Nica recap

David shared on Sunday night at church--nothing like being put on the spot....but he did a great job talking about our journey over the next two years. You do have to be crazy or different to make a difference. nothing changes unless you make a change.

Some notes of mine......

We met two American couples on Friday that we are working with on the vitamin program. One couple with two small childrens that live near Masotepe. He works with the pastors around the area teaching and encouraging them and their churches. They are NOT IMB missionaries---they are supported by their home church in USA and by donations from people. that is real faith to step out and totally surrender to God's will for your life--including whether you have money to eat from.
The other couple has a cool program where they identify children with lots of potential that really want to go to University. They take these kids ages 18-22 in to a home with a "mother" and the kids job is to go to school. How awesome to give these kids some hope to break the cycle by getting an education. Some of them want to be nurses and accountants!!

wow--how incredible for us to get to see that ........

Kids are really at risk in Nicaragua. The government(ortega and his wife, (who is a practicing witch), have shut down many orphanages and made the children go back into abusive homes. The orphanages are clean, well run and the children are clean and fed.....how sad :(

Now i beg you to find a copy of THE HOLE IN the GOSPEL by Richard Stearns. It is a really good book. You owe it to yourself to read it!!

Nica 11/2009

Our trip has been so awesome so far! God has gone before us as he promised. He truly blessed our "going out" All flights were on time, no turbulence, no problems!

SHEO is great-it is like coming home! Antonieta and Amos have been so gracious to us.

We went to two feeding programs today. Met 4 amazing Christians who have stepped out on faith to obey God. Found the people to share the gospel and pass out the vitamins---how great is our God!!

Orphanage tomorrow--we will actually be feeding the children there too!

Please continue to pray for us and our families back home!

Go Dawgs!!!!

Hug the cone boys when you see them :)

much love

CLF NICARAGUA TRIP

What a week! I forget how the devil tries to get you when you are going to
do what the Lord wants you to do!

This week has been stressful, emotional and i am soo glad God has gotten me through this!

David, MaryBeth and I leave in the morning drive to Orlando, fly to Miami then arrive in Nicaragua about 8:30. Hopefully the old cell phones from the summer will work enough
to let our family know we are safe.

We will be staying with Amos and Antonietta at SHEO.

Friday we go to two feeding
programs in nearby Ginotepe to see if we can find people to ditribute the vitamins
after the people are fed. Please pray specifically that we can find people who will
boldly share the gospel and hand out the vitamins.

Saturday we go to the orphanage ---again to share the gospel and to find others
to share the gospel and pass out vitamins.

Sunday we will feed the children at the farm and go to church services with Pastor
Amos and Antonietts.

Monday morning we leave Nica at 8:30 and arrive back in Orlando (via Miami)
around 3:30. We should be back in Thomasville by 8 and back at work on Tuesday!


Please pray for our safety as we travel by plane and within Nicaragua. Also please keep our family in your prayers. To me the hardest part is leaving your family. I have a woderful mother in law and wonderful parents that help so much. We truly could not do it with out them.

hugs

Believing God

Today i took a HUGE leap of faith---I resigned after 12 years as a RN in the Maternity center at Archbold.....I believe in God but today was about believing
God. He promised to be faithful as he always has and always will be.
I will miss the babies---especially of people i LOVE! but God has taken me
in a totally different direction!

Praise God that he is so patient with us ---he did not give us a spirit of
fear--that comes from the devil.

His mercies are new every morning!

Please pray for our trip to Nicaragua Nov 19-23. also for Dan Spencer as he takes over as president of the GBC and for Tresa as the wife of the pres.

Nicaragua bound

David and I are very excited about our next mission trip. We will be heading to
Nicaragua Nov.19-23. We will stay at SHEO and visit the orphanage, other feeding programs, and feed the children on Sunday at the farm before heading home on Monday.

This mission trip will be to find people that we believe that God has in place to
share the gospel and distribute the vitamins.

Please be in prayer as we prepare to go.

Anyone else interested in going with us?????

Plans for a hope and a future

Thomasville.....I forget how much i love my home!

God is so faithful and HIS grace is sufficient.
His ways are not our ways. But i trust in Jeremiah 29:11
I know HE has great plans for me ----I am thankful that God
is in control and i am not.

The vitamin program is ongoing and though we will travel to Costa Rica
the program is on the move not the Cones. Maybe one day God will move
us but for now we live here :)

We are very grateful for the donations to CLF for our ministry--we are very careful with these funds and use them only for CLF travel expenses to share the gospel and set up the vitamin program. These gifts are very precious to us because unlike IMB missionaries we are not funded by the cooperative program.

Also thank you so much for your donations to the vitamin program through CLF---many children will benefit from the vitamins and the parasite meds they will receive.

Remember to donate to CLF just go to Christianlightfoundation.com

Have a great week........

Till the whole world knows

The Gospel and the vitamin progam

Last night after church we met with Jack Cummings our--- el jefe--boss from Christian Light Foundation. We all decided after much prayer that it is time to move.....share the gospel and take the vitamins to one country at a time.

Due to the great things that God is doing in Costa Rica with discipleship and that we have ladies in place waiting to distribute the vitamins, Costa Rica was the choice place!

Our purpose is to share the gospel,.....As Jack said during prayer meeting--we do not want to help children be healthy only to allow them to perish!

Again we ask for diligent prayer from our prayer warriors----to start we will have over 10,000 kids in the feeding program that will receive a daily multivitamin along with parasite medicine twice a year.

To fund the vitamin program will cost $20 per child per year----we are asking for individuals, families, sunday school classes and churches to please consider a gift to help a child hear the gospel and receive the vitamins.

To donate go to christianlightfoundation.com and donate specifically to the vitamin program----this is seperate from donating to our ministry---or you can mail in a donation to CLF at the addreass on the website.

We know that God is in this and cannot wait to watch God show up and show off!

Waiting patiently on the Lord

I have always been in such a hurry for God to show up and show off but
as I turn 45 tomorrow i am not......not in such a hurry I am just enjoying
soo much the blessings God has given me.

We are awaiting vitamins to go and place in the hands of workers who will give them to children who are a part of a feeding program. Last year the wait would have killed both of us--this year we are waiting patiently on the awesome things God has planned for us. It is in HIS time not mine.


We have blessings galore all around us--especially in the faces of our boys


Hugs

FINAL THOUGHTS FROM PLACERVILLE

Thursday we had a closing ceremony in the chapel--it was fun!
Marlita who is a direct descendant of Crazy Horse spoke as well as the
families that were helped by our mission work. They were soo grateful for our
help. this week we got to be the hands and feet of Christ here in SD.
A band called Sword of the Spirit played and we and buffalo stewheard some traditional Lakota songs.


Friday morning we headed out and visited local landmarks---Crazy horse statue--you have to google this--it is a huge stone carving--like the biggest one in the world not complete though they have worked on it for 60 years! Then we drove by Mt. Rushmore on our way to eat lunch at the Powder House restaurant. The parking lot had been full since 8am and there were people parked 3 miles away walking to Mt rushmore on both sides! and did I mention we had a steady downpour of RAIN!!!!

Lunch was soo good--Elk and Buffalo burgers and buffalo stew--it was very good :)
Then we hung out in Keystone at the shops while it continued to RAIN! The kids enjoyed walking around and seeing the sites!

We passed back by Mt Rushmore and got great pictures--and it continued to rain:)

Then we did my favorite thing---a visit to the nature trail at Custer State Park--it was soo beautiful! You have to see the pictures.....buffalo, burros, the land is gorgeous!

Finally we ended the day with a trip to the mall to feed some hungry kids and adults....

This has been an awesome trip---ask your kids to tell you their favorite parts!
Ask for God sightings--this is something we talked about during our evening devotions.

Please pray for us as we travel to Denver today and Sunday as we fly to ATL and then drive to Thomasville--hopefully to arrive at 7pm.





Hugs

SD YOUTH2009FRIDAY (120 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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SD YOUTH2009 THURSDAY (19 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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SD youth 2009--site day 4

We got finished with all our job---woohoo!!!

VBS was great today--again we were responsible for songs and the story--our youth did such a good job. Again the youth got a chance to plant seeds and tell the kids from the center that God loves them.


Group 1- finished painting the playground and fixing it---it looks great!!
look at the pictures---the kids worked soo hard. When the little kids from the center saw it they were so excited and happy that their playground looked so great:)

Group 2-combined with group 1 to help finish the playground since they had painted a school and a house!

Group 3-finished the roof yesterday and today finished tearing out the kitchen floor and putting down plywood--Liz and Logan estimated their group hammered in about 500+ nails--wow!!!

Group 3.5--finished the fence adding two additional sections--it looks great--Marlita was really proud of it and said she had had several complements on it.


Nothing that has happened today surprised God--HE is in control and has a plan--for our hope and our future!! I have had to remind myself of that today---it has been a day of prayer for me and of reminding myself that God IS IN CONTROL!!! When I am afraid I will trust HIM!!!!

SD YOUTH 2009-SITE DAY4 (137 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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July 1, 2009 in SD

Is it really July??? Wow!! This year and especially this SUMMER is going by soo fast!

This morning we woke to another beautiful peaceful day at Pacerville Camp. We had a delicious breakfast of egg, sausage, blueberry coffee cake and fruit.

After our morning devotions we headed out to our various sites.......

Group 1 worked so hard today cutting boards, drilling the screws in to replace the
boards on the playground that were broken. Then they started painting........

Group 2 borrowed painters from group 1 to paint the outside of a house---they finished--yea!!!!

Group 3 worked on the roof again and finished---tomorrow they are going to put flooring down in the kitchen of the house....

Group 3.5 --we split off from group 3 yesterday and today and got Marlita's fence looking great--we poured more concrete and spent most of the day staining the fence--it looks soo good!

At 12:45 groups 1, 2 and 3.5 met at site 1 for VBS. We had a big group of kids and we teamed with another church that is here from Arkansas ---we did the music and the story. Katie Trotter headed the music group and the story group told the story of Peter---with a special guest--check out the pictures to see!! Jacob S ended out part of the VBS time with questions--we were amazed at how well the kids had listened to the story!! Then it was play time--our kids that were not painting the playground had a great time playing with the kids--again you have to see the pix!!!

What a day--God is so good he held the rain off so we could finish our jobs!

Supper time is coming--grilled chicken, rice and veggies--last night we had grilled chops, baked potatoes and yeast rolls---needless to say we have enjoyed our meals here they have been soo good...brownies and peanut butter rice krispies with chocolate icing for desert---as Jerry spencer would say---we are suffering for the Lord :)

Our worship services each night have been good---Drew is the worship leader and Michael gives us a short sermon to think on. Then we break into small group time with our church and share about our day--it is a sweet end to our day.

By lights out at 10:30 we are all ready for a good night's sleep---

SD YOUTH 2009-SITE DAY3 (211 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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SD youth 2009--site day 2

Another great day in SD. The weather is awesome--perfect blue skies, 50's overnight then 70s-low 80's in the day with very low humidity. I might could stay here.
The camp is soo peaceful. Some of the kids enjoyed their devotional time this morning outside!

Each of our 3 groups is really working hard on their projects--
group 1 scraped the remainder of the playground off and began painting today and the weeds were sprayed with roundup......

group 2 scraped a house to get ready to paint tomorrow

group 3 --divided in half--part of the group worked on roofing the house while the other part weeded, mowed, poured concrete, moved dirt and flowers and pressure washed a driveway.

Lots of great work today in SD. Be proud of your youth they have done an amazing job---I had no idea they were so talented especially in construction!

Pray for us to stay well and to find opportunities here to share the gospel. Marlita is a Lakota Indian that we met today. She explained to us more about the reservation and how hard life is for the Lakota Indians. She is a Christian and it was really good to talk with her and learn more about her culture.

SD YOUTH 2009-SITE DAY2 (61 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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South Dakota 2009--Youth mission trip day 1

Today was such a great day---I am soo proud of all the kids. They worked soo hard!

We started the day with a great breakfast of pancakes, bacon and fruit--yummy!
Then we had a short devotion--Jeremiah 29:11--God has great plans for us--even traveling for 23 hours to be in SD!!

Then we headed out to our work sites--I have to give a praise to Tom our bus driver--we are 2 miles off the road on a little bitty tight dirt road and he is driving the charter bus!!! He reminds me of Viktor our bus driver in Nica!!

Group 1 went to the VBS site at a like community center--they had to mow grass that had not been mowed in forever, weed the playground that had not ever been weeded and scrape paint off the playground set. They worked really hard and the site looks much better but they still have more to do. A pressure washer and some round up are the ticket for tomorrow....

Group 2 went to a school building-more like a small church like building--and they painted several rooms. They finished this job and hope to mow and weed eat tomorrow.....

Group 3 went to a mobile home belonging to a Lakota indian family to put a roof on.
These guys and girls climbed up on the roof, toted lumber up a ladder and drilled the screws into the wood, then they started putting metal roofing on just as the thunderstorm came through. Part of the group hung 2 sets of blinds for the family.....

Schedules change always so no VBS today we will start that tomorrow morning--maybe???

Now we are back at camp some sleeping, some walking or running, some swimming in the river/creek , playing cards or ping pong---just chillin :)

We have had a great day--pray for us for strength and rest tonight. For tomorrow that we will do whatever it is that God has planned for us.

I smell brownies in the oven and spaghetti is cooking-yummy supper.

Please keep Machelle, Debbie, and Vicki, Haley and Tommy in your prayers :)

,

SD YOUTH2009 (124 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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THE LONGEST DAY sd 2009 (26 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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WE ARE HERE---PLACERVILLE CAMP

Good Morning

we made it to camp after a beautiful day long adventure---Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota are just gorgeous!

Pray for us as we go out today to VBS and construction that God will use us in a mighty way!!

We are in Placerville Camp a UCC camp--imagine Camp Piney woods---but mixed with the coolness of N. ga in October and a river runs through it.

Yesterday was a LONG day but everybody survived it and we made it. We slept well and some of us are wearing SWEATSHIRTS!!! It is like heaven :)

more later.................

Another airport........

another day another airport.......:)


So excited to be a part of another mission trip--this to South Dakota to work with the Lakota Indians outside Rapid City with our great youth from FBC!!

We left around 5:30 from FBC and headed via motorcoach--with AIR and lots of it--BRR...stopped off for breakfast at Forsyth--yummy biscuits--

Then we arrived at the ATL airport--it took us about 5 min of waiting and 5 min to check the WHOLE group in---God is good He is always taking care of us. We got through security quickly and now we are sitting waiting at the gate--woohoo!!

I will try to post this week but i never know when i will have access to the internet or not.

So I ask two things of you this week------

1) please be in constant fervent prayer for us this week. I believe that God has a plan for each of us and that he will protect us as we do HIS work in SD. i ask for prayer that we will do WHATEVER it is that He asks of us as we serve HIM. Pray that we would be bold in our faith and always looking for opportunities to share HIS love with others.

2) if you would please let me know that you read this blog by posting a comment.

thanks for your prayers and for your support.....

Finally, if you see Jacob today please say HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY to my baby :)

and as usual---please hug on the cone boys when you see them this week---I am very thankful to be able to have Thomas with me this week. I pray that God will use him in a great way this week. Student life camp was so good I pray that God will continue to work in the lives of all of our youth.

A HAPPY AND SAD DAY

Today was our last day in Costa Rica. It is always a bittersweet day.
Breakfast and then Jacob gave the devotion on courage--like the courage Daniel had and the courage it takes to go to La Carpio and share the gospel............ and then we went to the Language school. Ron Droke gave us a tour.
We saw where Tim and Tina and the drokes go to school. Tim and Tina joined us
as we went to chapel. Jeremiah led the praise and worship and then Bro Jerry preached. It was an awesome service.

Then we got Eden and headed to the Drokes for lunch---David would have been thrilled--chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches---it was yummy. Tina said it was a real treat because cheese is so expensive here.

After lunch and visiting with the team we headed back to the mission house to rest and pack. Eden came with us to visit. Jacob and I were so excited to have her with us--and the spencer boys:)

The Louderbacks joined us about 3:30 as we got ready to head out to La Finca which is in Los Guidos. We had a worship/sharing service there. The children sang for us, Naomi played the guitar, and Melinda played the clarinet--it was beautiful.
Jerry spoke and Rojillo spoke then we had supper. After supper we celebrated Teresa and Marvin Mefford's 31st anniversary and Matt Mclains 34th birthday. Birthdays are celebrated by cracking eggs on the head of the birthday boy or girl--Matt was a great sport.

We finished the service with some sharing time--Jacob cone and Jacob Spencer shared about the week. It has been a great one. God has helped all of us to grow. We will never be the same.

Saying goodbye to the Louderbacks is so hard. They are where God wants them to be but I sure wish I could stay and visit longer. They are so precious. Please keep them in your prayers.

Our flight leaves Costa Rica at 12:15 which is 2:15 Ga time--please pray for our safety and that of the team which is leaving at 8 am. God has truly blessed us this week:)

La Carpio June 2009

Today was La Carpio--this is the poorest place and the baddest place in Costa Rica.
CLF goes in for discipleship groups and eventually hope to have a church building or community center there.

We started the day with a traditional breakfast of rice and beans with sour cream--and it was really good:) Then Jeremiah Spencer did the devotion on prayer. It was so good. Jerry Spencer was so proud!!

Then we boarded the bus for La Carpio. I had already been praying since yesterday that God would give me more strength and keep us safe--especially Jacob. I know that yall have been praying for us too cause we had a great day! The rain held off, we were all safe, the trek today was not nearly as uphill or hot and we never felt in danger--Mark, Ron,Matt and Coco all watched out for us. But the best part is there were so many decision to accept Jesus for the first time and the others who said they were already Christians asked to join a discipleship group. I think Mark's number of groups may double. God is so awesome. It is such a blessing to watch the tico kids--who are 8 yrs old and up share the gospel over and over with different people. They really know their Bible, and the scriptures. Can you imagine our 8 yr olds out sharing the gospel door to door??? They use the Bridge to salvation and do an amazing job.

Lunch was hot dogs---thank you God for not having us try the black bean paste/cream cheese sandwiches----then we headed out for more sharing. We gave out 200 food bags that were actually 2 bags of food---red beans, black beans, rice, sugar , flour, margarine, milk, spaghetti and a few other things. Bro Jerry had collected $15 for each bag through donations.

Now we are back at the Mission house chillin for the night. It is nice to have some down time at the end of a long day.

Tomorrow we have a worship service at the Language School so we get to hear Bro Jerry preach and Jeremiah sing and maybe even Tina or Trinity:) I cannot wait.
Then tomorrow night we meet at La Finca to celebrate the week and eat supper.

God is so good!!!

Keep us in your prayers. We are praying for VBS and for Debbie McHenry as she recovers from her surgery yesterday.

Costa Rica--Tuesday

Tuesday was a great day in Costa Rica!

Yummy pancakes, fresh pineapple and watermelon for breakfast followed by a great mission challenge at our devotion time. Marvin is from KY and a friend of Bro Jerry and the Kuzdas. He came here in 2007 on a mission trip with his wife Teresa. They have been supporting the ministry here ever since. He talked about
the great commission in Matthew 28--that is why we are here!

Then we headed out to Pastor Rejillios house. We had a time of prayer and then we headed out--first we walked to the pines--a division of houses---we went through
mud and trash into some of the poor areas and handed out food bags. These bags were enough food for these people for a week--it was heavy!!!! After walking about 5 miles to give these out we headed back. This time we gathered 3 bags per each team of 3 and headed up the hill to another area. This time we were paired with two ticos or nationals. jacob and i gave out the food bags and the tico girls with us dayan and michel shared the gospel using the bridge illustration. The girls did a great job and we had about 8 people accept Jesus for the first time AND they wanted to be in a discipleship group :) After a delicious lunch of rice and beans we headed back out for a walk around and handed out more bags and the ticos again shared the gospel. In all we had 80 decisions for Christ--awesome:)

I was really proud of Jacob--we walked a VERY long way today and he never complained and he really enjoyed what he was doing. It is wonderful to see your child being obedient to God. Thank you Jesus for a mission minded church and a pastor that encourages missions. I am so thankful for FBC and what great childrens programs we have.

Thank you for praying for us. Tomorrow is La Carpio and it is very poor and dangerous ---pray for our safety and for our strength--this is hard work and we are all very tired tonight. pray also that decisions will be made and hearts and lives will be changed.

LIVING LARGE IN COSTA RICA

After waking at 3:00 leaving Tville at 3:30 we arrived at Orlando's airport
around 8. Checking in was great ---Orlando is my new home airport--so easy to get through.......then we flew out at 10 and arrived in Costa Rica around one.....

Ron Droke picked us up and we got to go to the Louderbacks house--woohoo:)
Jacob and I spent a great afternoon with them--we went to town, got a snack at Taco Bell and went to the market. We rode the bus and went to a corner store for tomatoes and lettuce......just a fun afternoon hanging out....

Jacob and Jeremiah, Jacob Cone and the louderback kids played soccer in the back yard, apples to apples and wii---fun:) It is soo good to see them. We will see them again on Thursday at the worship service-yea!!!!!

The Tennessee team is on their way from the airport. In the morning we start the door to door ministry and giving out of food....please pray for us as we minister to the people of La Carpia and Los Guidos.

676 is the number from VBS @ FBC---pray for the teachers and staff as they work with such a huge group of kids---to God be the glory:)

THE MOST AWESOME SUNDAY AT FBC

What an amazing day in the House of the Lord :)

After a mountaintop experience like Nica was sometimes you come home to a letdown caused by rountine--especially after what we experienced in Nica! The worship there is so freeing, the devotions were so sweet and spirit filled and so honest....
and yesterday(Saturday) we were soo busy with baseball and life but....

Today belonged to the Lord. From the minute I walked into the foyer I truly felt God---from the music to the message--Can you imagine even a little of how awesome it will be to see God in all HIS GLORY in heaven---how do you think Peter felt at the transfiguration????? It reminded me of Matthew Milton's devotion in Nica about prayer and how we should approach the throne of God when we pray......

Then in Sunday school we talked about the Miracle of feeding the 5000---we fed a lot this week in Nica--God is still in the miracle business---and the memory verse--God will supply all your needs....he really showed off this week as he met us at our point of need...

At the youth mission meetingfor the ones of us going to SD on June 28---Francis Chan whose book "Crazy Love" we are reading spoke through video of giving ourselves and how we buy things and want things while others have nothing and how that is not a sin but it is silly---think about it! You have to read this book--it is life changing.....

Root 3:16 is awesome and if they played every service or in one service it would not be enough----I loved it soo much----after the music in the worship service in Nica I needed MORE!!! Thanks Root 3:16!!!!!!!

Then Dan preached on the prequil to his morning sermon about the transfiguration.
He led us through the Bible with the promises that Jesus will come again, the rapture of the church, the great tribulation and the battle of Armageddon and the purpose of HIS coming........wow I could camp out here for a while..........and I will until Thursday when i hear Bro Jerry preach at the Language school in Costa Rica--woohoo!!! The moutaintop experience just keeps getting better!!

Finally Root 3:16 sang I will rise---which fit perfectly as the closing song---Jesus has overcome and the grave is overwhelmed victory is won --HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD and I will rise when HE calls my name---praise God!!!!!


What an awesome day---Psalm 122 verse 1 from this week's connect journal says,I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

and I am claiming psalm 121 as God's promise to take care of all of us on missions this summer--v.8 says the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more......

nica--final pix 2009 (79 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
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ORPHANAGE AND MARKET--NICA 2009

Today we got to sleep a little later---woohoo!!! chapel was at 7:30 and after a late night at church we were grateful.

Mary Beth shared today and it was awesome---she needs to be a speaker at a women's event:) She spoke about trusting God and having faith to obey what God is telling us to do. Mary Beth has a passion for children especially orphans and she is going to make a difference for Jesus. Thank you for sharing your heart and being bold!

Then we headed out to the orphanage. This is always a highlight because to me these kids even though they are mostly abandoned by parents they are loved by their caregivers. They have preschcol there and the older ones go to school. This orphanage is part of the Messiah Project----mpnica.org------funded by a church and a wonderful ministry here in Nica. We all loved on the children--we would all love to take one home with us--especially Mary Beth........David and I found a contact for the vitamin program for CLF so God again put us in the right place at the right time.

After the orphanage part of the group went to the Volcano and the rest of us came on to the market. Some of us have seen the volcano twice already or more.......
The market is fun and we had a delicious lunch..the whole gang is together now shopping.........we head to our special good bye supper soon at the lagoon......

Pray for us as we come home tomorrow ----we are ready to be there. We miss yall and love you. Thank you so much for being faithful prayer warriors this week.

CLINIC DAY 3--NICA 2009

Wednesday was another wonderful day at Clinic

We started out our day in the prayer garden. Matthew Milton led the devotional time.
He did a great job on prayer using the Francis Chan book---Crazy Love---that we are using to prepare for the SD youth mission trip. How we prepare our minds to pray is so important instead of trying to give God a grocery list of our wants and needs. If you imagine God in all HIS GLORY as we approach the throne to talk with God how humble we should be..........

After another delicious breakfast of pancakes prepared by Claudia, Robbie and two nica ladies we headed out.

The clinic was at a church and we had great shade like we did all week. We had 6 stations, plus Robin and it all went so smoothly. The evanglism team did a great job of sharing God's word--about 60 made decisions for a total of about 170 decisions for the week---woohoo---to God be the glory!!!! We saw about 569 patients for a total of about 1100 for the week......the pharmacy did a huge job of filling all the prescriptions!!! I gave two shots of Rocephin to babies who were really sick and listless......Will and I were really excited that they screamed when i gave the shot!! It was amazing what all we saw and how each team worked with the others to problem solve. Our interpreters for the week were soo wonderful! Robin, Jimmy, Gina and Jeff Willis worked tirelessly to pull teeth. They could stay for weeks and not be done!

We finished the day with WATER for wonderful showers! Thank you Jesus! Then we got to take the girls--Scarla, Maria Jose, Elay, Jemma, and Manuela to church after a delicious supper of gumbo. The service is just so wonderful. We all enjoy the music and the passion of these Nica people. Gary Milton preached and did a wonderful job. There were so many people that made decisions--Jimmy, David, Jeff, Laura, Gail and others went down to help pray with them. To God be the glory.

After the service we heard news of Debbie Mchenry---Debbie know we are praying for you and Larry!!!

Back at La Finca we had delicious brownies waiting on us-yummy.

Clinic Day 2--nica 2009 and miscellaneous thoughts......

Things I forgot to mention yesterday when i was in such a hurry trying to blog so we could get back to La Finca........

This trip is soo organized--God is so in this everything has been just great--John and Laura Pike are awesome and have done a tremendous job getting us here and organizing everything.

On the way to ATL we stopped at Striplings--anybody that knows me well knows the only way to ATL is by Striplings---Jeff Willis got souse! and ate all of it!!!!!
and of course we all bought lots of beef jerkey and brought it to Nica with us...

Each member of the team was challenged to share Jesus with someone on the way to Nica---I talked with a girl at Red Lobster about what we were doing and why we were doing it....there are lots of good testimonies from team members about sharing....Dennis Nunn would be proud!

Jimmy, Frank, William, David, Pastor Amos and others work the evangelism site---it was awesome to hear Jimmy share Jesus with the crowd......

Every morniing we start our day in the Prayer Garden--it is a little slice of heaven on earth--the first day Jimmy shared--I love that man and I love to hear him speak--today Clark Connell spoke--what an awesome job he did! I cannot wait for tomorrow :)

Jeff Brinson has kept us secure this week---he does a wonderful job keeping the traffic flow steady in the clinic and not overwhelming--he is a joy to work with....

Gina Wise started the week in Thomasville then went to Iowa with Jack for Odyssey of the Mind competition then came back to ATL and finally arrived in Nica on Sunday night late. We are soo glad she made it safely. I love Gina and her sweet spirit.
I love to watch her and Robin working together with the little children as they get their teeth pulled. They make a great team with Jimmy and Jeff Willis.

Frank Pickle is a wonderful man---he worked really hard with Pastor Amos and Rick Orso to get us water to the girls showers---we appreciate his hard work soo much:)

Sunday night at the church service Sonny Holland preached--he is the founder of SHEO ministries.

Now for Clinic Day 2-------
we were down the road from the trash dump we could smell the smoke but were not in the midst of the dump!
We were housed in a little church and had a constant breeze--God has surely kept us comfortable this week. Again the people were registered, heard the gospel and about 65 decisions were made---praise God!!---then we saw them in clinic, then to pharmacy and they got food bags, shoes and undies.....it is truly awesome to watch the doctors, nurses and others around me showing such compassion--truly the love of God ---to these people. It is so humbling. The people are so gracious and thankful to us for the little bit we do for them---all the glory goes to God. I thank God for letting me be a part of this, It is such a blessing to me.

Finally thank you all at home for praying for us and supporting us to go on this trip. We love you and feel the prayers you have been praying for us.

Please please continue to pray---especially for our strength. As I got on the bus after clinic i heard them saying that tomorrow will be the biggest clinic and the poorest people so far. Please pray that we will show them the love of Jesus tomorrow and give them a little bit of hope............

Matt and Josh---thank you so much for taking care of everything in Thomasville for us
We love you!

hugs

Monday---Clinic Day 1

Monday was a perfect clinic day---one of the best clinics ever!!

The weather was overcast for the most part, we got a little rain but then we had a breezy day......

We had about 400 people---we presented the gospel--51 decisions--woohoo--- gave out Bibles, gave medical care, gave medicine, food bags, undies and cookies, toothbrushes and toothpaste! It was incredible.

This was a very poor area--even poorer than around the farm. These people live in the worst shacks or lean tos. But they were so gracious and grateful to us for the little that we did for them........

Check the pictures on Snapfish.......


Pray for our strength --tomorrow is the dump---it will be so emotionally tiring as well as physically tiring......

we love yall thanks for all the prayers

hug the Cone boys and GO DAWGS!!!

SUNDAY--FEEDING THE CHILDREN

Sunday was an awesome day ---it is my favorite day of the trip. We get to visit the children in their homes before we feed them. It is a chance to thank God for how truly blessed we are. They have nothing ---dirt floors, the streets are muddy from the rains, there is trash everywhere, the children are dirty, running around with no shoes on.........we are truly blessed!


The children and their mamas lined up at the gate--there are very few papas to be found--and wait their turn to enter the gate. The guys and the nicaraguan ladies that help at the farm cooked this HUGE pot of what William Clark called beefaroni--and the kids got their bowl filled with that, a tortilla and slaw. They were so grateful!

Then we did a medical clinic and saw about 60 people. Robin pulled some teeth with his great assistants--Jeff willis and Jimmy Clanton!

After praying and praying for the water to come back on at the farm the girls were blessed by the water returning so we could all wash our hair........nasty hair equals not so happy women :)

Saturday night we were without lights for several hours---which meant NO fans either!
We all prayed for the lights and the water but nothing happened. Then Jeff Willis and others started singing This little light of mine and the LIGHTS came on!!!!!!
What a praise to God!!!!!

Finally Sunday night we traveled to Amos' church for worship. You have not truly seen worship until you have seen Nicaraguans worship. They are so passionate!!
We even "Moved the mountain"----you have to see the video Jeff Willis made---David Cone and Will Cooper can really move mountains!!!

More later.......keep praying for our safety and strength.

SATURDAY IN NICARAGUA

Hey,

We arrived safely in Nicaragua!!!!!

We had a mostly uneventful rather warm plane ride from ATL to Managua--a little
thunderstorm close to landing made it exciting. After going through thermal imaging
to make sure nobody had a fever we stood in the customs line forever. But God is so good! We met a man who is adopting 3 children from Nicaragua--he has two grown children and on a mission trip down here they decided to adopt--now it is getting closes to time that they can take the babies home--30 mos, 24 mos and 18 mos--they surely need your prayers! Their mission has built a home for at risk girls and now they have built housing for over 16 girls to stay.

We arrived at SHEO after about an hour bus ride--Viktor is an awesome driver--
un the pouring rain we unloaded. I slept like a baby and i think most everybody else did to!

Saturday morning we woke up to bird chirping and a beautiful sunny day at the farm. After a day of travel it is nice to have a "down" day----we packed meds for hours and then after a delicious lunch of ham sandwiches we counted more pills for the clinics. Then when we were done we made food bags---a bag of beans, rice, sugar and flour are given to each person seen at the clinics we go to---this is team work at its best. Everybody helps till all the work is done!

While we were doing this--John and Laura, Steve and Jeff Brinson went to town to buy clothes to give to the children at clinic........

David, Sarah Kate and the rest of the team did take time out to play with the kids at the gate----Gringo Loco is David's name here! Jimmy and Jeff Willis and Frank Pickle brought loads of candy for the kids--so they are really glad to see all of us.
I have seen Scarla, and Steve saw Maria Jose and Will saw Eleya---it is great to see all the kids from before. Mary Beth is doing great--on her first trip---she and Leigh are having a great time with the kids!!

We are a little tired but came to town to let you know we are safely here. When the A team gets back to the Farm with the cell phones we will all call home!!!

Please continue to pray for us---especially for strength and health for all the team members---this is physically and emotionally tiring for all of us...but we love it and God is using us to share HIS love on these kids!

Hugs to the Cone boys :)

Atlanta in 6 hours?????

We left FBC after being prayed for by Dan.
Striplings was our first necessary stop of course! Then we made it all the
way to Perry before stopping for lunch........

Then we finished the trip to the airport safely--we felt your prayers!

The team got our luggage checked in, got through security and headed to our gate...
and then we stopped to EAT again!!! Our last supper before Nicaragua!

Continue to pray we leave here in just a few minutes------

FRIDAY IS ALMOST HERE

Wow!!!!!!!

It is here----we leave for Nicaragua in the morning--bus ride from church to

ATL then non-stop flight to Managua--yea!!!!

This week has been so hectic---schedules, baseball camp---we overslept this morning so the boys were the last ones there----groceries--what to pack --where to pack it--


It is always a relief to finally get on the bus and know that whatever you have done--YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL---GOD IS!!!!!!!!!!

It is also great to visit with the people you will share the most awesome week with--reconnecting with the ones from past trips and connecting with new faces---they are in for the best week ever!!!!

We ask for your fervent prayers for us this week--for the ones we are leaving at home, safe travels, health, safety,
ESPECIALLY that God would be working ahead of us in the hearts of the people HE wants us to come into contact with--here in the U.S. and those waiting on us in Nicaragua.
John Pike challenged all of us Sunday to share the gospel with all that we come into contact with along the way---pray for us!!!!!


Ready or not---Friday is almost here :)

NICARAGUA ON FRIDAY

We are all soo excited at the Cone House--

SCHOOL IS OUT FOR SUMMER !!!

so we are enjoying this weekend before the schedules catch back up with us
next week. Matt and Josh both are working this summer and enjoying no classes--Josh is taking a chemistry class in late summer.....Thomas who is a JUNIOR now and Benjamin who is a freshman have a few days off before baseball camp and summer ball start....and Jacob is going to hang out with his older brothers, the gmas and Talore and Chris at the Club for golf camp and helping Keri with the music @ VBS before he gets ready for his mission trip to Costa Rica.....

David and I just look on in amazement as the boys just grow on and on---They are good friends they enjoy hanging out together--from Matt all the way to Jacob. We couldn't ask for more......

As we catch our breath this weekend we try to get spiritually prepared for the upcoming Nic trip, Costa Rica and then South Dakota.........

Please remember Haley Eason who will have surgery on Tuesday and her family as they travel out to Texas to be with her.

Costa Rica--2009 Wednesday

Last night's visit with the Louderbacks and Tresa was so sweet. David and I enjoyed it so much. Their house is adorable and Tina is so organized. Tim beat David at wii golf---fun! And Tina made the best banana bread! Saying bye is hard for me anyway so you know this was especially hard--even though I will be back in June.


Your prayers were felt today. I have never taken my ring off in about 24 years so when they told me to leave it I wasn't really scared but i was apprehensive.
But God was there with us and today was awesome.

David and I love kids--obviously and to get to just love on kids who are so neglected is great for us. Mark and Meg and their daughter Melinda have a discipleship ministry in La Carpia which is the poorest, "baddest" section of San Jose. They do a wonderful job of forming relationships, sharing the gospel and then following through with discipleship groups for this families. The kids really love them.

We spent a couple of hours then walking through La Carpia. It is unbelievably poor.
Tin houses, raw sewage running in the street down to the river that runs through it. There is no sanitation so the trash is everywhere. This is such a hard life but it is all these people know. One precious family that had accepted Christ and the 11 year old was baptized a month ago--they live in a little bitty place downstairs so narrow that you have to turn sideways to fit down the stairs. There are two tiny rooms for about 10 people. It is unreal unless you see it for yourselves.
Mark said they might get 1 meal a day and it would just be rice. Can you imagine???
The crime rate is high---as you would think---if you leave something out it is gone.
Last week a 6 yr old was kidnapped as she and her mother walked to school.
Gangs fight with guns as other children walk home from school. To get food people sell themselves or the children or they sell drugs.

Their hope is in Jesus and their reward is in Heaven. It is gutwrenching to see this but God sent us here. We saw smiling faces even in the midst of all this mess.

Please pray for the people of La Carpia and the work that the Kasdas family is doing here. Pray for Brook and Matt and Ron and Meredith who work with this family. They are all with Christian Light Foundation. After seeing what is going on here it makes me proud to be a part of CLF.

Tomorrow we spend the day finding the person to help us with the vitamin program here. The children are going to be fed and the vitamins will be in addition to the food.

God commanded us to go----what is your answer to HIM????

Costa Rica--Tuesday afternoon

I am sitting here looking out the window at the beautiful mountains of Costa Rica.
But between here and there are an unbelievable number of homes made of tin.

We survived the Barrio this afternoon and i was very safe---david carried the backpack and camera. I did take some pictures but I was very careful with it.

The barrio is a community of about 300 tin houses that consist of a kitchen and den and bedroom. The whole house is about the size of my bedroom. It is on a hill side and from what i am told we picked the last good week to come here. Next week starts the rainy season for Costa Rica and the hillside will be just a mudslide then till November. But Brooke and Matt and their family will go everyday and do discipleship with the families. Ron Droke and his son Morgan and the pastor and his wife went with us. We loved getting to walk and visit with the people and children there.
One man who had had surgery and was living in a "nicer" house built by a christian company asked us to pray for him and we all did.

The people and kids here are quick to smile but they live such a hard life---their hope is in God and their reward will be in heaven.

Please hug on my boys---I know i say this everytime but we do miss them so much.
It is by far the hardest thing for me to do when I say goodbye.

Pray for us tomorrow as we go out to another section of Costa Rica with Mark and Meg.
It is awesome to see them connecting and making relationships with these people so they are discipled after they accept Jesus.

I am soo excited to see Tim and Tina and the kids--I will be sure to post pictures when we are back from supper.

Costa Rica--Tuesday

This morning we spent a precious time in prayer with several ladies, their children and the local pastor here at his home.
It was so sweet to listen to their passionate pleas to our Heavenly Father.

Then we went with another CLF family Brook and Matt and their two precious girls and son to a discipleship class that Brook led with a little girl and her mama. This lady has opened up her home to use as a meeting place.

Lunch time was great---Meg and Mark provided us with lunch and a little down time at the guest house.

Please pray for us this afternoon. We go to the Barrio which is the not so nice part of Costa Rica. I cannot even take my camera or backpack cause i might not come back with it. I am trusting God to show us mighty things this afternoon.

Then supper with the Louderbacks and Tresa :)

Thomas and Jacob have games this afternoon---if you need something to do ---please go cheer for my boys!

Trelle

Costa Rica --Monday continues

Just a quick note---it has been a great day in Costa Rica.

We arrived about 11:45 Costa Rica time. Mark Kasdas and his wife and family --CLF missionaries picked us up.
They have a guesthouse--a huge place that reminds me of Sheo's place in Nicaragua that we are staying at.

After a great lunch of sandwiches and fresh pineapple we went out to La Finca--the farm--where Mark
has a discipleship program with about 50 kids. He has 10 year olds discipling other kids---it is awesome to watch.
The kids have bible study to complete and memory verses to learn each week. We do not expect enough out of our children at home.

Then Jack treated us, the kasdas family and the drokes to supper at a local restaraunt---it was yummy!

So now it is midnight and we have been going since 3a.m. Tomorrow we see Tim, Tina and the kids and Tresa will be here--yea!!!

Continue praying for us---we are seeing awesome things here!

Hug on my boys

Costa Rica ---Monday

Your prayers are being felt. We had an awesome trip to Atlanta last night.

David and I stopped in Columbus and had an awesome visit with my brother Kevin--and the biggest banana split ever at Brewsters! Then we met my brother Blaine and sister in law Jo in Newnan at Panera Bread for a salad. We enjoyed getting to see them both!

Monday morning---3:30 is early but we did sleep good for the 4 hours that we slept! Now we are sitting in the ATL airport having made it through the normal obstacles.

We are expecting awesome things this week in Costa Rica. God has great plans for us I am sure!

Please keep us in your prayers and as Jacob said yesterday ------pray for David's mama and mine as they keep the boys.