VBS Success

Jambo (Hello) from your Cornerstone Kenya Team.  God is moving with the team and the children of Huruma.  Vacation Bible School for approximately 100 children was a HUGE successs.  Jody and Jana lead the Cornerstone team in a farm themed VBS filled with crafts for eating, skits, games, crafts for the children to keep, music and lots of laughter.  They learned the Fruits of the Spirit by reciting the verse and motions to remember it all.  They would march into every activity singing “I am marching in the land of God”.  The children were having fun competing in their march, in games and their team colors in sports.

After VBS, the team was taken on a tour of the dormitories and the class rooms.  We learned that the children sleep in multiples in the beds, with the little ones sometimes sleeping 3 or 4 to a bed.  They are happy to be together though, and here at Huruma, where they know they are safe, well cared for and loved.  Mama Zipporah and her staff work tirelessly to be sure the kids are shown God’s love at all times.  Mama is up before the sun and rests long after it sets.

Every day starts and ends with song and dance rejoicing in the gifts and blessings that God gives them.  This author has learned more from them than they are probably learning from me…that I NEED to start and end each day being thankful for all my blessings, great and small.  What may be small to me would be HUGE blessings to each of these kids here.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.  We are truly blessed to be your team representing the great people of Cornerstone.  Peace and blessings.

We have arrived!

Greetings from your Cornerstone Kenya Missions Team.  We had successful travels, yet it was LONG travels to get here.  We left Phoenix at 2:15pm on Friday, went to Dallas then to London.  We had a short time to tour London and after many adventures on the “tube” (the subway train) to and from the city, we made our way back to the airport to board for another overnight flight.  We made it to Huruma on Sunday morning where we were greeted by all the wonderful children who were as excited to see us as we were them.  They know that the team is here to share Jesus’s love and compassion and they are ready to gobble it up.  We threw our bags in our room and prepared for church services.  They have a very energized service of approximately and hour of song & dance before Pastor JoJo gives the message.  He honored Pastor Linn and “Mama Lisa” several times during the sermon while always keeping God the focus.  The team was introduced and the children have already memorized our names.  We toured the campus with the children and then went to town.  The rules of the road are, there are no rules!!  Upon returning to campus, we started the preparation for our VBS and other projects we will perform this week.  We are looking forward to God’s movement this week in the team, the kids and the staff here at Huruma.  Please pray with us as the entire  campus knows we are here as a team, with a loving, praying team back at Cornerstone supporting us all.

An emotional day …

Today was our last day to spend in the community with the people. We had the chance to go and re-visit a couple of families to pray for them. As a group we came to a decision to help one particular family that touched all of our hearts. This particular family did not have a house, they have been sleeping in a tent since the earthquake. We have come together collectively to gather 700 soles and get them material to build an enclousure and buy them a matress for their family. This is such a rewarding feeling. We wanted to surround this family with God’s love because they have felt as if God has abondoned them. We are all praying that by our love to them they will be able to feel the love of God and come to know Him.

Pastor Luis and his family treated us to dinner tonight from a chicken they had been raising. The food was remarkable. Saying goodbye to everyone so so hard for me as well as the entire team.

I am feeling a bitter sweetness, knowing that I will get to see my family in a few days but yet I feel the need to want to stay with the people of Chincha.

 

Love you all,

Cynthia xoxoxo

 

P.S. : Memo a.k.a. Will says “cluck cluck, cluck”! LoL

What a week!

This week has had lots of fun and projects with the youth of Chincha.  Today we started off building tables and bookshelves that are going to be part of a library being started in the community center for El Porvenir.  We also did many home visits with sponsored children and other families within the three communities of Salto de la Liza, El Corrizo, and El Porvenir.  What a great priviledge to have time to talk with these families and share stories about our families.  It is amazing the great things that can happen when we put our trust in God.  We had the honor of spending time with the community leaders of El Porvenir this evening with a great discussion of the impact that Cornerstone and Food For The Hungry have had on their community.  Many wonderful prayers of thanks were shared as we all praised how God has impacted thesed people and us as well.

I can’t wait to share the stories with our friends and family once we return.  Love and miss you E,K, and H.

Will

Wow!!!

Today was a great day!!! We got to spend it with 60 children of Chinca.  We sang and danced with them.  We ate and got to play many games with them.  I don’t know what it is about these children.  I have seen poverty before but theses children bring so much hope to me and my life.  I thought I was the one who was bringing them hope.   They give without asking and love on one another without hesitation.  They take care of each other.  Trying to comprehend how they must see the world, is something I have been trying to figure out.   They see the world with such simplicity and love.  They have shown so much unconditional love to me and this group it is hard to comprehend or even explain.  I thank God that He allowed me to come and experience His true love through these amazing children.  It has been a life changing experience and I hope not the last.

Family visits & time with the children..

Good evening everyone,

We started this trip off having to be patient, spending a lot of time in the Miami airport before we headed to Peru, but after today it was well worth it and then some. Today we had the opportunity to spend with the children of El Porvenier in Chincha Alta. We played frisbee and soccer. Will, Mike, Walt, Eddie, and Angel spent time spinning the kids around in the field.

It was such an amazing feeling to see familiar faces again. It was so overwhelming I had a hard time keeping myself together. Seeing the kids who were not even crawling last year walking was amazing. The community center we started to build last year is completed and it looks GREAT!!

Later in the afternoon we split into 2 groups for family visits. Kris, Eddie, Mikayla, Joe, Abel, and I went to see 2 different families. The first we visited was Jaquiline’s family. I can only speak for myself when saying this, but I was completely unprepared for the mother’s story she shared with us. Josephina, the mother, told us that she had lost 2 of her older daughters because of illness. She said that she would always ask God why does such bad things happen to her. She said she felt alone and that she was not strong enough for her family. She had lost hope. Their house was severely damaged from the earthquake several years ago, but could not afford to get it repaired. There was cracks in the walls and the foundation was shifted. They were forced to move to a small section of the home next to a door for a quick escape route. She said they did not feel safe. Just hearing her and seeing her pain brought me to instant tears.

I was so compelled by the Holy Spirit I told her that no matter where we are or who we are, that with life comes problems and strife, but through the love of Jesus we can have eternal peace in our hearts no matter what trials and tribulations may occur. At the beginning of our trip we received bracelets with the bible verse Phillippians 4:13 “I can do everything through Him that gives me strength.” I decided to give her my bracelet and recite this verse to her. I told her that was a physical reminder of the love not only between her and the Lord, but also with our team. We all wept, then prayed for her and her family.

We then went to go see Ingrid’s family. This was such a blessing to see the growth with this family from last year. Last year, Charla had asked how she was doing in school, she was upset she was not in school. This year it was amazing to know that now she was back in school and she was very proud and happy.

God has done tremendous works in the lives of those in Chincha Alta since last year. The seeds of hope, peace, and love through Jesus Christ was so remarkable I can not even begin to describe. We have only been here 2 days and I have found myself in tears on several occasions.

All is well with the group. I can tell already that this trip is forever going to change the lives of the entire team.

I am off to bed. I hope all is well back in the States. We are all thinking of you all and keeping you in our prayers while we are here in Chincha. Thank you all for your continuing love and support.

Much Love,

Cynthia

Sending much love to everyone at home. xoxoxoxo

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!

Peru Team at the Airport

Mission trips mean being Flexible!

Good Morning,

Our first test on this trip is learning to be flexible. Our flight is delayed here in Phoenix an hour. This puts us into Miami late and we are going to miss our connecting flight to Lima. We are going to have a 6.5 hour layover in Miami. We will depart Miami at 11:50 p.m.  And we will arrive in Lima around 4:25 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Everyone on the team is excited and in great spirits awaiting what the Lord has in store for us on this trip. God bless. We will see we everyone when we return.

 

Much Love,

Cynthia

One Week Left

Only One week until our team heads to Peru