Rivers Crossing - Kings Mills, OH (Part 2)

The other day we provided you with a link to the day to day recap from the time the Rivers Crossing group spent in La Limonada. We wanted to follow up with a few more photos... and with a big "THANK YOU" from us and from our team in Guatemala!

Our team there had nothing but great things to say about this group! Paul and Jeff and their group were an incredible blessing to them and to the people of La Limonada. Their flexibility with the planning of the trip and willingness to adjust the schedule because of unforeseeable circumstances was a huge help to all of us.

They worshipped with our team, spent time with the kids in the classrooms, painted at the schools, built an awning for a homeless man, visited homes, talked with a leader we've identified for the development of a "worshipping missional community" in La Limonada and had a lot of fun in the process.

Thanks so much, Rivers Crossing!!!

Celebrate Recovery Team

A couple weeks ago, an incredible team from Amistad Foundation and Fellowship Bible Church in northwest Arkansas was with us for more training in Celebrate Recovery. Here’s an excerpt from an email that Rodney, the leader, sent home to supporters back in the states…

What an amazing day in Guatemala! We started our day with the wonderful teachers of La Limonada. Several members of our team shared their stories with the teachers and what Celebrate Recovery means to them and how it had changed their lives through Jesus Christ. The teachers responded incredibly well, and seemed to be moved by what they heard.

I then had the privilege to train the teachers on another part of the Celebrate Recovery program. The three groups in La Limonada have been meeting for a couple of months now, and were ready for this next training. Wonderful timing for sure!

Then we had the great opportunity to pray over the leaders of La Limonada. So sweet. Several leaders were crying as we prayed (a universal language known by Christ).

The afternoon was incredible for our ladies as they visited the Guatemalan prison. I heard incredible things from our sweet leaders. They met with several women, one being the mother of children that attend the school in La Limonada. She connected strongly with one of the women in the group who shared her stories with them. It was so sweet that God used her in such a huge way.

I was struck by something Tita said about a woman whose husband rarely comes home, but when he does, it’s only to abuse and take advantage of his wife. Tita said that it is a crumb of love that the women desire. They don’t get a lot of love and desire a crumb of love from anyone even in the worst way. She went on to say that we need the flavor of Christ. What an amazing thing to consider!

Rivers Crossing - Kings Mills, OH (Part 1)

Much more on this to come... but here is a link to the recap from Rivers Crossing and their time in La Limonada this past week:

Rivers Crossing - Guatemala Recap

Our team in Guatemala was so encouraged by your love, your humility and your service among the people of La Limonada!

Karen Brown - Guest Blog Post

Karen Brown spent last week in La Limonada (along with her friend, Diane Moore) as part of a spiritual pilgrmmage encouraged by her church community, Evergreen Church in Raleigh. We asked Karen to share about her time in La Limonada...

Recently I’ve been reading about Jesus’ example of humble service to the poor and marginalized and his call to us to do the same. I read examples of amazing people giving up their lives in service, but during my five days visiting La LImonada, I got a glimpse of ordinary people responding to Jesus’ call in extraordinary ways.

On our way to La Limonada each day, we stopped to talk to a homeless man who lives near the ghetto. Tita and her team would greet the man and help him in small ways, such as giving him food for lunch and praying with him after some thugs had beaten him up. This man, who would greet us each day with a warm, affectionate smile, has no shelter and sleeps on the sidewalk on a pile of damp blankets.

One afternoon, I went with a group to visit a women's prison. The four women we met and prayed with were in a special section for women with small children. Two of the women seemed very young; although they were both in their early twenties, neither looked older than sixteen. These women will be in jail for almost forty more years, but their children will be forced to leave the prison once they reach the age of four. The young women's families have abandoned them, so the prospects for their two precious boys seem dim. For some of these women, Tita and her team are their only visitors and the only people praying for them and their children.

During some community visits with Tita one morning, we stopped by a house where two young boys, about 9 and 13, were alone with their one-year-old sister. They weren’t sure where their mother was or when she’d be back. Their house was small and stuffy, with very little light. Mattresses, dirty clothes, and trash filled the floor, and the room had a strong odor of urine. Later in the week, I saw the nine-year-old in a class at one of the escuelitas (schools) and realized that the moral and spiritual instruction and love from his teachers may be the only thing that can save this bright, beautiful boy from a life of hopelessness.

The people I met who serve at the schools and in the community at La Limonada are filled with joy; several expressed to me how much they love their work, and it shows in their caring service to others. Certainly I want to continue supporting their ministry, but their example has also challenged me to discern what I can do. While the city where I live lacks a giant ghetto in a ravine, it has plenty of homeless people, several jails, and an ample supply of children in need. I pray that the work at La Limonada inspires all who experience it.

Thank you, Karen, for giving a week of your life to serve in La Limonada!

Diane Moore - Guest Blog Post

Diane Moore, a new friend, and leader of a new non-profit organization, Strving For More, spent last week in La Limonada (along with her friend, Karen Brown) as part of a spiritual pilgrimmage. We asked Diane to share about her experience from her time in the community...

My initial plan was to travel to Guatemala for a Spiritual Pilgrimage with the goals of connecting with God, learning from others, and hopefully being transformed with humility by the experience. Upon hearing about the work of Lemonade International, I was moved to take a more active role and turn my spiritual pilgrimage into a mini mission trip to help Tita and her team with the important work that they do in the ghetto. Although I may not have had the solitude or study that a traditional pilgrimage usually entails, I feel my goals were achieved. Although the entire trip was unforgettable, there are moments that had significant impact on me.

I attended the wake of a young man who was stabbed and killed. Tita spoke with the young man’s mother and father, sharing words of comfort and then praying with the family. My husband and I have been where these parents were: at the wake of our child, needing comfort. We were fortunate to have our pastor at our side. It occurred to me that Tita plays such an important role in this community. She is a powerful spiritual leader, one who provides soothing words and a loving touch to a community that the rest of the world chooses to ignore, a community that needs comfort, especially in times of grief, which is all too frequent.

I watched children walk down to the ravine to dump their trash and saw other children rummage through the trash in the river after the rain. You see, garbage men do not even go into the ghetto. Therefore, the people of La Limonada dump their trash into the ravine. Initially this seems awful, but then you realize that they don’t have any other choice.

Accompanying Tita and her team of International workers into the ghetto each morning was an emotional experience in itself. I almost felt like I was part of a scene in a dramatic movie. Children with gobs of enthusiasm advanced on us squealing, “Mana Tita, Mana Tita” (short for “Hermana Tita” or “Sister Tita”). Hugs, kisses and “Buenos días” for everyone in the crowd. A screenwriter could not write a scene this heartwarming.

One of my goals for this trip was to find a child to sponsor. Our family lost my daughter Colleen last year to cancer and we decided that we would like to sponsor a young girl in her honor. It was important to me that I felt moved by the child I met. On the last day of our trip, we went to the playground to play with the kids from the Limon school during their “field day.” Shortly after arriving, I spotted a little girl who caught my eye, and she approached me and hugged me. I asked her name and she said, “Helen.” I quickly found out that she was 8 and that her favorite thing in the world was Hannah Montana. She was the one. I had to sponsor her. She had a light in her eye that reminded me of Colleen. After I communicated my desire to sponsor her to our hosts, I was told that before my arrival, Helen had told one of the teachers that she really wanted a “madrina” (godmother or sponsor) and asked how she could get one. The teacher told her that all she could do was pray to God. Twenty minutes later, I showed up on the field and spotted her, knowing that she was the girl that I had to sponsor.

I look forward to the day that I can visit La Limonada again and visit Helen after she has been told that I am her madrina. What a wonderful feeling to be able to help the people in person while I was there and continue to help each month after I leave through my monthly sponsorship of Helen.

Thanks, Diane, for investing a week of your life in the people of La Limonada... and for sponsoring Helen!!

NC State Students Visit La Limonada

This past Monday we had the privilege of spending time with an NC State student along with 5 of her friends, as they were finishing up their time here in Guatemala and getting ready to make their way to Costa Rica. We met her in April when our team was on campus promoting our organization and our TEN2END Campaign at the brickyard on the NC State campus.

We've been in regular contact since then because she is very excited and passionate about helping raise awareness and support for our work in La Limonada at NC State. We have been working together over the past couple months to begin an offical Lemonade International campus group at NC State where students can help raise awareness about the needs in La Limonada. There are also plans for an alternative spring break trip and/or a summer trip where students will engage in a project that will help create sustainability for the people in the community.

It was great to host them for the day so they could see and experience La Limonada, a place that has already sparked their desire to help in the States. They got to see the both schools in La Limonada, play with the kids from Escuela Limon at the park in the morning, and do some home visits in the community.

A big "muchas gracias" to all 6 of you who took time out of your travels in Central America to see and experience the work God is doing here in La Limonada.

The Idea Camp - August 28 & 29

Lemoande International will be a participating organization at The Idea Camp: Justice Edition in Washington, CD on August 28 & 29.

The Idea Camp is a free and unique confernece spearheaded by Charles Lee, the Cultural Catalyst at New Hope South Bay. The latest installment of The Idea Camp focuses on issues of compassion and justice and will include people from organizations such as International Justice Mission, charity: water, Gift Card Giver, Help End Local Poverty and One Day's Wages.

I love the description of the conference found on the website:

We are gathering some of the most innovative and creative leaders from around the country (this means YOU!) to share ideas, intentionally network, and move collaboratively into idea-making. Whether your passion is church leadership, non-profit work, social entrepreneurialism, technology, media, creativity, culture making, church planting, spiritual formation, compassionate justice, etc., this is the conference for YOU.

The focus of this conference will be on the participants (yes, You!) and not on keynote speakers. We function under the belief that the crowd is always smarter and wiser than any one speaker.

We are looking forward to new friendships... and learning from and collaborating with others from around the country and around the world who have a passion for issues of injustice.

If you would like to join us for this conference contact bill@lemonadeinternational.org.

Incredible Week for Lifepointe Team from Raleigh, NC

The leaders and community of Lifepointe Church here in Raleigh, NC have develped such an incredible heart for the people of La Limonada over the past year. Sommer Wisher, the Family Life and Missions Director made her third trip to Guatemala to serve in La Limonada... this time leading a group that included six others.

They all devoted their lives last week to serve the community of La Limonada. They had planned a VBS for the kids with the theme of HOPE: believing something good can come from something bad. Each lesson each day revolved around this idea of hope. The kids learned how Paul suffered, but had hope and kept going. They learned the story of Gideon and how God can take a nobody and turn him into a somebody. They learned the healing powers of Jesus and how He brings hope... and they learned to have hope because God is always with them.

The messages were written with intention as every hardship in each child's life can make them feel hopeless and alone. The kids seemed to soak in the messages, crafts and games each day. On the final day of the team being there... tears filled the room as kids were saying goodbye to the team. I can only imagine that they were filled with emotion because they experienced true love from this team in every encounter they had with them. It is my prayer that they let the message of hope sink deep into their hearts.

The team also walked the streets of the ghetto and did several home visits where they prayed for the sick and elderly. It is such a blessing to see seven people's individual giftedness come together to form a microcosm of the body of Christ that loves and serves this community.

Almost all of the team members are sponsoring a child here and each were able to spend much needed time with their sponsored child.... there is nothing like seeing a child here meet and hang out with his/her "madrina" ("God-mother"... which is what the children call their sponsors). The kids soak in their love and my hope is that it carries over to their own homes.

Singing With The Kids in La Limonada - Lifepointe from Raleigh, NC

BridgePoint Church - Houston, TX

This past Saturday a team of 13 from Bridgepoint Church in Houston, TX wrapped up seven incredible days here in Guatemala. It’s hard to put into words how much it means to the teachers, the children, and the Lemonade Team that there are those who are willing to sacrifice their time, finances, and resources and come from all different parts of the world to serve here. It’s a huge encouragement and is so refreshing to us!

There was one man on the team who is a full-time missionary in Indonesia with his wife and family serving in dentistry. He set up a dental clinic to extract rotten teeth for the children and the people in the community. I heard many people say that their mouths felt so much better already. He also taught the children at the school the proper way to brush their teeth and take care of their mouths.

All the men on the team spent the week helping with the renovations of the 2nd floor of “Escuelita Mandarina” and I know that was a big help for the construction workers to have some extra hands and encouragement.

The women on the team came incredibly prepared to do all sorts of activities with the students. They rotated classrooms doing painting, sharing Bible stories, playing games, and doing craft projects. Their energy and enthusiasm and love for these kids just really lit up their faces and their hearts. It was such a joy to watch and to be a part of.

Thank you to the 13 of you who were a part of the team, to those back home in TX who helped you get here, and to those who will continue to pray for the work here in La Limonada.

We can’t do it without people like you!!

Tree of Life Church - Harrisburg, PA

We had the privilege of spending a couple days last week with Tree of Life Church from Harrisburg, PA. It was a busy but wonderful time filled with bowling, new t-shirts for the kids from Esculeita Mandarina, and home visits in the community. The kids had so much fun bowling, and they looked so great in their bright orange shirts.

Also, some of the people from the group helped raise money for the new windows in Escuelita Mandarina. It was fun showing them off to the group!

They also bought prayer shawls with them that had been knitted by women from their church community. Each shawl was brightly colored with a tag describing how the knitter had prayed over the shawl while making it. We spent time walking through the ghetto, passing out the prayer shawls. Each woman was able to choose what color she wanted, and of course had to pose for a picture. We read the tags to them, so each one would know that her shawl was made with a lot of love and prayers.

Thank you to all in the Tree of Life community. Thank you for the love and generosity that you showed to us, the kids, and La Limonada. Thank you for your prayers and your encouragement. We truly appreciate you!

"God-incidence"

A "God-incidence", according to Tita, is when circumstances appear to be coincidental, but where God is really at work. It’s an expression I’ve heard her use several times, and I can say that it truly is amazing to see how God works... even in all the little things.

Last week we had a group from Sacramento, CA here for 2 days. Carolyn, one of the women with the group, has been sponsoring a young girl named Sarai and was looking forward to meeting her. One afternoon, we were able to introduce Carolyn to Sarai in her classroom. Later we went to Sarai’s home so Carolyn could meet her family. As we entered the house, there was a man sleeping on a bed. Tita recognized him as a man whom we constantly see in the street. When we see him he is usually drinking and sniffing glue and oblivious to the world around him.

We learned from Sarai’s grandmother that this man started doing drugs at the age of 15 and has continued doing so for 20 years. The family allowed us to pray for him. We are looking forward to all that God is going to do in his life. He has a 13 year old daughter who will now start coming to our school as well.

It was such a powerful moment for all involved. For Carolyn to have the opportunity to meet the girl she sponsors, to meet her family, and to now have a personality to go with the letters and pictures. For Sarai to meet the woman who sends her letters and prays for her and her family. For us, to have the privilege of watching Sarai and Carolyn meet and to spend time with the family, seeing the pain in the grandmother’s eyes as she talked about her son, and to know his daughter now has the opportunity to come to our school.

As Tita said “This is what happens when someone sponsors a child. Every letter, every visit, everything brings help to all of us. It was a divine appointment. So many things that are important for eternity happened when Carolyn met Sarai.” It was really amazing to see how God had worked everything together. It truly was a God-incidence.

Donnie Long Spending July in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua

Donnie Long, one of our incredible team members, will be spending most of the month of July in Central America with teams from Lifechurch in Allentown, PA.

Donnie (or "Udon" as I like to call him) has volunteered hundreds of hours to help establish Lemonade International over the past year and has helped us make tremendous strides in moving our work forward. He has made trips to Guatemala to serve in La Limonada, captured the community on film, designed and maintained our website and has played a huge role in the overall development of our organization.

Along with Donnie's passion for the people of La Limonada, he also has a passion for injustice wherever people are living in poverty and oppression. He has traveled on his own to serve in Uganda, Ghana, Kenya and the Dominican Republic. He has also been an important part of helping to lead short-term teams from Lifechurch to Haiti.

Donnie's heart for people around the world now leads him to Central America where he will be part of a construction team working in El Salvador for the first leg of his journey. The small group of men will then have to make their way through Honduras to meet up with another team from the church in Nicaragua where Donnie will be spending the last leg of his journey.

As you may know from news reports, there is major political unrest in Honduras at this time. So, we ask you to please pray for Donnie and the team he is traveling with as they make their way through the country to meet up with the team in Nicaragua. Also, as Donnie has requested, please pray for the people and the government of Honduras... that God's peace would rest on them.

Donnie, our hearts are with you as you follow your heart to serve people living at "the ends of the earth".

The ends of the earth

“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1: 8b

Where exactly are the ends of the earth? Jesus spoke this to His disciples just before He ascended into heaven, telling them that they would be His witnesses in the ends of the earth. Are the ends of the earth remote indigenous places? Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? That section of town where no one chooses to go? Or a house at the end of a dark alley in La Limonada?

There’s a house near the new school that is as far down into the ravine as you can go. To get there, we walk down several stairs, through a gate and then ring the bell at a door. Once that door is opened, we navigate through narrow passages through the homes of several families until finally we reach the smiling, expectant faces of “M” and “B” and their one room home.

“M” faithfully takes care of “B” who’s blind. She carefully leads him through the streets of La Limonada and Guatemala City as they go to do their errands. They live off of 115Q (less than $20) a month which the government gives them. And yet, they are 2 of the most gracious, content people that I know. They are always thrilled to see us and exude such joy and such love for one another.

We went to visit them last week for a brief time. When I asked them if they wanted us to pray, and what we could pray for, “M” told me that we could pray whatever we wanted because they didn’t know much about these types of things. I asked her what she meant and she replied that she can’t read and her husband can no longer read due to his blindness. And so she felt like they didn’t know much. We unfortunately had to leave before we could finish the conversation, but I’m looking forward to visiting them again and continuing it. And spending more time in a home that, to us, is the ends of the earth.