God's Plan - Send Us Angels

We finally made it to Maua!  We were re-routed from London to Doha (close to Yemen, Kuwait and Iran).  While we certainly could have never predicted that our journey would take us into the Middle East, that was God's plan for us.  While at the various airports, our team was blessed to encounter numerous angels that cleared our way to Nairobi.  We saw Christ in the friendly cashiers at the counters where we bought our food, in the smiles of airport personnel who made sure that our luggage, filled with medical supplies for the Maua Methodist Hospital, made it safely to Kenya with the team.  We even saw Christ as these angels helped us navigate the makeshift customs area at the Nairobi airport, and then for the additional 6 hour drive by van to the Maua hotel into the night.  There was even angels waiting us as we FINALLY made it to our room, where there was a hot meal, friendly greetings and a much needed, hot shower.

Our first day involved worshipping with the Methodist congregation in Maua.  We enjoyed the Swahili service, and it was a packed house!  There were well over 500, standing room only, in worship.  We attended Sunday School with the children, and led them in songs, after they led us in some.  We met our missionaries, Jim Monroe and Sue Owen, and they are so wonderful!  While we were with the kids, I could hear the adult choir singing "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms."  So, I couldn't help but wonder that way and join them!  I made fast friends with the worship director and ended up being invited to sing with them for the morning service!  It was a wonderful experience, only I didn't realize that there was going to choreography involved!  I also sang an entire song in Swahili!  This choir had a ton of energy, and their angelic voices really lifted us after our long journey to get here.

Yesterday, we were able to do a little sightseeing in the area.  The Kenyans showed us their water supply.  That might seem like an unusual attraction, however it is what they value most here.  It is a very rustic, primitive system.  Butch, who is on our team and is a certified master plumber said that there weren't even fittings in the mains going into town.  Parts of it featured pipes that were simply hammered into the next pipe.  The new ways that they are attempting to bring water in are more updated.  We also did a little shopping, being intention to spread the shillings around to various merchants.  The team was greeted as friends.  The hospitality here is incredible.

Today, we began our morning with chapel.  We met a REAL Angel.  That is her actual name!  Angel is patient of the Maua Methodist Hospital.  At only four days old, she was involved in a tragic fire that started from the family's gas stove.  Her severe burns covered over 85% of her body and left her with only one arm.  Her condition was so horrific, that her father, Ezekiel, wanted to euthanize her.  By the grace of God, she survived, and the Lord's plan for Angel had her directly cross our Kenya missions team path.  Not only did we hear the awesome news that Angel is being transferred to Galveston, Texas (of all places), but we were able to spend considerable time with both Angel and her mother during our tea time and hospital tour.  I held this modern-day miracle, a true Angel, in my arms today and gave God thanks for her life.  She is bringing out the best in everyone around her.  I was able to even hug her dad and encourage him to be strong.  I cannot even convey what a blessing it is to see such an incredible story unfold from our vantage point, but it is God's plan to let us be here at this time. My prayer for today and the rest of the week is that we not only see all of the angels around us, but that we might be angels for someone else.  As Angel's grandmother said to Angel's mother, Pam - you have to look through God's eyes to see the beauty of the child's mind heart and soul.  That is God's wisdom being lived out in a world that needs it desperately.  More to come - Thank each one of you for your continued prayers.  We love you all and miss you; and, we look forward to sharing our stories with you!

Kennon Pickett

The best laid plans....

Our flight to London was uneventful till we arrived. Then our journey became a foot race to catch our flight to Nairobi. Unfortunately our feet didn't win!  Our plane left without us. But we maintained our cool and have found ourselves on a little extra and unexpected journey to Doha, Qatar.  And then we are on a flight to Nairobi.  Life is never a guarantee. The only guarantee we have is God!
Thanks for all your prayers.
Sheryl

I am saying goodbye because I'm not coming back.

I am on the van headed to the airport. On my way to Kenya. It seemed like we would never get to this day, especially after the events of the last 24 hours. However a little, or not so little, airport fire can keep is away. I'm not sure why I am going. I really don't like flying so I guess I will take an 18 hour flight. I don't like strange foods so I guess I will go somewhere where the food is different and we should try everything to be polite. I'm not good with tools or building things so I will go build an
AIDS orphan home. I'm pretty sure I will be in be way more than helpful. Despite my many anxieties there doesn't seem to be any stopping me from going. I am being pulled to Kenya. Not by any person but by God. The Holy Spitit is pulling me. I don't know what to expect when I get there. I can't imagine what it will be like. I am surprisingly calm about it all. Being the control freak that I am I should be worried about what I will encounter. This process of preparing for this trip has changed me. I have become more prayerful. I have learned to lean on God when the fear and anxiety try to overtake me. I have learned to seek the prayers of others. These things are new for me at this level haven't left the county yet and the trip has already changed me. I can't begin to imagine what will happen to me  while I am gone. As I have said my goodbyes the one thing that I have heard over and over is "Just come back".  I smile and nod and say thank you. What I don't say is "No, I don't think I can do that". I can't just come back. I've already been changed even before I left so I don't think simply coming back  is an option. I have full expectation that I will come back as someone different. My physical self will be back. I do not have plans to move. At least not at this moment. I am praying for a change that others will notice without saying a word. I pray I come back fearless and bold. That the love of Christ shines through me. I want to be bold enough to challenge those around me to see the invisible, hear the stories of the hurting and love the ones forgotten. God is unstoppable and one day I will be too. It starts with this plane...

Casa Hogar Children's Home - April 8, 2013
I Really Should Be Here!

When I went to Casa Hogar with Margret last year I kept saying, and still believe that this is not my passion. I went because my wife was afraid to go without me. God has given me many passions for many things; this just wasn't one of them.
On that trip the one thing that really stuck out is how important this home is and that they have no way to tell their story. So I asked my friend Michael Ryan who owns a video production company Four-Thirds creative if he might be willing to go down here with me some time. I felt this was a very, very, long shot, but I did my part and I asked him. See he shoots fancy stuff like for Frito-lay, and Pier One, and I am guessing it would be a $20000 process for him to do this. He has a beautiful and brilliant wife who works with him, and my daughter says that their son Finn is the most beautiful baby in the whole world. Michael has a lot of responsibility and he is not too big on leaving the country, but he said he would go! Isn't that all that God asks from any of us, just to be willing to go? Don't tell Michael and Karen, but I LOVE these people.
So now we need an interpreter, to take a week of their life, go to a foreign country, and help us get this story on film. I have another friend, (hard to believe I know) who was just about as crazy as I was growing up. He was in a bike gang for a long time, but God has gotten ahold of him, so I asked him if he would go, he said yes. He was willing to go. He has never had a passport and we kinda got a late start but the day before we were to leave his passport came in, it was really looking like it might not happen, but God has been on this deal from the beginning. God has some amazing things in store for Phillip and it has been my honor to watch these things unfold! Don't tell Phillip, but I love this guy too.
I have come to understand that in my walk with God when he asks me to go, and I am willing to go there will be opposition, especially if something good is going to come from it. After a while I have come to expect it! It used to really freak me out, but not so much anymore. When we landed in Mexico the Federal police grabbed Phillip before we even got off of the plane ramp and detained him. After fifteen or twenty minutes we started looking up the numbers for the Methodist conference legal council in Mexico, or anyone else we could get to help us, it was pretty nerve racking. JJ Mainard went back over to them, which only a woman, a JJ Mainard woman could get away with, and they released him. In following God there will be trouble, but he laughs at these things.
Then last night I started having cold chills at about 10:30 and I remember seeing 2am and the whole time shaking like crazy. This morning I couldn't get out of bed, with a bad headache and fever. They called a Dr. who came to my room examined me and went back to the clinic to get medicine and came back to my room and gave me two shots and some prescriptions. She charged me $65 total for shots meds and all. There WILL be opposition!
The amazing and wonderful power of God constantly humbles me. I by myself am nothing, but if we didn't say yes and go how can Gods will be done? It is so hard to figure out our part in all of these things. How am I here! What is my part, and when do I shut up and let God do his thing. We are all called into a relationship with God, it manifests in many different ways and we never really know where it might lead. The main thing is that if we truly love God we should always be willing to say yes. Yes I will go. With all of the hurdles of this trip I KNOW that something huge will come from this trip and this video. Casa Hogar is an amazing place with some wonderful brothers in Christ and children of God who suffer like we can't understand. We have been given an opportunity to say yes and find a way to help these people. Let's do that!
The people of Acton United Methodist church are such an inspiration to me. You guys are amazing and wonderful beyond words. I want to thank you all for all that you do and how you love us. You were what made this trip possible. And don't tell anybody but I love every one of y'all too.  - Ben Fields

How I Know

In my day to day life, it is easy to overlook all the ways God is working in my life. While I know that God's love and presence is constant, I often fail to notice the ways God is moving and using me. I get caught up in the daily rituals and frantic pace of life. However, there are times when God's presence and purpose are crystal clear. For me, youth mission trip week is a time of blessing and seeing God at work in so many ways. While I see God at work each year on mission trip, this year was exceptional. This year was different.

CTCYM stands for Central Texas Conference Youth in Mission. It is our conference youth mission effort. Each year in June and July youth from all over our conference gather together to go out and be the hands and feet of Christ in this world. There are three types of youth mission trips; Senior High, Junior High and Combination. Acton participated in the combination trip this year meaning that youth that have completed 6th grade through graduation were elgible to go. Senior High and Combination trips travel outside the state of Texas for work. For every 5 youth that attend CTCYM requires 2 adults accompany them on the trip. Churches from around the conference are joined together to make a work group and are located together in a living center. The other churches we were grouped together with were Journey of Faith in Round Rock, FUMC Corsicana and University in Fort Worth. A living center is a church in the area that is to be served that functions as the home away from home during the week. The youth and adults eat and sleep there. Showers are usually taken at an a local high school or other facility that can accomodate. The youth and adults are divided into work teams that will spend the week together working, eating and worshiping. The work to be completed is light construction including building wheelchair ramps, sheetrock, flooring, painting and yard work. It is amazing what a group of youth can do.

Originally Acton was assigned to a living center in Willard MO. At the beginning, it was predicted that our living center would consist of 70 people. At the time registration ended we had grown to 106! What a wonderful blessing that was but it did present a new set of challenges. The church in Willard could host a group no larger than 75 people. In addition, the community was a suburb of Springfield MO and not much work was being found. The last thing the leadership team wanted was to take the youth on trip with nothing to do. When it became obvious that we were not able to find a place to house our large group or work to be done Ben and I started looking for a new location.

CTCYM groups were located in Arkansas and Missouri this year. We started our search with a call to Camden AR where Ben's dad lives. The Methodist church there was not able to accommodate us but did recommend we look at Pine Bluff. We were told the mission field there is great and two churches were large enough to house a group our size. The first church we called was FUMC Pine Bluff. We presented our case and was transferred to Ann Cain, the church administrator. We again told our story and Ann said "Let me call you back". This was at 11:00 on Thursday May 24. By 3:00 Ann had cleared all obstacles, including working around preparations for VBS starting the day after we leave, and we were good to go! Arrangements were made for a pre trip visit on Tuesday after Memorial Day.

That Tuesday I make the 6 hour drive to Pine Bluff and was greeted by Ann like I was her long lost best friend! She showed me around town, introduced me to key persons and made me and the upcoming team feel welcome. I took work applications to the Area Agency on Aging and to Central Park, a neighborhood similiar to Rancho Brazos. I left feeling refreshed and excited about what would happen when our group arrived. We had moved from Willard to Pine Bluff. Officially we were still listed as Willard on the CTCYM website but we had successfully moved.

Our trip was scheduled for June 10-16. Ben and I, along with the other leadership team arrived on Friday the 8th. We had 19 worksite applications including 9 ramps waiting for us!  Enough work to keep our 9 teams busy during the week. Each detail had fallen into place perfectly. God had brought us to a place that needed our help.

The first night of mission trip is always hectic. Always. This year was no exception. So who would show up at our living center? Kyland Dobbins, the conference CTCYM coordinator (among other things such as Volunteers in Mission and Disaster Response). . He makes the rounds during mission trip to each living center to see how everyone is doing. He came to us first on his way to north Little Rock. Kyland is an amazing man with a pure heart for service. We were blessed that he came to see us. He did not stay long but we enjoyed the time we had with him.

The next day I got a call from a man who is the construction coordinator for north Little Rock. We made polite conversation for a few minutes then he got to the point of his phone call. Little Rock had recieved 75 worksite applications and were overwhelmed with work. He wanted to know if we had plenty of work. I told him we had 19 job applications and were pretty busy. I didn't think we could make it to Little Rock to help. He said he had an application from a 98 year old man who needed a floor that lives in Pine Bluff. Kyland had been to his center last night and thought perhaps my living center could help since we were in Pine Bluff. Hmm.. interesting. I gave the man our construction coordinator's phone number and told him to call. Didn't think much else about it that day. It's not called Manic Monday for nothing.

Tuesday night at dinner, leadership sat tother and reviewed the day. Steve Lubbers starts talking about this 98 year old man, Horace Owens, he met just a few minutes earlier. This is the job referral that came from Little Rock. Steve said Mr. Owens needed a new floor in his house. Really this job is too big to start mid way through the week. Yet, there was something about Mr. Owens that compelled Steve and the rest of the construction crew to help him. The plan was that Steve along with Spencer (also on construction) would work all the next day tearing out the floor. The big fear was that they would find termites. It was actually less of a fear and more of a prediction but the work needed to be done. We didn't have a choice. God brought this man to us for a reason.

On Thursday and Friday, our teams were finishing the original jobs that were given to them then joining together at Mr. Owen's house to work on the floor. Mr. Owens told stories about his life and sang wonderful gospel songs to the teams. Despite his age, his voice was clear and strong. Mr. Owens was sharing his life of faith with the youth and they were hanging on every word.

On Friday night the clients are invited to join us for dinner and fellowship. I am not sure how many people invited Mr. Owens but I would guess every person who had worked on his house asked him to come fellowship with us. Mr. Owens did come as well as other family members! I think he and his family filled three tables! The youth were so excited that he had come.

Each team that had a guest was given a chance to introduce the homeowner and tell about the work that was done. When we had finished eating, Mr. Owens wanted to speak. He was moved to the front of the great hall and given a microphone. He thanked God and thanked us for the work that was done. He said he could not imagine that the floor would be so beautiful and that his prayers would be answered. He then sang for us. Amazing Grace-strong and pure. In praise and thanksgiving. Simply from his heart.

This is how I know God was working through us. I shudder to think about what would have happened with Mr. Owens if we had not been there. What if FUMC Pine Bluff had told us we couldn't come. That the church was too busy with Annual Conference and VBS the next week. What if they were not willing to take a risk and allow us to stay? Of if Kyland had come to see at the end of the week instead of the first of the week. Would he have remembered that we were in Pine Bluff? Or if we had decided that the job was too big and too late in the week to start?

But none of those things happened. God intervened each step of the way to bring us to Pine Bluff AR. We came so that this man could witness to the youth with his words, his songs and his life. Each person on the trip is required to fill out an evaluation. On almost every evaluation, spending time with Mr. Owens was listed as a highlight of the trip. The youth also expressed blessings in blessing others. Despite our large size, we did not have a single ugly word spoken or amy disagreements. Each person treated others with love and respect. No one complained about long days, lack of sleep or cold showers. In fact, each day the teams were up and ready to leave early. No one wanted to waste time that could be used for working. The Holy Spirit was moving among us. We know God was at work.

If you are on facebook you can find Mr. Owen's testimony and song on my wall Margret Amos Fields. It is also on youtube listed under Amazing Grace. Watch it and know.

Next year, don't miss your opportunity to know God's love and presence in a very real and tangible way. Watch as the Spirit moves in our youth as lives are transformed. I promise you will never be the same.

Mission Trip! United in Service!

Mission Trip started off great! Everyone met their teams, got to know people from other churches, and got to worship together! We are in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Our living center consists of the churches: Journey of Faith from Round Rock, Corsicana First, University from Fort Worth, and Acton. We are having a great time with everyone and getting along great! We came here with 18 projects to do, and hopefully we will return home with every single one completed! There are 9 teams made up of many youth and two or more adults. Our theme for the week is "United in Service."

Sunday was the start of our trip. Long drives, restroom breaks, and fast food sums up the day. When we all got to the living center and set up our stuff, we went to the felowship hall to meet our teams! Each team is made up from different people from different churches. Worship was great, with music, a message, and more! Eventually, after a long day everyone was excited to go to sleep! No one could contain their excitement of the week that would unfold.

Manic Monday! Monday was a day of waiting and beginning. Many teams waited on lumber and fellowshipped with each other for hours. After the lumber was delivered, each team started working hard and fast. Many teams started by digging post holes and cutting wood into boards. Then the wheelchair ramps started coming together, piece by piece, board by board, and nail by nail. After the long work day, everyone was ready to return to the church for showers, and it was raining! Dinner was fantastic, delicious, and filling. Dessert was amazing too! Then at worship two Acton youth gave the message and it was very moving. We also sang songs, danced in the aisles, and praised the Lord. We had "family time" that night with our churches to talk about our week. Then it was lights out!

Tuesday! Tuesday, everyone was ready to go out and spread God's love. The teams were ready to go out and get started working as fast as they could! The only problem was it was raining. We were delayed on our start time, but everyone tried to do as much work as possible inside, so they wouldn't have to be in the rain. It passed over about lunch time, and everyone was ready to start working even harder, now that they could work outside. The wheelchair ramps were starting to look almost finished and the teams went to showers. Dinner was great again, and dessert was sweet and savory. Worship started and we were singing songs, when we saw a man, whom we did not know, and he was praising the Lord. We had an amazing guest speaker that night, who made us laugh, and made us really think about what the Bible is trying to say to us. It was a great worship service and then we went to bed once again!

Wednesday! Wednesday has just started. The Community Men of Pine Bluff, cooked us a delicious biscuit and gravy breakfast. We got to fellowship with them and hear one of their speakers. The teams were very eager to go to their work sites and finish the jobs they had today!

We cannot express how much excitement we have for the rest of the week. It is going to be great!

Courtney Traylor

Wednesday - A Day of Mixed Feelings!

We left Puebla early this morning and took a 3 hour (should have been two hour) bus trip to Mexico City.  We then had a 4 hour wait for our flight back to DFW.  We enjoyed our last meal together as a team.  We have grown very close as a team and as our time came closer to end the trip we all became a little sad.  Sad to be leaving the children behind in Mexico and not being together each and every day sharing this wonderful experience.

We landed at DFW at 6:15pm and spent the next hour getting thru customs and immigration.  What an adventure that can be!  Of course, our preacher got pulled aside and had her bags searched!  And lucky Doug lost his customs form so got to go thru twice!  We all decided it was nice to be back and able to flush the toilet paper!

We all gathered for our last prayer together and thanked God for this wonderful experience, for our safe travels, and especially for the Casa Hogar La Familia Children's Home.

Thanks again for all your prayers and your support.
Sheryl