Its been a while!

It has been a while since we last posted anything on this blog.  Life has been pretty crazy with work, photography, school and church.  The holidays were great and 2014 has started off very exciting.  We have had a little down time since no one really wants to do photo sessions when its so cold in Jan and Feb.  That down time has been nice.

2014 is another year of change in our lives.  It seems that God adjust our path a little every 18-24 months.  We are thinking more about the future and God's will for our lives.  Kim is adjusting the business model a little so that she can streamline things and spend more time working on relationships and less on editing.  We are really seeing His hand in all that we are doing.  It is amazing to watch God work when I get out of the way and let Him guide.

Another awesome thing about 2014 is that this will be the first time God has allowed us to make two trips to Kenya.  We have always wanted to spend more time in Kenya and this year we get to.  Its going to be amazing.  We have some great people going with us in April and June.  I can hardly wait to board that plane.  It sounds crazy to be excited about 19 hrs of flights and 10 hrs of layovers but I am.  Our first trip is completely paid for and we are raising funds for the second one.  Please pray with us that God will provide more financial partners, extra work and overtime to help with this.  We are totally trusting God that He will take care of this.  For those that have given already, thank you so very much for all of your help.  I am a firm believer that when we get to heaven there will be treasures from Kenya because of your willingness to give and send us.

Two really cool things have happened lately.  We put out a request for umbrellas and rain ponchos for our Kenyan school staff.  Some of them walk several miles to school each day during the rainy seasons and get soaked.  We had an anonymous donor promise to give 40 rain ponchos through a close friend.  Then Magellans Travel Supplies donated 40 really cool umbrellas for the staff.  Please go show some love to the Magellans FB page. https://www.facebook.com/magellanstravel.  These items will be a huge blessing to our staff in Kenya.

Please pray that we will be open to God's leading.  We do not want to miss a single opportunity that He has for us.

God Bless!
David and Kim

Click on Prayer Letter to enlarge.

Lagomera Guatemala

The van pulled into a very poor area of town.  Some of the dirties little children you have ever seen where standing outside of the feeding center.  There were many bare feet running around the dusty streets.  In the van there were over 100 pairs of shoes that one of our teammates had sold as a fundraiser to raise money for her trip to Guatemala.  I saw tears begin to stream down the cheeks of the young ladies on the team.  These children love to just be loved on.  Dirty hands grabbed my shorts and tugged at my hands for attention.

We handed out candy and toy bags to these little ones. Then the shoes came out.  The children got really excited and smiles broke out.  More tears began to flow.   I was again reminded that everything we do must be to honor God.  These young ladies could have started judging and not wanting to get their hands dirty.  It was an awesome experience to see these wonderful young ladies be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Later the ladies painted the girls nails, made bracelets and cut hair. We played soccer and threw a styrofoam plane with the boys.  Great things are happening in Guatemala.  Please pray for all of the missionaries and nationals that are spreading the Good News of the Gospel there.

Kim, Bethany, Riley, Me, Taylor, Jennifer, Julie and Alyssa. Joe from Michigan, JJ, Stella and Andrew  

San Lucas, Guatemala

The MANNA Feeding Center at San Lucas is a little bit of heaven on earth.  It is in very poor area outside of Guatemala City.  God opened a door for a feeding center to be started in this area a couple of months ago.  They found a small building that would feed about 25 children.  One day the MANNA directors phone rang and it was a man asking to see him right away.  He told Andrew where to meet him.  The very small man road up on a bicycle and told Andrew that he was very small because he was stunted from lack of good nutrition when he was little.  A family took him and his brother in and raised him.  He became a business man and was now a community leader.  As they chatted the man lead them through a gate and up a steep hill to a 2000 sqft house on 6 acres.  He said that he wished there had been an organization to have helped him and his brother when they were little.  The man then asked if MANNA would like to use the property for their feeding center for FREE!?!?! This center now feeds about 40 children and has a waiting list of 90. The children are very loving, happy and thankful to have people come and play with them and love on them.

People in third world countries do not have FUN like Americans.  They work day to day just to survive.  Kim is working on a story of a very poor family that has three children attending the feeding center at San Lucas.  God is working and providing for this beautiful place.  It is so awesome for the children to have a safe place to come eat, play and hear God's Word.

I needed a reminder!

As we drove through the streets of Guatemala City I was reminded that there are many people in the world that have it far worse than I do.  All over the world there are people that are far more poor than the poorest of Americans.  We were told that the average construction worker makes about $10 a day.  Its hard to eat lunch or dinner for less than $10.00.

There are thousands of orphans in Guatemala.  Manna is building an orphanage that will house about 65 children at a time.  I was reminded that as Christians we are never orphans.  God is our Heavenly Father and He protects and loves us as His children.

I was reminded that we are so very blessed by God to live in America.  Without the MANNA Feeding Centers many of the children we saw today would not be able to eat regularly.  They were taught about Abraham's faith before they ate lunch today.

We also heard stories today of how God provided for all of the team members in awesome ways. It is so amazing that God plans things out for us months and years ahead of time.

I was reminded that if we commit everything to Him, He will provide our every need.

God bless!

Guatemala Bound

As most of you know Kim and I are usually in Kenya this time of year.  In an earlier post we told about God changing our plans for 2013.  The last couple of months have been rolling along pretty good.  God has really blessed everything that we are involved in.  Bible College has gone well.  I am making good grades and enjoying a couple of month break for the summer.  The photography business is growing and Kim is super busy.  I am so very proud of her and how God is blessing her.

About 6 weeks ago I was working on school work one Saturday afternoon when my phone rang.  It was Pastor JJ.  We met him in Guatemala last March.  He simply said that he was thinking about us and praying for us.  It felt great to have a pastor call and say that.  We chatted a few minutes before missions came up.  I asked when he was going on another trip.  He said that he was going back to Guatemala in 6 weeks.   I quickly asked how many people were on the team and he told me that there was plenty of room for Kim and I.  Instantly I felt like we were supposed to go on this trip.  Within a few weeks God provided the money for us to go.  It was amazing to see Him confirm that everything was a go!  

A couple of weeks later God provided in a huge way for one of the other team members.  When you commit to do what God has asked of you He will never fail you.  Even now He is providing for our trip to Kenya next March with my parents.  

Please pray for us as we leave for Guatemala on June 18-25.  We will try to post pics and stories as much as possible.

God Bless!

2013 The Year of Refocusing

Atleast once a week I think about our blog and how we have not posted anything in months. August was the last time we posted and so much has happened since then. God has continued to work in our lives on a daily basis.

Kim and I prayed about going to Romania on a missions trip in 2013 and that wasn't in God's plan. We also prayed about making our annual trip to Kenya but that wasn't in God's plan either. I almost had to go through a grieving process to get the idea of not going to Kenya through my head, but God made it very clear that He had different plans for us in 2013. After much prayer Kim and I are going to rest and refocus this year. I will focus on Bible College which has gone well. As of now I have two A's, a B+ and am waiting on my last grade for the semester. Kim will focus on photography and MANNA. It is amazing when God gives you peace about an issue. Once we figured out that God had other plans for us everything started coming together perfectly. He answered our prayers.

So you may be thinking...What will they be doing exciting if they aren't going to Kenya? We hope to make one trip to Guatemala in June or July. After that we want to enjoy some long weekends with each other, family and friends.

We are really looking forward to March 2014. My parents, Terry and Vickie Hayes, will be going to Kenya with us to visit the Moores and the children that they have sponsored for several years. I am super excited for them to see what God used to change our lives. I know that mom will love all of those babies crawling in her lap to be loved on and dad will love telling stories of how God has worked in his life to the men. I am sure there will be some funny stories about me, Josh and Kim somewhere in the mix too.

Please pray that Kim and I will continue to trust God for everything in our lives. We want to depend on Him for everything in this life. He has done so much for us in the last five years. I am amazed at all of the things we have been able to see and do. None of that would have been possible without God. 

Thank you so very much for your love, prayers, encouragement and financial support in the past few years for our missions trips. Every life changed for Christ goes to your account in Heaven.

Have a blessed 2013!
David and Kim

God is Working

Life has been pretty busy since we got back from Kenya.  Time sure flies by these days.  We have been home almost two months and we haven't posted a single thing, but that doesn't mean that God hasn't been working.

Let me take a step back to recap Kenya 2012 for a few moments.  I learned that God is ALWAYS in control. After three trips to Kenya without any issues I was a little boastrous about never having a delay, losing a bag or any major issues.  As we were checking in at DFW the Burrell's had passport issues and were not able to fly and that threw everything off kilter.  Then a huge storm blows in and delays our flights for several hours.  I am so very thankful that we had planned an eight hour layover in London.  If we had planned a three hour layover we would have missed our flight to Kenya.  Once we made it to Kenya we were delayed again about 45 minutes.  The flight from Nairobi to Mombasa is only 45 minutes so needless to say I was getting a little frustrated by this time.  One team members personal bag did not come for four days.

Our team did a great job ministering to the Kenyan people.  We hosted two dental clinics and a couple of medical clinics as well.  We only got to go hut to hut witnessing one Saturday because it rained so much the second Saturday.  Our team got to play games and visit with the staff at Mbewau.  It was great fun for everyone.

Chris and Lisa are doing a wonderful job there.  I am so thankful that they followed what God had asked them to do.  It opened up an opportunity for Kim and I to use talents that God gave us by leading teams to work there on the field.

Since returning from Kenya God has opened up the door for me to start going to Tyndale Bible College. I am going for an Associates Degree in Missions.  So far it has gone well.  There has been a lot of reading and reading is not one of my favorite things to do.  Reading about grammar and how to do research papers it not the most fun thing in the world but I know that this next two years will allow God to stretch me and make me a better Christian, a better man, a better husband and a better missions leader.

Kim's photography business was a little slow for a while but is picking back up with school starting and fall on the way.  We look forward to seeing how God blesses through her business.  He has always provided for us when we least expected it.

Please pray for us as we seek God's will for our lives.  I know that He will open some doors and close others.  I pray for wisdom to walk through the right ones.

God Bless!
David