Pictures from Rebeca

Here are the pictures Rebeca sent me today showing the Ash from the Volcano covering the streets of Guatemala City.

This is a picture of Rebeca pointing out the Ash covering the streets in Guatemala City

Guatemala Update

I thought I would quick write an update on here just letting everyone know what has been happening in Guatemala over the weekend. First the Pacya Volcano near Guatemala City has errupted covering many areas with ash and now Tropical Storm Agatha has hit Guatemala, causing mud slides, floods and a giant Sink hole in the city (pictures are all over the internet). I sent an email earlier to Rebeca de Franco, our contact at the Lutheran Hour Ministries office in Guatemala, I wanted to let her know we were praying for them and hoped she was safe. I recieved an email from her a little bit ago letting me know she was safe, as well as the rest of the staff at the office. I'm going to copy and paste her email to this post. She has sent me a couple of pictures showing ash covering the city from the volcano and then there is also a link to see some flooding damage to one of towns near one of the Lutheran Churchs.

Blessings dear friends.

Thank you for your concer about us. Praise the Lord we are fine. The members of the staff are fine too. The volcano sand rain was tremundus in the city The volcano sand rain in the city was tremendus,as you can see in the pictures I´m attaching.
Aprox. 2,000 people were evacuated from 7 small villages around the volcano to shelters that the city hall open to help them.

1924 people people have been evacuated from 7 small villages around the volcano

1,865 people are in seven shelters were located in three municipalities.

4 transferred to medical centers for various reasons from the volcano.

We have another problem: toment Agatha, most all the deparments in our country have inundation problems. Pastor Luis Jasinto form The Resurrection Lutheran church in Gualán send me and e-mail saying that this church is now a shelter to help people whos were living beside the motagua river that grow taking everything. So, some members of this church lost everything they had, also parents of the students of this lutheran school, pastor Jasinto is requesting help; cloth, food and pure water. If your church want to help with some donations please contact us. If you want to sse the pictures that pastor Jasinto sent us, visit this place:
http://www.kodakgallery.com.es/ShareLanding.action?c=3b4hkokdl.1247qk7m9&x=0&y=-2sj8f1&localeid=es_ES


Thank you for your prayers, we need them.

We need YOUR SHIRTS...

We need YOUR SHIRTS...the team is still currently in need of donations of white adult sized t-shirts. This is our biggest need for this years trip. T-shirts can be dropped off at the church office during office hours or can be brought to Heins Halls and put in the Plastic tubs marked Guatemala Mission Trip.

• 303 Small
• 397 Medium
• 222 Large
• 40 XL

We are also still in need of the following items as well:

• 776 Plain Pencils
• Boxed Pencils for 39 Teachers (2 boxes each)
• Boxed Pens for 39 Teachers (2 boxes each)
• Boxed Erasers for 39 Teachers (1 box each)

Meet some more of the kids...

Here are some more photos sent to us by Rebeca of kids we will get the privilege to work with this summer. These are 5th and 6th graders of an area Elementary School we will be visiting.

Meet the kids from Santiago Zamora

I recieved an email last week from Rebeca our contact in Guatemala and she attached some pictures for us of the kids we will be working with in Santiago Zamora this summer. These are the kids that attend World's Redeemer Lutheran School, we will be working with these kids for 2 days while on the trip.

Update on Dance

We are very sad to announce that the Candy Land Family Dance that was to be held this coming Saturday has been cancelled due to a lack of interest. If you purchased tickets please contact Brian Kleman at 810-341-3385.

We are still in need of donations of items for the trip. We have two tubs in Heins Hall where items can places at any time. There is an updated list on our website www.faithmissiontrips.com

Updated Donation List

Here is an updated list of the items we need for our trip this year. We are still collecting these items, there are two tubs in Heins Halls marked Guatemala Mission Trip where you can drop off these items at any time.

UPDATED 5/11/2010

• 303 Adult Small White T-Shirts
• 397 Adult Medium White T-Shirts
• 222 Adult Large White T-Shrits
• 40 Adult X-Large White T-Shirts
• 776 Plain Pencils
• Boxed Pencils for 39 Teachers (2 Boxes each)
• Boxed Pens for 39 Teachers (2 Boxes each)
• Boxed Erasers for 39 Teachers (2 Boxes each)

Candy Land Family Dance

“Candy Land Family Dance”

Where: Faith Lutheran Church Family Life Center, 12534 S. Holly Rd, Grand Blanc, MI 48439

When: Saturday, May 1st, 2010 7pm-10pm Doors open at 6:30pm

Cost: $3 per person or a maximum of $12 per immediate family, ages 2 and under are free. Tickets will be available for purchase in Heins Hall Sunday, April 18th and 25th from 8:30-11:00 am, they will also be available at the door.

Family-friendly fun, all ages welcome. Snacks and Refreshments will be provided.

We will have Corsages for sale and Door Prizes. For every $1 you donate or for every item you donate from the teams donation list you will receive 1 Door Prize ticket. We will also have a special raffle just for the kids, all kids entering the dance will be given a ticket.

There will be a Photographer at the dance from 6:30-8:00 for those interested in Family Pictures. There is a link to the order form on the Team’s website.

Proceeds from the dance will go to help fund our efforts to support Project JOEL in Guatemala. For more information please see our website www.faithmissiontrips.com

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Greeting Card and Print Sale a success. The Mission Trip team really appreciates the support. We are still collecting donations of items needed for this years trip. We will continue to have the tubs set up in Heins Hall, items can be dropped off at any time. We have already recieved some donations and have updated the list on our website.

We are currently working on our next fundraiser, we will be announcing it within the next few weeks. All we can say right now is it's going to be a lot of fun for the whole family and we hope to see you there!!

Fundraiser and Donations

The Mission Trip Team will again be in Heins Hall on Sunday selling Greeting Cards and Prints. This will be the last day for this fundraiser. We'll still be collecting donations of items also. There are tubs set up in Heins Hall, items can be dropped off at anytime. We'll continue to collect donations of items after our fundraiser has finished. We have a large list of needs this year, our biggest need is the White T-shirts and Spray Paint. Spray Paint can be new or used but we ask that the T-Shirts be brand new since we'll be putting a screen print on them for the kids we'll be working with this year.

Ultimate Date Night Event

The team will have a table set up tonight at the Ultimate Date Night Event being held at Faith. We'll have some of the cards and prints available for sale tonight and we'll also have some flyers and brochures available that explain more about what our team will be doing this year and the group we will be working closely with. Please stop by and say Hi!!

Fundraiser Day 1

Today was the first day of our team fundraiser and we had an amazing turn out. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table, we appreciate all the support from the congregation. We'll have a table set up again next Sunday the 14th and also on the 21st from 8:30am-11:00am. We will also be collecting donations of items needed for this years trip. There are tubs set up in Heins Hall now, you can drop off items anytime. Thank you again for your continued support of this mission trip.

Donation Requests

LIST UPDATED MARCH 21ST, 2010

Guatemala Mission Trip 2010
This year Faith Lutheran Church will be sending a team of 12 members back down to Guatemala to continue the work we started last summer. This year we will be traveling to local schools in Guatemala City and Santiago Zamora working with the children there as part of Project JOEL. We will be working with approximately 1200 children on this trip. Our team has many needs for this year’s trip and we are asking the congregation to help fill our needs. Below is a list of the items we will need for the children we will be working with:

• 15 Youth Medium White T-shirts (Brand new please)
• 15 Youth Large White T-shirts (Brand new please)
• 350 Adult Small White T-shirts (Brand new please)
• 360 Adult Medium White T-shirts (Brand new please)
• 400 Adult Size Large T-shirts (Brand new please)
• 60 Adult X-Large White T-shirts (Brand new please)
• 60 New or Used Cans of Oil Based Spray Paint (Preferably Darker Colors)
• Gum for 1200 kids
• Suckers for 1200 kids
• 1120 Plain Pencils
• 1200 Plain Erasers
• 1200 Small Plain Pencil Sharpeners
• 1200 Small Plain Goodie Bags

*~*~We are also hoping to make a cash donation for Project JOEL. Anyone willing to help with that donation can make the check payable to “Faith Lutheran Church” and write “Guatemala Mission Trip 2010” on the memo line*~*~

We also need the following items for our Team First Aid Kit:

• Aspirin tablets
• Antinausea/Motion Sickness Medication
• Gauze in Rolls
• Bandage Closures (One-Fourth and One-inch size)
• Two Inch Pads
• Four Inch Pads
• Adhesive Tape
• Sharp scissors with rounded tips
• Safety Pins
• Antiseptic wipes
• Tweezers
• Disposable, instant-activation cold packs
• Calamine lotion
• Sunscreen spf30 or higher, broad-spectrum
• Insect Repellent
• Flu Medication
• Hand Sanitizer
• Pepto-Bismol

There will be a table set up in Heins Hall where donations of items can be dropped off starting March 7th. Please see the website for any updates in this list. Donations of money can be brought to the church office or put in an envelope marked Guatemala Mission Trip and put in the offering plates on Sundays. For more information about “Project JOEL” or details on what our team will be doing this year please visit our website http://www.faithmissiontrips.com/

Greeting Card and Matted Print Sale Fundraiser

Guatemala Mission Trip Fundraiser

Greeting Card and Matted Print Sale
Sunday’s in Heins Hall 8am-12pm
March 7th, 14th, and 21st

Cards $2.00 each
Boxed Set of 12 Cards $24.00
8x10 Matted Prints $10.00
11x14 Matted Prints $15.00

Types of pictures available: Local Flowers/Nature, Flowers from Guatemala, Architecture including some from Guatemala, Michigan Lighthouses, cards and prints with Scripture.

100% of the Funds will go directly to the 2010 Mission Trip, all cards and prints have been donated to the team.

We will accept Cash and Check. Checks need to be payable to “Faith Lutheran Church” and on the memo line “Guatemala Mission Trip 2010”

We will also be collecting donations of items needed for the trip on these dates. Please see our donation flyer for more information or the team website www.faithmissiontrips.com

Project JOEL

This years team will be working with Project JOEL while in Guatemala. Lutheran Hour Ministries in Guatemala started Project JOEL about 9 or 10 years ago. Here's a little background information that we recieved from Rebeca DeFranco in Guatemala:

Project JOEL
This is a program of integral and preventive education that is based on a solid Christian conviction. It promotes moral values and guides youth/students to be aware of the negative things of the world and of the influence that these things may have over their lives. Also, it encourages them to handle and face social and group pressures, so they will be able to take better decisions and learn healthy lifestyles. This program is developed in public elementary schools and high schools throughout the country. Since the program started 9 years ago, more than 42,000 students have participated and LHM has received an award from the Guatemalan Government for the work done through Project JOEL.

This year we will be traveling to many schools in Guatemala City and Santiago Zamora. We will be visiting several class rooms at these schools helping to promote Project JOEL and teaching these kids how to have a love filled home.

1st Mission Trip Meeting

Well we had our first meeting yesterday. We have a total of 11 team members, it was great meeting the new team. Everyone seems pretty excited about the mission trip. We voted on colors for this years team tshirts, our shirts will be Teal and Orange this year. Dorothy has offered to design the shirts for us, we're excited to see what she comes up with. We're planning on taking pictures of the team at the next meeting for our website, then everyone can put a face to the names listed on the site. We are hoping to be able to post more information about our trip after the next meeting or two. I will end this post with the two bible verses chosen by our team for the this years tshirts.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

Shannon Kleman

Pictures from 2009's trip

We are currently preparing for our first team meeting for this years trip. I've been going through some of our pictures from last years trip and decided to post a few on the blog for everyone to see. Enjoy!!

Shannon Kleman

Guatemala 2010

Welcome to the Faith Mission Trips blog. We decided to start a blog for this years trip so we can keep everyone updated on the process of the trip starting from the beginning. What we are most excited about is being able to update the blog while we are on the mission trip this year.

Last year Faith Lutheran Church was able to send a team of 14 members down to Guatemala for a 10 day mission trip. We worked with a lot of children on that trip leading several VBS's at local churches and orphanages. We also had the opportunity to do some service work as well that included painting and some cleaning. It was such a joy for all of us to be able to have this experience and see the joy on the kids faces, it was truly a blessing for us all.

We were asked to send another team down this coming summer and are very blessed to be doing just that. July 31st-August 8th another team will be heading back down to Guatemala to continue the work we started last summer. We are very blessed to be sending back down 7 of our team members from last summer as well as 3 possibly 4 new members. Everyone is excited for this new journey to begin and we want to be able to share this trip with you. As we begin our team meetings and preperations for the trip we will be updating this blog and letting you know what is going on. We are hoping to be able to update this every night during the trip letting you know about the days events. You may see several postings on this blog as we are hopeful that many of our team members will want to write an update on the blog as well. So we invite you to take this journey with us as we prepare for our 2010 Mission Trip to Guatemala.

God Bless,

Shannon Kleman