TEAM GUATEMALA (Leaders: Gary Lengkeek...my dad, Lindsey, Maggie)
TEAM SWAZILAND (Amy, Jessica, John)
TEAM DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (Sean, Natalia, Esther)
TEAM IRELAND (Traci, Danna)
Prayer Request for teams: Spiritual growth. Open hearts to the Father. Ministry in country. Home-sickness. Health. Safety.
Camp Pictures:
Our second group of Ambassador leaders for the 2 week trips will arrive on Saturday for the last bit of their training. On the 30th, the 65 participants will arrive for training camp and we depart on July 3rd! Please keep them all in your prayers.
Don and I need your prayers. On top of the two camps, me preparing to lead a trip, our dog - Bruno...if very sick and fighting to live. Our battle is not against flesh and blood - so we ask for prayers of protection, strength and wisdom. Thank you!
We have a great team of individuals who help to pull off these camps...we are so very grateful for all they do! We are blessed with great family, friends and co-workers.
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn."
Above: We celebrated our 15th anniversary on June 4th.
If there is one season busier than any other at AIM...it's now. World Race training ended just in time for the Real Life training. It was another great camp with wonderful people passionate about their call to share the love of Christ.
Above: Real life Training Camp
Above: A handful of the Real Life team...heading to Swaziland.
Now, it is time for the two Ambassador (High school) camps. Over the next two weeks, we will have @ 115+ participants and 23 leaders take part in these two camps. Our Ambassador leaders arrive next Tuesday with participants coming in a few days later. The 5 teams that will be going on one-month trips leave on June 24th. The training for leaders and participants in our second group of Ambassador teams begins 2 days later and then they take off on July 4th. I (Connie) will be leading a team of all girls to Guatemala with friends Jess and Kristen. From there, I'll update when I can. Don will be staying in GA to provide support for all of the teams while they are on the field and then debrief with them as they return.
This is our third summer working with AIM and it is extra special for us. We are excited about the teams, the leaders and the serve crew (potential and previous leaders) coming to help with all things training camp from prayer and teaching to team builder activities. It's a big task that requires a team of people. There are a couple individuals going on trips that we knew from previous churches we served at....(Allie Mrakovich and Jennifer Wahler) in addition to a few of my much younger cousins. A few of our nieces as well as Don's sister, Shelly will be helping with the camps. It will be great to see all of them.
There's a lot of great ministry happening here and abroad. I wish we had time to tell you all about it. Please take some time to snoop around the AIM website to read some blogs and look at the pictures. If you'd like to be a part of what God is doing in and through AIM – please contact us.
Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. Thanking God for you.
Prayer Request:
Participants' last minute preparation and support raising.
Training camps: For prepared individuals and leaders.
Safety for all teams on the field.
Wisdom in how we lead the expanding Ambassador program.
My parents: My dad is leading the 1-month team to Guatemala while mom stays here in GA.
My Guatemala team of all girls: That they would have open hearts to what God has in store for them.
It was almost a year ago - exactly - that my youngest
sister, Laura was in the hospital on the verge of death. We were supposed
to be at AIM getting ready to start leader training and instead were on our way
to Michigan to see her - possibly for the last time. Instead, Laura
survived! She had a liver transplant and now a year later she is moving out on
her own, and is healthy and working again. Praise God! We are so blessed to be surrounded by such great friends, family and our AIM family who prayed and walk along side us. Thank you all!
A year later - our third year being involved with the Leader
training, and we are excited. Thankfully, both Connie and I were able to
participate. Connie has been releasing her other responsibilities and working
more with the Ambassador program as well as the leaders. This year we
took a different approach during our training. Much time was spent
focusing on: Who am I in Christ? Who am I
as a leader? and Who
are we as a group of leaders?
There were times of interactive teaching, shared
experiences/team building...like building a raft or surviving a "plane wreck".
Other times were filled with worship and bonding with co-leaders. All
evolved around different models of leadership and activities that could be used
with their team.
We are excited about the group of leaders that we have leading
our trips this year. God has uniquely gifted each of them and is
preparing them for the many tasks they will face. Their passion and
desire to point others to and connect them with Christ is contagious.
Please keep them in your ongoing prayers. Next time we see them for further training, will be just a few days before the participants arrive in Gainesville.
At
the end of our training camp we found ourselves at AIM, facing a tragedy.
One of our FYM (First Year Missionary) participants died in a car accident in
South Africa Sunday morning. Seth Barnes speaks of this tragedy in his
blog
On my recent trip to Kenya, I was able to attend many of the
ministry sites that AIM partners with. One of those sites is a pre-school
that a Kenyan woman named Monica runs. I really enjoyed the time spent
with the children there. One particular little boy that many of the Real
Life participants had fallen in love with was - "Teddy". He had such energy and a joyous spirit. Many
of the team members referred to him as "Pastor Teddy"...due to the fact he liked
to talk – a lot!
It was with great
sadness, that I found out today that six year old "Pastor Teddy" passed away a couple days ago. One of
our leaders, Traci, writes in her blog about the conditions in Kibera and the
circumstances leading up to Teddy's death. Please pray for his parents,
the team, and any others who were touched by Teddy's life.
It's
hard to describe the poverty in Kibera. From first appearances it looks
terrible, yet still bearable. It's as though the people here have found a way
to survive in spite of the extremely challenging circumstances they live in. I
have learned that appearances are often deceiving, though. And even if it looks
like they are dealing with their circumstances, many Kenyans here live in a
completely desperate state.
A few days ago there was a fire just a few houses down from where our cook,
Reagan, lives. By the time I talked to him in the early afternoon, he had been
up for hours helping deal with that. He asked if we had some first aid stuff at
the house because he had scraped his foot in a few spots. He had helped a woman
get away from the fire, but had to kick down a tin fence, cutting his foot in
the process. The houses are so close together, and there are no fire-alarms,
extinguishers, or even access by fire trucks, so the people had to work
together to help put out the fire. The main house was completely destroyed and
burnt to the ground. This is what poverty does. It makes a possibly bearable
situation tragically difficult or overpowering.
Last night I got a call from one of the other staff girls here--Connie. She
told me that she had just received a call from Monica and one of the children
from the preschool had passed away. He had gone home Thursday with a bad fever,
and the family was not able to afford to take him to the hospital. My heart
sank. Another child dies at the hands of poverty. I have been to the preschool
only a handful of times, and from that have only learned the names of a few of
the children, so I assumed I wouldn't know who he was. Even still, I asked the
name so that I could tell the team--maybe they would know him. Connie said that
is was Teddy and I immediately got sick to my stomach.
"Pastor Teddy?" I asked her, hoping she would say no.
"Yeah, Pastor Teddy."
I
couldn't believe it. He is this amazing little six-year-old that we have been
calling Pastor Teddy due to his desire to become one when he grows up. He
speaks a fare amount of english and is such a joy to be with. He has, by far,
become the most talked about child at that school. Even the team members that
don't work at the preschool know about him and love hearing stories, seeing
photos, and even watching short video clips the other team members have
captured. Connie said that even while he was suffering a fever on Thursday, that
he was sitting in her lap singing some of the children's songs that the team
has used at the preschool. What an exceptional being. What a devastating
reality of life and death in Kibera.
Please be praying for the team as they process through this loss. I'm sure it
will be difficult to minister at the preschool now, knowing he is gone. His
grace is sufficient, though.
In less than 24 hours after Don
landed from his trip to Kenya, I was on the plane to Nicaragua. This was a
follow up trip to the one Don and I took in October to visit the First Year
Missionary (FYM) team.
FYM team picture from October.
This time my traveling buddy was Kayla Phillips,
who has been with AIM for 4+ years. When Kayla joined AIM, she was a
participant on a First Year Missionary trip, and is now organizing the training
camps. In addition my friend, Dianne Pruim from MI joined us at the last
minute.
Above: Dianne
Above: Kayla - kaylaphillips.myadventures.org
We were able to spend a couple days
with the team prior to their "Spring Break". Afterwards, some chose to return
home (to the US) to visit friends, family, churches...supporters. Others took the
week to travel and bask in God's creation. So we did the same and headed out
with some of the team and their leader and our good friend – Tana Turner
by Tica Bus to Costa Rica. This was a sweet time of loving, caring, praying for
one another...as we like to say "Speak Life!"
Part of the Nicaragua First Year Missionary Team in Costa Rica on "Spring Break" for a few days.
The fearless leader - Tana Turner in the middle. tanaturner.theworldrace.org
We returned to Nicaragua in time to
meet some of the Short Term Missions team from Athens, GA. Their stories were
just more confirmation of God's working in Nicaragua. Please pray for our
missionaries who have settled in long-term there...The Kayes and their two children.
In addition, pray for the base that they have invested in and are using to house
the First Year Missionaries, hold church every other week, Bible studies, a 24
hour house of prayer ...and in the future a library for the community. They call
it El Puente!...in Spanish...The Bridge. It's a great team of individuals who
are committed to many different ministries in Granada, Nicaragua. Please keep
them and this community in your prayers. Thank you.
I have been back from Kenya for
almost five days now, and it all still seems like a whirlwind in my mind.
Many of you know that the main reason that I was going was to help with a
team that we have serving in Kenya at this time. The team has a number of
difficult circumstances to process through and my main responsibility was to
bring conversation to a focus on Christ and what He is doing in and through the
team.
I spent four days traveling (two on
each end of the trip) and four and half days in Africa. During my time In
Kenya, I split it between time at the team house and in Kibera. I went to
ministry everyday with the team so that I could get a feel for what the team is
doing there. The team is involved in several ministries.
They share their time between tutoring at a school, working with a pre-school,
ADIS ministry, Bible studies, program at a boy's detention center, and
relational ministry with the people they have met walking through the town, and
a host of other ministries. They have been very busy as a team.
My time was short but I did see God
at work in the ministries, the team, their leaders, and the churches they are
partnering with. I would ask each of you to pray with me for this team as
they continue to work through heath issues and the strain of working day after
day in poverty and hunger attempting to offer the Hope of Christ.
Please
keep Don in your prayers as he left Wednesday around 5 pm to Kenya.
AIM has a
team of 20+ Real Life college participants that he'll be spending four days on
the ground with... as they process and debrief the last month of their time
there.
This was a last minute, unexpected trip. As you pray, pray for unity
within the team and leadership. Pray for the ministries. Pray for their health.
Many of you have asked about the
trip. "Great" just doesn't seem to say enough. Here's a brief overview of
what we did during our time there.
We spent 5 nights in El Estor.
We "had clinic" for two days in El Estor, and the other days in
different communities located outside of El Estor. There were two full
days of travel and the last two days were spent in beautiful Antigua.
El Estor... the view from our rooms!
Antigua
Lake Atitlan... Where we have a Ambassador (high school age group going this summer)
Early, but not too early...we would
pack the supplies that were needed for the day and hit the road.
We met in churches...with the pharmacy
laid out on a table that was covered by surgical gowns taped together. A
large black tarp or curtains were used to divide the two areas used for doctor
visits. Groups of adults and children would wait patiently outside...even
though it might be hot or raining.
Nurse, Mary Ellen
Connie's mom translating in the "pharmacy"
Connie's dad, translating and messing with the children.
Connie and I along with friends Seth
and Ashley would begin right away with children's activities. When we
weren't with the kids, we were walking through the community, visiting schools,
prayer walking and talking with anyone who would listen.
These guys led us up to this cross. They wanted to be close, but not too close.
Don...clown.
A much needed break was usually
taken at noon. Once during lunch, we were close enough to a hot springs
to explore them for about an hour. Since arriving in Guatemala... it had
been my hottest shower.
We saw on average between 100-160
people a day. The people had everything from worms to headaches.
Connie along with her parents translated for the pharmacy and the nurse who
came with us from GA. We also had a couple friends from Guatemala who joined the
team. Byron, a doctor and Betty who worked with Connie's parents during
their time serving there. Guatemala will always have a special place in
our hearts. As always, we look forward to our next trip there.
Part of the group from left to right...Us, Seth and Ashley, Mary Ellen and Larry...and the Lengkeeks.
What's ahead? Connie returns
to Nicaragua on March 5th while I continue to work on
recruiting leaders and participants for the Ambassador trips. We have a leaders training camp soon...and I'll be
doing some short trips, speaking in schools and churches.
Thank you for partnering with
us...in so many ways!
James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers, if a
man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a
brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him,
"Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about
his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is
not accompanied by action, is dead.
Teams are
in the air, landing soon in either Swaziland or Kenya. It was a sweet time at training camp...much
thanks for all your prayers! The topic
for this particular camp was based on the book "The Life of the Beloved" by
Henri Nouwen. Something Don had been
passionate about for a while now – being the Beloved of Christ! and what all that
means...
And now...
I've
packed my shorts....Don and I take off with a team of 10 from the US to Guatemala
early tomorrow. Joining us once on ground will be a Guatemalan doctor, Byron
and several others, including Betty and Jaime who we've worked with in the
past. Mom and dad are looking forward to reconnecting with friends from their
time living there. This time we are
heading to El Estor...a mining community, where we've not yet been.
We return
the 8th. As always, we'd
appreciate your prayers. THANK YOU...for partnering with us!
We'd
like to invite you into an opportunity to partner with what's going on here at
AIM January 19th through January 26th. We'll be
running a training camp for two groups of Real Life participants in order to
prepare them to spend 3 months on the field. We have one group going to
Kenya, and one group going to Swaziland. In preparation for their
ministry we do some very specific training that is designed to accomplish
several things. We talk to them about their identity in Christ, we ask
them to come to grips with their own brokenness, we speak to them about
recognizing God's voice and responding to His leading in ministry, and we
prepare them to be effective as a team.
There
are always some participants who God deals with very intensely. Because
spiritual issues are being worked through we would like to have as much prayer
covering as we can. We would love it if you would agree to pray along
with us during that week. We need prayer for the participants and prayer
for ourselves as we lead and minister. We know that God has an agenda
with each of these kids and we want to lift them to Him and ask that He
accomplish His desire in each of them.
Thanks
for all you do as a supporter of what God is doing at Adventures In
Missions. We pray that God ministers to you as you pray with us.
It was almost a year ago - exactly - that my youngest
sister, Laura was in the hospital on the verge of death. We were supposed
to be at AIM getting ready to start leader training and instead were on our way
to Michigan to see her - possibly for the last time. Instead, Laura
survived! She had a liver transplant and now a year later she is moving out on
her own, and is healthy and working again. Praise God! We are so blessed to be surrounded by such great friends, family and our AIM family who prayed and walk along side us. Thank you all!
