youth group raising money for homeless in guatemala

next weekend - Oct 22-24, a youth group called BLITZ from savannah christian church in savannah, ga, is rallying together to raise funds for the homeless in guatemala! pray with us as we have another opportunity to see what america's youth are capable of when they get excited to be christlike!

i have witnessed firsthand the power of the holy spirit in the hearts of teenagers and will never underestimate what they can do!! i am reminded of 1 timothy 4:12:

"Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, life, love, faith, and purity."

paul is teaching timothy here that the younger generation can be strong leaders who set the example for the rest of believers!

i am excited to see what this group of teenagers do when they get fired up about helping the poor!

here's a video they will be watching during their weekend event:

juliana & manuel... and romulo

we celebrated home #36 yesterday, definitely the sweetest so far.

juliana & manuel. the "least of these" without a doubt. both in their 70's, they have no one. no family helping out, no kids taking care of them. their life a constant state of exploitation as they hop around from borrowed home to home, living in tin shacks or worse, in exchange for watching over people's farms or animals.

manuel is blind. he walks a muddy path every day - about 2 miles - to catch a bus to antigua where he begs on street corners for money. juliana stays home and watches over the land owner's property so they can live in a dump, rent free.

spiritual giants, they are known for ability to heal the sick. people speak of them as the ones who sing out their thanks to God all night long... praying and shouting out songs of joy.

when we have come bearing gifts of food, they just fall to their knees praising God for answering their prayers. (story here in other blog)

yesterday we moved them into their new home that was donated by our friends kat and milan. a nice, safe, warm, block home with 2 rooms. no strings attached. their own front door that locks and a window in each room. also donated by our friends at "church on the way", they have a new kitchen, bathroom, bed, and chicken coup.

at the ceremony, me and romulo shared a little bit. this home was extremely special for romulo as he had told me about this couple and his desire to help them several months ago. he's been excited for this day to come for a long time.

before we gave them the keys, i asked if there was anything they'd like to share. their response was as all of ours should be...

they immediately shouted out praise to the heavens, thanking God for being their provider... for never forgetting them and never letting them go... for hearing their prayers.

they sang, jumped, shouted, and cried. they yelled to the top of their lungs "thank you daddy (gracias papito), you love us so much!!!"

they didn't want to stop singing worship songs. manuel even apologized for his singing voice, but just couldn't stop. even through his off-key, loud, stuttering, elderly voice, it was as beautiful and pure as worship can be.

at one point as they prayed and sang i saw romulo crying. my tough guy foreman - the field general of the construction crew who barks out his orders and is no doubt rough around the edges... crying tears of joy as sees, feels, experiences Jesus.

today driving around with romulo he was literally beaming with joy. he thanked me at least 5 times for letting him be a part of the ministries here in guatemala. what God is doing through the 12x12 ministry is changing his life.

romulo is leading a crew that is building a wall around the future boy's academy site. today, as i shared the vision of the academy with the entire construction crew, romulo emotionally shared to all who were present, "right now i want to give thanks to God. he is doing many things here in guatemala, and using our friends from the U.S. to help. it is an honor to be a part of his work. if this ministry helps the boys of buena vista one fraction of how it has helped these 12x12 families, i will give my hands and my heart to it completely. now lets get to work."

kerrie and i looked at each other and smiled, enjoying the depth and beauty of the moment. (romulo is not known for showing his guys his soft side!)

i pray that tonight as juliana and manuel lay in bed, their hearts are full with thankfulness, peace and contentment.

i know ours and romulo's are.

pastor tomasa's family and iris's dream

We had been visiting Tomasa’s home for a couple months, developing a friendship, stopping by to visit when we were close by. Finally we received a sponsor to build her family a home and we arrived to share the news. (you can read more about their family and see lots of pictures HERE.)

After sharing the news that we had received the funds to build her a new home, she shared something pretty amazing with us.

The night before, Tomasa’s 15 year old daughter Iris (pictured to the right) had a dream.

She dreamed that the town of Buena Vista was a dry desert land. Everything was dying. She said in her dream some Americans arrived and started walking through the town, planting seeds. They would come every day, visiting the people and planting seeds everywhere they went.

Soon things started to change. Grass began to appear where before there was none. Fruits and vegetables began to grow. “Giant vegetables, bigger than anyone had ever seen”, she said. Before long, Buena Vista was green again, and everyone was enjoying a healthy harvest.

Tomasa told us that she believed her daughter’s dream was a prophetic vision from God. She said that the Americans in her dream represent us – and the seeds we are planting are changing their village.

This was an emotional and humbling thing for us to hear. We have days where we feel like we are not even making a dent… we sometimes get frustrated that some of the people we think are changing actually are not, and we are consistently disappointed and let down.

But for us, Iris’ dream was a huge encouragement. God used this 15 year old girl to remind us that our job is the seed planting. We must trust that he will bring the water, and he will get the increase.


I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 1 Cor 3:6-8

candelario celebration

We met Candelario over a year ago. Romulo had recommended we visit his family as a potential candidate for a new home. When we arrived, he wasn't home, but his wife and daughter-in-law's were there.

It was a great visit. His wife was so sweet, and his daughter-in-laws had a similar sweet way about them. His wife told me she thought Candelario was out drinking. A little embarassed, she looked at the ground as she told me.

Since then, we have slowly developed a friendship with Candelario and his family. He is an alcoholic, and he admits it. He knows it is a problem. We intentionally talk openly with him about it (unusual in this culture), and confess our own struggles in an attempt to let him know that we love him all the same, and that God's grace is sufficient.

On Christmas Eve night, 2009, we showed up at Candelario's house with food baskets. The Moreau family was visiting us, and it was something that God had put on Paul's heart to do. We arrived with the food only to find out that they had NOTHING TO EAT on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day. Candelario's sons (young men) cried as they realized that God knew their hunger, and He had sent us to bring them something to eat.

Finally, in February of 2010 we received sponsors to build Candelario a new home, complete with a bathroom.

One of the challenges was that they have 8 children, 7 of which are adults who have their own families. So 19 people (Candelario, his wife, 6 of their kids with their spouses, and 6 grandkids) all sleep together - packed into a giant tin shack. One of our standard 12x12 Love Project homes would not be enough. So God blessed us with 3 different sponsors to build a home twice the size of our normal houses!

When we delivered the news the family was ecstatic. Candelario was a few drinks into his evening when we arrived, but i honestly think the news sobered him up! They cried and celebrated as we shared the plan to build a house big enough for all of them.

Over the months that followed, genuine friendships developed. Candelario is doing better, and he regularly initiates the conversation about his drinking and how he is improving. The conversation always seems to find a way back to the grace of God... to the cross of Jesus.

The key ceremony was a sweet moment. Candelario emotionally shared that this home is "beyond all of my dreams." He said that he had honestly dreamt about having a block home with doors and windows, that he could pass down to his children, but that it was always just a dream with no possibility of becoming true.

I asked Romulo (the 12x12 Construction Foreman) to give Candelario the keys to his new home. Fighting back tears of his own, Romulo said to his friend since elementary school, "with these keys, your dreams have come true."

I believe Candelario and his family are learning about Jesus. I believe God is using the 12x12 Love Project and it's supporters to open doors of true friendship and discipleship. He is using this ministry as an tool to make known his grace and love.

for lots of pics of the construction process and key ceremony, CLICK HERE

blanca's 15th birthday

here it's called a quinceanera. its the HUGE celebration when a girl turns 15. in latin cultures, its kind of like welcoming the girl into womanhood.

if you're unfamiliar with blanca suzanna, please give a few minutes to watch this video about her life and how we met her before reading on...

about 2 weeks before her 15th birthday, blanca asked me if we could all come to her party ("all the gringos", she said). of course we said yes, and began asking her more about it. there really wasn't anything planned, as normally a quinceanera resembles an all-out wedding bash... and this family has zero resources to throw a party. nonetheless, blanca was determined to have a quinceanera.

we decided to try to make it a little bit more special for her. kerrie and gina spent a day with her shopping for a dress, shoes, etc. they also took blanca out to lunch, which i'm sure was a first time experience for her.

blanca's blue dress was exactly what she wanted, and it fit her perfectly without needing anything done. they also picked up a new dress for blanca's mom.

the morning of the party, kerrie and gina took blanca and her mom to get their hair done. probably another first...

it was a sweet day. blanca cried as people hugged her and told her how beautiful she looked. her mom and family members made chicken, and others chipped in to bring salad, tortillas, and drinks.

considering her life story, blanca sadly gave up a normal childhood long ago. but i hope she always remembers her 15th birthday party.

see all the pics from the event HERE

"why do they do it?"

a while back some friends (who wished to stay anonymous) donated the funds to build a home for a local family named the Marroquin's. at that time, the Marroquin's lived in a mud and cornstalk home. click here to watch a short 2 min video about them...

ever since then, a friendship has been developing. we love to visit the Marroquin's, hang out with them and their kids, and just sit and visit.

another friend, who had connected with the Marroquin's while he was here visiting, sent money for Christmas gifts for the kids. you can watch that little video here...

not long after that, the same family that donated their home sent birthday gifts to the family. we brought the gifts...color books, toys, etc. there was also a spanish bible included.

recently, the anonymous family also donated bunk-beds and linens to the family, so that the 5 of them no longer had to share the same twin-size bed.

as we were installing the beds, Maria (the mom) told me she had to tell me something. beaming with excitement, she began explaining that on the evening the birthday presents were delivered, her husband Eulalio asked her out of the blue: "why do they do it?".

when she asked what he was talking about, he went on to explain that he didn't understand why the gringos keep blessing them. it did not make sense to him, and he was convinced that there must be some reason. something selfish or self gratifying, he thought.

Maria explained to her husband that she thought it was because "they just love God and they want to help people."

Maria went on to tell me that after a few days had passed, Eulalio said to her, "if that's the only reason they are doing it, than i want to know more about their God."

so she recommended he start reading the bible that was given to them...

he read the bible each night for several weeks (praise God he can read, as most in the village cannot). one evening, to Maria's amazement, he told her while laying in bed, "I think want to follow Jesus." she said they talked all night... and he went on to commit his life to Jesus and was baptized in his local church the following week.

in tears, Maria said their family life has been completely different ever since - "full of joy and peace." still poor... still struggling to get by... but full of joy and peace. she told me that Eulalio is a different person, husband, and father.

she said to me as she wiped her eyes: "i want you to know that it's all because of you guys. you have shown us God's love and you have shown us Jesus. we learned about His love by the way you love us."

for me there is nothing more encouraging than seeing people come to Jesus through seeing Him, feeling Him, and being touched by Him.

i'm sure Eulalio has "heard" about Jesus his entire life. but until recently, he had never been radically loved on in Jesus' name. that's our job as the church.

when asked what is the greatest commandment of all, Jesus said: "love your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength... and love your neighbor as yourself."

thank you to everyone who has loved the Marroquin's as themselves. one has been added to God's kingdom as a result.

lunch at lazaro's

if you are unfamiliar with lazaro, you can watch a short video about him and his family here.

we have had some great times hanging out with lazaro's family recently. kerrie and the kids have really been connecting with their girls and helping with reading and writing the last few times we've stopped by. last week we were able to deliver them 2 sets of bunkbeds that a friend donated (they have 9 kids). the kids were giddy and carmen commented "i don't understand all of this blessing."

last week they invited us to come to their house for lunch today. they were so happy to host all 11 of us (our family and the schmidts). they were literally chuckling with joy as they served the food.

when it was time to leave, lazaro said something that i'll never forget. "we're sad that you have to leave. our house lights up with happiness when you're here." kerrie and i fought back tears...

lazaro doesn't claim to be christian or catholic (basically everyone here is one or the other), which probably means he has in some way been burned by both.

as we continue to build this friendship, my prayer is that he and his family will come to know that - while He may be using many of us - it is Jesus who is blessing them, and lighting up their home when we come.

lazaro

today we celebrated the key ceremony for lazaro's family. it was a great day, but extra special when you know a little bit more about lazaro. check this out...

lazaro was born into a very poor family in the town of buena vista. his father died when he was just a baby. at only the age of 3, his mom died. he was left with his grandma, who was his last living relative. three years later, his grandma died.

at 6 years old he had no one left. living in a place so poor that everyone is struggling for food, lazaro was left alone to fend for himself. from age 6 to 14, he lived on the street, bouncing around finding enough food to stay alive.

at age 15 he married a local girl named Carmen.

today, along with Carmen and 5 of his 9 children, we welcomed him into his "dream home".

the hope that i shared with Lazaro today is that this gift of a new home represents God's love for him.

a love that carried him through a difficult life. a love that never forgot about him and never let him go. and a love that still has a great purpose for his life.

i look forward to a much deeper friendship with Lazaro. but i pray that, for now, he understands that while the home he was given today is only temporary, it represents something wonderfully eternal - the relentless love of Jesus.

click here for a short video of lazaro's story

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison..." 2 cor 4:16-17

proverbs 21:13

"If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered."

before/after - marroquin family home

just celebrated the completion of 2 more 12x12 love project homes!

i'm going to try to make short, easy to watch 2 minute videos of the before/after stories with these homes.

each story and transformation is SO AMAZING. please take the 2 minutes to check it out.

CLICK HERE for the marroquin family video.

Maivelyn and Joselyn

a sweet friendship is developing between these girls and my girls. we stopped by today to give them and their brothers backpacks and school supplies, and were welcomed with such excitement. they ran out to hug madi and brooke, and spent the next hour or so playing games, jumping rope, and goofing off.

these are the girls who recently lost their mom in an unexpected death. they now live with their aunt and uncle. i believe our paths have crossed with purpose... we'll see...

i never knew how, but i prayed...

today kerrie and i were visiting 12x12 families (who have received homes through the ministry). as we hung out with one of them, the mom's eyes became red and swelled up with tears. she was overcome with emotion. completely out of the context of the current conversation, she blurted out:

"i have to say something. i am so grateful for my home. i don't have words to say how thankful i am. i have prayed often for a home, but never knew how it could be possible. i never knew how, but i prayed. we have never made enough money to save 1 cent, even when we are all working. but i have prayed."

in tears, she hugged me, then kerrie. i was able to get my emotions in check and explain to her how much we love Jesus, and how God is so good. its all i could think of to say. we explained how it is such a blessing for us to be able to help... how giving always tops receiving!

what was especially neat about this was the fact that this woman has been very shy and stand-offish with us. always nice and cordial, but from a distance.

praise God. i am so thankful for his blessing on the 12x12 love project and the home building ministry. it has truly been amazing to watch Him at work in it all.

merrill lynch family

word of the 12x12 love project reached some merrill lynch executives just before christmas. they put together a campaign and were able to raise enough money for 2, maybe 3, homes for families in guatemala!

this is very short video was made for them. its a tour through the home of a potential family, so they can see the conditions, meet the people, etc...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcidIIczUNI

new family

visited a family yesterday. the ramos lopez fam. mom, dad, and 5 kids living in a mud and cornstalk box towards the top of Buena Vista. the mom, Vicenta, had a sister that passed away a couple months ago (unexpectedly) leaving several young kids behind. 2 of the girls (Visenta's nieces) now live with her: Maivelyn 7, and Joselyn 11.

the 2 nieces are precious. the whole family is precious. my heart breaks for the 2 girls who lost their mom. they seem happy. they were thrilled to have visitors, and quickly became attached to my daughters Madi and Brooke.

definitely feeling led to help this family. i have been thinking about them a lot. they are an obvious candidate for a 12x12 home considering their living conditions. but my heart tells me there are going to be other ways too...

one pic is of the outside of their home, the other of the inside. below jake's elbow is Joselyn, and next to Brooke on the bed is Maivelyn.

ruth's stove

one of the major health issues in this area is because of 24/7 fires burning in the homes. the mom's and the kids breathe in the smoke all day long. i am convinced that people die of lung cancer at young ages having never known what killed them.

donated by the jackson family, we are almost finished building a much safer & healthier stove (with chimney) in the juarez home. praying God will bless this gift and use it to improve/preserve the health of this beautiful family.

salmo

Salmo has stopped by my house numerous times since we moved into Magdalena 11 months ago. every time he has asked me for a house.

responding to the knocks at the door for houses has become difficult. there seems to be no "right way" to respond, other than simply trust the holy spirit to lead in each situation. sometimes God puts a feeling inside my gut that hints "no" or "yes" or "maybe." other times i just explain the process. and sometimes i just say "ok, lets go see your home." that is what happened with Salmo yesterday.

he was so excited to take me to his home. i could tell, he was thinking "finally i got something other that the run-of-the-mill answer!" turns out, Salmo and i are practically neighbors. his house is on the corner of my street, about a 60 second walk.

rough situation. 6 kids, 1 who is married and has 2 of his own. all 11 of them crammed into a dark, dirty, tiny dwelling.

when Salmo introduced me to his baby, a 1 yr old boy, the excitement on his face struck me. as he held up his son, smiling ear to ear, he kissed him on the cheek 3 or 4 times. it was sweet. having not seen too many guatemalan men show this type of affection to their kids, it definitely caught my attention.

i woke up thinking about Salmo today.

nice work day...

us boys (me, jake, mark, isaac, and eli) spent the day working on the 12x12 jobsites. great time. not that shoveling dirt all day is a blast in and of itself, but cutting up and goofing off with the construction guys is priceless. i love 12x12 work days.

being on the jobsite is also a great way to spend time with the families we are building for. as we're working i like to watch them - to get a feel for how their daily life works. today, maria cooked chow mein for the entire crew! on top of that, kerrie and gina brought sandwiches... so we were all full bellied for the afternoon push.

it was all fun and games until jake got smacked in the head from a shovel dropping into the ditch he was working in. no biggie... a few tears shed and we rubbed some dirt on it.

great birthday: the 12x12 party

dec 31st was my birthday. it was also the day that we threw a party in Buena Vista celebrating the 2009 blessings of the 12x12 Love Project home-building ministry.

every family we have built a home for (going back to sep 08) attended. 19 families so far, including the 2 that are currently under construction. also in attendance were the families of the 6 full-time construction workers on staff, as well as the jackson family, our friends visiting from the U.S.

we served and american meal including fresh burgers from McDonalds. the idea behind that was that we wanted to give special thanks to the families and support from the US that keeps the sponsored homes coming... plus the locals have never had anything like it before so we thought it would be fun for them to enjoy an american meal.

everyone attended. they laughed, played, ate, shared, prayed, and mingled. for me personally, it was nothing short of breathtaking. at one point as i looked around, it felt like time stood completely still. it was as if - for a split second in time - the poverty, problems, and challenges within the lives of these families had disappeared. for a few hours, no one had any worries.

several times throughout the event i was fighting back tears. after i shared some remarks, several people came up to the microphone and said such wonderful things. i was shocked at how many people chose to come forward and share. it was extremely special.

romelo had donated pinatas for the kids, and as the kids played i watched the parents laughing. when it was my turn to put on the blindfold, blanca suzanna laughed uncontrollably as i did karate moves against the pinata. blanca is a young girl who comes from a horrifying upbringing of abuse. she is very slow to show emotion...

after the party, every family lined up to hug me and wish me a happy birthday. while i never intended the day to bring any attention to myself, it sure filled me up as i received hugs and kisses from these special people. we have a unique and special friendship with each family, and seeing them all together in one place truly helped me put in perspective how special the relationships are that we have, as well as remind me of the amount of work that has been done in a short time.

after the party we delivered a pila (sink for washing clothes) to a family who had no water. the jackson's had given this to them as a gift. we hooked up their pipes and installed the pila, then we hustled home for showers. off to dinner in the city (another treat from the jackson family), and returned home for new years eve fireworks...

an extremely special day - a birthday i will never forget.