A very productive week.

It is 1:00 AM here in Guatemala right now and the rain is coming down. A week ago when it rained we could not hear ourselves think. After a week of hard work we now have a drop ceiling. The tiles are so good you can barely hear the rain. My home church Mt. Harmony was here all week and we had a great time. Even though we have only been on the field for a few weeks it seems like months. There have been so many changes to our house in those weeks. I want to thank all of the teams that have come down this summer so far to minister at Casa and help us build our house.

I am going to post pictures on Monday of the house so you can get an idea of the work that has been done. I will also be sharing a story with you about our block party on Saturday. You do not want to miss that. It was an incredible weekend and I must say that these chicken buses in Guatemala are tanks. Well I am very sleepy so I am going to hit the pillow. I will give you more updates in the morning.

His Servant,
Mike

A Day With Nature

Have you ever had one of those days that just make you want to stay in bed. We started out our day going to church at Casa. Mike had a great message then He and Dottie had us over for lunch. So far a great day. Then we got the bright idea of going to the city to buy shelves for my books. This is where the fun begins.

As we got to the shopping center I realized that everyone in Guatemala goes shopping on Sunday afternoon. It took us about 30 minutes to find a spot to park my tank. Then we go into the store and get the things we needed and a few we did not and we started to exit. As we start toward the door this down pour starts up and would not let up. It was so bad the guys helping us load the truck even told us they were not going outside. I saw my truck only 100 yards away so I made a break for it. In a matter of 25 seconds (Yes I am Slow) I looked like I had jumped into a pool. So we get our stuff and head back to the house. As we start up the road the rain got harder. We then see cars floating down the road. There were wrecks everywhere. At some points we were driving in over 2ft. of water. As we start up the mountain dirt is falling and washing off of the side of the mountain. It was crazy. Then I see this bus parked with the driver standing in front of it. Next to him was about 2ft. of water. I hit that puddle and that guy bless his heart got a bath of the muddiest water you will ever see. I had to laugh but Carla said I was mean. Finally after and hour we made it back to the house. Carla told me that I was a true Guatemalan because of my driving skills. I took that as a compliment of course.

The rest of the night was quiet until just a minute ago. Katie screams out from her room "Daddy why is my fan moving side to side in my room. As I looked up in the living room that fan was moving too. It was an Earthquake. A 4.3 to be exact. I am telling you I just need to go back to bed.

What I did not tell you is that in between the excitement, I finished the sheetrock in the bathroom and it is ready for our team coming Monday. Well it is now after midnight so it is time for bed. I'll keep you posted as Mother Nature shakes things up here in Guatemala.

His Servant,
Mike

Finally We Have Communication

It has been a crazy 2 weeks and I am sorry for not blogging. We have not had internet until Thursday night. Our house is finally coming together thanks to Central Baptist Bearden and First Baptist Seymour. Our Kitchen is finally unpacked and we have running water in the sink. We still do not have a shower. Our bathrooms are about 65% complete. It has been a challenge for the first 2 weeks.

We had an amazing week last week with Sonlight puppets. They came to Casa to do a camp toteach our kids how to do puppets. Our kids were awesome on Thursday night and seemed to have learned a lot from Sonlight. Both sets of kids were so excited. We hope to start practices to build on the momentum from the week.

Sonlight also went to many places to perform. One place that has become very special was El Castillo Home and school. This is a organization that fosters street kids and gives them and education. On the last day of puppets we went to the school and I got to go and invite the public school to join us. We had almost 300 kids total. It was amazing to watch. If you ever want a top notch puppet team call Ray and Jane at Central Baptist Bearden. These guys are amazing.

I want to thank Sonlight for blessing our family so much the entire week. From the work they did to the financial support they have given. They are amazing people and true servants of God. The highlight of the week was the Queso. For those of you that may not know that is a cheese pie from McDonalds. The best way to describe it is deep fried cheese cake. That team hate about 45 of them. Well Mike one of their adults had 10 so 35 for the team. Thanks again you guys for an unforgettable week.

Our family is doing well. We are all trying to ajust to everything. I think once we get our house in order it will be great. I am excited about next week, our church is coming but also there is going to be a Women's conference here at Casa. Every girl 13 and over will be attending. They will be doing small group each night so we are hoping that this could be the start of small group Bible for all of the girls. We have a lot of stuff going on and we are excited that we have hit the ground running.

Below is our list of needs. If you have not started your monthly commitment we would love for you to do so. We are now 100% living on faith and I must say it is so cool. God has been so good to us through you and others. Thank you so much for your willingness to be involved. Please check out my blog each day as I will be adding new stuff. Also if you would like to call us I have a Knoxville, TN phone number through Skype. It is 865-329-6811. It is free for us and a local call from Knoxville.

His Servant,
Mike

Needs

1. 15 Monthly sponsors at $30.00 per month
2. Frequent Flyer Miles for Plan Tickets for Carla
3. $1000 to fix roof on a local school in Antigua

Prayer Needs

1. Carla's Dad doing better but hard with s being here.
2. Our adoption. We have been told we can not have the boys until the paperwork is finished. We thought they would be with us when we moved. It has been very hard.
3. Salvations for a Outreach event we are doing July 12th.
4. Our puppet ministry that kids will be excited and it will grow in numbers.
5. Pray that relationships would grow that we are making.

An Amazing Week

I am sorry it has been so long since our last update. Our Internet has not been hooked up in our house yet so we couldn't give you updates. I say we because Carla and Katie wound up going with me and Zach. On Friday afternoon we made the decision that we would all go. US Air would not let them change their tickets so we decided to go down for the week then come back home and fly back down at the end of the month. Please continue to pray for Carla's dad. He is home but still not doing well.

We had an amazing week with the folks from First Baptist Seymour. We got to Casa on Saturday and hit the ground running. We spent a lot of time getting ready for the village we would visit on Sunday for a block party. Jack Ciak another missionary at Casa has been working with Pastor Daniel to put together this week of ministry. Jack did a ton of hard work on the front end so we could get into this village to not only do a block arty but also to do a medical clinic. This Pastor was amazing. He was so thoughtful to our entire group. They fed us lunch and dinner which was very good. The dinner was a good old fashion "pot luck" and I had some Guatemalan food I had never tried before and it was amazing. We held our block party at the school and we had well over 200 kids there jumping in the Spiderman jumper, playing games, and taking in the puppet show that the kids from Casa put on. Then at the church First Baptist put on an awesome concert. As we looked around the party and church we saw that folks were having a great time in Christ.

Monday through Wednesday we were able to go back and do a medical clinic. I say we but I stayed behind so that me and 8 amazing people could work on getting our house finished. The three days at the clinic were incredible. We do not have all of the numbers in for salvation's but we know we had 24 the first day and many more on the second and third. We were able to offer free medical and dental care to around 500 people in 3 days. We also provided a back yard bible club for all of the kids for those 3 days. I know that on the first day 20 of those salivations were school age kids. While they were doing the clinic our other team was working hard on our house and and putting in new speakers for our worship center. In 4 days they were able to get all of our kitchen done, most of the tile complete and helped us unpack and move a ton of stuff into our house. They also were able to get a lot of outside work done to help seal our house from water leaks. This team also brought brand new speakers for the worship center, then bought a new projection screen, and power amp so that the kids from Casa could enhance their worship. They also left with me a brand new sound system for block parties and musical instruments for the Casa praise band to use in worship. This church was amazing servants and have made an impact that will go for years to come.

The rest of the week was just as exciting. I made a new friend at a church just down the road in San Lucas and we went there on Thursday night to sing. The church was so awesome. Susy the pastors wife could speak perfect English so I had the opportunity to preach during the concert. The congregation was so welcoming, even I got amens!!! This is a church that Mt. Harmony Baptist will be going to and doing a block party on July 11th so please pray for them and the church as we prepare to do outreach in San lucas. We also went to a christian school on Thursday and the choir got to experience some Guatemalan dance for the first time. The kids at the school loved the music from the choir and begged us not to leave. It was a great time and also another new relationship to build on with this school.

As you can see it was a very busy week. Please pray for us as we continue to make the move. On Saturday we got a blessing that was not expected. We were sitting on the plane waiting to take off then the captain came on and told us the flight was being cancelled because the plane would not pressurize. So we all got off the plane and went back into the airport. US Air said they were looking for folks that could be flexible. So I told them we could wait until Monday. They in return put us up in an incredible hotel for 2 days in the city and gave us 4 free round trip tickets. God is amazing!! Then I went back and talked to them about our team and they flew home on Sunday and every team member was given a free ticket. So please pray that they will come back to Guatemala with their ticket.HAHAHA

Again thank you so much for your prayers. It was an incredible week of ministry. Please continue to pray for Carla's dad and just the entire situation. It has been very hard on us as a family. Those 2 days in the city just hanging out together were God ordained because our family has been feeling pretty beat up by satan and we needed the rest. Please take a look at the needs below and pray about how you can be involved.

Prayer needs

1. Carla's Dad

2. Relationships with good friends and new friends at Casa and in the villages.

3. Our house to be finished

4. Our adoption

5. Pastor Daniels village, that salivations would continue.

Financial needs

1. 16 families to join us at $30.00 per month. Email mike@clubhouseguatemala.com

2. Hot Water Heater and Mattresses for the Boys $800.00

3. Skymiles for tickets for Carla to go back and forth. Right now tickets cost $800 per person.

Praises

1. Many Salvation's at Pastor Daniels village.

2. Plane tickets for our family

3. Carla's Dad is home.

Times are Tough but God is Good!!!

Man what a week. I tell you what I wish someone would hit the stop button on the roller coaster. I appreciate your emails and encouragement over the past few days. It has been tough on everyone trying to decide what to do and to make sure Carla's dad has everything he needs and that her mom is taken care of. One of the hardest decisions we have made is to have Carla stay home. She is so heart broken because she is finally ready to make the move. So please continue to pray for her and please send lots of emails of encouragement to her. Her email address is carla@clubhousegutemala.com.

The picture to your right was taken the day we took our boys back to their orphanage as a family. That was one of the toughest days of our lives. Every time I have a bad day, I pull this picture up as a reminder that God made a promise and I know he is always going to be there. Thank you for your prayers. It is through your actions that we see and feel God with us during the dark times in our life. It is hard to type through the tears, but thank you for being a part of our family.

We have made one change in our plans for this week. Zach is going to go with me to Guatemala this Saturday. I am excited because this will be an all man week for us. He will help me and a few others from First Baptist finish our house. We will also be doing a major block party on Sunday so please pray for all involved with that. Then starting Monday part of the team will be doing a medical clinic in the same village. I am so excited to see what God is going to do. With all of the adversity I know it is going to be major. Please pray for Zach. He loves his momma very much and sometimes does not do well when she is not around. So I am going to keep him very busy.

Please continue to pray for us with our financial needs. With Carla and Katie not going and us having to travel back it has really hit us hard. We will have to buy 2 tickets next week plus pay a lot of fee's on Carla and Katie's tickets. I know it seems like I have been talking about money a lot lately but it has been very tough. The encouraging part is God has been there every time, just when we needed it.

Finally I want to say a big thank you to First Baptist Seymour for all of the work going into this upcoming week. They have been raising money for supplies, getting medications donated, and all kinds of other stuff to get prepared for this life changing adventure. My prayer is that the team will have tons of opportunities to share their faith. Please pray for them this coming week for their safety, health, and new salivations.

Current Needs

1. $1500 for plane tickets.

2. 14 monthly sponsors (Keeps going down) Thank you!!!

3. $2000 for Suburban for ministry.

4. Frequent Flyer miles for US Air, Delta, or any other big airline. Usair is most important right now.

Prayer Request

1. Salivations next week.

2. Carla's Dad and our entire family.

3. Financial Junk.

4. Julian and Hector (That they will understand 2 more weeks of waiting)

Praise Report

1. $1300 for tile was given. (Thank you so much)

2. We have 4 more families in the "Clubhouse"

3. Container Arrived!!!

8 Days and Counting

Ok the time is here. We are packing our final bags, checking for our passports and eating at every favorite place one last time before we head out. I want to thank you for your prayers. Starting next week we will have a brand new look to our website and our newsletter and blog will all be on our site. I am so excited. Not only will I have a blog but Carla and the kids will too. I know you must get tired of hearing just from me. We will also try to blog at least every other day to keep you up to date on things.

This week has been great. We have made a great connection with Compassion and already have a few parties and puppets booked with them. The really cool part is one of the churches is just down the street from Casa. They ask me if i could help them with outreach. Are you kidding me!!! God is so awesome! Please pray for the First Baptist Seymour team as they are going down with us. They will be helping us move in and I must say they have already blessed our socks off. They are providing a complete sound system for our block parties and adding some nice speakers to the worship center. They are also donating instruments for the praise band at Casa. God is already doing some amazing things at Casa with the teenagers and I can not wait to start working with them.

This week has also been tough on us financially. We have had some things come up that have drained us. Satan is pulling out all of the stops to get us to stay in Tennessee. Please pray for us that satan would be bound and could not get to us. Our container has been delayed by two weeks and over $6000 in taxes had to be paid. We had some goofy stuff come up that cost us extra and then somethings to finish the house. We also found out that we will have to buy new plane tickets to travel home because of extreme fee's.So please also pray for our fiances that they would replenish before we go. We also have to sell our van here so that we can buy a vehicle in Guatemala. So this picture is our van we have for sale. It is $4000.00. That is what we paid for it with taxes and fee's. So please pass this to anyone that you know that may need a van. Finally on the wining front we still need 16 families to meet our budget.

You know with all of the attacks and all of the problems there is one thing I know for sure. We are meant to be in Guatemala. God is so awesome and has provided every need that we have had. He has done that through you and folks like you. So thank you so much for your willingness to serve God through this ministry.

We have a ministry plan that we would love to share with some churches and business owners. If you would like a copy to share with someone please email me at mike@clubhouseguatemala.com and I will get it to you to share. Please make sure to check out the website next week for some really cool changes.

Financial Needs

1. $1300 for tile for our house.

2. $2000 for vehicle in Guatemala

3. $2500 for taxes on container

4. 16 monthly sponsors

Prayer Needs

1. Carla's Dad and his cancer.

2. Our final week.

3. The hearts of those we will encounter

4. Our boys as I know next week is going to be big for them.

5. Our parents as we leave next week.

Praises

1. Carla's dad got a great report from his lung doctor that things are improving.

2. God continues to add folks to our clubhouse.

3. Genesis is doing amazing!!!

4. Needs are being met.

The Time is Now!!!

When I try to think of titles sometimes it can be hard. But for this post it was easy because our time is here. We leave in 2 weeks to start a new chapter of our lives and we are so excited. It is hard to believe that after months of planning that it is time.

As we started our week this week we took the family to see Narnia. I must tell you I went into the movie excited to see a movie but left after a meeting with God. Now I don't want to spoil the movie for you but I have to tell you about one part. There is a scene when Lucy meets up with Aslan. Now she has seen him thought the movie but never went to him. Finally when they have their face to face meeting Lucy shares that she knew that He was there. Then Aslan with a very sad and hurt look on his face ask her "then why did you not come to me?". At this moment I began to cry and Zach looked at me and ask what was wrong. I told him we would talk after the movie. After the movie I explained to him that I had a new understanding of God. That God was so hurt when we did not come to Him with our problems, our struggles, or our victories. God doesn't just want us to come to Him he expects us too. It was ironic that the we saw the movie right after I started a new book called "In a Pit, With a Lion, On a Snowy Day". This book has transformed my thinking of how we are to follow God. If you get a chance get this book.

We have an immediate need we need to share with you. We still need 18 families to meet our basic budget. We leave in 2 weeks and we really need to have that finished before then. So please pray about that with us and share our ministry with everyone you know. If you would like more information about partnering with us please email me at mike@clubhouseguatemala.com.

Prayer Request

1. Carla and her Dad (Not doing well)

2. Our Budget that needs will be met

3. Teams that are coming down this summer.

4. Hearts of the people we will be working with.

5. Property next door to Casa (That Casa could raise the funds to buy it)

Financial needs

1. 18 families @ $30.00 per month

2. $1300 for Tile Floors

3. $700 for Taxes on Container

4. Airline Tickets for return home in December ($2500.00- $3000.00) 6 Tickets!!! (The Boys are coming home for Christmas)

5. Computer for Radio Station $800.00

Thank you to all who are praying and supporting our ministry. It is because of your faith and prayers that we are able to go to Guatemala and share the gospel. You are awesome people that are truly going to help change the country of Guatemala one child at a time.

His Servant,

Mike

Packing up is hard to do!!!

I am sorry it has bee a few days but after you read about our last week I know you will understand. We started last week packing up our house. Thank you so much for all of those who came to help. We then had to move everything over to a Warehouse to store it for the container to pick it up. Then Tuesday the we got the fun job of loading not only our stuff but an entire truck load of stuff from folks all over the south that love the kids at Casa. I must tell you that right now I am very tired. We had 3 hours to load our entire container and with the help of a lot of awesome people we got it done. The picture you see to the right was taken as we closed the door. That thing was so packed that those doors will be spring loaded when they open. But we got it done and all of our stuff and a lot of things for the kids are on the way to Guatemala.

On top of all that excitement we also had a tough week with Carla's dad. He was rushed to the hospital on Saturday morning with a lot of pain in his lower chest. After many test and treatments we have learned that the Chemo is not working. The cancer has grown a lot in size and it is causing him a lot of pain. The doctor told him he had 3 options. He could try another form of Chemo that would make him very sick, he could take a pill form of Chemo that has an 11% rate of success or do nothing and enjoy his life as long as God chooses for him to be here. So please pray for him, his name is Carl Gann. I just got a call from Carla's mom and they are sending him home. Please pray that God would give us all the wisdom on how to handle this. Please pray for Carla as this has really taken it's toll on her. We know God has called us to Guatemala but it is hard to know what to do and when to do it.

Now I am going to switch gears and encourage you for a minute. I had the most amazing things happen this week. We were still short on our container and we had someone come forward and pay the remaining balance. I want to say a big thank you to that person. You will never know how much that meant to us. Then on shipping day we went to Wal-Mart to look at Basketball goals for our upward program. While we were there we made the decision to go ahead and buy 5, the only thing was we did not really have the money. I told Zach, "lets get them so we can send them and hope that God will provide. I was standing in the checkout line to pay for them when a great friend called and told me they wanted to buy our goals!!!!!! God is so amazing. I can not tell you how many times during this move that we have felt the walls closing in and God has knocked them down. Know that what ever the need big or small that God can fix them all. I should be a rapper huh.(HAHAHA)

Our Prayer Needs and Other Needs are below.

Prayer

1. Carla's Dad Carl.

2. Transition of our move.

3. Finances of our ministry.

4. Genesis as she continues to recover.

5. Our house as it is finished.

Needs

1. 18 Families at $30.00 per month.

2. Extra funds for Travel for Carla

3. 4 More church partnerships

4. Funds for a Vehicle in Guatemala. ( We can not take ours because of Taxes) We found a van there for $2500.00

5. Our house that the deal will finalize.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Know that when you read this and pray over these needs that you are a vital part of this ministry!

Please pass this on to your friends and help "Grow the Clubhouse"!!

It's all in God's Timing!!!

I am sitting in my house early on Saturday morning in almost disbelief. As I look around there are boxes stacked every where. Our lives and our house scattered but yet in order. As I look at our boxes I realize how much junk we accumulate but yet we think we need. As I look at all of this "stuff" I am humbled that I serve a God that has blessed us with so much. As we turn our eyes forward to Guatemala I think about all of the families and villages that we will be reaching out to that could more than likely feel their entire house with about 4 of our moving boxes. The amazing thing is most of those folks are just as happy if not more.

Now that I have everyone depressed let me tell you about the Awesome God we serve! This week started out pretty rough as we have been raising funds for our container. Well God has gotten involved and we are within $1200 of what we need to ship. We will be loading Saturday morning at 10AM so if you have a good back and would like to come and hang out for a couple of hours we could use you. Just email me and I will get you directions. Now back to the God stuff. For weeks we have been looking to buy a transmitter to build our radio station in Casa. Well again God took care of that in a way only He can. I happen to bump into Mark Hall from Casting Crowns a couple of weeks ago and he ask me what my family had been into. So I dropped the bomb shell that I was leaving the radio station and moving to Guatemala. He put his hand on my shoulder and gave me his email address and told me to email him our needs and he would see what he could do. Well I am happy to report that Casting Crowns will be playing on Casa radio because he sent what we needed to buy the equipment and some extra to help support our family. I have to tell you Casting Crowns is awesome, and not because they gave to our ministry but because they truly have a heart for God! So go buy their new "CD"!!!

We also had contacted a cabinet company in Alabama to check on prices for our kitchen. The best price we could find was $2000, but after talking with this christian company they are building our cabinets for around $1000 and shipping them to us to put on the container for free. Their website is http://www.easykitchencabinets.com/. So I had a wonderful friend who is buying my TV and we are able to use that money to pay for the cabinets. I know what you are thinking "Mike gave up his TV for cabinets?" Hey it was simple I need a place to put my bread and peanut butter and it won't fit on a flat screen!

It has been amazing to see God this week. The most amazing part of the week though had nothing to do with us and everything to do with a little girl and big sister in Guatemala. I have has Genesis on our list for weeks to pray for because she needs a kidney transplant. Well it finally happened this week. After months of delays and disappointments God made away for the transplant to happen. While they were doing the transplant they discovered that her appendix was near the point of rupturing so they were able to remove that and now Genesis new kidney is already working at 90%. Just think if she had went through the transplant back in January and then her appendix may have ruptured this week and she would have been in bad shape. But God's timing is everything. God is so Awesome.

Finally I have to clear something up. My last blog I shared a story about a family that God put back together after many years. Well I kind of got a couple of things backwards as a normally do. So James Westbrook gave me permission to share "the rest of the story". What you about to read is direct from him and again God's timing is everything!

It is TRUE that my sister and I did not talk for about 18 years because of mistakes I made (I talked about this during my testimony). We couldn't have been further apart! It is because of KATHY (her daughter and my niece) and HER adopting Alvaro that the path was laid to bring Pat and me back together. Kathy shared with her mom about Guatemala, Casa, etc. My MOTHER told Pat that I was going to Guatemala and worked at two different orphanages. Pat, being proud of her daughter - initiated a conversation with me regarding the orphanage in Guatemala. Pat called it Casa on the Rock and I said I worked at Casa Para Ninos or Casa Alleluia. At the time, neither of knew it was THE SAME PLACE!!! The common ground was "the orphanage in Guatemala" that started the healing process between my sister and me! If I had decided not to heed God's call when Barry told of a need in Guatemala to build a stage, etc. If Kathy didn't feel led to go and possibly adopt a child. If we had ended up in different COUNTRIES or different ORPHANAGES - Pat and I would have most likely NEVER reconciled!!! You were used by God in this process. Thank YOU for all you did in bringing my sister and I back together. We have NEVER been closer!!

We serve an awesome God!!! We have a few needs for you to pray about. The biggest is our house to sell. We also just found out last night we can not take our van because the taxes are going to be almost $4000, so we are going to have to buy a vehicle there. We have already purchased a van so we are trying to figure out what to do. Please pray for discernment for us to know how to deal with this. We are thinking about selling the van here and using the money to buy a vehicle there but we will need about $3000 more dollars to do that.

Needs

21 Monthly sponsors at $30 per month. (Praise God is was 33 Thank you for those that have sent emails wanting to partner with us!!!)

$1200 for Container

$1300 to complete house in Guatemala

$3000 for vehicle in Guatemala

Places to speak and share the good news of what God is doing and preparing to do in Guatemala!!!

Please email our blog to your friends. We now have over 80 folks as prayer partners in our ministry. Our goal is 400. All you have to do is send them our blog and they enter their email address and that is it!!

Sad but Joyful Days

I know that sounds like a weird title but that best describes my week last week. For those that don't know last week was my last at Love89. I have been dreading it for weeks. Love89 was not just a job it was a ministry that was a big part of our lives. As I think back I think the most about the calls that we received off the air with people in need. I remember a few weeks after we started a lady called us at 7:30 in the morning to thank us for making her laugh because her husband had just left her the night before. It was that moment that changed my view and vision for my part of the ministry of Love89. I realized that it wasn't about how we sounded, or how smart wee were, it was about who we were when the red light wasn't on.

The people of East Tennessee have changed my life. Friday night I was totally blown away. I had a listener come up to me and he shared that he listened to the entire show on Friday. At the end of the show the staff laid hands on us and prayed and commissioned us. He shared that he too pulled over to the side of the road and not only prayed for us, but placed his hand on the radio while praying. I was so touched and so moved. We serve a God that is so awesome. It is so cool how we can all come together as one body of Christ to do ministry. Even though I have left Love89 is still a part of me. I know that the staff there is praying for me and I look at our ministry in Guatemala as an extension of that station. I want to say thank you to all of you and to the awesome staff of Love89 for changing my life!!! That's right it's your fault we are moving. HAHA

Hey we need your help. We need to get the word out to everyone about our blog/prayer network. Our goal is to have 400 folks in our network. If you would please email this to everyone you know. We are heading down in less than 2 months (June 7th) and we need a ton of prayer during this time. We have had some road blocks thrown at us that we specifically need prayer for.

1. Because of fuel cost we need to raise $3000 in 3 weeks for our container to ship all of our things to Guatemala plus a ton of stuff for the kids at Casa.

2. We still need 33 people or families to partner with us at $30.00 to meet our budget and this has to happen before the end of April.

3. Carla's dad is struggling with his health.

I want to leave you with a story of encouragement. A few trips ago I had a gentleman go with me that worked on our house and built the stage at Casa. While he was there he fell in love with the place. He went home and shared with his Mom that where he had been. A few months later he found out that his sister who lives in Atlanta had also been to Casa and was adopting a little boy from there. So in December he got the chance to meet his new nephew for the first time. I am amazed at how our God puts things together. This was a family that satan had blown apart but God was able to restore all the way in Guatemala!!!!

Go God!!!!

Mike

Sorry it's been so long.

Hey guys,

I am sorry it has been so long. Believe it or not I have been working. Carla got here o Monday so the work had to get going. We have the house about 80% done. We will be ready for floor tile within a week or so. We are hoping that everything will be done by June. I will be back in Knoxville on Sunday night and on the air Monday morning. If you have not heard me and knives have not gotten along this week. I got into a knife fight with my self and I am bringing home a extra souvenirs. Seven stitches to be exact. I have posted a picture because I know you want to look. We had a great week with the boys. The kids have adapted so well to Casa. Julian told me over and over that God was so awesome to let him and his brother come and live with his family at Casa. He kept thanking me for not giving up on him. The paperwork is moving so please keep praying.

As i thought about them this week I was reminded just how blessed I was growing up. Knowing that I have 2 parents that love me. Those kids have had such a hard life but are still just normal little boys. Julian told me that he just wanted to live with us and work around the house and do dishes. I then hugged him and told him that he was just going to be a kid. At their home they have to wash dishes, do their clothes, and a whole bunch of stuff. I just want to give them the opportunity to just be kids.

Please help us pray about a container to ship our stuff. It looks like it is going to cost around $4000.00. If you would like to help with this need please email us. We will only take 1/3 the rest of it will contain a lot of supplies for Casa. Our 2 inflatables arrived on Friday so we are almost ready to go for our parties in June and to do our ministry in the future. We are also trying to get the rest of our support lined out so if you know of anyone that would like to partner with us please email me.

Well that is it for now from Guatemala. I can't wait to get home and hug Katie and Zach!!!

His Servant,

Mike

In Guatemala

Hey Guys,

I wanted to share with you that I left on Sunday and I am currently in Guatemala. I will be here for two weeks so please pray that we can get a lot of work finished. We have to finish the sheet rock and paint the outside before next Monday. Carla is coming down with a couple of friends to paint the inside so we have to be done. Also we are so excited we got our van this week and it is really nice. I will try and post a picture later this week. I am going to cut my update tonight a little short because I will be updating a couple of times this week and next week. Listed below are our current needs and prayer request. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Please email this to friends so they can get on the prayer list with us. Also check out our blog through out the week as we will be adding pictures of the house.

His Servant,
Mike

Needs

1. Funds for the Container. We still need $1900.00 to ship.
2. Need to sale 2 bedroom suites to buy a 3 child bunkbed. One is Nascar(Very Cool) and a Set of bunk beds that make a "T" and has a desk on the side.
3. Still needing about 25 sposors at $30.00 per month.


Prayer

1. Genisis to have her Kidney Transplant.
2. Carla's Dad.
3. House to Sale.
4. Trip through Mexico.

Moving Along

Well another week has passed and it was pretty eventful. We started the week by closing the deal on our van. We got a 2001 Ford Windstar that I will drive down at the end of April. Then we started the fun part of moving, the packing. We finished off the week by just taking a day and sleeping.
When December Radio came to town a month or so ago we knew that we were going to buy a van. We had no idea that we would be buying it here then driving it through Mexico, but I guess this just adds to the adventure!!! We were able to get a great deal on the van. With the monies raised from the concert we were able to buy it for cash and have a little left to help pay the taxes. I will leave on April 19th and drive our Uhaul full of furniture and stuff to L.A., That’s lower Alabama to load it onto a container. Then Time Ruth a missionary at Casa and myself will leave from there and drive through Mexico to Guatemala. I must tell you I need lots of prayers on this one. Once that is done I will fly back to the US to spend most of May, then we will all make the move down on June 7th. We still have a couple of needs for the van and I will list them below with our needs list.
This week we also started to pack. I can not believe we have so much junk. As I look at the people of Guatemala that I am going to minister too at how little they have then look at the boxes we are taking I am almost ashamed of myself. We have so much to be thankful for in our lives. As I was boxing up music cd’s today I bet I packed thousands of dollars of music. How many people could I reach with that money. God has really started working on our family, helping us to understand that the stuff we have is just that stuff. We have started making two stacks, things to take and things to store until we can have a massive sale. I’ll let you know when that will be so you can add to your junk (HAHA). The other thing that happens as I pack is I run across things. I found my journal the other day that I had on my very first trip to Guatemala. As I read through it I laughed because I had written a statement that there was no way I could ever live in a “third world country”. It’s funny how God does things. So if you’re a packing expert and your looking for something to do in the next few weeks let me know and we can sure minister to ya.
Finally at the end of this week we done some things we haven’t done in a while. On Friday night we went Bowling until 2AM and yes I got beat by everyone. We found ourselves at Waffle House at 2:30 eating everything smothered and covered. Then on Saturday we slept until 2 in the afternoon. It was amazing to sleep that long with no phone calls or kids poking me on the forehead. Some days you just gotta take it easy.
One final update to tell you. Our prayers are being answered with Carla’s Dad. He got his test results back and his cancer has shrank. Not only that but they cleared him to come to Guatemala and visit us in June. Please keep praying that God will heal him. He has so many talents that he could use at Casa. I am going to shut up now and go watch the rest of the Lady Vols game. I have our prayer list and needs list listed below for this week.

His Servant,
Mike

Prayer Needs
Genesis surgery – That everything would line up and she will be healthy to have her Kidney transplant.
Carla’s Dad that God would continue to heal.
Our House – That it would sell very quickly.
Our finances – That our sponsorship program would start to take off.(Currently at 25%) Also for other things we have to buy.
Pray for our preparation that we would be ready in time!!

Our Current Financial Needs

Funds for our Container $1900.00
Funds for Kitchen cabinets $1000.00 ($1000.00 already donated Praise God!!!)
Moving expenses for Uhaul and drive to Guatemala ($1200.00
Furniture (Kitchen table, q full size Bedroom suite) $1300.00
33 Families at $30.00 per month. 6 Churches as Partners (If you would like more information Please email me or call me.)

Things Continue To Head South

Well it has been a little over a week but I wanted to wait until I could share some great news with you. On Thursday we verified that the Orphanage paperwork that we have been waiting on was approved by the PGN and our paperwork is now being placed in line for our final review. We are not sure how long this process takes but we are ready for whatever God allows. The Orphanage paperwork was suppose to take 45 - 60 days and was done in 2 weeks so God is working. We are headed down the last of March so we are praying that God could make a way for us to get them while we are there, but if not we still know that it is going to happen!

Fundraising is ourfocus right now. We are working with a few churches trying to line up speaking engagements. If your church would like to have us we would love to come and share about our ministry. The month of March we will be focusing on our monthly support. Right now we are 25% there, so we have some work to do. Our over all goal is to have 50 families at $30.00 per month. That sounds like a lot but we want a wide base so we can have more folks partnering with us. The more we have the more that are praying for the harvest. We are also working to have 10 churches at $100 per month. Right now we have 4 and 2 that we are talking to. I am sorry if I am boring you with this I just want to share with folks what are needs are so you can pray with knowledge.

We are excited about our house. We bought a microwave today and we have also found our kitchen cabinets. We are now looking for our dinning room table and we also found a really cool bunk bed that sleeps 3 which would be great for the boys. We have some furniture for sale and I will have pictures on our website on Sunday. We have a brand new set of solid oak bunk beds that will not fit in the new house. We also have a race car bed and some really cool lockers that go with the room set. Finally tonight we picked out our ceiling fans to go thought the house. This has really got Carla and the kids involved and excited about the move. One final thing about the kitchen. Carla's dad is a cabinet maker and she ask him to go and help hang them and they are going next week to get their passports. Carl has his scan done last Friday and gets the results this week so please pray!!!

Finally we have 6 teams from Knoxville coming down this summer. Pleas pray for them as they start their preparation. As I was coming home in December I read some scripture that God really revealed to me why we are to go to Guatemala. That scripture was again reminded to me just 2 weeks ago so I am sharing it below. With all of the struggles and worries about moving, when I read this scripture it all becomes clear and a total peace comes over me. Our God is so faithful to give us clear direction when we seek Him with our hearts. Below is our prayer list for this week. If you would pass this blog to your friends so they can sign up and begin to pray for us as we continue this great adventure we would greatly appreciate that. Our goal is to have 400 within our prayer network. Also my email address is mike@clubhouseguatemala.com if you would like more information about being involved in our ministry.

His Servant,
Mike

John 4:36-38
36The one who harvests is already receiving his wages and gathering a crop for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who harvests may rejoice together. 37For in this respect the saying is true: ‘One person sows, and another person harvests. 38 I have sent you to harvest what you have not labored for. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Prayer Needs
1. Carl - Carla's dad and his Lung Cancer.
2. Sponsorship Program - That more folks will choose to invest in our ministry.
3. Our House - That it will sell quickly!!!!
4. Our Guatemala House - That we can get the funds needed to ship everything. ($1900)
5. This is the #1 Request, pray for Genisis that she can stay healthy to get her transplant.

This Are Shaping Up

Last week as I wrote our newsletter I had tears of sadness dripping on my keyboard. Today I must say I have had tears of joy. Yes I know I am a man but hey it takes a real man to cry. As we said goodbye to our cats last week it was tough but God took no time to bless our socks off.

We got a call on Valentines night that rocked our world. On Tuesday of last week our paperwork was filed with The Central Authority. This is the new adoption office in Guatemala. We were told our paperwork would be there for 30 – 45 days. Well on Thursday they called and told us it was finished and on its way to what we hope is the final destination. So in 2 days our paperwork got through. If you know anything about Guatemala, that is a miracle!!! Isn’t it amazing how Awesome God is. It has been a tough and long 4 years but we are not giving up. Those are our sons and God will make away for us all to be together.

The blessings did not stop there. This week we have had a couple of individuals give $2,000 toward our move. We also have a third that wants to help with our computers. The amazing thing about this, is these folks were not on our original list of friends and family. God has opened up so many doors for us and we are so thankful and excited. Below I have a list of target items that I would like to ask you to pray about. These are things that we need to make the move.

Our time for the past week or so with Mike Clark has been great. Our family has really had a great time getting to know him and Dottie. They are such good people and truly sold out for the Lord. If you would like to hear them this Sunday At Mount Harmony Baptist. He service starts at 10:15AM. I don’t want to pull you away from your own church but his stories are worth the drive.

Finally I want to take a moment and just tell you how excited I am about those that are jumping on board. We have seen a few people this week that have made commitments to help us each month. My prayer is that your return on your investment will be 10 fold. As I came back from Guatemala in December God shared with me in His word that there is a great Harvest in Guatemala and we are called there to help bring the harvest in. Anytime something like this happens, satan tries to stick his nose in it. Please pray for protection for our family as we continue to follow God to Guatemala. Listed below are also our 5 prayer needs for the week. Please send us any prayer needs that you have so we can add them to our list.

His Servant,
Mike

Prayer List Needs List
1. Carla’s - Dad Carl Gann 1. Container - $1900 still needed.
2. Genesis – Little Girl at Casa that needs kidney 2. Kitchen Cabinets - $1900.00
3. Casa – The Flu is around even in Guatemala 3. Inflatable Slide - $1500.00
4. House to Sale 4. Bathroom cabinets and doors $800.00
5. Find a vehicle 5. Paint and supplies $400.00

Getting There

I am sorry it has been a little over a week since our last update. Our entire family has been down for the count with this flu junk going around. Even though we have been sick things are still moving along.

Last week we sent out 150 letters trying to finalize our support. We are still needing 40 families at $30.00 to meet our family goal. Thank you to all who have gotten on board with us so far. We also have 5 churches on board now and are needing 10 more to meet our church goal. If your church would be interested in partnering with our ministry please email me with the information and I will contact your pastor. Our goal is to not only have churches sponsor us but for us help the church educate its members about missions. With the technology we have now we can offer a lot to churches. We would love to have your church on board.

As we move forward we are starting to see doors close behind us. I feel that is an important step for us because if those doors do not close it is so easy to try to go back through rather than focus on the task. I think for the kids this is the toughest part. Pray for Zach, for months he has been so worried about what he would do with his cat Dudley. Well today our neighbors came over and shared with s that they found him in their garage dead. Zach was crushed and it has been a tough day for him. Also Katie has something going on and some doors closing with some relationships that are really hard for her. God knows what he is doing so we have to let Him be in control. It is tough but also neat to see God working in all of our lives. For Carla and I it was a good weekend. Mike Clark is here for a few weeks speaking at a few churches. We went to Pratt’s Chapel last night, that is Carla’s families church. It almost seemed as everyone has already started saying good bye. That was tough but reassuring for Carla. Carla’s dad even talked about maybe going to Guatemala. That would be Amazing!!!! For me well we set a date for my final day at Love89 and I have to say that was not easy. April 11th will be my final day on the morning show. So it seems we are all starting to really give up things we love.

For those that do not know Mike Clark he is the Founder of Casa. He is here the entire month of February speaking. Below is his speaking schedule. Speaking engagements are also picking up for us. If you would like for us to come to your church and share about our ministry just contact me or Carla and we can set it up.

Feb. 13th Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church Niota, TN
Feb. 17th Buffat Heights Baptist Knoxville, TN Morning Service
Feb. 17th First Baptist Bluegrass Knoxville, TN Evening Service
Feb. 20th Arlington Baptist Youth Knoxville, TN Youth Service
Feb. 24th Mt. Harmony Baptist Knoxville, TN Morning Service

Prayer Needs

1. Carla’s Dad Carl
2. Hose to Sale – Open house this weekend from 2-5
3. Support to be confirmed
4. Genesis – Little girl needing Kidney Transplant
5. Family as changes take place

God's at Work

This week has been awesome. December Radio has got to be the greatest guys in Christian music right now. Now this would be easy for me to sya because they did such an awesome job for us with the concert but that is not reason I have drawn this conclusion. After spending a lot of time with these guys in Guatemala and at my house I have learned a lot about them.

I learned that they are true followers of Christ. They live their lives to serve him. I want to share just for a moment the break down of the group. Brian is the quiet one but very deep in his thoughts. Boon the drummer is the hugger of the group. You can not get around them that he does not give you a hug. Josh is the lead singer and is very vocal about his faith. Josh Lovelace the keyboard player is a genuine guy that smiles all the time. Eric is the hardest to figure out. He is the prankster of the bunch but he would give you the shirt off his back if you ask him for it. This team of guys has made an impact on our family that will not be forgotten. I encourage you to check out our blog pictures of their trip to Guatemala. It was a great trip.

For all of the new folks this week thanks for joing our blog/email newsletter. This is where I give weekly updates and sometimes just whine about things. I would love your comments so feel free to post them. Any encouragement would be great.

Guatemala is moving up fast. We plan to move at the end of May and we still have a lot of work to do. The concert raised over $5,000.00 toward our van but the total cost for a new one is around $18,000. We can get a used one for $12,000.00 or so. So please pray that God would continue to help us get this money raised. We also have to raise $4,000.00 for a container to ship all of our things to our new house. Then we have to have about $3,000.00 to finish our house. Finally we are also trying toraise our monthly support. The best we have it figured right now we need to raise around $3,000.00 per month. We are trying to get in front of as many churches and people as we can right now so if your church would like for us to come and share we would love the opprotunity. We are trying to get 50 families to commit $30.00 per month and 15 churches to commit to $100.00 per month. So pass the word.

I also want to thank all of those who came on Monday night. As a family we were ovewhelmed by the support and love that everyone showed. I was so blessed, when I came off the stage I went to the back of the church and just sat on a pew and cried. I am so thankful to have so many friends that we know are supporting and praying for us. This is not a one family ministry, this is a ministry that has many owners and stock holders. Thank you again for everything. Oh and just so you knwo First Baptist Seymour is awesome!!!!!!

Finally I want to ask that you email this to as many people as you can and encourage them to join our network. THe more we have praying the more we can do. Our God is awesome and we desire to have as many people praying to Him as possible.

Prayer Needs

1. Carla's Dad - Carl Gann Stage 4 Lung Cancer
2. Van - We need to raise at least $7,000 more for a van
3. Container - We need $4000.00 to ship our things and supplies for Casa and Hogar
4. Monthly sponsers
5. Our house to sale
6. Most important Genisis a little girl at Casa that is going to have a kidney transplant.

2 Websites to check out.

http://www.clubhouseguatemala.com/

http://www.casaontherock.com/

Getting Techy

Is techy even a word. I am not sure but I am using it. If you look to the left we have added a new feature to the blog. Well really 3 or 4. We now have a slide show which we will change every week. We have also added a subscription link. If you enter your email address in the little box and follow 3 easy steps you will be added to our email list. We are excited about this because our goal with the blog is to keep you up to date with everything. So on that note lets get going.

We are so excited. On January 28th December Radio is going to do a concert at First Baptist Seymour to help us buy a van in Guatemala. We are also in full swing with our fundraising efforts to build our monthly support. We are still in need of 30 families to jump on board with us. We are also excited because Mike and Dottie Clark the founders of Casa will be in Knox ville for almost the entire month of February. They will be traveling to many churches in our area sharing about Casa. We are hoping that this will help people jump on board with us in this awesome ministry.

Please pray for us in a few areas.

1. Carla's Dad - We go for a new scan next week to find out if the latest Chemo has worked.
2. Pray for our support. It has been slow but we know it will pick-up with us setting our moving date.
3. Pray for the move. We are trying to line up a container which would be awesome. It is going to cost around $4000 so pray that God would allow that money to show up. The container right now has a ton of supplies for Casa on it and has been sitting for almost a year. So it would be awesome if we could get that moving.
4. Pray for upcoming teams in March and June. We have a lot going on right now with both teams. Pray specifically for cheap airfare.

Thanks for the support and Prayers!!!

His Servant,
Mike

A New Year

Yes, I know it has been a couple of weeks and I am sorry but our life is a little crazy right now. I just got back from Guatemala and I am so sick. I have a really bad head cold and just feel like blah. But hey I thought what a perfect time to share. (hahahaha) We had a awesome trip last week working on the house. We got almost all of the walls sheet rocked, all of the electrical ran, and most of the plumbing done. You have to go to our website and check out the pictures. www.clubhouseguatemala.com I have a very special thank you to Gary Dalby, James Westbrook, and D.A. for giving their holiday week to go down and build our house. It is going to be an awesome house, and now it is Carla's turn to get busy. She went to Lows last night and got about 50 tile, paint, and kitchen cabinet books to pick out what she wants.
With all of the preparation I hope that people are starting to believe that yes we are moving. It seems that our sponsorship has stalled a bit because people have been unsure of things. So please pray that that will pick up. We know God is in control but it would be nice to really see our support pick up. Also pray for us as we work on finishing the house.

Well that is all for now. I think I am going to fix me some OJ and go to bed. 5AM is really early!!