyone in the wreck and that everyone else was either back in the orphanage or back in their villages except these two boys. I decided to call of my friend in Africa to see how he was. He just happened to be at the hospital with the boys and I was able to speak to Barthelemy for a little bit. It was such a relief to hear his voice! He said that he was in a lot of pain and he thanked me for all the prayers... we talked a little longer but he was so out of it. I got off the phone and just bawled... To be so far away is so difficult for me! But I knew that I needed to get everyone to start praying and that both of the boys were going to be okay!

Over this last week, the boys have improved tremendously... little by little they are getting their strength back. Edouard has a broken nose, can't see out of right eye, and the other eye is still blurry. His head is healing but is still in bad shape. Barthelemy can't hear out of his left ear, can't see out of his right eye, and is still very weak. He was sitting outside today and talking to different people. They are both eating some and moving around a little. Yesterday afternoon I was able to talk to them both on the phone... their love for the Lord shined through each word. They both said that God is so good and that they are waiting for me to come back. I love them so much!

It is literally only by the grace of God that it wasn't worse! Please continue to pray for boys and ministry in Africa. For the Lord to heal the boys completely and to have relief of the pain that they are in. They are both such lights to this dark world, and I know that they are touching lives in the hospital.


Thank you all for your support and prayers. We are excited here in Tijuana for this coming school year, we are still needing help with the cost of school uniforms this year. We know that God will provide! He has us all in His hands!