Month: July 2013

Yesterday morning we loaded up and drove to another women’s rehab center (by the way, yes, these have all been different rehab centers!) to help sort donations and do yard work. We were able to help the ladies out a lot.

We then went to the Tallulah Gorge and hiked down. It was stunningly beautiful! Hard work climbing back up, but well worth it. I told the team that sometimes you have to work hard to see something beautiful! We then drove back to the college, grabbed our swimming gear, and went to the Cannon’s home for dinner, swimming, a concert by the Cannon boys, and a final night of sharing. Of course, we had to make a couple of videos as well. We got home at about 11:30pm and did some initial packing.

This morning we had breakfast then finished packing and cleaning. The team is now in devotions and then we are stopping by the Toccoa Falls College bookstore and heading home. It’s been an incredibly awesome trip! Thanks for your prayers as we travel home today. See you all in just a few more hours!

See all the trip pics here.

I am still wading through 700 pictures from yesterday, so I am only posting a couple of shots. This is what happens when I allow the kids to use the camera. lol!

We had an incredible day. First stop was at The Village – a brand new camp opening next week. We met with the Camp Director and visionary of the camp, Robert Willis. He and his brother Kevin Willis, who is a retired NBA player have a vision of a camp where kids who are at high risk of not being adopted can come and find hope, healing, have fun, learn life skills, and possibly meet their future families. It was unbelievable. We were asked to come out and tour the facilities and pray for Robert and the camp. At first our kids were wondering why we would go all the way out “just to pray”, but we assured them that prayer is powerful and what we were doing was so significant! Our battle is not against flesh and blood; it’s spiritual. We had a wonderful time and it was so great hearing our kids pray.

Next stop was lunch – Tatertot casserole, which Dominic Dantona was especially excited about! It was awesome! We then went to the Toccoa YMCA where we did our dance, several kids shared testimonies, and we played with kids. Everyone of our team members was fully engaged. We then went to an assisted living facility where we visited with probably 10 residents and prayed with them.

We then came back to Toccoa Falls College where we visited the Toccoa Falls (yes, the school owns the falls!). It was stunning and so fun! At one point we turned around and Jim and a bunch of the students had given into the temptation of the water. They went from wading to full on swimming in their clothes. Lots of laughter. Unfortunately, they had missed the “No Swimming” sign, so we had them all get out. Too bad, because it looked so refreshing and fun! After a quick change, we took sack lunches, loaded into the vans, and drove an hour and a half to the Potter’s House Men’s Recovery home where we ministered to 300 men! The team members remaining who had not shared their testimonies did so (ALL of the team members shared their stories on this trip!!!! Way to go!!!!) and did so great! We did our dance and drama, and Jim Owens preached and did a fabulous job!

On the way home we had a real treat. I walked into Bojangles (a chicken restaurant) and told the manager, “Don’t panic…” (I can just imagine what was going through her head: Am I about to get robbed?!) I have 48 people coming in here. BUT, they are not all getting in line. I’m going to make this as simple and as easy as possible for you.” She looked like a deer caught in headlights. I ordered 45 chicken finger meals and 3 grilled chicken meals (for our Glutton free kids), and the staff was so awesome! Our team had a blast! We arrived back at camp at midnight. I dropped the team off then headed to Walmart to get supplies. Got home at 2am, and got to bed at 3am. Very full, very great day!

Pastor Kevin

This gentleman was 100 years old!

Another day packed with ministry! After breakfast and devotions we headed to the Salvation Army. 1/2 of the team worked in the Thrift Store sorting donations. The other 1/2 went to the community center/church and had a wonderful time mingling with the folks playing cards, doing crafts, and doing puzzles. Natalia was asked to be the receptionist and answer the phone for people calling for assistance. After cleaning up we had bag lunches in the vans and drove 30 minutes to a YMCA where we did our dance, shared the gospel, and played with the kids. We then went to Pastor Lenny’s house and the kids enjoyed swimming and popsicles. We returned to the dorms, ate some fruit, showered, and headed out to another women’s recovery home. About 100 women were there and we had a powerful time together! They were so enthusiastic about Jesus, and excited that we were there. We did our dance and drama, 6 members of our team shared their testimonies, and MaryAnn shared a word with them. There was so much mutual encouragement happening. Beautiful! Afterward we learned that one woman had spent all day doing everything she could to get herself out of the treatment program. One of the woman simply said, “I know you’re out of here tomorrow, but why don’t you just come in tonight.” After our time of ministry, she reported that she would NOT be checking herself out and would stick with the program. Wow! Praise God! Please pray for her! After our farewells we loaded up, drove back to Toccoa, ate dinner, did more swimming, then had a time for the team to debrief the day. One of Pastor Lenny’s sons, Jose, shared his incredible testimony with us! Our team was touched so deeply. We got back about 10:30pm, and the team is finally falling asleep now. A great day! Thanks for your continued prayers.

See all the pics here.

Dominic has decided to become one of the Cannon Boys.

Wow! What a day! This morning we had breakfast at 8am followed by small group devotions. At 10am one of our groups went to work at the Salvation Army, and the other 3 groups headed to the Boys and Girls Club. The group at the Salvation Army moved some donated goods. The others did their dance to “Who Am I?”. We then spent another hour plus playing with the kids. Some of our students asked the children if they wanted to learn the dance we had done, and a lot of them did, so they taught it to them. So great! We also made balloon animals, did face painting, played basketball, parachute, football, and more with the kids. Every one of the team did great engaging with the children! We then went to Pastor Lenny’s house where a group of 8 students practiced the “Everything” drama. We also played a little basketball and hung out until lunch – hamburgers and hotdogs. We then went inside and enjoyed the much-needed air conditioning and heard from a young married couple who is heading off to India as missionaries, and were challenged to be radical for Jesus by a friend of Pastor Lenny’s named Sister Sherry. We returned to our dormitory at Toccoa Falls Christian College, and the team of 8 finished learning the “Everything” drama. At 5pm we loaded up and drove to Heart Ministries – a recovery home for women trying to overcome addictions. The kids were incredible! We did our dance and drama, and there was not a dry eye in the place! So powerful! We also had our first round of student testimonies. Saul, Grace, Kate, Daniel, and Natalia all shared and did excellent! So proud of them! MaryAnn Dantona then shared a word with the ladies and we ended with a beautiful time of prayer and lots of hugs. The ladies were so appreciative of our team coming. On the way home we stopped at Walmart to pick up some supplies and saw a gorgeous rainbow and an unbelievable sky filled with colors. Back at the dormitory we had dinner and read blog comments. Full day of ministry! More tomorrow!

See all the pics here.

The awesome JoAnne who flew down from Long Island to cook for our team!

Some of Pastor Lenny’s sons doing a rap

This morning everyone from the team made it to the airport and everything went smoothly at checkin and getting through security. Our flight was good and the kids were very excited. For at least one of our students it was their first time flying. When we landed we got our luggage and picked up our 3 rental vans, loaded up, and drove to Toccoa. We stopped at Wendy’s en route for dinner. When we arrived at Toccoa Falls College, Pastor Lenny Cannon and his family was there to greet us and help us get settled into our rooms. JoAnne, our cook for the week, and a long-time friend of Pastor Kevin’s from Long Island, flew down yesterday ahead of our team to get the food supplies in order was also there to welcome us. Her daughter and grandson drove up from Florida to join us on our mission this week. At 9:30pm we drove over to Pastor Lenny’s house and used the building on his property to give everyone a brief orientation and to practice our dances and dramas. The kids really did well and within an hour you could see the difference. We also lined up 2 groups of kids who will learn the Everything drama. We returned to our dorms and one of the groups did a brief walk thru of the drama. Tomorrow after lunch we are hoping to have them nail it and the will do it live tomorrow evening. The kids are so amped up and we’re trying to get them to get some much needed sleep. Up and at ’em early tomorrow! Thanks for all your love and prayers.

On Wednesday some of our Jr. High students and leaders had a really fun time at Boomers followed by dinner together. The first of many great events planned for this summer.

See all the pics here.

After 13 days, yesterday our family was finally and joyfully reunited. Natalia flew to Chicago all by herself to spend time with her Nana and Pappy Mahaffy while Claudia, Adriana and I were in Peru. We are so proud of our little girl for her maturity and responsibility traveling alone.

On Monday evening we got to the airport about 7:30pm. The idea was that we would checkin, go get something to eat, then go through security and get to our gate in plenty of time for our flight, which was supposed to leave at midnight. Unfortunately, they didn’t open the desk for checkin until 10pm, so we went in groups and got dinner, then checked in. Everything went smoothly. When we arrived in Mexico City at 6:30am we went through Immigration then got our luggage, went through Customs, and put our luggage on the transfer belt. Only our team supplies bag was held up. Adriana and I waited for the Federales to come and search the bag, explaining that the fake guns and knives and money were props for dramas, and that we weren’t bringing the balloons and balloon pumps through to sell. Everyone got breakfast, then we boarded our flight. Three of our team members were selected for “random” search. No problems. We arrived at JFK early, but took quite a while to taxi before being towed to our gate. All people and luggage made it home safely and there were a lot of happy parents there to greet us.

Our awesome bus driver for the week in Peru.