I love being a part of the Convoy of Hope team. Today our social media guy loaded our first official YouTube video. It’s a thank you to anyone who’s prayed for, contributed to, volunteered with, or encouraged Convoy of Hope and what’s happening around the world.
Here’s the video:
More and more people are seeing the needs around the world and I love that many are responding through Convoy of Hope. Hal and the rest of the leadership are wonderful people who are full of integrity. I love it here…
I think life should get more exciting, adventurous, purposeful and more as we get older…
Most of our interns fall into the category often referred to as “young adults.” Lola’s one of 2 over-40 interns we’ve had and she’s a great lady…and as far as I”m concerned, a young adult. Last week, she became one of 2 “over-50″ interns as she spent her birthday helping people in Picayune, MS.
Here she is on her birthday.
Picayune, MS, is the site of the first Katrina response from Convoy of Hope. The pastor and others in the city are wonderfully hospitable. As we spent time in the city, we also saw extreme need…Lola is helping.
I love the story in Joshua 14 where Caleb, a man I picture as quite grizzled who’s the kind of guy that would eat beef jerkey for breakfast, tells Joshua what he thinks about his future,
10 “Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”
Lola’s not Caleb’s age…she’s got a long way to go, but I love it when people get stronger, more determined and more adventurous as they age. I want to be that way.
God called her, she stepped out in faith, her church is supporting her dream, and it’ll be fun to see what’s next for her. Happy Birthday Lola!
I can’t believe they killed her father.
Last summer, April and I had the immense privilege of spending time with a young lady my grandmother sponsors through Latin America Child Care. Her name is Sylvia. She attends a school in Santa Ana, El Salvador which is helped by Convoy of Hope. We met her, her brother Walter, and their parents, spending time in their home and sharing a meal with them. I blogged about it all, including my grandmother’s connection to her, last summer. http://bit.ly/iBSHr.
While there, among other things, we enjoyed taking Manual, her father and family to Pizza Hut for his 40th birthday. It was a special day at the restaurant they’d always wanted to try. Everything changed just one month later when violent gang members uselessly shot and killed her father…the man pictured here. It happened about a month after I took this photo. I can’t believe they killed him.
We reconnected with Sylvia and her family while in El Salvador with our spring interns a few weeks ago. We shared hugs and tears and prayers and we talked. We returned to Pizza Hut. We smiled.
“Walter is the man of the house now,” Sylvia told us. “(Walter) wakes up and asks why people have to be mean,” her mother explains. They’re grieving but growing through their grief.
The day after we reconnected, the family joined us for an outreach in a village about 30 minutes from their home. There, Sylvia shared her testimony, starting by quoting Psalm 23. She sang with our team in ministry for the people of the village and she and her family handed out groceries to those who had gathered. The woman here is quite happy with what Sylvia shared.
Afterwards, her mother (pictured in yellow in the group photo above) said, “This has been the best thing for helping us heal…serving others.”
I’ll see her and her family again this summer and look forward to keeping in touch with the family for years to come.
One final note…last summer we asked 9-year-old Walter about his school. He didn’t attend “we don’t have enough money,” his parents said. God touched a team member’s heart who decided to work with Latin America Child Care in sponsoring Walter. He’d never been to school. He couldn’t read. It took time for Walter and extra money for his sponsor, but last fall, even as the family went through this tragedy, Walter had a personal tutor. This January, he was able to start school with his class. At Pizza Hut, he read me the menu…didn’t struggle with a single word. God’s got a plan for the young man…who’s now the head of his home.
Today, the Springfield News-Leader covered the story of one of our summer ‘08 interns. Sara Perez worked hard in both El Salvador and Nicaragua. Her father had dreams of playing basketball in El Salvador but was forced to make the decision to move to the USA during El Salvador’s civil war.
On a missions trip with Convoy of Hope, Kenton Moody and Rick Ryan, from our staff, saw her skills and encouraged her to come to Evangel to play ball. It worked out and she’s here with a scholarship. She returned to do the summer internship and hopes to serve in El Salvador after college. We were thrilled at the interpreting skills (and laughter and energy and love of coffee and more) she brought to the team. Kudos to Rick Ryan and Kenton Moody for the impact they’ve made in her life…
Check out the story here.
This photo of Sara hangs on our intern wall here at Convoy of Hope.
At Convoy of Hope we talk often about meeting physical and spiritual needs. Here’s a great example of how it works. Our interns are in Haiti (I’ll soon join them in Cuba). Here’s a portion of a note I got from Bethany this week…
“This morning, we will be doing a short Bible skit about the 4 soils and passing out seed kits to 50 students. Those 50 students will be responsible for planting their seeds at home and caring for their garden. After harvest time, the students will be required to bring back a certain number of seeds to give back to the program!!!!! The students will be learning about growing and sharing… being good stewards of their resources!!! Also, we will be cultivating a garden for only the school’s use. ”
That’s how it can work…a good combination of meeting physical and spiritual needs. Here’s Bethany with a couple of little guys in Haiti.
Today at our Convoy of Hope offices, many on our staff met to discuss the various ways we seek to share hope with people around the world. We were all pretty excited and awe struck as the opportunity God is providing grew in clarity and sank in even more. People around the world are facing a really, really hard time and we have the privilege to work with others in sharing hope with them.
Though my five years on staff with Book of Hope International are over, I still see myself as part of the family. Today, I got an email from the president of the organization who mentioned they’ve changed their name to OneHope. I like it…it does a good job emphasizing “hope” and not so much just “book”. You can see more at http://www.bookofhope.net/.
It all reminds me of a billboard I saw in Bangalore, India a few years ago,
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In case you can’t read it, it states,
“1 billion people
4200 communities
1625 dialects
29 states
18 official languages
9 major religions
1 HOPE
Sonia Ghandi”
Now I certainly have no interest in getting into the politics of India. However, if there’s one hope for India or anywhere else in the world, it’s not a person…not even a politician type person.
There’s a whole lotta hope being placed in a whole lotta places. I like Hebrews 6:19 which speaks of the hope we have in Christ as an “anchor of the soul.”
My friend Travis is in Honduras now with the newly named OneHope. Read about his travels at www.the1814project.com. Also, our Convoy of Hope interns are in Haiti and doing well. They head out for ministry in the morning…I’ll keep in touch about how things are going with them, and will join them in the region soon.
Here’s the last photo before they headed out. Most slept little last night as they packed and cleaned, but they’re likely asleep now (except for Karen, the driver).
Please keep them in prayer as they’ll be gutting homes in Galveston, Tx, while working with local churches to help those in the community. It’s still a devasted area.
I'm with our interns in a meeting the head of our U.S. Disaster Response Team here at Convoy of Hope. Kary's talking about the Convoy response…multiple trucks are on their way to help the people in need…
Virtually all people in the villages and even many in the cities use wells with buckets for their water. They’re quaint, decorated wells, often near an Orthodox cross or small building which they build to help bless their water and land.
There are many horses/wagons in the villages, and again even some in the cities. People can use the horses in more locations than the land, and they’re better on snowy roads. Most don’t need to travel very far and a horse will get them there just fine. Also, the wagons can be filled with vegetables, wheat, corn, etc. to bring in from the fields.
People bring their cows home about 6:30 p.m. If you’re driving then, you’ll have to slow down for the cows. If you’re talking with someone, they’ll need to leave to go bring them in.
The fruits/vegetables are very, very good and very, very big here. The soil and climate are great for growing things. Virtually everyone has a garden where they get much (most?) of their food. Many have beehives, lambs for cheese, cows for milk/cheese, chickens for eggs, etc.
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The people we’ve met have been very hospitable. They’ve prepared amazing food, have welcomed us in their churches and even homes, and they’ve gone out of their way to show us kindness. It’s been fun getting to know them.
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