I'm SO excited to be beginning 2012 by participating in a mission trip to Guatemala and it's all Beth Moore's fault!
For those of you unfamiliar with the lovely Ms. Moore she is a wonderful Women's Bible Study teacher who came to the Twin Cities last spring for a fabulous weekend retreat. During the event she ranted (which she does fairly often!) about how single Christian women should get their butts in gear and take as many mission trips as they can manage. I agree! The last one I participated in was to Swaziland in Africa where we were working with AIDS orphans to plant sustainable vegetable gardens which would help them feed their families with nutritious food. It was an AWESOME experience and one from which I hope to never fully recover...
There's something distinctly different about "Going in the name of the LORD", whilst in theory I understand that as a Christian my whole life should be set apart, different and dedicated to God, in practice I struggle and find that often I put myself rather than God front and center. Thank God for grace.
Anyway, back to my upcoming trip...as 2011 progressed I was drawn to a missions trip to Guatemala organized by my church Wooddale. I prayed, met with the leaders, signed up and fifty of us are currently preparing for what looks to be a FABULOUS trip all about Making God Look Good in Guatemala - Woooo Hoooooo :-)
Wooddale has been partnering in the Lake Atitlan area of Guatemala since the early 1990's with the philosophy of working with and through the local churches around the lake. This year our ministry areas will include 1-1 home visits, medical clinics, water filtration, business training & mentoring, computer training, home construction and teaching English as a second language. I'm not sure what my ministry area will be yet, but i'm excited to find out and get to work for God.
The way I look at missions trips is that I'm the 'lucky one' who gets to go to somewhere new and exciting, meet fabulous people and do fun things for God; I'm blessed with so much freedom, health and flexibility to be able to do this and I am hugely grateful for these blessings. I know many of you would love the opportunity to do something similar but for various reasons are unable to participate right now, so I'm inviting you to join in and partner with me in one or more of the following ways:
1. PRAY - That our trip will EXPONENTIALLY BLESS the people of Guatemala and everyone involved, that we will Make God Look Good and do great work with eternal benefits.
2. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK! Wooddale Bridge Builders
3. GIVE 'STUFF' BY JANUARY 15th - Guatemala is a poor country and many of the essential things we take for granted are luxuries for the Guatemalan's; so we will be taking items such as
- Kids shoes up to size 5 (no boots)
- School supplies - stitched notebooks (not wire bound), pens (not pencils) backpacks (neutral - non branded)
- Medical supplies - chewable vitamins, chewable tylenol, eyedrops
- Toothbrushes and toothpaste
4. DONATE - Our trip expenses are $2,300 per person so if you are willing and able to make a tax deductible donation here's how:
- Go on-line to
- www.wooddale.org/give/ministry-trips
- Select the "Give Now" button by the "Bridge Builders Guatemala" link
- Create an account (or use your Wooddale Weblink account login info)
- Choose participant "Alison Smith" and select your contribution amount
As you may be able to tell, I'm SO excited to be Going With God to Guatemala and who knows, I may even get round to blogging about it too!
Have a Blessed and Awesome 2012.
x
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