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