Dinner Done Fundraiser in progress

Remember from Kelly's previous email:

The Dinner Done menu for our group is complete and I am attaching that form for you so you can go out to your friends and family and get as many orders as you can. If we can all make a push for this fundraiser this week and send Suzanne Mason the number of orders you have by next weekend (May 17-18) then we can see what we will need to target from church members. Here's what we need you to do: print out the attached form and have each buyer write their name, phone and address in the top right hand corner. CIRCLE the entrees that they order and put a quantity beside each entrée they order. Suzanne and I will track using a spreadsheet to make sure everyone gets the correct entrees and in the correct quantity. The orders you take from friends and family or neighbors will be your responsibility to deliver on June 8th. We will not be delivering meals to church members -- they will need to come to Dinner Done between 2-4 PM on June 8 to pick up their entrees. Each entree is $23 and payments need to be received when the order is taken. Suzanne is checking today on whether we can write individual checks to Dinner Done. Of course, cash always works too. All orders (what we get from friends and family AND the church) need to be given to Suzanne no later than June 2nd.

For this fundraiser, we will have a booth set up next weekend and again on May 31-June 1 to take orders from church members.

Here is the menu describing the meals available through our fundraiser - hungary yet?

Wash-n-Worship Success

A quick word from Kelly about the Wash-n-Worship held today [I'll post pictures soon]:

Good evening everyone!
First, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out today to help with the car wash, those that got their car washed, and/or those who prayed for a morning without rain and a successful fundraiser!

We were truly Blessed on many accounts:
1) weather was great--overcast but no rain which really helped us because the soap dried quickly on the cars and it wasn't even sunny!

2) we had a great time working together--I don't know how many cars we washed but we never stopped after about 9:15 am when the first cars arrived!

2) We made some great profits today toward our mission trip activities -- $1,131.35! This will be enough to get 80 kids into the public pool in Guatemala, buy our supplies for the fun fair, and some medical supplies too!

3) The Thomas' provided the water from their home. We are going to send them $30 to cover our water use this morning!

A huge thanks to Tony Greathouse for his event leadership, all his supplies, and for his prayer service before the wash started. Thanks to the many families that worked together today to make this happen: the Jenkins family, the Glenn family, the Bulkeley family, Amy and Jenny Pool, and Renee, my daughter. Another thanks to Tonya Pickeral and Emily Bulkeley for helping to cover Sunday school classes so we could have more volunteers out in the car wash area. Emily Chaplin --girl, you can wash some cars!! Jen Zombron and Carly Glenn, you are some awesome drivers! If I am forgetting someone, I apologize -- I am pretty tired tonight!

Thanks again for everyone's prayers --God was Awesome today--we thank Him and give Him the glory! Have a wonderful week and keep working on getting the word out and orders taken for the Dinner Done meals!

Washing in faith :-)
Kelly

Raise Support!

Kelly and I have gotten an Example Support Letter together. It is linked to a Word document that you can download and alter to personalize it. Sorry for the delay in posting.

Information for Guatemala Trip

Thank you to everybody that went to our organizational meeting this past Saturday evening after the worship service. Kelly did a great job of summarizing the goals of the missions trip and sharing a bit about what you can expect on the trip.

For those of you who are interested in going, but weren't able to make it to this meeting, I'm linking to files of the handouts that were shared. Also, if you do not have a passport and are planning on going, please see Will Line. He can help you through the process and hook you up.

As a reminder, here is Kelly's email address and here is mine. And now for the files:

Sample Itineary
Things to Bring
Information Sheet
Items for the Ministry

2008 Missions Trip to Guatemala

For those that weren't able to chat with Kelly, Tony or myself after the services this weekend, I've uploaded the information that we were handing out. If you are interested in going, please shoot a quick email to Kelly Schaeffer.

Here is the PowerPoint presentation that is a summary of the trip.

A more detailed description of the trip is in this post below.

Overview of Guatemala Missions Trip

July 9 – 13 and July 9-16

As you consider and pray about your participation in the Guatemala missions trip, here are a few things to help you understand the country, the tasks we might participate in, and some general health and lodging items.

1. Purpose of the Trip: To reach people in the Chiquimula area of Guatemala with the gospel of Christ by enabling and supporting the work of Myra Smith and her church. Minister to the people and to Myra Smith, the single missionary working in Chiquimula.

2. Trip Dates: You will notice that you have two options for this trip. You can go 4 days and this will give you a feel for the area and people and what God is doing in Chiquimula without taking too much vacation or being away from your family for too long. I will be staying a full week and you are welcome to stay that long and serve.

3. Area: Guatemala is located in Central America; the capital, Guatemala City, is the arrival point and Chiquimula is located slightly north and west of the capital, which is about a 3-4 hour bus ride from the capital. In general, Guatemala is fairly safe—there are reports of petty crime (pick pocketing, etc.) to more violent crimes of thefts and hijacking of buses and cars. There is not an Anti-American sentiment in Guatemala and having traveled there four times in the last two years, I personally have never felt unsafe. There are armed guards (with very big guns) everywhere. They often make buses pull over for “checks.” There government is fairly stable, which helps to reduce violent crimes; however, poverty is rampant and the there are little to no social programs in Guatemala so crimes associated with poverty, drug use, etc. are plentiful.

Guatemala is a beautiful country – very mountainous and it has 22 volcanoes. To the far North of the capital is the jungle area; to the extreme south, beaches and water access. Chiquimula is a large, thriving town. A university is located there as well as a hospital and many business and open air markets. In July, Chiquimula will be hot. The walks up the mountains to visit families will be somewhat strenuous. If you walk regularly, you will be fine.

4. Getting there: We will take a major air carrier from Dulles to Guatemala City. Typically, the flight from here to Guatemala City is a little over 4 hours. It is possible on Taca to fly direct or fly into San Salvador and in 35 minutes, be in Guatemala City. From Guatemala City, we will take a private bus to Chiquimula. The bus ride has taken me anywhere from 3 hours to 6 hours (the 6 hours was due to a strike by teachers)!

5. Lodging and Food: We will stay in a small hotel near Myra’s house. The rooms are clean but spartan. They have running water—may or may not be hot. They are also air conditioned. The hotel costs about $20 per person per night based on double occupancy. The rooms have two double beds, so you can share with your family or friend or choose to have your own room.

We will have no problem getting bottled water. It is not advisable to drink any of the well water in Guatemala. Our stomachs are not usually equipped to deal with the different microbes in their water and some of the water systems are impaired. We will have breakfast daily at the hotel. They serve eggs, pancakes, coffee and typical Guatemalan breakfast (beans, eggs, coffee). Lunches will be served from Myra’s house and are usually chicken, chicken and chicken  Seriously, she makes great chicken vegetable soup and chicken chow mein! There is a “Texaco” across the street and it has a small cantina and store similar to a Texaco station here in the states. You can get sodas, water, snacks, candy etc. there. We will also likely order out pizza for dinner one night—yep, even in remote Guatemala, they have great pizza and it is delivered too! The pizza store in Chiquimula City proper trained in NYC! It is truly a small world. We will probably go out to dinner one night in town and have a “typical” Guatemala meal.

6. Passports, Visas, Immunizations: Everybody traveling to Guatemala needs a passport. Passports require at least 12 weeks to process. There is NO Immunizations required for the part of Guatemala that we will be going to. Visas are NOT required for trips to Guatemala. Will Line will offer a passport “class” for those that are preparing their applications.

7. What we will do in Chiquimula: pray with families, visit them in their homes, serve meals and prepare food, do basic medical assessments (if we have a nurse in our group), visit with sponsored kids and their families, arts and crafts workshop for the kids, if the building is constructed, we could paint murals.

8. Cost: The cost for the trip we estimate is approximately $1000. Flights will run between $400-$600; private bus transportation is $50 per person RT; food will be around $15 per day and hotel is $20-$40 per day (all these costs are USD). The ministry asks that we donate $100 per person in addition to bringing some items for the ministry. We will likely talk about some fundraisers to offset our costs per person.

We will have an informational meeting sometime around February 8-10 to answer your questions and talk more about the trip!

Thanks for your interest!

1

Missions Trip Presentation

Chad & Kim and their baby!

See below for a message from Chad and Kim Deakyne:

Dear friends and family,

On August 15, 2007, Pavel Alan Deakyne was born! It seems already as if he has been a part of our family for years…

Pavel has changed and developed enormously in his first four months! He rolls himself over occasionally, he reaches for his toys regularly, and he offers smiles freely. He has brought great joy to our little flat! Margot the cat, however, has grown restless with jealousy…she is currently biting at the wires beneath the desk where I type.

L’Abri has also changed and developed so much in the last four months! The “launch team” has been meeting twice a week for planning and prayer, our new small group designed as an introduction to the Christian faith is growing, and we have been holding worship services once a month since September! Tell us what you think of the new website for the church at: www.labri-sqy.org .

Culte d’Inauguration: Beginning on Sunday, January 27, 2008, l’Abri will hold public worship services once a month! We have been preparing for this step for months and now everything is falling into place: the room where we will be holding the service is ready, the various responsibilities have been divided up amongst the members of the team, and we have friends who are eager to participate. As you can imagine, the team has had some lively discussions about these upcoming worship services; conversations about the style of music, the liturgy, the sermon, the “look” of the room, etc. We are currently working through the final list of tasks to accomplish before the big day in January: design invitations for our friends, decorate the sanctuary (plants and paintings), prepare Sunday School for the children, etc. If time remains, we plan to gather the guys from the youth group in Magny-les-Hameaux in order to build a pulpit together.

Les 7 Soirées: As we mentioned in our last letter, we have started a new small group that serves as an introduction to the essentials of the Christian faith. In order to vary the teaching style, we have integrated into our study various examples, both classic and popular, of the seven art forms. We have already completed three of the seven sessions and the group is growing. Kimberly and I hosted the first session and used a poem of Victor Hugo and a few works of Michelangelo in order to deepen our understanding of the Genesis account of Creation. Our teammates, Baptiste and Emilie Margaillan hosted the second evening on the Fall and did a wonderful job leading the discussion into the wee hours of the night. And finally, just last week, the group returned to our flat for the third session on Redemption. While I was a bit disappointed with my presentation, the essential was communicated and the response was positive. The high point of the evening was probably the discussion on a particular scene from Schindler’s List… Pray that this group would join us for worship on January 27th and would become the core group of the church.

Special need:
L’Abri would like to purchase a video projector and is now starting to gather the resources to do so. We have been able to borrow a projector from France V.I.E. (World Team France) up to this point, but because five different churches share the projector, it is becoming increasingly difficult to “reserve” when needed most. With the additional activities that we have started since September and the worship services beginning in January, we feel as though it is time to make this purchase.

Would you consider helping us with this investement? We are presently looking at a model that costs around 650 €uros (about $930 with the weak dollar). If you or your church is interested in making a "special financial gift" for the purchase of a video projector, please let Kimberly and I know. Financial gifts can be sent to World Team with a note explaining that they are to be used by Chad and Kimberly Deakyne for the purchase of a projector. While we plan to use the projector for the activities at l’Abri (worship services, Les 7 Soirées, film discussion nights), the projector would also be used for certain activities at the church in Magny-les-Hameaux.

2008 Paris Prayer Conference:
Our annual conference is designed as a short-term mission trip for those interested in partnering with France V.I.E. in prayer. Please contact us should your family or your church desire to participate in the 2008 conference (June 7-14). Now that we have helped to organize a few conferences in a row, we can confirm that there is no better way to understand and participate in our ministry, no better way to encourage the French Christians that welcomed us into their country. Look for the brochure that describes the conference attached to this e-mail…

Christmas and New Years:
Kimberly, Pavel, and I will be back in the States for the holidays…one week in Fort Wayne, IN, and one week in Philadelphia, PA! This short trip will give us the opportunity to present Pavel to those in the family who have not yet met him. Pray with us that the time change does not throw him off for the entirety of the trip!

Baptiste and Emilie Margaillan have recently finished a short video in order present their ministry and help them through the support raising process. If you would like to see their video (in English), follow the link on the right hand side of their web page: http://2coeurspourservir.free.fr .

Joyeux Noël et bonne année!
Chad, Kimberly, & Pavel Deakyne

Here's a montage of pictures:

Pictures of a Building That is Not Yet

Bob Berriz has taken the lead on bringing the concept of the Commedor de Paz to life. He has been very generous with his staff's time at TerraScape to put together pictures and plans for the building. Here is a view of the outside of the building:


Here is the the lower level, second level and the third level:
Here is a picture of the kitchen:

Please Pray for Miss Bea

Lisa Malone just shot me a quick note:

According to the Lakeshore web site, Miss Bea is having heart bypass surgery today, Please keep her in your prayers! Lisa

Get more details here.

Update on 11-09-2007 at 5:22 pm:
From Lisa Malone again:

Mark FYI: From the web site: Mrs. Bea made it out of surgery well. They performed a triple bypass on her. According to the doctor, everything went smoothly and according to plan. She is in recovery and resting. Mrs. Bea has asked us to pray for a speedy recovery. She looks to get back on her feet soon and get busy organizing the Christmas gift donations that have already begun trickling in.