Thanks for the prayers for the benefits. The Mad Hatters Tea Party was a HUGE success and we are going to make it an annual event. It is a great way to raise money for the summer mission projects abroad AND locally. I am so pleased that we are able to help the local flood relief families that have abandoned women trying to make ends meet.

Please pray for our trips this summer and I'll keep you posted! Heal Ministries will be going to Chicago Hope Academy June 5th. We will send a team to Belize City July 1 and then to Africa July 12th. Please pray for safety, health and for God's clear direction in every step. PRAYERS - the most important piece to every mission trip. May we go forward in full armor and may God be glorified in all that we do. Until next time, prayers please!

blessings!

H.E.A.L. Ministries will be hosting a Mad Hatters Tea Party to benefit our summer mission projects. Follow us down the rabbit hole to 1001 Belle Meade Blvd in Nashville, Tn. on Saturday, May 15th. The Silent Auction is for all ages and will have loads of handbags, watches and more! The door opens at 2 and closes at 4 and at 3:30 there will be bidding no more!

So take out an hour of your day and have some fun! Dress as you desire or wear your favorite hat and tea attire! There's plenty to see and muchness to do so bring your young ones, moms, daughters and girlfriends too!

a sneak preview with a few items in the silent auction is posted for all to see. There's designer bags and regular bags for all ages. A children's corner will have ladybug bags, purses with boas & cookies to decorate.......so

Don't be late for this very important date!

I haven't blogged in a while because the last trip I did not have internet service. I visited Chicago Hope Academy and planned the June mission trip. While I was there, I learned about a gang initiation that had just taken place a few days prior: 17 shots, 17 deaths. This is a reality where some of these kids live. One of the male workers had a son that was shot.

Despite the reality of gangs and tough survival situations, the Chicago Hope Academy has one word that rings true: HOPE. These students have learned to succeed despite the odds against them. They have learned that there is a heavenly father that is always looking out for them. They have learned that God's path for them was planned before they were ever born. They are true survivors and examples of true HOPE.

The sweetest picture that reveals the community, love and relationship among the students was captured during the soccer game. One of the girls did not have shin gaurds or cleats and another team mate gave up hers so that this girl could play. What a story of Jesus in the skin among students.

From June 5th - June 11th I'll return to Chicago with a team that will work daily to improve their grounds. The students that attend Chicago Hope Academy will work alongside us. They will work to give back to the school that gave them so much HOPE. These students, that gave up prom to go on a mission trip, will work to improve their school with our team. Will they learn anything from us? I doubt it........I suspect God has alot in store for those of us blessed enough to go and serve. I suspect that God will teach us all about relationship. I suppose we will all be better off when we return than before the trip because we will all witness true HOPE.

Imagine this face looking at you at 2 years old.......imagine sending teams with Heal Ministries year after year and investing in his life in an orphanage so that he will know the love of God. Imagine him at 25 years of age with a college degree and a business. Imagine him with a family and children and knowing that his Father never abandoned him even though his biological family did. Imagine him returning to the orphanage and passing on the Inheritance of the kingdom through tutoring children as this young boy is doing above.

IMAGINE..........REALLY living out the Word and helping the orphans and widows in their distress.....James 1:27

One of my favorite entrances to the Casa Hogar Orphanage that I visited was at the center where I fell in love with the director, Martha. She is so dedicated and loves the Lord. The entrance shows a mural of children with the names of those chidren that she has served over the past 15 years.

Most of the children in the homes are not adoptable. The homes often serve as what we know in the states as foster care. The sad part is that many of these children will never return to their families permanantly. They come from very poor socioeconomic levels where families earn only about $250 a month. My visit to many of the orphanages gave me the opportunity to ask hundreds of questions and research the reasons the majority of these children are brought to these homes.

They come from extreme poverty. Most of them have a dad in the states working while the mother is forced to take full time work in a home where many times her children are not allowed. Many poverty situations create problems of alcohol, drug abuse and other addictions that make it unsafe for the children to remain with their biological parents. Whatever the reason, it is sad. It is sad that the majority of these children will be forced to leave the homes when they finish middle school and not given the opportunity to attend high school. In the orphanage home where Martha is the director, the children are allowed to stay and complete high school as long as they obey the rules of the house. This is not the norm. They need resources. They need teams, service and help.

We must step in and make a difference in the lives of these innocent children that are being abandoned in Latin America. I cannot go about the daily routines of life and not step in and do what God is calling us all to do: to get involved. Jesus had compassion on the weak, the poor, the fatherless and the widows. I'm amazed when people say we should not help them and I fully believe that people can often do too much but this is not biblical.....to ignore those that cannot help themselves. The type of compassion that Jesus felt for those suffering is not accepted in our world and it is different from what we hear today. I want to be different. The concepts that Jesus taught was about love, compassion and an outstretched hand to those that had fallen. God delights in lifting up the fallen, restoring the brokenhearted and He delights when we feel the love and compassion that Jesus felt.

This final day of Mexico makes me sad to leave but thrilled with what all the Lord has brought to my attention. Just as the chapel on the hill at one orphanage is the center of the property, so should we focus on helping others as the center focus of our lives. Just as each of the hundreds of items of clothing at the orphanage are neatly cleaned, folded and placed on the shelves one at a time, so should we pray, and give hope to these abandoned children, one at a time.......changing the world one heart at a time.

Heal Ministries will be taking a team to serve these orphanages every summer and will be working with MTW to serve the women in the new church plants.

I want to be different. Lord keep me on your path that the world views is crazy. My prayer is that hundreds will jump on board and see the glory of God in full view.......by visiting the orphans and widows in their distress.

God is showing up all over Monterrey: not only in the breathtaking views of His creation but in the smiles of the few people that are in a movement to spread the gospel...........much help is needed and YOU don't want to miss this opportunity to serve the One that is calling us there!

Monterrey is such a beautiful city. The population is between 5 and 6 million and they are all driving in the streets! We visited the flag site which is a beautiful place to see the city from all views. The views are absolutely breath-taking. It is so amazing to think about our great Creator, the original artist. How can anyone see creation in all its beauty and doubt there is a God? I see God everywhere here. I see Him in the mountains, the flags, the people, the bright shiny sky during the day, the beautiful orange sunsets, the orphans, the developing churches and even the busy streets!

Less than 1% of the people that live here are Prostestant. There is a HUGE need for church development. There are areas that serve thousands of people with no Christian church. MTW is doing a great job in assisting with this project. I visited several churches that have been planted under the umbrello of this project and I have been quite impressed. Impressed with the organization, the churches, the training, the members and the pastors. Today, I heard a sermon on Abraham and it is by far the BEST sermon on Abraham that I have ever heard. The pastor is very young and very much on fire for Christ and desiring to spread the gospel in his home land. There is a HUGE need for teams to come here and to assists with these church plants. They have needs to help with church building, renovations, VBS, sports ministries, womens and mens ministries, youth ministries, music, and much, much more!

Tomorrow I will visit the director of the orphanage for a planning session for Heal Ministries.......only two days left and sad I am leaving so soon. For the orphan that will not be adopted, we can offer Hope. We can tell them of God's love and guide them in the future and revisit them year after year. We can become their family and see that their future is bright. We have the opportunity to enlarge the Kingdom. We have the privaledge of serving God and looking after the ones that cannot defend themselves, the ones that He instructed us to look after. It all starts with James 1:27......pure religion............orphans and widows............

There is a need for us all to get proactive and do our part. Each of our parts look different from each other........some are called to adopt, some are called to pray, some are called to donate to help the cause, some are called to go on a mission trip and serve, BUT....one thing for sure....we are ALL CALLED! I'm thankful that God has confirmed my calling and humbled that I can be of any use to Him.

COUNTLESS ORPHANS.......ONE NEED..............GET INVOLVED!

Mexico

Arriving in Monterrey, Mexico was a sweet surprise. The population is around 5 million and except for the Spanish signs everywhere, it looks like a large city in the states. The city is so beautiful. It looks like it could be a large city in the desert with mountains surrounding it. The scenery is as beautiful as the people that live here. I was greeted by Carol Oban, a missionary that is a member of my church and stayed with her the first night. The next two nights I'm staying with a local family. They have three daughters that laugh all the time so I fit in perfectly! This trip is allowing me to visit with MTW and see all the church planting programs. I am working with one of the church planters and his wife on a Heal Ministries future team trip that will focus on women's ministry and one of the orphanages that they support, Casa Hogar.

Today was a treat visiting Casa Hogar Orphanage. There are about 40 children that live here and I quickly bonded with the newest member. The beautiful baby girl has only been here for about a month. The children greeted the team with songs and we all had dinner together. One of the sweetest friends that I have made is named Martha. She is the director of the orphanage and has such a sweet spirit! She is a true image of Jesus in the skin to the children. Martha and Ruth are pictured together here. Ruth is the wife of Andres (MTW team leader here in church planting) and we are going to be working together to plan a women's conference.

I'm so thankful that I am able to plan the future Mexico trip with the ladies here. Although Mexico is much more of a family oriented country than the U.S. in several ways, there are many hurting women that have a need of knowing the One that will never abandon them. Heal Ministries will return with a team that will focus on the women's ministry here as well as partnering with the orphanage to run a VBS for the children and assists in a project that the orphanage needs in upkeep.

The ONLY difference in people that you might not look like, you might have different color skin, you might have different cultures, you might eat differently and talk different languages is........ the place of birth. I am constantly reminded of the one thing that all people in all lands have in common: we all need Jesus!

Looking back over the last few months' journey, I have to just laugh at the roller coaster ride. I laugh because God just keeps reminding me that He is in full control of my life, of Heal Ministries and of all things in creation. I am not in any control. Today, as I begin to finalize some plans for 2010 for mission trips, I am reminded to claim victory in Jesus and give everything to Him. As we post the final plans on the web site for 2010, please pray that you will Hear God's calling if He chooses to use you in this ministry. I am thankful that God is using me for His plan.....even thankful for the trials of cancer because I know that He will use this to glorify Him. For today, I claim this for my own life and for Heal Ministries:

"Store up comfort. This was the prophet Isaiah's message. The world is full of hurting and comfortless hearts. But before you will be competent for this lofty ministry, you must be trained. And your training is extremely costly, for to to make it complete, you too must endure the same afflictions that are wringing countless hearts of tears and blood. Consequently, your own life becomes the hospital ward where you are taught the divine art of comfort. You will be wounded so that in the binding up of your wounds by the Great Physician, you may learn how to render first aid to the wounded everywhere. Do you wonder why you are having to experience some great sorrow? Over the next ten years you will find many others afflicted in the same way. You will tell them how you suffered and were comforted. As the story unfolds, God will apply the anesthetic He once used on you to them. Then in the eager look followed by the gleam of hope that chases the shadow of despair from the soul, you will know why you were afflicted. And you will bless God for the discipline that filled your life with such a treasure of experience and helpfulness."

"God comforts us not to make us comfortable but to make us comforters." John Henry Jowett