Sorry for being lazy!
Hey everyone,
Sorry it has been a while since an update; someday I hope ot make it more of a commitment then a secondhand thing in my life to inform you of what has been going on. Honestly its been some of the busiest time I've had in the past year and a half and it doesn't seem to be slowing down much. But in all of it I understand God is just and what comes our way is what we can handle.
Once I returned from Nicaragua I had a list of video projects I had to do. These were of course unpaid venture I put myself out there for so as I waited for some paid work to come by I would work on them diligently. Once paid work came by they were put on the back burners and are still, at this time, unfinished. I feel horrible on the inside that I haven't got them done yet but I can only work as fast as the computer can and as much as I can with out getting in a pickle with money. Needless to say that is why I felt led to catch you guys up because I am waiting for some video to convert and its taking FOREVER!
A couple weeks ago I was feeling very overwhelmed with things and could tell I needed a break. I took it upon myself to take a few days off and go do some photography with some friends out on a couple of the islands (Peaks and Long Island). It was nice to be away from time, away from the computer screen, and away from the constant pull and push of people needing me to do something, expecting I can handle it and not get bogged down by the fact that I am running a full-time schedule with a volunteer pay. The sun shown down on us as we walked the beach and up and down the streets of the Maine-esc islands. On Long Island I wanted to get some cool pictures of these huge waves crashing against the rocks and thought it would be a great idea to get closer... well the next wave was the master commander of all the waves and came in and about took me out. I was soaked! My camera was wet and I tried my best to protect it, but when you are bolting across jagged rocks in bare feet you find it hard to concentrate.
Peaks Island is always a great place to go and walk around. If you have the energy and the whole day you can walk around the entire island. We stopped in at the fort on the island and walked trough the long dark creepy hallway flashing the camera bulbs to see where we were going.
If you would like to see more photos of the trip you can go to my Facebook account and check them out.
For next years Guatemala trip we have built out a website to help with fundraising online. The church as gained a paypal account and is using it to make online donations easier for everyone. the website is www.2-15-13.com. It is constantly being updated and changed around due to the fact that this concept for a website is new to all of us and we want to make it as easy as possible for everyone. If you feel led to help out in an form financially please donate online and support someone you know or anyone you feel led to support.
Another fundraiser that is right around the corner is the 2013 calendars! I have heard nothing but awesome remarks about them from everyone and I am excited to see what God brings of it this year. the teens on the Guatemala trip will be given 10 a piece to start with to sell to raise money for their trip.
Last week I made an appointment to go to the dentist, which I have not been to in about three years, due to timing, insurance and lack of money. Not that I have a whole lot of money I knew it would be a good idea to go. I made an appointment at UNE (awesome cause I don't need insurance and its cheap) and went in. They proceeded to check my teeth out and went on to say something on the lines of "3, 4, 3... 2, 3, 3..., 3, 4, oh my.." I wasn't feeling to confident after that. Turns out my bottom gum was pretty inflamed from years of plaque build up underneath... Kids... brush you teeth and FLOSS!! Cause what's coming up next was no fun.
I had to make a second appointment because they would not have enough time to do what they needed. I went in mid week this week for the deep cleaning and they tore my gums a new one!! It was the bloodiest thing I have been apart of. Luckily they had some numbing stuff to put over it all but it had to be constantly reapplied because it took for ever to clean out. she was sticking gauze in my mouth to clean the blood up and it went in white and came out RED!! like drippy red. YUCK!
So we will see how well I do from now on with my teeth. I don't care to go through it again.
Sometime around this time of the week I realized my car need to be inspected... TWO MONTH AGO!! so I called in to see if I could get an appointment made it, went in gave them my registration and found out my car has be unregistared for TWO MONTH!!.... guess I did them at the same time..
So long story short I go to register my car online, find out my insurance card is out of date... have to get all new paper work and my car, at this point won't pass inspection. At least until I put about $800 into it... I don't have that kind of money at this point!. So I am getting a second opinion on the car on Monday, and the car at this tiem is registered and insured so I can't get thrown in jail at least.
But with all this said one cool aspect did come out of it all. And maybe it just connects to all of this. Just before all this started to go down I was offered a small stipend position at my church! FINALLY! I mean it isn't enough to live off of by any means but it will help nonetheless. The job consists of me being the leader of the A/V team and building out a crew that I think would be beneficial to making Sunday morning run smoothly and with as little problems as possible. I am very excited about this job oppotunity, out of all the one's I have had in teh past year and hope to see it lead to bigger and better places.
But I find it funny that all these crazy bad things, started falling down on me just as this job was offered to me. I had to go to the dentist (Id rather wrestle a bear), my car just seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with paper work (my second biggest stresses next to girls... my car), and the things I am realizing I didn't share that are seeming to be anxiety filled for me, my dad went in for an MRI yesterday to check for Alzheimer, gas just keeps going up, so there now hope of saving money at all, I've had to cut out chances to minister to kids or give them opportunities to go do something because I can't afford to bring them because of the car stuff, and overall I have a list of things that need to get finished and they just never seem to get done..
So all these things started funneling into me right after this opportunity with the church was presented. could it be a coinicidence? or could it be satan plugging away at me when I am vunerable.
*side note: I sarcastically love that fact that when I type 'satan' into this post is tells me I am spelling it wrong because it is lowercase... geshh
My guess is that God has something planned and I am unaware of its complete outcome. Some day it will all make sense but when things like this happen I know something is going right, cause everything seems to be going wrong. It happens before almost every missions trip, it happens when I follow my heart instead of my mind and its happening right now.
So satan.... BUG OFF!
Missions Leaders Weekend
Hey Everybody out there. This last weekend I joined in on a Missions leader weekend with Stroudwater Christian Church to Alton Bay NH. Our goal was to help spruce up a cottage on the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center land to have it ready for pastors and ministry leaders who need a place to unwind and recharge to go to. This cottage was donated to the ABCCC and they decided to put it to great use. Ministry leaders and Pastors need breaks just as much, if not more, than others. Pastors don't just get up on Sunday mornings and preach the good word; they are on 24/7 call to the ministry of God. If a person is in trouble and they are contacted they are on top of it like a hobo on a hotdog. 
This cottage is gong to open to those pastors and ministry leaders who need a recharage, free of charge from the confrence center AND as far as I understand they will get spoiled, at elast to my standards I think that is a gfreat thing to have for those who give up there lifes and time for those around them who they know and don't know.
The weekned started out early Friday morning. the objective: paint the outside of the cottage. I busted out almost 3/4 of the building in a days time. It was quiet remarkable with all the yoga moves around the eves and electrical wires. Bill, Darren, Greg and I were quiet tired by the end of the day. Late that afternoon Jeff and Glenace joined us to help out the next morning. We were able to finish it all by 2:30 which was a surprise. The back side of the building was the hardest to work with. To reach the top eve of the building we extended a ladder parallel to the eve and laid it against the small addition, Darren stood on the bottom of the ladder as I crawled to the top of the ladder, past the balance point and bounced happily up and down as I painted the eve. Of course this was all OSHA approved - haha.
Overall the weekend was a great time with some of the people involved in missions and ministry in the church. Even though it was a small group it was good relationship building.
PS. The FOOD WAS AMAZING!!!
Nicaragua 2012! Journal Entries
Well who would have expected I'd be going to Nicaragua? NO ONE! That's right! And that's what began this trip in a legen... wait for it... wait for it.... dary way.
Videos will come soon. Please be patient as I work on them.
Less than two days before the trip was ready to be sent out I received a call from the trip leader, my brother-in-law, Trevor. He said that the church received a call from someone who wanted to fully sponsor me to go to Nicaragua. WHAT!!!!!? Who.. wha... whe.. How did all this come around? Well God is the only answer I can give to this one.
Months ago when the trip meetings began I started attending them with the intent of praying about it and seeing if it would be possible to pull off Guatemala and Nicaragua this year. A few meetings in I quickly realized that it would be a miracle to pull that off financially. I was gone all summer, made no money from the work I did during the summer, and was already 3 months until all the money had to be in for Guatemala. There was NO WAY it was going to happen.
I soon gave up on that attempt and planned on trying for next year. Well time passed, a trip to Guatemala came by, and the trip to Nicaragua was getting ready to head out. And BOOM! God spoke into someone's heart.
So needless to say I was in quick pack mode. Thank God I was already packed in a suitcase, it mad things much easier to manage and put together.
God presented many amazing things upon this trip not just to me but to everyone on the trip. Through actions, devotions, dreams, laughter, prayer, and life.
Day 1:
The team had an early start to the trip, not as early as the Guatemala trip but 6AM seems like 3AM when you are sleep deprived. Everything on the flights and bus rides down went smoothly. It was great fun meeting up with Ben and Lisa (who had no clue I was coming) in Miami at the terminal. They had left a week early for a conference and some vacation time at Disney. We had a late lunch and I stayed behind as the group went to the terminal to meet Ben and Lisa. I showed up about 10 minutes later and slowly worked my way closer and closer to them until I was sitting right behind Ben. I couldn't help but sit there at laugh as I was listening in on there conversation, Tammy and the others would keep looking at my smiling and laughing on the inside and two strangers sitting across from me were giving me looks like I am going to do something dangerous or something... never knew I had that look going on.
As the strangers were paranoid already I decided to reach into my black backpack and.... *as the strangers look at me with curiosity, wondering if it will be a bomb or a gun; I pulled out a pen and piece of paper. I write down a message and asked Greg through hand motions to come meet me at the pillar a distance away. I asked him to get a picture of the two of them (Ben and Lisa) to mark the beginning of their first missions trip together. He knew what was up my sleeve and he went back and jumped right on it. Of course while I am waiting for him to make his way around the corner I was trying to figure out which Cory face to make. SOOOO I went with the most famous one!
Ben and Lisa were ecstatic to see and find out I was going with them on the trip! SUPRISE!!!!
Once we made it to Managua we met up with our translator Dimas, a 23 year old Ometepe local who has been helping with translations now with groups for the past few years. Him and his family are all fishers and live by it. Translating is just an amazing gift God has given him (and later to find out his brother).
The team that night settled into the hotel, wiped away the bed bugs, and met up for our first devotion. Everyone was very excited to be there including me. For I had NO CLUE why God impressed on someones heart to pay my way to Nicaragua.
Day 2:
Buenos Dias!!! First morning in Nicaragua. And now on to Central American time. Everyone was up early, ready to pack the bus, and then eat breakfast with Pastor Henry and his wife Irma at 8AM. All the bags were packed on the bus and ready to go and breakfast started promptly at 9AM. Henry is the pastor of the Church in Managua and is basically Pastor Miguels (pastor in Ometepe that Stroudwater works with) boss. Henry and Irma took us over the dormitory project the church is working on . The building is being built to begin an amazing opportunity for the children of CICRIN and hopefully the whole island. The dormitory project is a 2 story building they are constructing next to the church to give children from the island who want to go to university a place to live in the city. You must understand that most children on the island have never been to the city and find it overwhelming due to many different living styles. Pastor Henry has had a vision to give the kids of CICRIN and the island of Ometepe a chance to continue their education. The building project is a large effort on many organizations and churches to build. The price of it is in the tens of thousands of dollars, but the fruit that will come from the project will become ten fold of that!
After a quick glance and meeting there we were back into the bus and off to Ometepe. We had stopped in at a place to have some lunch part way there. It was a tourist attraction view. The shops and restaurants over looked a basin of an in active volcano the was now a large lake! It was a spectacular view, but the wind was horrendous.
This trip from the City of Managua is about 2 hours to the fairy and then another hour and a half on the boat and 15 more minutes to CICRIN. Nothing to crazy an exciting on the trip to CICRIN but I did come up with a fun idea. Stemmed from the Ben and Lisa surprise, Helen did not know I was coming either. I thought it would be awesome to be dropped off at the end of the road and then walk in a little later. Yeah I am cool like that! Haha Well at first it looked like it wasn't going to happen because Helen was going to come and pick us up. When we got to the Island and we saw the bus, I noticed she was not there! HOOOORAY!
So we proceeded to head to CICRIN and once we made it to the end of the driveway I hopped out into the darkness with my little Jesus light, grabbed my bag and guitar and walked on down. Helen was quite surprised to see me, as I walked through Main street asking for Helen then quickly introducing myself as Cory and was wondering if there may be room for me to stay the evening.
SURPRISE!!!
Day 3:
Beginning the work week! We had a few projects on the list to attack. 1) painting the feeding program Building 2) wiring the feeding program building to the church to get power to it and 3) preparing gabian baskets for the insane task to building a retaining wall on the waterfront of CICRIN.
The team was split up accordingly and I hopped on with the group to the church to check out the feeding program stuff. Being a last second add in, there was really any particular thing they needed me for; I take it God wanted me hear to be able to express the need and what Stroudwater is doing to show Christ to the world of Ometepe. We got to the Church and instantly started in on painting and wiring. Our main man Ben the professional wire head started planning out the attack, Tricia headed up her crew of painters, and I began catching a couple photo and video moments here and there, then quickly hopped on to help the guys with the 
wiring. We began by laying out the pvc pipe across the lawn and stretching out, what adds up to the amount to an extension cord, across from the Church to the Feeding program building. Ben was thrown by the fact that the church and this feeding program building were being run on an extension cord. Welcome to Central America! We spent the morning laying all of that out, headed back to CICRIN for lunch where the Gabian basket team had knocked out almost 10 gabian baskets (a task that last year would have taken them a full two days) in only a half a day.
After lunch we headed back to the church, filled in the ditch the wire was being buried in and hooked up the main box in the building.
That evening we relaxed, nothing was scheduled, so we hung out with the kids and Helen and had some devotion time.
My goal was to sleep in the Rancho every night but that night it was very windy out. And sleeping in a hammock was not very doable.
Day 4:
Bienvenidos Gordon College!!
Today Gordon College showed up at around noon time. This group of Christ loving 20 somethings had worked with Stroudwater last year on some gabian baskets and other projects on the Orphanage, and from that built the beginning to a wonderful co-trip adventure for both Gordan College and Stroudwater.
By the time Gordon arrived the gabian basket crew build around 20 gabian baskets and had started in on logistics of how to get three rock piles from points A, B and C to point D which was down over a 15-20 foot dusty, rocky cliff with rolling the stones into the lake.
The afternoon consisted a group heading back to paint and work on electrical stuff and a group tossing rocks. I stayed behind to play with Rocks, because rocks are cool and I wasn't really ready to be in thinking mode. SO, rock after rock after rock over the edge onto other already finished and filled gabian baskets was my excitement.
In the afternoon I wanted a mango that was hanging in the tree just above the dorms for teams that come down. Greg Helped me reach it and when I got it the milk from the vine started leak all over the mango and my hands and arm. I start to wipe it and was going to bite it off and Dimas yelled “stop, what are you doing?” I told him I wanted to eat it. He said “wait, don't do that , the milk will burn you” well my saving grace Dimas probably saved my life. As off that evening the milk started in on its poison ivy like reactions. It itched more than burned and spread a little on my arms.
That evening We had some relational building time with the kids and present the movie Rio for them. The initial attempt was to do it at the church like last year but the Pastor had lent out the projector to another pastor on the other side of the island and was not able to have it there. To us we were very happy to hear he was sharing a piece of equipment brought down last year for him with others to help spread the word of Christ around.
There's nothing like watching a movie in Spanish with English subtitles on a white sheet blowing in the wind on a tiled rancho.
Day 5:
Today I got to experience Church in Nicaragua. Going to church the last time I had come here was not an option. We worked on Sunday when we came down and did not even remotely connect with the Church or even Pastor Miguel. That was one HUGE difference I notice from 3 years ago when I had been here before. Instead of being very focused on CICRIN the Stroudwater team is now very focused on building the church and helping them to find great ways to spread the word around the island and even off the island. Yes we are helping with a gabian basket project but that isn't a huge focus. I was excited that incorporating going to church was now apart of the trip.
The service was awesome. Again I felt I was not sure why
I was on the trip or why God had sent me but I could only imagine it was to document the trip and what Stroudwater was doing down there.
I took it upon myself to not just help out with Stroudwater on this adventure but also Gordon College. During apart of the service I do admit, I did skip out, but It was because Gordon was putting on a VBS piece for the kids. I felt it necessary to capture some of this for them and Stroudwater to see the work we are doing down there. They did an amazing job teaching kids songs, and doing relational fun building activities with them.
After church we put on a ice cream social! This was an opportunity the group started last year to help bring in some community and get together time for the church and the locals in the area. We popped up the tent and started serving some delicious ice cream. Pastor Miguel said usually a lot of people leave after the service is done and go home and never stick around to talk. This time here was keeping everyone around to interact, socialize and become more family than friends.
In the evening the women put on Healing Hands again for a second year. This was a time for the women of Los Angeles to come and have the nails done and hands massage and be prayed for. I, being “the documenter”, had to come get some footage of the event. Last year in doing this event it brought three local women to Christ who are still attending church there. This year I am not sure how many were saved but it was a cool experience even as a guy to see the team praying for the women they were massaging hands of. And of course the girls loved painting the guys hands, Dimas, the pastor and Trevor included! - The praying at the end was very cool to experience. In Nicaragua they all pray at the same time which is even different than Guatemala and here in the States. Again very cool experience!
Day 6:
Back to the rocks! By now our muscles were ready to do some more heavy lifting. Moving from a few smaller handable rocks to one massive rock back to small ones was a good motion for the day. We only had some minor injuries throughout the day. Some rocks to the ankles and cuts from the gabian baskets.
The electrical crew got a whole bunch done but ended up with some minor difficulties due to types of materials and having to make innovative changes to the layout. The painting crew finished up the main room and the first coat of the kitchen.
That night we did the first night of VBS. It was a little different in the fact that the Church crew down there did the VBS while we were the helping hands. We had sent them down the material to do it and they put it on. It sounds like a lame excuse to not do the VBS but the point of this VBS was to empower them to be able to go out for the island. And they did a FANTASTIC job! The fact that we were the reason they had that opportunity to do this make me realize what kind of a change we are making for people thousands of miles away from us.
A very sad story of the evening, totally put myself in my place; My sister, as we were getting ready to leave had the horrible opportunity to have to take a kid away from his mother. One of the children at CICRIN, him and his brother were dropped off last year by there mother while the team was there because the mother can not afford to feed them and take care of them. The child reconnected with his mom at the VBS and at the end of the night he had to tleave. He was crying and obviously upset. It was heart wrenching to hear my sister telling me the situation and watching the tears run down her face and the boys face as he looked out the window for a possible last glance of his mother.
Day 7:
Today consisted of much of the same as yesterday. ROCKS and VBS! another very successful work day with 3 rock piles moved, 12 gabians baskets filled and the electrical and painting almost finished things were looking pretty well.
A cool experience I got to have during the VBS time was seeing a kid named Luis. Luis was a youngin' that Ralph Merrill and I picked up on the way back in from town the last time I was there. We picked him up and told him about the VBS that night. He showed up and has been going to church and everything. I was speaking with him, through a translator and and told him that I remembered him from three years ago when we picked him up on the side of the road. Amazingly he remembers the moment to! It was very cool to know being apart of a small thing like that made a huge difference in a child's life.
Day 8
Check out day! One thing that was much different than Guatemala in January was the weather. It was SUPER HOT!. Well... not as hot as me! But warm enough to knock us off our feet. Working on the rocks there was at least a breeze when working on top of the hill. Once we were down over the hill the breeze went away and the temperature sky rocketed. But work had to be done. We were all on check out mode come lunch and needed a good, long.. relaxing.. dip in some water.
El ojo de agua (the eye of the water) is a spring feed, man made pool on the island. Around the edges were wood seats and a couple of little huts with trinkets to buy, cold sodas, and coconut milk right out of the cocanut. It was a pretty cool place and a definite needed break from moving jagged volcano rocks from points A, B and C to D.
That night was pizza night. On the last night that the team stays at CICRIN they treat the kids to a night of pizza in the town next to Los Angeles. The consistency of the cheese is not far off from.. well.. feta cheese I guess.. yeah feta with lots of grease. But the kids love having the treat. They do not get to have this hardly ever unless teams come to help and think of it.
Seeing the time together with the kids and the people in the teams is a blessing. Watching people who don't know much Spanish having conversations with the kids, and kids sitting in laps, people laughing, kids and tias having a moment to have a fun time all together. This may seem like a get out a jail free “this-is-not-a-missions-trip” event but the way I see it; Showing Christ through evangelizing and works is just as much important as showing Gods character through laughter, hugging, crying, and beautiful time together that does not get to happen but probably once a year.
That evening the kids always put on a little fiesta party for the team. This time is where they get to show there cultural roots in dances and party favors. The kids were preparing all week on the dances they were doing and as a special surprise the young kids wanted to do there own dance. Helen was very unsure about how it would come out, but out of all of them it was the cutest and funniest to see. The younger kids really wanted to do something for the team as well, because typically the older kids are the ones that will do the dances.
After the dances we had a great time with a pinata! With only an “almost” near death experience the night ended with lots of candy, hugs, ice cream, tears and Jimmy, Felix, and Danieo talking till 2 AM in the morning in the Racnho with Gordon kids. Yes is tried to sleep through it. Not much of a success.
Day 9:
Up early for breakfast, last minute packing and good bye. The worst part to a trip like this. One thing about this trip that differs from Guatemala for me is that you stay on one place. In doing so you build a much larger friendship and relationship with the kids and adults in the area. Having to hug the kids as they cry, sharing hugs with Helen and the tias, watching Coney (one of the younger girls) give one final hug to Greg as she gets off the bus to go to school with tears on both of there sides makes you understand what a relationship can do to someone even when you don't know there language.
God has a crazy Love language that most of us never understand, I think “this is what it must be like to be in his shoes, when he has to say 'I'll see you again in the future my friend.'”
We ended up going to a church service at Pastor Henry's church which floored many literally. I myself had some effects I've never really felt and couldn't understand. At one point we began to pray and I ended up continuing praying while things were going on and with eyes closed and my mind set on “God, you are awesome, I am glad you brought me here, I don't fully understand it but I am glad to do what I can for you” I began to feel this, what can only be describe as a burning-ish sensation.. not like mango milk burn but something indescribable. And I guess during that time while they were all praying the pastor was praying for people and people were falling to the ground and lots of stuff I've never experienced were happening. Something tells me there was some holy spirit stuff happening that night.
Day 10
Planes Buses and automobiles... not much excitement but everyone made it home safely.
Conclusion:
This trip has shown me a whole lot of God. Though having at least 7 de ja vu moments, having a member of the team have a moment with God in their dreams, the praying at the church, and seeing what our involvement is doing for the outreach with the church and spreading Gods love.
I came into this trip not knowing what to expected. I was very excited to be making it back again but had plenty of reasons to be a little nervous being on these old stomping grounds. But it was cool to stand there over looking the place I decided to be baptized by my good friend Pastor Paul Gant and my brother-in-law Trevor, It was amazing to see where all the kids were now compared to than, everyone grew up and is ready to move forward in life to hopefully university and a better place. It was amazing to see the the development of not just CICRIN but the church and where the feeding program is now (fully finished and ready to begin).
From not knowing why I was personally blessed to be on this trip, to being able to use my talents in both a helping hand and photos and video, to make a load of new friends (some for hopefully life 
), to having multiple people on the trip shed tears of joy, because of something they saw me do or something that I am... God blessed me personally with knowledge that I am on the right track. That even in the lack of “things and possessions” I am on the right track for God and in so have shown not just one person, but realize I've shown many people something special about faith and trusting the Lord. Of course I am not going to take that kind of stuff as a self righteous moment because everything I do that seems out of place and different; that seems obscure and backwards, that seems like maybe the world doesn't approve. Is God.
God is legen... wait for it... wait for it... dary!
If you made it to the end of this post you are a SAINT! Sorry it has to be so long
God Bless you all
Put Up of the Day: Lauren P.
Today I would like to put up my friend Lauren P. Lauren is graduating High School this year and has a key role in our churches youth group and ministries.
Lauren works as a leader spy in our youth group. What I mean by this is she plays undercover. most of the time people will recognize the loud heads, the people who send the emails, and the people with the paid staff positions when it comes to leading in youth groups. Lauren is NONE of those but has one of the hugest roles, I believe, in the development of our youths growth in their faith in Christ. her constant will to encourage everyone around her, put a smile on even if she is having a bad day, come over to you to just give you a hug, may not be teaching in a classroom about Jesus but is showing them Jesus. Giving them something that the world tends to shy us away from.
Living a life of Christ is much harder then just speaking it, in my mind.
I had the great honor to travel with her to Nicaragua and West Virginia for a short-terms mission trip, have been a leader and mentor for her for several years now at our church, and have had the amazing opportunity to see this shy creative soul, turn into a bright and actively engaged follower of Christ. Not by just joining missions trips, but also participating in youth group, even in her senior year, and being apart of the worship team for church services on Sundays.
This put up came from a very generous motive that she presented to me. In my last posting I mentioned the situation about the pastor in the village we were working in and his family not eating for 8 days. I continued to explain that we took a love offering and bought food for the family. We went out to wendy with her family and some friends and got some lunch and as I was leaving she slipped me an envelope. I took it and smiled and hugged then for what I was pretty sure I was gonna want to hug her later for. Iwhen I got to my destination I opened the letter and this is what is said.
"Cory -
I saw your blog post where you said you gave all you could to the pastor who needed money for food. You have such a wonderful heart and you inspire me to give my all for God. I hope this blesses you like you continually bless other -"
With tears running to my eyes I didn't know who to take it. If I knew this was what I was getting I would have given her more then a hug. i would have paid for her lunch of something. Without her knowing this is something God wanted placed in my life to bring back a sense of hope to some of the darkness creeping in around me.
Lauren, you've made me realize again that God has a plan for what I am doing. A lot of times I want to give up and stop doing what I am but am compelled to continue. Thank you for you thoughtful and kind words I know are a direct line from God.
There are lots of things I can complain about, which I have explained thoroughly in my last posting, things I wish I could have of be apart of. But these simple few words, only, 8 lines on a note pad paper, remind me that is not about me, its about The kid in youth group who stood up in front of the whole church and pronounced a key factor in his decision in being baptized was Cory; it's not about me, it's about friends kids who haven't seen you in over a year and the first thing from there mouths are "Uncle CORY" as they push you out the door with excitement; It's not about me, its about the Child in Guatemala I sponsor yearly, to give him a good education and a chance to do something with his life; it's not about me, its not about me, its about the family of 9 children who haven't eaten in 8 days; its not about me, it's about the young child in a village who wants nothing more than a hug of compassion and be held in comfort; its not about me, it's about that senior girl who wants is inspired by you to give their all.
Thank you Lauren for bring a light back into my life that I almost forgot.
Guatemala 2012:: Back in Affect
Hello all!
The team is back in the States, home safe and sound. Stroudwater did a wonderful job updating everyone on Facebook while we were down there; I personally eat it when it came to updating everyone.
I felt compelled to keep away from technology as much as possible while I was engaged with the camps we provided. Needless to say my lack of video and photo taking was set to getting clips I wanted and things I thought might be useful instead of documenting the whole trip.
I apologize now for the long post but I am going to give you all the best day to day update you are going to get about my experience on this third trip to Guatemala.
Day 1. January 2nd
The day started out dark and early; 2:30 AM. A group of us stayed up all night because of excitement and adrenaline. The day before we had church and I was up bright and early about 6AM to get ready to pick up Shane to go and help set up for church at 7:30. Church happened, went to the church campus to pack up all the Operation Direct Impact bags for the children of the villages, then went on a mission to find Pastor David some dark chocolate kit kats. Early afternoon I ended up back at the church and hung out and worked on some things work related until Chelsey, Paul and Wayne showed up. It was a fun adventurous night with a trip to cold stone and Dominoes, and a little guitar hero thrown in.
My mind was too busy thinking of what God had in store for me this trip to really focus enough on anything that was going on at the church all night.
So we left the church campus at 2:30 AM, were on the plane by 6:30AM to Miami and into Guatemala by 4PM. We got off the plane and had the easiest traveling I have had yet to Guatemala. Things went very smoothly. At this time we were not sure what the plan was; weather we were staying in the city or heading to Rio Dulce. Turned out we were leaving directly from the airport to Rio Dulce. Just a quick breather between the long day of traveling already to the 6+ hour drive to the other side of Guatemala. By 9:30 we were at the hotel just across from the first village we were doing the camp at and completely toast; burnt on both sides and of course, ready to get up and do a camp all day long the next day.
Day 2: January 3rd
I was up bright and early to try and get some footage of the sun rising of lake Isabel. With a failed attempt to get that 
footage at 5:30AM because of the rain clouds, I grabbed what I could and found a little turtle on the back parking lot. Reminded me of Pork-fried and rice.. 
The camp started around 7:30 AM, and went all day long. The set up was much like the last one. Bible lessons, Memory verse, food, games, rinse and repeat that rest of the day. I was very impressed with the addition of the FENAD youth group kids running the lessons. Something you don't see very often in America or at least in what I have seen in youth group is the kids running the lessons. Last year these same kids just did the memory verses with there groups. It was awesome to see them stepping up and doing the actual lessons. You could see there nervousness about doing this but they all did very well. Most of these kids who are apart of FENAD have had decent lives in the city. Some of them not 
so much. One of those people is Byron Marroquin. Bryon has been apart of the feeding program for many years since he was very young. His brother and family were and have had dealing with the gangs that use to be in the area, and CCCG's feeding program and Love gave Bryon and his family a change in there lives. Knowing that the support of this feeding program is raising young adults like this one brings joy to my heart and a smile to my face. It make me know that my support of Carlos will one day work for the favor of him and his family. My prayer is that more of you are able to help support these kids and there support system one day. If you do want more information on this you can always ask me or visit www.cccguatemala.com.
That evening after the camp and construction team met back up we went to the hot springs which is where the village got its name Agua Caliente (hot water). The springs are out behind the village and this year were very cold. It rained fr about 4 hours of our trip into Rio Dulce which made the water in the river extra cold, high and middy. The water coming off the waterfalls was very nice and warm and felt good on the muscles.
Day 3: January 4th
Day 3 ran much like day 2. Up early and off to the school yard in Agua Caliente where we were holding the camp, the construction team went down the road to Bocarone to continue construction of the new church in the village, and everything had been rained on during the night. The mornings weather was mid 70's with cloud cover. Soon the clouds dispersed and the sun was out warmer than ever. I could feel the rays of light driving themselves into my skin. This was the last day of the camp in Agua Caliente before the camp team headed out to a new hotel closer to Cuatro Cayos where the second camp would take place. At the end of this day we handed out some of the Operation direct Impact bags to the children of the camp. It was really fun to see them all interested in what they received and sharing with one another and interacting as they did.
The construction team this day had a competition with the locals helping them to see who could build there wall quicker. From what I understand it was a pretty good event.
After begin chased all of the school yard by the kids, doing a rally, playing tug-o-war and handing out bags, we were put right into the truck and went down the road to Grand Canyon of Guatemala. A very beautiful ravine with howling monkeys in the distance (and later finding out right above us) jungle trees, and amazing water carved stones hundreds of feet high. For the new comers it was open eyes the whole time. For me I still loved it but got antsy and found a new
crazy friend Charlie, who jumped out on the rocks with me and attempted to march around the side of them. We didn't get far because they were very smooth and slippery but it was a good attempt at adventure. Probably another one of those things I shouldn't have done.
Day 4: January 5:
Another early rise. By this time my mind is dead and body is tired from all the traveling, but this work and this trip is not for me. It is for God and for the kids and families who need support.
We packed our bags late last night and said our goodbyes to the construction team who was staying behind to continue working on the church building. We went from the hotel on beautiful lake Isabel directly to Cuatro Cayos, a wonderfully bumpy hour and a half trip. About 40 minutes of the trip of on a muddy dirt road (again it rained the night before) in which we almost did not make it up one of the hills. I was hanging off the back of the truck at the top of one hill looking to the next and saw a large area of wet clay part way up the hill, and said to the guys in the back 
“we aren't gonna make it” and sure enough we hit the clay and started sliding backwards. Our driver attempted to pull back down the thin steep muddy road and somehow ended up off the road into a barbed wire fence and tree. Thank God Bill was with us. Him and his mudding experience got us out of the what seemed to be impossible spot. I was sure we were gonna be stuck out in the jungle fields for the day.
Needless to say we made it out, for to the river, which we didn't ford at the time and hiked in over a walking bridge to the village. There was no clean, no dry, no not muddy for the next two days. The field we played our games in was also the horse pasture. So on top of muddy slippery conditions we also had landmines everywhere which made for a fun challenge.
Part way through the day they brought the truck over the river so we had our stuff with us. My shoes were disgusting and
the thought that I had to put them on again made me whimper a little. Wet socks with shoes... not my cup of tea.
At the end of the day we got to ford the river and head back into town to the hotel. At the time we had information that it was a hotel right in downtown Rio Dulce, but we were all supposed when we pulled into a much nicer looking place than we had pictures of. Personally I felt it was too much. David does a lot of things and one of those things is takes care of his missionaries. We had nice beds and luke warm showers at our disposal which was nice after walking out of the village looking like I have changed ethnicity.
Day 5: January 6th:
Engery was low, spirits were high, and the adventure into Cuatro cayos was just perfect. The day starts out foggy all the 
way in. and again it rained the night before, the air was still moist and my shoes... still wet...
As we entered the dirt, sorry, mud road, I was very uncertain we would make it in this time to the village. The puddles were much deeper, the tracks we were leaving behind we deeper then the day before and looking for the back of the canvas cover in the direction we were going I could barely see the front of the truck because of the fog. We made it to the series of 2 large hill to valley to hill sections of the road and on the second one that we slipped on yesterday, we did the same thing... this time once we slipped, our driver switched with my pastor and me and my friends began praying. Bill loves to go mudding, he also doesn't like to lose, so this challenge was a top priority in his competitive mind. As we backed up the hill I grabbed on tight to the bar in the back of the truck, looked over the top of the canvas and told them other to hold on, we began tooling down the hill on our way up the next. As Paul and I bumped back and forth we got to the clay and got to the top of the clay and began slipping backwards.. instantly I knew we were going to have to do this again. We held on as we back up the hill again and for one more attempt flew down the hill and up the next. This time we made it no problem, and some sore arm muscles and mud all over the back side of me.
The rest of the way was much easier, had a few sketchy spots but were successful.
The camp went awesome. The kids were engaged in the memory verses, the lessons and the games. Being a returner to this life style I found it good to be apart of the community and have fun with the kids. I would go wash my dishes with them and try and balance my plates on my head and goof around with the kids in line. A couple of the kids in my group at camp were really interested in learning English they knew quiet a bit in objects, glass, plate, spoon kind of things, I taught them different parts of the body. They had a blast turning around telling the girls who walked by “amillia! Tu tiene un grnade hair” (you have big hair). The girls would look at them weird and the boys would laugh to one another finding it the funniest thing in the world. I enjoyed these kids mostly because they reminded me of my own sense of humor.
At the end of the day we handed out the Operation Direct impact bags and were on our way. The kids here were very appreciative of everything they received, they all said thank you and again seeing them interacting with one another seeing what they had received was bitter sweet.
My most memorable moment of the day was an interact I got to experience with Pastor Bill and the Pastor of the village. Yesterday Bill found out that the pastor, his wife and 9 kids had not eaten a meal in 8 days. The pastor said most of the time that live off of coffee during these times. Bill was very disturbed by this and found it a great opportunity to bless another. The night before he told the group the situation and asked the group, if they feel led, to offer up some money to go buy some food for the family. He was thinking of getting about $100 if possible to go purchase food. Well I didn't like the idea that this man and his family were in this position. The pastor in the village in a EMT and could leave the village and get a real good job in the city but feels led to live his life here helping the people in the villages know and understand Gods Love. I thought about it really heard and kept trying to tell my mind to keep the money for myself because I am not doing good either. I don't have a full time job, I don't have steady income and don't know what I will have when I return to the States, my car is falling apart, I don't have
my own home; there was lots of things I was making excuses for. But then a voice came to me saying, you have couches and beds to sleep on, people who feed you, friends and family who support you, a car that is still running... I instantly pulled out everything in my wallet kept enough for the fee to get out of the country, and enough for a couple sodas and to do the things we were planning at the end of the week and put the rest in the pot... I am not sure how much it was but I think it was about $65. I remember though placing a $1 bill over the top of it all so no one could see what I was offering. I thought about the action later and wondered why I was so scared to sow what I was giving.. could it have been I didn't want people to feel bad for me? Or maybe I didn't want others to feel bad if they didn't give as much because they all have a set amount of income coming in? I'm not sure but all I know if the pastor of the village was blessed with $200 worth of food which will probably last them a few months.
Day 6: January 7th
TRAVEL DAY!!
Nothing to crazy happened today, it was a 6 hour trip back to the city. When we returned to the city we were taken out to the streets to go see the palace, a huge church, and the market. Needless to say I should have stayed back and gotten some sleep. I hadn't slept very well the weeks before the trip and didn't sleep and better through out the week. At this time my body was very tired and I could tell I was getting edgy about lots of things and felt bad about it but wanted to be apart of the team experience since I was starting to feel a little left out of things.
I did do something in my life that was different than I have ever done before. I ran into a situation that I run into a lot. I am not at terms to discuss it and who it involves because I do not want to make life to complicated for them. When these situations normally show up I typically hold in saying anything about it and wait for it to go away. This typically raises my anxiety and depression. A good friend said earlier in the week to me “if you don't ever get out there you will never find it”. With that thought in mind I took it to my own abilities and shared some information.... it felt good to do it, it also hurt because it wasn't shared in full and the answer I received was out of the blue. Well, I have to be proud I did it and now know better how my future will be molded.
Day 7: January 8th
Today we had church, one of the highlights of the trip for me. I love the energy and message that always comes from the prayers and pastors. By this time I was very broken and had many bad feelings running through my heart and mind.. so having this energy around me helped me feel a little more secure and loved. Bill saw I was not doing very well and prayed over me, which showed me he loved me and cared for my well being. We went up on stage and Pastor David introduced us all and I realized the my fire and Greg was not up on stage.. we were not sure where he was. After the introductions and hellos I went out to find him. It was strange that God led me directly to where he was. I didn't even have a second guess of where to go. I found him Knocking on the Sky listening to the sounds and had a moment to share me heart with him which was nice.
After church we were all split up into different families and taken out to go do something for the afternoon. I was fortunate to go with pastor Erik and his family to an all you can eat buffet place! Really good food and way too much. Again another thing I felt was too much for the work that we do, but again they appreciate our help and support more than anything.
Day 8: January 9th
The last full day in Guatemala. This was Davids chance to treat us to some enjoyment. A large group of us wanted to hike the volcano so that ended up being our morning trip. It was different than last time I climbed because we went up the 
back side of the volcano and went all the way to the top! It was pretty cool to see the inside of a volcano. It was definitely a tiring trip to the top and a good run down the hill.
For the afternoon I spent time with the older generation of our group. I was not doing so well and they took me under there wings.. we went to the jade factory and learned about jade and how it is made and Paul Borrows, a man of God, bought me lunch..
Day 9 January 10th:
We left around 10:30AM and came home. On the way we had people going in different directions. Greg went to CA, Wayne and Charlie and to El Salvador, Bill stayed in FL, Chelsey stayed in MA, and then there were 6 who returned to ME. We got to the church about 1AM in the morning and I was going to drive up to my parents, Darren gave me a couple bucks for gas because I didn't have any for gas, the gas station was closed, so I ended up on the couch at the church for the night and left early in the morning.
Overview:
Every year I expect something great and grand to happen in my life. God always shares something with me weather or not I want to believe it or not. One of the things we did this week was everyone shared with each other what our spiritual gifts were. Everyone answer for me lead around serving and sacrificing... I guess I already knew those to be true but was 
interested in what other saw of me. A large part of my believes that our gifts are also our burdens some days. As much as I feel accomplished when helping a family each for a few months, or preparing a video to share with the church body about our trips, or buying a coffee for the homeless man down town.. I wonder if I need to focus sometimes more on my self. This mind set sits in a lot and make this talent seem like a burden.
Sunday while a sat on the edge of the parking lot over looking the volcanoes, I looked onto the house on the hill of the gorge, where kids like Bryon Marroquin live. In cement buildings with tins roofs, an holds in the ground for a toilet. Earlier someone mentioned that we need to be happy for the things that we have before we can move forward. I saw thee house and realized how happy Bryon was and how blessed he felt with the little he has... and I am here hating on the fact that there are certain things I don't have in my life, but the things I do have are more than these people have.. I shouldn't be unhappy with my situation back 
home, the lack of money, job, stability.
In all God has shown me I need to work on these thing and remember to be not just thankful but excited for the gift and support people have given me. Of course its easier to say these things then do them like everything else, but I hope some day I can met His requirement for me.
I look forward to heading back down there next year and doing some more work. I may try and stay longer next time so if anyone is interested at this time in sending some support money would are more than welcome. You can send your donation to:
Cory Harrill
59 Ledgewood Dr
Hollis, ME, 04042
Thank you everyone and God Bless
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