June 2011
MOBIL 2011
Vision 2 Hear
Everyone’s Going Somewhere
SUMMER MISSION TOUR PT. 1 It’s hard to believe that the first part of our Mission Tour is over already!
seeing those girls girls! We
all fell
But oh how wonderful it was! God
in love with each of them.
worked in some awesome ways!
It was great for me to see them again
We left on June 9th for San Pedro
and how they have grown under
Sula to work in Honduras for a few
Allison’s love and care! Sara White was
days. Two of our teammates were
also there spending her summer
already there working with their church,
vacation serving the girls and Allison. It
New Vision. So the rest of us flew in
was great to see her ministering in such
and got settled at Flamingoes hotel.
a way! I was proud to say she had been
Wow! What a great place to stay, with
part of V2h!
wonderful food and an incredible view!! Our work over the next couple
We hung out a couple of hours at EFP playing and sharing a meal. Mr.
days had us meeting with Allison
Gallo taught them Hide and Seek and
Alexander’s girls at Eternal Family
we all enjoyed working a few sign
Project and World Wide Heart 2 Heart
songs together. It was a great way to
Ministries (pictured above). I personally
start our trip!
EFP: Eternal Family Project Can’t wait to go back!
didn’t realize I had worked at wwh2h several years ago! So it was great to return and see a couple of the kids from then and how they had grown! We spent Friday afternoon at Allison’s and wow! It was awesome
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Heart 2 Heart Worship Service Friday evening we went to Heart 2 Heart church, where Oscar and Amy serve. They are the ones who founded the orphanage and church and were our main contacts in Honduras this time. We shared some songs in Spanish and then I was able to speak (with Oscar interpreting). At the end of the service I gave an altar call and the Lord moved! 20
people
stood signifying they had given their lives to Christ! I was really surprised to say the least! It was amazing to see God move in that way and I praise Him for using someone like me!
Heart 2 Heart Orphanage The next day we went by bus to the orphanage that Heart 2 Heart runs. They have over 70
children there ranging from infants to 18 years old. What was really cool for me was when we got off the bus, I saw a kid that I recognized. I had forgotten that I had been to this place once before so when i saw him I was really excited. In fact, the last time I was there I had snapped a picture of him before we left and never thought I’d see him again! And yet there he was!! I pulled out my computer and showed him the picture from 3 years ago; it was a really cool moment. His name is Fernando. We spent several hours there hanging out with kids, taking funny pictures, and just loving on them. It was also their birthday celebration day so we all sang to them and watched them get their gifts and then we all had cake! After a while longer of hanging out, jumping rope, and taking pics, we left for the hotel to grab our stuff for church. What was really funny about this visit was that we ran into people who were from SODDY DAISY, TN! They attend a church less than a mile from my house! And there we were serving in the same orphanage! It’s a very small world! The guy from Soddy was actually gonna be speaking at the church this night. So we got our stuff and made our way back. We performed a couple of songs at the church and the service went well.
Sunday morning came and we were
bus stop after a really funny evening/morning.
scheduled to leave early so we could pick up
We had mistakeningly gotten up several hours
kids for church but our battery and other issues
ahead of schedule because of the time change
kept us in the hotel parking lot for over an hour
and setting our alarms wrong. so after getting
later. We finally decided to do as the Hondurans
up twice, we made it to the bus stop on time
and pile in the back of a pick-up truck! It was
for our 7am departure.
certainly one of the highlights of our trip: 10
Gringoes in the back of a pickup! We ended up at church much later than
To say the roads were narrow at times would be an extreme understatement. To say that our driver and other drivers were crazy at times would also be an understatement. There were times we were passing people and they
expected but they waited and we simply rolled
were passing us on curves and stretches of
with the flow. We did a couple more songs for
road that only lunatics would try...and yet we
them. Another amazingly funny thing
survived!
happened; when we got there more Gringoes
The bus ride was very long due to brake
were there. In fact, the lady just happened to be
issues and I’m glad he took his time with that
Aaron’s pediatrician from Hixson! Simply amazing! She was there
being the case! our 6 hour trip turned into 9
serving at EFP (The girls from EFP attend the
give any more details than that!
church at Heart to Heart). I had been praying
El Salvador June 13-28
for more connections in TN and now I had them! God was working out some really cool things!
We went to a river after
hours but we mostly fared well aside from some horrible odors from the bus bathroom. I won’t
We were greeted by Jorge at the bus stop and he and others car pooled us to the church which wasn’t very far from there. We had the first of many PriceSmart doughnuts and a quick
church, had lunch and watched several people (a few from the orphanage) get baptized. It was a
debriefing of the upcoming activities. Then
great afternoon, playing around, swimming, and
was certainly building up!
bonding more with kids from the orphanage!
everyone was off to their host homes. It was good to be in El Salvador now and the anticipation of the skateboarding events Over the course of the next couple of
However, I did incur a minor injury. Amidst all
days, we acquired materials for building the
the horseplay, I lost two of my earrings and my
ramps and we practiced some music quite-a-
industrial go ripped. The kids were jumping all
bit to prepare for performing. The team was
over me and one grabbed my ear and ripped
doing well with learning En Su Victoria, whereas
the earring a good centimeter! Needless to say
I was simply unable to master it! (I will be
it hurt! But all is well now :)
relying on them to help me stateside!)
As I look back now, those were simply
All of our folks had been doing pretty good
wonderful days in Honduras. It was great
with health but by the second day in ES, people
watching Mr. Gallo be so animated with all the
were falling out with illness. We were not sure
kids! It was a blessing to see all of our team
what it was but some people had some
interacting with the kids at EFP. It was
stomach issues, while others had thrown up at
awesome having Gloria around to help us
various times and then there were some with
interpret what was being said! It was such a
fevers and aches etc. Aaron and “little” Carl
blessing to have air conditioned rooms
were both holding up like true soldiers with high
( especially for Caulette and Yvette to recover
fevers. Even though we all knew they were
from their previous week of service). Our team
really sick, they worked hard. The next couple
was working and serving well together and we
of days they stayed home per doctor’s orders.
had already been seeing God do some cool
With a shot of penicillin and ample rest they
things! We left the next morning for El Salvador.
recovered from what was said to be strep
Transitions are not always easy but this one was beautiful, albeit long! We arrived at the
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throat.
Chapel Services Miramonte has a Christian School of which Jorge’s mother is the principle. They asked us to perform in the chapels for the students on Thursday and Friday mornings that first week we were there. During the first chapel we shared with middle school kids and God moved more than I really expected! After we did several songs, and the message was shared, I challenged the students to really take a stand for Christ. About
40 of them came forward to signify their commitment to living more faithfully. The next day’s chapel was much like the first. we did some music and a few of the team mates shared testimony. at the end, there were about
another 13 that stood for renewed
The Team at the Public Deaf School
commitments! It was really awesome to see God moving in such ways!
Christian Deaf School We have been to this school before but it’s always nice to revisit and see the growth of the school. It’s not far from Miramonte so after the first chapel meeting on Thursday, we went to perform and share with the students the Christian Deaf School. As I walked into a few rooms, students began to remember me ( I guess a bald guy with earrings from America is easy to remember) and they began to get excited signing my name and saying they remembered me being there doing music. We gathered everyone together in the courtyard and did a little program for them. They all loved it!
Elevate ES
Me and some of my friends at the Christian Deaf School
One of the main reasons we were in ES this year was to help launch the skateboard ministry. As the week continued, there were several ES skaters, along with Aaron and Buddy, who helped build, weld, and prepare the ramps for Saturday’s big outreach event. God had already been moving in the hearts of many of the local skaters, shops and even other churches to bring this event together. By Saturday everything was in place and ready to go! That morning we gathered early to share at the homeless ministry, performing a couple of songs, then serving the meal. Afterwards, we set up for Elevate. Were we ever surprised! More
than 400 people came out for this event! There were close to 150 skaters and the rest were simply people who came to watch, serve and enjoy the competition. God moved in a big way, opening the eyes of many to see the opportunity to reach so many people and revealing His power to
Some of the 400 people that showed up for the Elevate Outreach
bring such an event together!
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SUCHITOTO
After school Elevate, Public Deaf School and Final Days Elevate had been a huge success and little did we know even how
With half our team departed, it was a little more difficult for those
much God had been doing! On Tuesday June 21, we had scheduled a large
remaining. Not that we didn’t want to be there but there was a definite hole
group demonstration of Elevate for Miramonte. This was a great time to do
as we all missed our friends and family that had just left us in ES for the
so since that day was also Go Skate day in El Salvador. The entire student
next 7 days.
body came down for a two display of skating, sign language and
We had a fairly busy schedule though, making a couple of visits back
testimonies. Our skaters and a couple local skaters shared testimonies and
to the Public Deaf School to perform, taking a trip for a day out to
we shared with them about how we were offering and after school program
Suchitoto, which is a village where the ES team does some ministry other
to teach students about skate boarding, help with physical fitness and raise
times of the year, and then sharing in some graduation festivities for Natalia,
awareness to one of the fastest growing sports.
one of our ES teammates.
LIttle did we know that the Channel 4 News would be there! The crowd
Another God thing that happened was that Jorge and I were invited to
was electric and the skaters did an incredible job of displaying their talent
sit with their city council one afternoon and talk about Elevate and the work
for God’s glory! The news people did interviews with one of the skaters,
we were doing in ES. After a short introduction and explanation, the
Jonathan Amaya, Jorge Campos and me. That afternoon we had our farewell dinner for half the team as they were scheduled to return to the USA. Our hosts and team were served a wonderful meal, given lovely tokens of appreciation and a chance to share our stories of how the trip impacted us. It was a glowing farewell. After returning to our host homes, we anxiously awaited the channel 4 newscast to see the spot about Elevate. About an hour-and-a-half later there is was a
5 minute story on V2H Elevate in ES! The
council offered to help us locate a building where we could have an indoor skatepark! And they would simply allow us to use it! They are currently still looking for that place. As our trip came to an end, it was easy for us to all recount several ways that we had seen God move while in Honduras and El Salvador. I even spoke with Jonathan yesterday about the after school program and he told
news did a wonderful job displaying our venue, purpose and intent. God
me it went very well with 10 showing up to learn and be mentored. Thanks
gets the glory! It
to you all for your prayers and support of this effort and mission! To God be
for free!
was awesome seeing His work on TV
the glory for He has done great things!
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WHAT NOW? The plans and even what is happening now since we have gotten back from the Overseas Mobil Tour. It hasn’t even been a week since our return
staff and translation! We can do
home and there are many things happening
that! I’d like for each team to
even now! Two of the girls from the ES team are
consider raising at least $100 over
here in the states visiting and traveling with me
the next month so I can take it with
for the next 2 months. Natalia, who just
me and surprise them with a
graduated and Mayrita (Jorge’s sister), who also
boost to keep them moving
graduated last November. They will be joined by
along. Sponsoring them
Gloria (Jorge’s cousin) July 10 when we all get to
with another $100 a month
Miami for George Camp! Pray for them as God
from V2H would also be a
has allowed us and them the opportunity to
much needed help. If your
serve together here in the states! It’s a great and
team would like to adopt
wonderful chance we have as V2H to continue
this project, please let me
to invest, mentor and allow God to bless
know!
through us.
August Revisit
Elevate ES As I mentioned on the previous page the
Jesus said “Go”. I think He also meant “Keep Going”.
Tickets and travel right now are about $350 RT
I Have been invited back in August for a couple of reasons. However, I would need your
after school program is off and running.
help and financial support to make the trip. As I
However, we were unable to take the needed
have already mentioned, we failed to get the
boards and pads and helmets that we promised
boards, helmets and pads over there this last
to them on this last trip. We had some issues
trip. I need to deliver on that promise for the
with our distributor. But that has been cleared
program to function the way it needs to.
up now and I intend to take them with me on a
Furthermore, with the city council looking for a
return trip back in August.
building for us to use, another trip there would
Jonathan and others will meet with the
afford me the chance to help them find a
Elevate Outreach Today at Miramonte again and
location that would best fit our needs and
will start the weekly Saturday meetings! This is
ministry usage.
very exciting as they will begin building the
Another very important reason for a return
essential relationships in winning people to
trip so soon is so I can help in some training and
Jesus!
mentoring of our Elevate disciples, V2H Wave
Pray for the ministry there as it was only
Team and about 8 other American interns who
two days after our large event that someone
are committing to a year in ES with a program
broke into our storage unit and stole the tools
called GAP. These students will be working with
we had. The storage unit has been refortified
a close friend of mine who has asked me to help
and the tools replaced but we need your prayers
in some discipling and training as they step into
of protection over the tools God has provided to
this new program.
continue His work.
Lesa Bible Translation One of the things we all learned about while in El Salvador this time was the need for help with a Bible translation for the deaf. A great friend of ours, Toni McAndrews shared some of her vision and work with us on this project. They have almost no support for this effort and I would like to see the V2H WAVE Teams adopt this project and help them with financing the
around August 23 or so. I am asking for your prayers and support of this effort.
Finally, the last but not least reason to return is to be part of my family’s birthday celebrations. Gloria (Jorge’s sister) will have her 15th birthday party, which is a very big deal in Spanish culture. I have been invited to speak and act as her “father” figure at the party. Obviously it is an honor to be invited to share in such an event! So, I am currently making plans to leave from Miami in August with the ES girls who have come here. We hope to leave somewhere
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from Ft. Lauderdale. I will need a couple of hundred more to cover the shipping of the skateboards. Please consider and pray about helping me get back this soon. I know it’s a challenge on all of us in these times and economy. Thank you again for all you have already done and for your continued prayers and support of V2H and all the things we are trying to do to win people to Christ! I plan to update you with stories and testimonies from our teammates as the weeks progress but I wanted to get this update out to you now so you would know all that God has done and is currently doing! Have a great 4th of July weekend! Sincerely, George