Nicaragua on Saturday

On Friday the Nicaragua medical mission team is heading back to Nicaragua.
This time to a new site near Leon north of Managua.
I am not going on this trip. I know it is part of God's plan and i am very much at peace.
Josh leaves for Mercer this weekend so there is never a dull moment
at our house. Please keep him in your prayers. A golf scholarship is
awesome but it is like having a full time job and going to school full time.


Please pray for the team as they prepare themselves to be ready to do God's will
in Nica and all along the way. Pray for divine appointments for them and for each of us. Pray for safety for their going out and coming in. Pray for mamas and daddies leaving families to do what God has called them to do. Pray for the people
taking care of the families that are staying here.

Laura Pike has agreed to keep the blog going on the trip. Thanks Laura :)

Helen wrap up

On Thursday we went to our VBS sights. This was a very challenging
day for the Youth. The kids were very tired and the two brothers
only wanted to play noodle tag--except they wanted to hit each other
really hard.
Thursday afternoon everybody headed downtown to pick up trash in or around the
river. This was a great ministry project. People were really surprised that
our kids were cleaning up trash for Jesus.
Thursday night we did two shows in Helen. The GaTour with Tommy Harrison
stopped by for the first show. We were happy to see all those friendly
faces--especially David and Jacob. Reid and Josh took turns clearly sharing
the gospel message. You could really feel the presence of God when the
choir sang Jesus Messiah acapella.

Friday was our last day at VBS--we got a sweet sweet note from a little girls
mama thanking us for sharing Jesus. that was the highlight of our week.
The afternoon was free.....then we did our last show--was supposed to be two
but the second show was rained out. But our band did a great job of leading
worship on their own while the rain fell.

The highlight of the trip had to be the girl getting saved. Jacob S. led her in
the sinners prayer after talking with her. She was soo excited.



Tonight at church we did our mission trip sharing service. It was amazing.
I always hear things that i did not know from the week.
Tonight i heard the story of Karen Swann ministering to some one
in prayer. Our Youth are planting seeds wherever they go. Some new
commitments were made to share the gospel on the mission field of the
schools and around Thomasville. I cannot wait to see what Jesus
does with our Youth.

Helen Youth trip days 2 and 3

Tuesday and Wednesday were awesome days :)

The groups divided into their groups and went to VBS.
Each group shared last night about how much smoother
things went. Every group had more kids.

My group--Brooks' group is amazing. The kids just take over
and run the VBS. Ben and Jacob D are doing recreation and all the kids
love the games--Marshmallow dodge ball was the best. Elizabeth
and Mary Claire have done a wonderful job with missions.
Today was about cowboy church. Kristen and Mariah are in charge of
crafts and made a necklace with a cross and beads on it today to help
explain the gospel. This was after Brooks' bible story on the the gospel.
Payton and Mary B are in charge of the music--route 254---and have soo much
energy.

Today i got to go to see where two of the other groups meet. I took a few pictures
but hopefully tomorrow i will get to take a few more.

Tuesday afternoon was our off afternoon. We spent the time tubing. It was a great
way to spend a couple of hours.

For supper Tuesday night we went to Unicoi Lodge and ate mtn trout with the head
on--it was yummy but i didnt like it looking at me!!

Josh Cone and Karen Swann have led devotions at night. They are amazing and so
bold in their faith. Especially sweet was Monday afternoon when the kids asked for prayer requests from merchants after they had washed the windows of the store.
The kids were so excited to pray for these people. I think this will be an idea
that they take back to Tville and do. People everywhere are hurting and
are in need of prayer.

Keep praying for our team. Today, and Thursday and Friday are busy days for us--
vbs in the morning, mission project in the afternoon and then two programs each night. The youth have the best spirit and attitudes. it is awesome to watch them.

Mission Helen

In Helen

Awesome cabins, amazing food prepared by Jill and Donnie Powell, a little sleep,
and then it is Monday.....


We left the cabins about 8:30 to go to the 4 VBS sites.....my group our rather Brooks' group did a fantastic job today.......games,songs fun and sharing of the birth
of Jesus Christ, a nativity scene for the activity.

Then to lunch--spaghetti-yummy

and to downtown helen to wash windows and pray for the prayer needs of the merchants.

tonight--our first Believe show performance :)

Pray that God uses each one of us.

Heading to Helen

It is time to head out on the road again and leave the comfort of our "home" mission field to share Jesus on another mission field. Sunday morning our Youth bus out to Helen to share Jesus with vacationer and locals in and around Helen.

We will spend mornings doing VBS at 5 different sites. Then at night we will put on the program that we shared with church at the Coffee House. During the day we will go into Helen and have a chance to talk with business owners and visitors...asking for prayer needs and washing windows and any other things that people might need.


I ask for your prayers as we go that God would go before us and arrange those divine appointments for our Youth. Also that we would gladly and cheerfully leave our comfort zones to be Jesus' hands and feet in Helen.

Final thoughts on Costa Trip

On this final morning in Costa Rica i wanted to remember some things that were really special to this trip.

The devotions each morning....this was done by out team...Paul talked about Gideon and being bold in our faith, Jacob talked about how much Veronica's testimony meant to all of us--how she is so bold to share the gospel everywhere she goes and how so many have accepted Jesus ---why dont we share???--....Reid talked about pouring yourselves our and finishing strong and not growing weary...... and we did that yesterday :)

The devotions in the evening....Mark led the first and last night, Arriel shared his testimony about being part of a gang and being led out of that into the arms of Jesus and how he is now part of the leadership team. Last night marked shared some words of wisdom with us. How we have to go back and follow this up at home. How the team here has gone into difficult and dangerous areas where God has led them and he asked where is our difficult area?? is it at school at the other lunchroom table where the "other" kids sits. Why cant we go share there????
God is not going to excuse us from not sharing in Thomasville just because we went on a mission trip to Costa Rica to help people.
Reid shared that we have to continue the Acts 1:8 challenge at home--we have to do something!! as "good" as it makes us feel to help the poor in Costa there are poor unreached people in Thomasville. We will be missing the whole point of missions if we go home and do not do something to keep this going.

Prayer circles......we gathered around Arriel and prayed for him after he shared his testimony. We prayed for him to have strength and supernatural power especially when dealing with other gang members and working in his home place. The kids loved it when he took out his guitar and we sang while he played.
We also prayed yesterday in a prayer circle around Rafa who is the architect for the La Finca project. He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and was heading for the hospital for tests. The power of prayer is so strong. It is awesome to see our youth be a part of this.

Mark and Meg are just awesome! They have our team of 23 plus three other teams overlapping. Everything is so smoothly run you know that God is in the middle of it. The mission house was great, the food was delicious and we so enjoyed the fellowship!

The other teams that worked with our youth were so complimentary.....the yes maams and no maams, the extra hard work, the great attitudes, and the way our whole team got along.....each person on the other team had great things to say.

Praying for clear guidance for the next steps for the youth.....let God open the door wide in Thomasville that he wants us to go through.......

COSTA RICA DAY 6

What a day :)

It has been a long long time since i have done so much physical work as i did today---the youth worked incredibly hard!!

i think it will be a very long time before any of the youth want to hold a shovel or dig a hole! Again they worked to build the foundation for the gym/multipurpose building. It was hard physical work but no complaints were heard.

We started the day with pancakes, eggs and fresh fruit--yummy :)

Then we headed to La Finca around 8:30 and worked till 4:30.......

Thomas and Paul tied rebarb for two days--they made 6 on day 5 and 13 on day 6!!! they worked nonstop for two days--i am so proud of them.

Reid, Brooks and Nelson dug out a second trench and Jeremiah jumped in and helped today.

Brooke painted....and the rest of the team dug out the dirt hill and then after lunch today we dug another trench for a drainage pipe.
I saw kids swinging axes, picks, shovel, and haul dirt in wheelbarrows(not the kind you have at your house).....you cannot imagine how hard they worked or how proud i am of them :)

Tomorrow ....home.......we leave a part of ourselved here in Costa Rica. I pray that God will allow us another trip to see the continued progress on the building. I pray that God will let the youth see the purpose for their hard work.
I pray the God will bless the Louderbacks and their mission here and in Panama.
It is such a joy to see them so happy and so close in their walk with the Lord..... but my heart is heavy tonight as we say goodbye to them....until the next visit :)

Pray for us as we fly out at 1:11 (Costa time) tomorrow. orlando at 6:30---then a 4 hour bus ride home:)

COSTA RICA DAY 5

Day 5 started very early ---breakfast at the pink mission house at 6:30....devotion on finishing strong by Reid. What an awesome message.....

Then we headed to La Finca where the youth worked soo hard all day--digging a trench, and picking dirt out of a hill and shoveling it into wheelbarrows and then
dumping it out over the hill.

We took water breaks, lunch and snack breaks but for the most part we worked
all day until the much needed rain about 430 :)


Supper at the pink mission house was chicken and rice with brownies and ice cream for desert.


What a great day!!! The kids and adults will sleep well tonight :)

pray for us that we would finish strong tomorrow. To God be the Glory!!!

THOMAS TURNS 17AND JACO

Today we had two firsts--our middle boy turned 17--happy birthday Thomas and
the cone ministry went to the beach for the first time ever on the mission field!

The day starte really early--6am--for breakfast and a surprise SUPERMAN birthday cake for Thomas. It was a delicious cake :)

The we headed to Jaco a beach that was 90 minutes or so away. we had a great busride and stopped to see the biggest crocodiles ever. we had to walk out on this bridge to see them---look at the pix......

Then on to the beach---everybody spent the day playing in the BIG waves, shopping and eating. The Louderbacks joined us and we really enjoyed visiting with them!!
Thomas, David, Reid, Jeremiah all got up on the surf board. what a great day:)
God is soo good!

After a bus ride home we are heading out shortly to eat at Tim and Tina's fav pizza place. This is where Tim has a pizza named after him :)

Tomorrow and Wednesday we will work on the house at La Finca.....

Please pray for rest and strength for us. This week has been so special. The team has really bonded and Lord please let us finish STRONG :)

EASTER IN COSTA RICA

WHAT AN AWESOME DAY :)

The day started with breakfast at the pink mission house---pintos de gallo--black beans, rice that is delicious with sour cream and salsa!! bread and fruit!

Then Jacob did the devotional...about being bold in our faith like to tico girls are.....Mark encouraged us not to be sad about what we saw today --their hope is in Jesus.....

Next we headed to La Carpio ..... what an amazing place....so many people in such a small place....and so unreal.....and on the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we got to be HIS hands and feet and share HIS love in La Carpio!! what a great way to spend Easter :)

we passed out candy, and bags with toothpaste and toothbrushes and soap.....you would have thought we had gold.....everybody wanted what we had and lots of it...
you can never have enough stuff to give out.
The place is so overcrowded and people everywhere and no sewage or sanitation and everything just runs to the river--how do people live like that?

Lunch of burgers at the mission house then to La Finca after a change into our Easter clothes. The Louderbacks stopped by for a while :)

At La Finca we had a worship service. Jeremiah and Lauren played and sang.. They did an amazing job. Stacy Ezell shared her testimony. She did a great job! Mark preached a message on heaven and hell. The tico kids did a dramatic presentation of the resurrection. worship was so good. Trinity and Noah hung out with us too.

we had pollo con arroz--chicken with rice--it is my favorite meal in Costa--yummy:)

Then they built a bonfire and we helped the ticos make smores. They hardly ever get chocolate here because it is so expensive. It was breezy so the fire actually felt good. Look at the pictures--their kids and our had a wonderful time.

We headed back to the mission house then the kids went on a field trip with the Louderbacks to the MEGASUPER store to get a snack :)

what a day--i feel so blessed to have been here and to see all the today held.

tomorrow is a first--on a mission trip and i get to see a beach :)

Continue to pray that God will help us to be bold in sharing Jesus and that we
will see those divine appointment.

COSTA RICA YOUTH TRIP DAY 2

What a wonderful day!!!!

Started at 6:15(8:15 Ga time)....headed to the pink mission house for breakfast. Delicious pancakes, fresh fruit and eggs :)

After a devotional by Paul Brewer on Gideon and being confident in sharing Jesus with people, we headed over to La Finca. The youth were awesome!! The groups divided and some painted the entire inside of the house and outside. The others dug a trench and then mixed and poured concrete. Some kids hung out with the tico kids and played soccer. The kids worked soo hard today. Trinity hung out with us and worked really hard too!

Then at 1230 we stopped for lunch. It was delicious--black beans, rice and chili! The church leadership kids held a bakesale to raise money for band instruments for the praise band--yummy sugar cookies and brownies :)

After lunch we did kids club for about 100 kids. The youth made balloon animals and bunny puppets with the kids. The tico kids loved it so much and our kids were so blessed working with them. Tina, Tim, GL, Eden and Noah came and helped us with the kids club.


Supper at the mission house was chicken, potatoes and rice. YUmmy:)

Veronica a tico girl shared her testimony about accepting Jesus--she is part of the disciple leadership team and now knows about 500 verses---amazing :)
Mark shared about the way the kids from Los Guidos are discriminated against and made to feel like they are nothing! He encouraged us to go home and to be Jesus to the kids/people/neighbors that dont have Jesus and are different from us.

In the morning La Carpio--excited for the youth to see that place!!

Pray for our safety, rest, strength and for our families at home.

Happy Easter!!!

COSTA RICA DAY 1

We are here!!! God really watched over us today--gave us traveling mercies, helped us make our flight and we arrived 15 mins early to Costa Rica, Mark was waiting on us at the airport and we all have had a great afternoon.

After a delicious sack lunch we headed to La Finca ---we painted a building and played with the children--they are precious :) They come from horrible home situations. Mark emphasized if we can just give them joy and Jesus this week
we will have done our job.

Supper was delicious and we shared it with the Louderbacks. Tina looks great and she is walking perfectly ---praise God!!!

The weather was wonderful--overcast and breezy.

Tomorrow we leave the mission house at 6:15 (8:15 GA time) to go work on the building at La Finca.

Keep praying for us and our families back home :)

Happy Easter weekend

Costa Rica prep

Last night after church we had a great meeting for the youth going to Costa Rica.
we packed hygiene items--soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc.... into bags to pass out in CR.

Then Reid taught us how to make balloon animals. The kids in CR will love this!!

Please be in prayer for us as we prepare to go on Friday--the devil loves to mess with people the week of a trip!! Pray for safety and good health while we are traveling and in CR. Especially be in prayer for any of the CR kids that we will be ministering to. Let God be dealing with their hearts and have them ready to receive the gospel. Pray that our kids will be bold and willing to seek out opportunites to be Jesus' hands and feet...... from the minute we leave till we get back. Some of the most random airplane conversations can lead to sharing the gospel.

Finally please pray for Matt--who will be babysitting this weekend, Ben and Jacob who will be spending Easter and Spring break away from us for the first time EVER and for my mama and David's mama as they take care of Ben and Jacob from Monday-Thursday.

Final thoughts on Nica trip

One of the days we were in Nicaragua during our early morning chapel service,
we sang one of my favorite hymns--Great is Thy Faithfulness....that could be my theme song for the trip.

The trip started as a November trip but did not work out due to scheduling problems
with the crusades. During this time we were wondering if we would get to go because of finances. This is a pretty expensive trip and with 5 boys--2 in college i was praying and wondering if maybe we were not suppsoed to go. I talked with Dan about this during the fall...he said "if it is God's will then it is God's bill"...and so i prayed again and left in the hands of God.

When we got our financial sheet from CLF we had more than enough money for the trip David and I took in November for the vitamin program and for the medical trip we just took. We are not supported by the southern baptists, any church just by private donations to our ministry. Therefore we are missionaries living by faith that God will provide. and HE DID!!!! We are soo grateful and stand in awe for the wonderful prayer and financial support that we are given each month by our donors.


God was faithful with finances :)

Then NOBODY from Thomasville went with us on this trip. I love the comfort provided by people you know and love. Will Cooper, Bruce Allen, Clark Connell are wonderful docs and they are like my brothers. I depend on them well maybe too much......so God took me way out of my comfort zone this time by putting me with a bunch of
folks that i did not know before. God used our unique talents and personalities and blended them beautifully. The clinics went off without problems--we saw about 700 + peopleand shared the gospel with each one----we had water the entire time we were there, the food was wonderful. We worked together and prayed together and fellowshipped together like we had known each other forever. But such is the family of God.

God was faithful with our team members......

The first time David and I went to Nica we fell in love with the people, the courntry and the mission of Sonny Holland. We also fell in love with a little girl named Escarleth "Scarla"....if we could have gotten her out of Nica we would have. i cried for days when we got back. But God had other plans.......and looking back now God has provided for her and her family. If we had taken her home would that have been the end of our ministry?? That is not what God had in mind for us. Scarla is a beautiful girl and lives with her Abuela and some uncles. While that is a questionable situation i know that God has big plans for her. She and some of the other girls from the neighborhood at La Finca are discipled by Antonieta and Amos, who are the pastor and his wife that live at SHEO. I praise God for their ministry and love of the kids.

God is faithful to provide for the kids around La Finca.....


God was faithful for safe travels, for keeping my children safe, for putting special people in their pathways to take care of them.......

Thank you Jesus for being faithful and that your mercies are new every morning.


Finally i read what someone wrote on Twitter last week ----Being a missionary is not so much a calling as a commandment. Matthew 28:19-20 is for all of us to follow.
Anything less is a poor excuse. I do not want to give Jesus any excuses.....what about you????

Abba Father thank you so much for the beautiful weather, sunshine, and spring....there is nothing more awesome than the beautiful flowers that are blooming and the sound of the birds singing praises.

Clinic day 3

Both days 2 and 3 were started with chapel.
On day 3 I was awe struck at the song that
Monty, Jessica sang. Family harmony is
truly a gift from God!

Clinic days 2 and 3 were really busy. We saw so many people.
Jeremy Pruitt, Jack Cummings, Marvin Mefford and others
preached the gospel and many were saved.

It is such a blessing to be God's hands and feet---we are truly
the blessed ones.

Tomorrow we feed the children at Sheo--it is one of my favorite days of the trip.

Please continue to pray for us and our boys back home.

clinic day 1---400 people

What an amazing day!!

We started out early--chapel with a devotion by Kirk--what a testimony!!
Sonny prayed over us and for the clinic.

Breakfast was delicious pancakes :)

Then off to the clinic. We saw about 400 people---50 were saved--hallelujah!!
i took about 200 vital signs and never moved off the stool the whole day
except to stretch my legs.

It was soo awesome. God really blessed at this clinic! We all did our jobs
and really bonded as a team.

The children of course are precious and beautiful!

Please pray for rest and strength and that God will be glorified.

Hug the boys when you see them :)

BACK IN NICARAGUA

We are here and safe--it is like being back at home only our boys are
missing.

Thank you so much for all the prayers on the flights over here--we had a couple of
bumpy moments but it was a great day overall.

Today we spent the day at La Finca--the farm. Day 1 is preparation....first we made twice as many bags of beans, rice, sugar and flour than we ever did---we really worked hard! It makes the different churches come together and work as a team.
It helped us get to know each other.

Next we packaged meds to give out at the 3 clinics we will do the next 3 days!
We counted out tons of pills and put them in little baggies to hand out.

Sonny Holland, Jerry Spencer and Jack Cummings are the preachers and missionaries
that we have come to know and love. We have been here several times with them.

It is awesome to see the kids in the neighborhood. They stand at the gate and wait for us---they call for DAVID and GRINGO LOCO!!

Our team consists of the two of us, people from Tenn, KY, and TX. What a great group! It is always awesome to travel with a great group of Christians ready to
share Jesus.

The next three days will be long and hard days---clinics in the day and crusades at night. And it is really hot!!! I have been whining about the cold and the rain
so God gave me HOT!!! Sweat dripping down your back hot :)

Continue to pray and hug my boys when you see them.

Another trip to Nicaragua--the journey continues

Tomorrow begins another journey with God.....to Nicaragua.

This last week has been a real battle---a nasty respiratory virus hit our
house --first Josh, then Jacob and Matt and finally me......Jacob and I are
still coughing! Please pray that we would both feel better in the morning...

We leave out of Tally (thanks John Pike for taking us and saving the parking
charge) through Tampa to Houston and then Managua........we insisted on going
out of Tally.......

tomorrow night we will be at SHEO---at the gate with the kids there...sharing
Jesus!

Leaving the boys this time has been extremely difficult. We are being obedient
to God's calling on our lives. Please pray for the boys and for us........

I hope to post from the airport tomorrow--when we meet up with Jack Cummings and
Jerry Spencer. Please pray for safe travel and for on time flights....

Another rainy Tuesday

After a magnificent Monday--sunshine 70s!! then i walk to my car in rain this morning :(

I am praying this morning for Tina--surgery to restore the nerve in her leg!
I am praying for miraculous healing for her. Praying for strength and peace
for her and Noah and Tim and the girls.

A week from today we will be heading to Tallahassee to fly to Nicaragua. I know
God has a plan for us there. I love ministering to the sweet people who are so appreciative of the care they are given. That being said....It is soo hard to
leave my boys for a week. Our schedules are full and their gmas will be busy keeping up with them. I have already been in tears numerous times just thinking
about leaving them.....

I ask for special prayer for us--for me and David as we leave and head to Nicaragua
for all 5 boys as they are here in school and baseball and BUSY!!!

Thank you Lord for the honor and privilege of being called
to Nicaragua. Grant me peace and strength to leave my boys and
serve you there :)

PRAYING

This morning i am continuing to pray for Tina, Noah and family. They have appointments in Houston on Monday and Tuesday--what a praise!!!! I pray for
safe travels and for divine appointments along the way. I pray for the
Lord's hands to be upon everyone that comes into contact with Tina and Noah.
I pray knowing that God's will is perfect and that none of this comes
as a surprise to HIM!
I pray for Tim and the girls---I think they are going to visit the Drokes
and the beach!!
I am also praying for Tom Rinehart's mama this morning. She is not
doing well. She is at Archbold. Please keep this family in your prayers
as well.

The Cone family is busy with baseball--Thomas is varsity, Ben is JV and Jacob is
JR pony. Josh continues playing golf for Darton-they have tourney at Callaway Sunday-Tuesday. Matt is busy at Valdosta with fraternity stuff, classes and work.

David and I will be on a Medical Mission trip with Jerry Spencer March 16-23. For spring break we will be joining Reid and the youth working in Costa Rica with clfcostarica.com

thanks for praying with me

The Journey is not to Haiti

I was so excited when Reid announced the youth trip to Haiti for Spring Break.
CLF has 5 missionaries there and they are doing amazing things. Finally we
would get to see them.

But God has other plans.......

Tomorrow David and Reid were supposed to go to Haiti and do a fact finding mission
for the April trip. Yesterday the largest earthquake ever hit Haiti. It is
massive chaos there. The destruction is unimaginable. Loss of life will be
tremendous. Please pray for these people.

I pray for the CLF missionaries and other mission teams that were
in Haiti, too. I hope they are able to be the hands and feet of Jesus
this week and to give the Haitians hope................


Dan and Jerry leave for India in the morning please join me in praying
for their safety, flight connections, and as they preach at the Pastor's
conference.