Guatemala

Let’s live with heaven in mind

February 13, 2019 by Kristin 16 Comments

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

– Revelation 7:9-12 (ESV)

I thought of heaven when I listened to my Kenyan friend pray last week at small group. I remembered the prayers in Spanish when we blessed the home we built for a family near Tecpan, Guatemala in June. I am drawn to worship music that lets me hear accents of people’s homes, whether that’s Ireland or Georgia.

All the tongues, even the ones I can’t understand with my American ears, are praising the same God, the one who sent his son for us. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us and the tapestry of accents is going to be beautiful when we get there.

“The fact is that you cannot make sense out of life unless you look at it from the vantage point of eternity. If all God’s grace gives us is a little better here and now, if it doesn’t finally fix all that sin had broken, then perhaps we have believed in vain. … There has to be more to God’s plan than this world of sin, sickness, sorrow, and death. There has to be more than the temporary pleasures of this physical world. Yes, there is more, and when you live like there’s more to come, you live in a radically different way.”

– Paul David Tripp in “New Morning Mercies”

As I shuttle kids around and navigate all the conversations required, I don’t think about heaven as much as I should. I think about what it’s like to live here in our self-absorbed culture, how I should best raise my kids to be believers here, and whether I’m doing enough to point them to Jesus. But I don’t parent with heaven in mind.

I want to change that.

I want to point them to Jesus because he’s preparing a place for them too, not just because his example is the right way to live here in our temporary homes.

I want to teach them about living with an eternal perspective because then so few things will matter like we think they do. I want to love and learn alongside them.

I want to believe what Jesus says. I want to live with a gaze toward heaven, where all the tribes and nations will be one. I’m guessing I’ll understand those prayers from the Guatemalans when we get there.

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Extra, extra!

PODCAST: In honor of Valentine’s Day, I got to chat with my friend Mary Carver about TV marriages for her podcast, The Couch. Be sure to tune in to our episode plus the other recent episodes. {LISTEN HERE or HERE.}

LOVE STORY: Plus the story of #TeamTaylor began 21 years ago when Greg and I went on our first date on Valentine’s Day after we’d met a week earlier. {READ HERE.}

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#PorchStories Party

Going as a family where God leads

July 11, 2018 by Kristin 16 Comments

Some people wondered why I was taking an eight-year-old boy to a foreign country. Some people were surprised I was taking my third-grade boy. Some people encouraged me to take Ben.

I’m here to say, I’m glad I took Ben to Guatemala for a week-long mission trip.

Cate, who is now eleven, went with Greg and me in 2015. I always assumed when we went back we’d bring Ben. We debated on going last year but for various reasons I knew and others I still don’t know I knew we needed to wait.

My momma heart thinks God may have been waiting for the right time for Ben. He’s a very different kid than Cate (what siblings aren’t, right?), but I’m grateful he experienced this country we’ve come to love through our service. Honestly, while preparing for this trip, I struggled more with leaving Rachel than I did with taking Ben.

In almost every way, having Ben with us was easier than I expected. He bravely connected with other kids with whom he didn’t share a language. But he shared suckers and gum and toy cars and Legos.

Ben takes medicine twice daily and he was on an antibiotic to heal the infection that had to be drained from an abscess just a couple days before we left. So I brought a bag of medicine for him and included other things I thought we might need.

Turns out we needed the ibuprofen and a teammate’s Tylenol after Ben tripped and fell into a pool without water on our last night in Guatemala. He landed with his knee twisted and we really thought it was messed up. It swelled and he hurt. But then he woke up ready to walk on it.

We consider that a miracle.

We also were relieved he didn’t fall down the mountain where he chased chickens in moments between helping us build a home for a family of seven. We loved seeing him bond with Marvin, who works with Bethel Ministries International, and Joshua, whose birthdate is two days before Ben and who is the son of my missionary friend Hannah. We loved to see his smile help others smile.

Really, living with Ben shows me ordinary miracles regularly. He’s spunky and adventurous. He’s brave and curious. He’s sweet and remembers more than anyone thinks he does.

He finds joy in everyday moments. His strengths are my weaknesses. God uses my boy for my good and the good of many around him.

That’s why I wanted to take him to Guatemala. Plus we believe in serving as a family, so as a family we go wherever God leads us.

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This is the third post I’ve shared about our mission trip to Guatemala. You can read about what God showed me about intentional sacrifices as well as seven ways to serve missionaries. I’ve got another post or two brewing, so let me know if there’s a specific aspect of the trip you want to hear about or questions I can answer.

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Hey, #PorchStories friends! You may have noticed, I started publishing this weekly linkup post a couple hours earlier, so now it’s live at 4 a.m. central time. I know some of you are early risers, so I hope that’s helpful!

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Seven ways to support missionaries

July 4, 2018 by Kristin 9 Comments

When I first traveled to Guatemala in 2015, I was struck with the joy among the poverty. Knowing how my brain and God work, I knew there would be something new I’d take away from our most recent trip. This time I brought home a new appreciation for what our missionary friends do. I mean, I’ve always respected what missionaries do, but this time I felt like God built upon the support – financial and prayerful – we’ve given Bethel Ministries International the past three years to open my eyes to other aspects of this ministry.

In addition to our friends with Bethel, we have other missionary friends serving international students in New York City and the art community in Perth, Australia who we support regularly. There are so many locations and ministries that benefit directly from people committing their lives to missionary work.

Likewise, there are so many of us who may not be “full-time missionaries” in terms of that being our livelihood, but we can come alongside them and serve the same God wherever we are. With that, I asked my friend Hannah Mooney Chopen from Bethel to share ways people can support this particular mission work as well missionaries in general. (And, yes, that’s her in the picture above during one of the home visits we made during our mission trip!)

Welcome to my virtual porch, Hannah! I’m so glad you’re here!

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I have been a missionary for most of my life. My parents raised me in the mission field and I always considered myself a missionary – not just a daughter of missionary parents. Now I have an amazing husband, Saul, and two wonderful children, Joshua and Havilah.

I can say my faith has grown. And I am surer than ever that I am where I am meant to be.

Let me share a little bit about my life.

During the first part of my life, I grew up in Mexico, where my parents were running an orphanage with 50 children. It was a lot of fun! Then we became missionaries in Guatemala, which was the best decision of my life!

We work with people with disabilities who need wheelchairs, which we provide for them. The government here cannot give them one. Can you imagine being stuck in your bed for years and years? Many of these people suffer through this.

We also build houses. Many of the houses will go to a widow or a single mother. We feed the hungry and we look for sponsors for children who need education. Most importantly we show the people how much Jesus loves them and what He did for them! We laugh with them and we cry with them, we build lifelong relationships to encourage and learn to live for Christ together.

Here are seven ways for you to help missionaries.

{Tweet that.}

1. Ask missionaries how they are.

We have been in Guatemala going on 21 years, and the work has grown each year. The field is ripe for harvest! We do not have set hours to work; we work weekends and all different kinds of crazy hours.

2. Pray for missionaries regularly.

Even tell the missionary you’re praying for specific prayer requests. If the Lord lays on your heart a Bible verse or something, please share it with us. It really lifts our spirits up, and we need that prayer help too!

3. Go with a short-term mission team.

Obviously, these opportunities depend on specific ministries, but with our ministry that is one major way that you can help us. We have done it this way for years and have found the way to be able to reach the really needy and desperate people is travel out to them. We could not do it without you! What joy we feel when you come through the airport!

4. Send treats from the United States.

Even though I have been in Guatemala for a long time, I do like some things from the States like a nice smelling lotion, Tootsie Rolls, or a good book. Those may seem like silly things but that sort of thing brings us joy, especially because of the love behind it that reminds us how you care and think of us!

5. Open a home for missionary family to rest.

It gets hard on the mission field, as I am sure life is for folk everywhere, but we are out every week teaching people about Jesus and it gets exhausting even though it’s very rewarding.

6. Be patient & understanding with them.

We are just humans trying our best, but sometimes we are forgetful or make a mistake.

7. Commit to regular financial support.

One-time donations are welcome, but regular support shows missionaries you are committed to their ministry for the long haul. It also provides missionaries with a more consistent source of income, so they do not have to be overly concerned about whether they will be able to maintain their support level year to year. Most missionaries dread the prospect of being sent home to raise funds if their supporting churches or individual supporters drop them or forget to give.

Missionaries have a lot to worry about already – such as cultural and linguistic adaptation, running ministries with limited resources, resistance, persecution, and harsh living environments. Though support-raising might be a necessary reality, you can make the process easier for overseas Christian laborers with consistent support. It’s a shame many people avoid going to the missions field, as the Great Commission mandates, because they fear support raising.

Personally, I know it’s very hard for me to ask for support for my family when there so much need around me. I love how the body of Christ comes together to serve and love!

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#PorchStories friends, I’d love to hear about missionaries you support and love. Let’s pray for them here together. Also, I shared Stories from the Porch (in June) on Friday before the month was over. I’d love to catch up with you there too.

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