Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Monday, August 31, 2009
Return from Latest Mission to Juarez - July 8-25, 2009
I have recently returned from yet another mission in Juarez, Mexico. I visited a 2nd children's home that I became aware of in November, '08 called Juventud con Vision and stayed there with the kids from July 8-25, 2009. This was a special trip fo me as I traveled alone to help celbrate the 13th birthday of a special girl there named Damaris. I first met Damaris when she was only 3 years old. At that time she was living in another children's home called The Tree of Life. The first time I visted the Tree of Life was in November, 1999 with a ten person team from Buffalo, NY. We were there not to visit an orphanage but rather to build a home for a poor Mexican family. When we completed our project it was then that we decided to visit the Tree of Life.
I have watched Damaris (pronounced - Dah-mah-reese) grow up over the years as we returned time and again to the Tree of Life. So in March, '09 when I was at this 2nd children's home where she is currently living, she asked me to return for her birthday. I prayed about it and felt I needed to go and help her celebrate her special day. I traveled alone this time except for the new guitar I brought with me for her birthday present. Here is the moment she received it.
View From The Top
One morning we decided to take the boys at Juventud con Vision for a climb up to the top of a local mountain. Here's what it looked like as we reached the cross at the top.
From - Mission to Mexico July 8-25, 2009
Back From Juarez
I've been back in Buffalo since last Monday (Aug. 10th) and memories or the mission to Juarez and my time there and in Carlsbad, NM and Dallas, TX are still with me. In the photo above you can see me and my friends at the children's home climbing to the top of the mountain in Juarez.
Mercy Ships- Sea Going Hospital and Relief Ships to the Nations
I first became aware of this sea going ministry to the developing nations of the world in 1987 as I walked along the waterfront in Seattle as a newly born-again Christian and came across the then flagship of the Mercy Ship fleet; a ship called the Anastasis. I was immediately drawn to the concept and idea behind this ministry because of my sea going background.
Ten years earlier I had worked on vessels in the Bering Sea off the coasts of Alaska as a fisherman on a commercial herring boat but it wasn't to be until ten more years went by in 1997, when another ship named the Caribbean Mercy found it's way to Buffalo, NY that I signed on as a deckhand once again. I sailed twice on the Caribbean Mercy and also served with a land based Mercy Team in Leon, Nicaragua for about six weeks in 1998.
My first mission with Mercy Ships was from Buffalo up through the Welland canal, out over Lake Ontario and then the St. Lawerence Seaway around New Foundland and down the Eastern Seaboard all the way to Jacksonville,Florida where I served for several weeks before heading over to Mercy Ships home office in Tyler, Texas where I was offered another assignment which I accepted and followed through with to Leon, Nicaragua where for about 6 weeks I served as a communications officer for a land based mission team called Operation Sea Legs. The mission of the team was to man a clinic that made prosthetic limbs for victims of land mine accidents.
My third mission with Mercy Ships was on the West Coast of the U.S.A. We sailed from Seattle to Portland, Oregon where we docked for several weeks during the Portland Rose Festival for a first world promotional tour designed to raise financial support for the third world missions of the Caribbean Mercy. Below, you can watch a video and learn a little more about ship board ministry.
Ten years earlier I had worked on vessels in the Bering Sea off the coasts of Alaska as a fisherman on a commercial herring boat but it wasn't to be until ten more years went by in 1997, when another ship named the Caribbean Mercy found it's way to Buffalo, NY that I signed on as a deckhand once again. I sailed twice on the Caribbean Mercy and also served with a land based Mercy Team in Leon, Nicaragua for about six weeks in 1998.
My first mission with Mercy Ships was from Buffalo up through the Welland canal, out over Lake Ontario and then the St. Lawerence Seaway around New Foundland and down the Eastern Seaboard all the way to Jacksonville,Florida where I served for several weeks before heading over to Mercy Ships home office in Tyler, Texas where I was offered another assignment which I accepted and followed through with to Leon, Nicaragua where for about 6 weeks I served as a communications officer for a land based mission team called Operation Sea Legs. The mission of the team was to man a clinic that made prosthetic limbs for victims of land mine accidents.
My third mission with Mercy Ships was on the West Coast of the U.S.A. We sailed from Seattle to Portland, Oregon where we docked for several weeks during the Portland Rose Festival for a first world promotional tour designed to raise financial support for the third world missions of the Caribbean Mercy. Below, you can watch a video and learn a little more about ship board ministry.
Living Water International - Providing Clean Drinking Water In Jesus Name
Here is another missions opportunity that may interest you. Although I have not personally served with Living Water International, I became aware of what they do through a friend I met while in El Paso working with Casas por Cristo years ago (Nov. 1999). Organizations such as this are doing the work that God has called us to be doing in the generation in which we live. We are called to reach out to those in need. That includes both material as well as spiritual needs.
Here is your opportunity to get involved either by going and working with them or supporting them in what they do, in Jesus Name. By the way. I was in Leon, Nicaragua for six weeks back in 1998 working with another missions organization called Mercy Ships. You can read and watch the video of Mercy Ships in the post above.
Brother Nick
Here is your opportunity to get involved either by going and working with them or supporting them in what they do, in Jesus Name. By the way. I was in Leon, Nicaragua for six weeks back in 1998 working with another missions organization called Mercy Ships. You can read and watch the video of Mercy Ships in the post above.
Brother Nick
Casas por Cristo - House Building MISSIONS opportunity in Juarez, Mexico
This is what started it for me. The first of many mission trips to Juarez, Mexico over the years till the present (2009) began in November, 1999 when I formed a ten person team and raised the money for building materials for a home for a poor Mexican family through an El Paso based ministry called Casas por Cristo We built the home in three days through this organization that has been building hundreds of homes in Juarez with teams like the one I was there with from different parts of the United States.
Watch their official video and ask yourself if maybe you could find the faith for doing something like this, that is guaranteed to change the lives of those who receive the gift of your labor of love and your life as well for having gone and seen another culture and another way of life and given of your time, energy and talents for the Lord and for others. You won't be the same after having gone. Your eyes and heart will be open to the burdens of God's heart and to what He can do in and through a willing vessel.. You will find their website address in the sidebar to the right.
Brother Nick
Watch their official video and ask yourself if maybe you could find the faith for doing something like this, that is guaranteed to change the lives of those who receive the gift of your labor of love and your life as well for having gone and seen another culture and another way of life and given of your time, energy and talents for the Lord and for others. You won't be the same after having gone. Your eyes and heart will be open to the burdens of God's heart and to what He can do in and through a willing vessel.. You will find their website address in the sidebar to the right.
Brother Nick
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
The Tree of LIfe Children's Home - Juarez, Mexico
My involvement with children's homes started with a visit to The Tree of Life Children's Home in Juarez, Mexico in November of 1999. I was there most recently in November, 2008 and March, 2009.
In 1999 during my first visit, I was in Juarez with a 10 person team that I had formed and led to Juarez for the purpose of building a small home for a poor Mexican family through a ministry known as Casas por Christo.
After the completion of the home building project we were invited to visit a children's home where we met the directors; John and Carmen Walker. John and Carmen were also the founders of this children's home and from humble beginnings God has been adding more and more children to them over the years for them to take care of. From just a few children in the beginning to almost a hundred now, fourteen years later.
I have returned with teams many times since our first visit in 1999 to; help install a new roof on their church building, to build a baseball diamond for the kids, another time to build an official chain link backstop for the baseball diamond and to just encourage the kids and staff their with our presence as we played ball with the kids.
On my last few trips there I have been encouraged to see their new dormitory ( the huge white building in the photo above) housing all the kids in a new clean and safe environment that was hard to imagine could ever come true years ago. But because of the faith and dedication of John and Carmen the dream of this dormitory has come true and the work that God gave them to do continues. You can read more about Arbol de Vida ( The Tree of Life) on their web page. You will find the link to it on the side bar to the right.
The Hope Center - Tegucigalpa, Honduras
I visited the Hope Center Children's Home in Tegucigalpa, Honduras in January, 2008.
I was of a member of a 9 person mission team led by David Besch from our church in Orchard Park called the Tabernacle. Each of us on the team had a specific roll to play from; electrical wiring to floor and wall tile installation to interior wall painting which was where I fit in.
The Hope Center takes care of children in Honduras who have have no parents to take care of them. Here at the Hope Center they are well taken care of but they need our prayers and support. You can find out more about the history and work of the Hope Center by visiting the link on the side bar of this blog.
Juventud Con Vision Children's Home - Juarez, Mexico We visited here for a week ; Feb. 28- March 8, 2009
Pastor Jose and Clara Kompean are the directors of a 2nd children's home in Juarez, Mexico that I recently visited and stayed at for one week in March, 2009 called Juventud Con Vision.
Currently they are taking care of about twenty five kids who have no where else to go. Pastor Jose and Clara and a volunteer staff are taking care of them, providing 3 meals a day and a secure Christian environment for them to grow up in.
If you would like to support the daily needs of Jurventud Con Vision you may write and ask for a recent newsletter or send your letter of support to the children's home at;
Juventud Con Vision
P.O. Box 11207
El Paso, Texas 79995-1207
Sarah's Heart Children's Home- New York State
Welcome to News From My Travels,
Yesterday was Thursday, April 3, 2009. In the evening I was blessed to have been given the opportunity to travel to Olean, NY with a group from Bethel Assembly of God Church in Lackawanna, NY. The purpose of our trip to Olean was to attend a banquet for a ministry known as Sarah's Heart.
Sarah's Heart Children's Home is a ministry to rescue abandoned, abused, homeless, and unwanted children and to nurture them into the admonition of the Lord. Sarah's heart will be opened to children of all ages, from every nation, tribe, people and language. This home will be a sanctuary where children can learn to experience and grow in the love of God.
Sarah's Heart was birthed on a vision the Lord gave Eileen Meyer in 1983, telling her she would be a surrogate mother. The Meyers' tried to adopt a few times but it wasn't meant to be. A few years later their youth pastor interpreted the vision and said it is the birthing of a ministry. Eileen carried it around for years. In 1999, while preparing for school, the Lord gave Bill a dream showing him the house and children sitting around a table. There was a marquee at the beginning of the property that said, "Sarah's Heart." God has since opened a door in Hindsdale, New York and thier vision and dream is becoming a reality.
Sarah's Heart will be located in the beautiful Allegheny Mountains in HInsdale, New York. The doors of Sara's Heart will be opened to rescue children from birth to 18 years of age that have been; abandoned, abused, homeless and unwanted.
The National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect reports 879,000 children were victims of child maltreatment in the year 2000.
How Can You Help?
The most important thing you can do is PRAY
Pray for Sarah's Heart Daily
Pray God would give the wisdom and direction for his priority each step of the way.
Pray the Lord would open up doors in churches that we may be able to share the need to rescue children.
Pray for God's provision for the land needed.
You may contact Bill and Eileen Meyer, the directors of Sarah's Heart by writing or calling them at;
Sarah's Heart Children's Home
Rev. Bill and Eileen Meyer
P.O. Box 645
Olean, NY 14760
(716) 373-1918
(917) 306-6350 (cell)
sarahsheart04@yahoo.com
Yesterday was Thursday, April 3, 2009. In the evening I was blessed to have been given the opportunity to travel to Olean, NY with a group from Bethel Assembly of God Church in Lackawanna, NY. The purpose of our trip to Olean was to attend a banquet for a ministry known as Sarah's Heart.
Sarah's Heart Children's Home is a ministry to rescue abandoned, abused, homeless, and unwanted children and to nurture them into the admonition of the Lord. Sarah's heart will be opened to children of all ages, from every nation, tribe, people and language. This home will be a sanctuary where children can learn to experience and grow in the love of God.
Sarah's Heart was birthed on a vision the Lord gave Eileen Meyer in 1983, telling her she would be a surrogate mother. The Meyers' tried to adopt a few times but it wasn't meant to be. A few years later their youth pastor interpreted the vision and said it is the birthing of a ministry. Eileen carried it around for years. In 1999, while preparing for school, the Lord gave Bill a dream showing him the house and children sitting around a table. There was a marquee at the beginning of the property that said, "Sarah's Heart." God has since opened a door in Hindsdale, New York and thier vision and dream is becoming a reality.
Sarah's Heart will be located in the beautiful Allegheny Mountains in HInsdale, New York. The doors of Sara's Heart will be opened to rescue children from birth to 18 years of age that have been; abandoned, abused, homeless and unwanted.
The National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect reports 879,000 children were victims of child maltreatment in the year 2000.
How Can You Help?
The most important thing you can do is PRAY
Pray for Sarah's Heart Daily
Pray God would give the wisdom and direction for his priority each step of the way.
Pray the Lord would open up doors in churches that we may be able to share the need to rescue children.
Pray for God's provision for the land needed.
You may contact Bill and Eileen Meyer, the directors of Sarah's Heart by writing or calling them at;
Sarah's Heart Children's Home
Rev. Bill and Eileen Meyer
P.O. Box 645
Olean, NY 14760
(716) 373-1918
(917) 306-6350 (cell)
sarahsheart04@yahoo.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
