From Tami...

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the God of peace which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 4-7

After a week in Guatemala, I can do nothing but rejoice in our Lord. This week God has met our team in amazing ways. He has refined many of us, broken many of us, and loved all of us in ways that only he could have ordained.

When Greg proposed the idea of going to Guatemala this year my heart was torn. I have always felt called to missions, but the thought of leaving my kids without parents for a week and possibly a lifetime felt reckless. However, God kept meeting my anxious heart with His peace. With each prayer God overwhelmed me with His provision.

Throughout the week, God has given me peace that this is right where He wanted me. This week we had the amazing privilege to go to a school for disabled students. Before this school was opened, these children and parents lived each day without hope and peace. Parents with disabled children in Guatemala are seen as cursed and their children are locked away in their homes hidden from society. As a parent with a special needs child, this broke my heart for the parents and the children of New Hope School.

When we were there the stories of each of the children there broke my heart. However, they also gave me hope as well that God has a plan and purpose for each of His children regardless of society's view about them. The children there were filled with joy to see a puppet show and receive blankets. Even though many of them could not express how they felt, their faces and hugs told it all. I will never forget Victor, a little boy that I simply smiled at and in return got hugs and kisses that are so much like my little Alicia Mae that I couldn't help but cry. I wanted to just take him with me and make him part of my own family.

Oh, how blessed I am.

Yes, having a child with Autism is hard, but the blessings are so much greater. Things that others take for granted, these kids long for and I get to see this first hand everyday.

Please pray for each of these students - that God would restore them and use them to fulfill His plan, not so they can be "normal," but that His glory would be seen and His hope poured out to the people of Guatemala.

I believe that I Corinthians 1:27-31 "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom of God- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.", applies to special needs kids around the world.

I pray that as the body of Christ we will pray for these students and their parents and the handicapped population in general that God would use them in amazing ways to show His love, His power, and His glory. God has a purpose and plan for each of us. Thank Him for who He has made you to be and rejoice in everything - your strengths and weaknesses.

Loving with the hands of Christ,
Tami