PRAISE THE LORD that His ways are higher than this dirty, Jesus-thirsty, hurting world we are standing on. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

God has done infinitely more with with our simple “yes” to helping Guatemala.

He has touched

stretched

and changed

SO MANY hearts.

The Holy Spirit is alive and at work and there is simply no denying it.

Since our trip last summer, God has opened doors to provide for the purchase of a prime piece of land not far from Antigua, Guatemala – in the area that our brother Hilmar ministers.

Through several community-wide events here in the Charlotte, NC area, God has provided the funds to purchase that land PLUS about half of the funds needed to put a building there.

A building where children will be fed – both physically and spiritually.

A building where future generations will learn trades like cooking, woodworking, sewing, painting, gardening, hairdressing and more.

A building that will plant seeds in THIRSTY HEARTS.

A building that will build ETERNAL HOPE.
In just a few weeks, construction will begin.
The feeding programs and trade classes already exist because the Lord has moved so many hearts to support Take Heart.
Space is just very limited right now in the small metal shacks that are shared by all…
and the need is great.

Our hearts are so grateful to those who have responded and come alongside us.
But even more, we are grateful to our Lord who is writing this beautiful story.
Please keep praying for our ministry – that God would continue to open our eyes.
And to TAKE HIS LOVE to Guatemala.

Every. Single. Life.

Each one of us has a purpose.

We were created in His image.

We were made to love.

We were made to serve.

We were made to make a difference.

A difference begins with one mind.

One stomach.

One smile.

We all have value.

Hopes.

Dreams.

Some hope for clean water.

Some for opportunity.

Others hope and pray for purpose.

Joy.

Fulfillment.

We ALONE are not enough.

But HE is.

And in community – together – through HIM – WE ARE enough.

Together – through grace and love – and through Him – comes JOY everlasting.

This past July, Take Heart Missions took a group of 18 people to Guatemala to love and serve.

To be the hands and feet of Jesus.

To build a house for a family that has been living in part of Hilmar’s feeding center since their home went down the mountain in a mudslide.

To install Tiva water filters.

To build a swingset for a school of 400 kids that had no play equipment.

To pass out salvation dolls.

To put on VBS programs in 3 feeding centers.

To minister to people who make their living digging in a dump.

To distribute clothing.

To check up on the vocational programs Take Heart is supporting monthly.

To hold an impromptu praise and worship block party.

To serve and love however they were needed.

Thank you to all who helped make this trip possible…those who gave…those who prayed…those who supported family members on this trip in various ways here from home.

YOU made a difference too.

*** Photos provided by Ashley Brokop and Ericka Morgan ***

They will also be visiting some homes that were constructed last week for families in need, checking in on the greenhouse ladies, visiting the sewing and woodworking classes, and the list goes on….

Please pray for protection over the Carrs and the Morgans as they travel….and for discernment. We want to follow GOD’S DESIRES…

Over and over again, His plans have exceeded our expectations….His ways are always higher!

Like this dinner pictured below…wow….when we started planning it we wondered if anyone could come…and within about a week we were at the maximum capacity for the venue (just over 200 people!!)

We are so grateful for everyone who contributed….to Dixie Dreams for the use of their beautiful venue….to the speakers – Hilmar Avila, Roy Graham, Manny Ohonme…to our many table sponsors who invited their friends….to the talented singers from Elevation….Stone Table for the spectacular food…Kristin Byrum for the beautiful photos below of the event…..Bonita Pina and Tiva Water filter for their support and presence….to Mdesign Group for help with invitations and prep work…..and to our countless friends and family who came and gave generously. Our list goes on and on and I’m sure we probably are leaving someone out!

It was a beautiful night of celebration – of how the Lord has used Take Heart Missions over the past year to help build His kingdom in Guatemala…reach those in need….bring the HOPE and LOVE of Christ…..

THANK YOU….and enjoy a few highlights from the evening!

A year ago today Take Heart Missions was only a small “move” in a few of our hearts…a “yearning” to explore how we could spread the hope and love of Christ in Guatemala outside of an annual mission trip…in a self-sustaining, “throughout the whole year” kind of way…

There was a lot of hesitation…the “unknown” is intimidating…going against what makes logical sense to those around you – and even to YOU yourself – is a scary thing…we had a lot of “we don’t know what we are doing” and “we don’t know where this is going” moments….

But when God moves your heart, there is no ignoring it…and when you follow His calling against the grain, He blesses that in the biggest ways…flinging doors open and providing!

And that’s how  Take Heart Missions began in 2016.

We still don’t have our official supporter “address list” complete…we only blogged one time in 2016…our website looked incomplete for most of the year…our pictures and videos are not done, sorted, finished and shared from our trips…but the Lord taught us this year that we don’t NEED to have everything in perfect order (according to OUR OWN standards) for Him to bless and move….we only need OPEN HEARTS and OPEN MINDS that are seeking HIM…and HE will provide the rest!

We are SO SO grateful to YOU…our supporters…who even this week, days and MINUTES before the New Year rang in, had Take Heart Missions on your hearts and minds – and entrusted us with your support….THANK YOU!

Now we look back on what THE LORD has done in such a short, short time – through your generous support of Take Heart Missions in 2016:

4 trips (2 exploratory and 2 teams) to Guatemala

(November Team)

(June team)

4 homes built for families in need

(Chica’s family)

(Nancy’s family)

(Alicia’s family)

(Ingrid’s family)

1 greenhouse built (and weekly classes established teaching a village how to build and run a business)

4 commercial sewing machines purchased and transported for a vocational sewing program

a library of over 300 children’s books donated transported to two feeding centers (also a fund established to help children in Guatemala – all in memory of little Ana Huntley)

a revival that drew over 600 people to hear the word of God from a village

a “clothing closet” and dinner for 20 teenage girls in a children’s home (they each went home SO excited with multiple outfits!!)

one school swing set built (and another donated and transported to Guatemala, just waiting to be built in 2017!)

6 beds purchased for a mission house that will house missionaries for years to come (and already have:)!)

A cistern funded for a mission house (which means the house now has running water for many missionaries to come!)

A missionary’s truck repaired (the oil pump replaced)…this truck is used to transport other missionaries, food and supplies to hundreds of kids – and even transports people in the middle of the night who need to go to the hospital!

Christmas gifts purchased and transported for 20 teenage girls

Electrical wiring and labor paid for a large mission house

3 Firefighter uniforms purchased for teenagers who had completed all training but did not have the money for the required clothing

20 Tiva water filters purchased and installed (each of these supplies a family with clean water for 10 years!)

2 ceramic stoves purchased and installed for families

324 book bags filled with supplies – purchased and distributed for kids to start the school year

A church construction project (the completion of a wall, including LOTS of concrete block, electrical wiring, and tile!)

60 chairs purchased for a church group that meets in a little two-room house where, prior, they were all sitting on the floor!

Tables, cooking pans and tools, propane tanks, and more – all purchased to help open a new feeding center that feeds around 80 kids twice a week

LOTS of toothbrushes and toothpaste donated and distributed

LOTS and LOTS of paint purchased (and some of it applied:)) at feeding centers and mission homes

LOTS of school and art supplies donated and transported!

LOTS of blankets, hats and gloves donated and transported!

LOTS of dolls and stuffed animals donated and transported!

LOTS of food handouts and supplies delivered to families in need (through churches, schools, village gatherings, etc)

Two pizza parties and a McDonald’s party hosted in one of our little villages (and ya’ll this is a BIG treat for these kids…a Happy Meal costs the equivalent of what many of their parents may make working a full day!)

A playpen purchased for little Jennifer who has special needs (see this post for more on her family)

Assisted (financially and physically) with a quinceanera celebration at a children’s home

Our first annual “Family Fun-day Sunday” (planned and executed in just 6 weeks – hosted by Dixie Dreams)

Two additional small fundraisers (a dinner and a Lularoe party that together raised several thousand dollars!)

All paperwork completed and approved for 501c3 non-profit status

A logo and website designed and completed (thanks to mdesign-group.com)

Also, because of so many peoples’ generosity, we are now supporting several ministries the Lord has laid on our hearts on a regular basis…we also have quite a few projects in “the works” and planning stages….including a vocational wood shop program that will allow boys to learn how to build furniture…also, a piece of land we are praying about to construct a building that would house a feeding center and multiple vocational programs in the center of town where it could help MANY children for many years to come…we are ready – with great anticipation – for whatever the Lord wills!

Mark your calendars for a dinner on Saturday, February 25th at the Dixie Dreams wedding venue that will fill you in on quite a bit…you will hear from us at Take Heart Missions, Hilmar Castellanos (the man who runs two feeding centers, several vocational programs, and our greenhouse project in Guatemala), leaders from Samaritan’s Feet, and Roy Graham from the Billy Graham Evangelical Association. It will be a night of stories and celebration of what the Lord HAS done and IS doing – over some of the best food in these parts (downtown Monroe’s Stone Table)…a night you won’t want to miss!

(Hilmar standing on the piece of land we are praying over)

Stay tuned for more information about this event AND for more pictures and videos from our latest trip!

HAPPY NEW YEAR from THM!!!!!!

Love and Blessings,

Gil & Kellie, Jesse & Ericka, and Scott & Susan

It was a box of scrap wood, nails precariously sticking out, dirty fabric laying in the bottom.

Her little face and hands were speckled with bug bites and scrapes.

She stood up and hung over the side and the fabric tied as a diaper beneath her pants peeked through.

Much of this I didn’t notice until later, when I uploaded the pictures and videos.

Because, when you walk into a home like that, the weight of it hits – it causes that lump to bulge in your throat – the chest tightens – and if you don’t concentrate the wave will overtake you.

You can’t cry then.

This is not about you.

This is what they know – all they know.

The uneven dirt floors you’re walking on.

The wires overhead that you’re trying to duck.

The worn faces, smiling back at you. That’s what I try to focus on – and by focus, I mean literally focus with my camera.

My hands tremble and that makes it difficult – but the camera is still something to hide my tears behind.

Jennifer is her name.

She’s two – and it isn’t until the second or third visit that we realize she can’t walk.

Why? They say the doctors don’t say.

Talk to her mother and her aunt for a few minutes and you’ll also realize that there is a certain slowness to several of the family members …it could be genetic or it could be the result of something simple like the paintcan I see them cooking corn in on a later visit.

Jennifer lives with her 85 year old great-grandfather – who is blind and deaf and can’t get out of the house any longer because of the steep incline. She also lives with her mother and her 80-year-old great-grandmother, who cries because she also can’t get out of the house anymore to go to church, but she can hear the music carrying into her open-air home.

She also lives with her 61-year-old aunt “Chica.”

Chica’s smile lights up the room. You can feel it.

She is the only one in the family who is able to work right now.

For the equivalent of 13 US cents, Chica walks a 5 gallon bucket of water from the town’s water source to people’s homes, and back.

The other source of income comes from Jennifer’s father, who gives them as “child support” the equivalent of 6 to 12 US dollars a week.

6 dollars. 5 people. 1 week.

This explains why they can’t afford a twenty dollar sheet of metal to keep the rains from putting out the fire they cook dinner on.

This explains a lot.

This week I played back videos and I listened to some of the conversations from when we were visiting Jennifer’s home – conversations I missed because I was trying to focus.

One of the conversations was about how the mayor of the town promised to build them a home – but there are 200 people on that list for homes in the town of San Lorenzo.

200 hundred families in the same condition or worse?

Let the weight of that settle in.

San Lorenzo is just one little town.

But I’ve seen it – I’ve walked it – and it’s real.

This is not a TV commercial – or the National Geographic magazine on my coffee table.

And the thing is, 5 (about to be 6) trips to Guatemala have taught me this: I can’t begin to wrap my mind around the endless need and devastation in our world – let alone can I begin to make a dent in it.

But this is not about you or me coming up with the money or solution to it all.

This is just about saying “Yes” to what He’s laid on our hearts.

For me, that’s using my camera and knowledge to give a voice to the voiceless.

Not everyone has a camera – or knows how to use one – and we only need so many people doing that particular job….but we need people from home committing to help financially…we need people willing to love on some kids…we need people who can drill wells for clean water….people who know medicine….people who know electric/plumbing/carpentry….we need people who are willing to use their gifts to bless these people and tell them that they are priceless to our Savior – just like you are and I am.

Before we left last week we made a grocery store run for a few families and visited them a final time.

Jennifer and Chica’s home was our last stop. We carried in our bags of rice and beans, a few dozen eggs, pasta, fruit – all non-perishable items because of course there is not a refrigerator.

When we arrived, Chica was gone to the store to buy her dinner.

A few minutes into our visit she returned with a single egg in hand.

One egg.

Chica and Jennifer’s family are just one of many that we pray we will be able to help on our trip to Guatemala in June.

Lord willing, we will be building metal homes for around $600 each – and installing stoves, toilets, and picnic tables.

The need is endless. From a well that will bring fresh water to an entire village (at the high price of $40,000 because it’s into a mountain!) to a simple swing set in a village we have “adopted” the past few trips, we have a GOD-SIZE wish list!

We hope you’ll come out for our first big fundraiser on Sunday May 22nd!

<3

Ericka

“If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother and sister in need but shows no compassion, how can God’s love be in that person?”

1 John 3:17