Blessings in Missions

My heart is full. I have so many things of comfort around me. A warm house. A full pantry. My sweet set of wheels is back up and running after several months of waiting for the funds to repair the brakes. God has blessed us and I don't take this for granted. I am aware of how many others I know who may not feel they can say that. And I know how close I have come in past months to not having the funds to keep my house warm or pantry full. How close I have come to not being able to keep my house --period! I've known what it means to go without and to pinch and save and wonder how we will make it through another month. Or week. Or day.

Last weekend at our Saturday night Soup and a Service, we had a visitor in our midst who is homeless. He was camping out in the woods behind the church building. We were limited in what we could offer this man other than a hot bowl of soup, words of encouragement and a suggestion of places to go that would offer most assistance than we are equipped to offer.

As we move into colder weather I am more mindful of those who have no home to go to and limited resources to draw from for support. As I wrap another blanket around me, or draw on a thick fuzzy sweater, light a fire in my woodstove and sip from my mug of hot tea, I am more mindful of how cozy and blessed I am.

And it makes me all the more eager to go to Costa Rica this December to help at the children's orphanage there. Yes, there are so many things we can  (and do) get involved with in our own backyard. Bruce and I are very committed to serving in local community outreach. But in God's economy there are no boundaries between countries. We are ALL God's children and if there is a way to serve, we should do so.

Bruce and I have felt called to go to Costa Rica and help. We are going with friends who have established a non-profit (ABINA)  that is working exclusively with a ministry in Central America. The childrens homes there need a punch list completed in order to gain a permanent residency permit for the children who will live there. Bruce will be using his construction skills to help complete these tasks and I will be working with the director of the orphanage, helping her develop her blog so she can increase awareness of the ongoing needs. I am also looking forward to playing in the kitchen a little with the kids, making christmas cookies!

We will be there for 2 weeks in December. Our airfare has already been purchased. We are still working on raising the funds to cover our accommodations, meals and transportation needs while we are there. We still need to raise about $2000 for the two of us.  Our Chili Cook Off Fundraiser in July was a BIG boost to the overall ministry of ABINA, for the materials needed to do the work that remains on the punch list. It's a huge undertaking and not one that Bruce and I approach lightly. Every one of our mission trips has been made possible because of the generous support of family and friends. We appreciate it so much!! It is hard to put into words how much that kind of giving touches us. Truth be told, we cringe at asking for this kind of help. We'd love to be able to just whip out our checkbooks and write our own tickets. But God has made it clear to us that He choses to work in other ways when it comes to our mission adventures. So we obediently commit to the the projects He lays on our hearts, humbly present our requests and then faithfully expect God to work miracles.

Philippians 4.6  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Psalm 5.3 Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.


To learn more about Abina please click HERE . You can also check out the Abina Facebook page and request to be added to the group to get updates. You can also visit their Word Press Blog. 

DONATIONS, if you so feel led, can be made out to ABINA Ministries and sent directly to Abina, PO Box 294, Deming, Wa 98244. In the memo line please indicate our names. thank you so much~~ God bless you!