The Loving House

You may have noticed I have made some changes to the blog. Feel free to explore ;) I have added some new information. I have to say I'm feeling pretty proud of myself figuring out how to do all this technology stuff (lol) I'm especially proud of my tabs ^up there^ yay for organizing!

I've been thinking a lot about child rearing lately. I was at a playground the other day and overheard a grandma (I think) tell her grand daughter "you are not more special than anyone else" because she had fallen from a very high place and wouldn't stop crying. I didn't witness the fall but I saw where she was sitting before she fell. (about 7 feet up) Now I am not a confrontational person and I'm not one to undermine a person's authority in front of their charge but it took everything in me not to go give that lady a piece of my mind. Really the only things that kept me sitting down were my charges talking to me. Another lady who happened to see the fall then walked up and told the woman she should take the child to a Dr because the fall was quite far. I didn't listen anymore because I already was feeling bad for eavesdropping. ::embarrassed::

My problem with that situation was this child was hurt, obviously hurt and instead of nurturing this woman chose to belittle her. I know there is a fine line to walk to keep children balanced and not have a princess complex but seriously. I hope my children think they are the most special people in the world because they are to me. I have seen so many grown people make horrible mistakes because they are not sure if they have any value. And yes some of them were very spoiled as children. So where is the line? To me possessions should not be made too important (and gifts are very strongly my love language) Children should be encouraged, loved, protected. Home should be a safe place where you always know that even when you make mistakes you are still accepted. There should always be consequences for bad decisions so the child doesn't think they are always going to be bailed out but the consequence should never be a removal of love. My kids are 4 and 5 so I'm no expert but I pray every day that this will be how I raise my children. I hope my house is what they think of always as "The Loving House"

How do you think you raise a kid that is not spoiled but doesn't have to spend their life in therapy?

Giving Details

I've had several people ask what they can do to help and what our specific needs are.

Overall
PRAYER! We need all we can get and then some. This will only work as long as it has God's hand on it and we desire more than anything to be in his will. Because of that we covet your prayers above all else that He would guide us, our hearts will stay right and that he would go before us and behind us every step.

Financially
One time donation's
We need to raise about $10,000 more before we leave for start up costs. That covers everything we need to get initially established. As you probably know everything we own is currently residing in 12 suitcase (4 are carry-on's) So we will need everything from travel/transportation to a place to live, plus the paperwork fees etc... really boring stuff but important!

Monthly recurring donations
We will need about $3000 a month. The first year we will participate in the ministry school that reaches out to the families of Peru. Most of our budget will go to our daily living expenses. Including traveling to Piura monthly to work on establishing the mission there so when our time in Lima is done the transition will be easier. Anything we are given above that will go into a savings account we will use for the Mission in Piura.

If you would like to give into our ministry one time or monthly you have 2 options.

Option 1 Paypal. I have installed a tab to the right that will take you directly to our paypal account and you can give that way. Our paypal account name is jkmission2peru@GMail.com

Option 2 Tax deductible donation. There is another tab on the right that will take you to our church website. They have set up an account for us where you can give (designated as Mission to Peru.) They will track it and get it to us and mail you a giving statement at the beginning of the year (just in time for tax season) They also email you a receipt and you can track your giving through the website. If you choose to give this way please send me an email at the above address with the amount you are giving and if it's a one time gift or if you plan to give monthly.

Any amount you can give is helping us to fulfill our mission to Peru. Thank you for your support of this ministry!

Friends and Girlfriends!

It's been 3 weeks since we moved out of our house and started staying with friends. In those three weeks we have not had a single night in. SO fun! I've spent so much time with friends these past few weeks that in a way it makes leaving a little harder. I'm still excited to go and I have never doubted this call on our lives. I will however miss these sweet people I do life with. I have also seen how much our friends love us. It takes a good friend to let a whole family invade your house for weeks at a time.
My friends have changed their plans so they could spend time with me, babysit at the last minute for me and have just generally been awesome. And that's just in the last month or so.
Thank you to all my friends! You guys are awesome! I love you

I'm sure I will continue to gush about my awesome friends over the next few weeks especially in August when I visit my 2 childhood bff's Jami and Lydia (It's gonna' be like Christmas for me :)

In other news I will be returning to Houston October 8th & 9th "This Is The Real Me" A women's conference at Jordan Ranch. They will be featuring our ministry and I am super excited about it. Kari Jobe will be there and Sheila Gerald and Pastor Rose Watkins will be speaking. It will be amazing! If you want to go you can register Here for more information go here
It doesn't get much better than that. Girls night (can we say slumber party?) Awesome ministry and radiant worship. And did I mention I will be there? Come hang out with me!

at the zoo

On Monday we went to the zoo

We splashed  

Ok, mostly we ran away from the splash...because thats how we roll

(we are not big fans of water in our eyes...)

    

We had fun with our friends

       

Logan and his buddy Matthew

(and some random girl...what can I say he's a chick magnet)

           

               

We called through the pirahna tank

              

We sat in the middle of the tank and blocked the other kids

            

               

We made silly faces at mommy

               

We...looked at the animals

               

and force fed daddy chips

              

We smiled our best when we were not all the way in the picture

 

We sat on a dinosaur

and sat in the wagon

Then we sat in the car

and we crashed (not literally, we just fell asleep) 

Jose's story

Before I became a Christian I never had a heart or desire for children. When I was very young I had an accident that the doctors told me I could not have any children. When I received Jesus to come into my heart I realized that from Genesis on, God’s desire was to fill the earth with people made in his likeness and image, not much has changed. This mandate began to grow inside of me to fulfill what God had set out to do. My heart began to change towards children in such a drastic way that I began to serve in the nursery at Powerhouse Christian Center. I remember Pastor Watkins coming back from a trip to Peru and visiting an orphanage in Lima; that night my heart began to beat so fast that I thought it was going to explode and I began to understand the Holy Spirit working in my heart. That night I remember going up to Pastor after service and telling him that if he ever goes back I would like to go with him. I was only born again for about 6 months at that point. A couple years later I had an opportunity to go with Pastor Watkins to South America and what I thought would calm my inner desires to go to Peru increased even more. For 5 years following I engulfed myself in learning ministry. I have been a witness to countless spiritual sons being returned to a right relationship to their heavenly father. I have seen transformed lives through this ministry find purpose and passion for pursuing God. In 2009 the Lord began to work in me more fervently with what he showed me in 2002. In my effort to try and quench this inner struggle I took my family to see what God birthed in me many years before. The word says that God is faithful to complete the work he began inside of us, and that is exactly what happened. I saw myself knowing that I was called to be a missionary to do what God had done inside of me and help others to be raised up. My mandate is clear: Restore order in a world of chaos by bringing back spiritual and natural orphans to a right relationship to our heavenly father through Jesus Christ. My heart is to reach, teach, and send out. Reach orphans, teach the way of the cross, and send them out to other parts of the world.
Jose

Peruvian Children

I've been working on a few projects in preparation for our trip and some exciting things that are coming up.  I came across a bunch of statistics that are really heart breaking. While I don't put my trust in statistics these are a good indication that we live in a hurting and dying world. I wanted to share them so those of you that are interested and/praying for us can have an idea of what we will be working with.

Many children in Peru are sent to work to support their families in spite of child labor being against the law. Two out of ten children ages 6-11 work and there are more than 3 million children working in Peru.1 Due to the high and persistent levels of poverty, Peruvian children are often sent out by their parents to earn money on the streets. This might be by selling sweets or crafts, begging, performing acrobatics, or in one of many other ways.


Studies show that 90% of street children come from rebuilt (with step-father or step-mother) or mono-parental families, or from rural families that had 'given' their child to other people (relatives or not) to be raised by the latter in the city. 2

Children are often blamed and at the receiving end of family disputes so much so that the streets appear as a better alternative than the family home. Too scared and afraid of another episode of violence, the children run to the streets for the comfort and refuge they so badly seek. One research project found that 73% of the street children they interviewed cited family violence and child mistreatment as reasons for taking to the streets. 3 The report also suggests that most street-living boys in Peru are children who had become 'scapegoats' in their family; blamed for causing conflict and stress, and maltreated when their families were going through a crisis.

These statistics illustrate not only the need for a safe haven for homeless children. They also illustrate the need to build godly men to reverse the curse of fatherlessness. Our desire is to teach these “men” that “Maturity doesn’t come with age but begins with the acceptance of responsibility” (-Edwin Louis Cole) and not just accepting responsibility for yourself but for those around you.



1 UNICEF (2008)


2 Bustamante, D., ‘Family Structure Problems, Child Mistreatment, Street Children, and Drug Use’, cited in Schraeder, A. et al, Prevention of Street Migration (1999)


3 Consortium for Street Children

All moved out

I'm sitting next to a window listening to the quiet tapping of the rain. Across from me is my son who desperately needs a nap but thinks that naps are over rated and is pretending his Jacobs ladder (current favorite toy) is a whistle.  The thunder is rolling in a very relaxed way. It's so soothing. Exactly the kind of weather for blogging or taking a nap

As of last night we are officially, completely, moved out of the last home of our own in the united states. Right now we are staying with some wonderful friends that (mostly) don't mind when my kids run around like wild Indians or try to play with their baby like she is a doll.

I still have a pile of stuff in their garage to sort through and stacks of things in our room to take care of but we are out of the house and I have 5 weeks to figure out where all the stuff should go.

Honestly the hardest thing for me to get rid of is clothing. I'm trying to be brutal but when it comes to things like the worlds softest jeans that fit perfect when you first put them on but by the end of the day the only thing keeping them up is my constant tugging its hard. I guess I should act like it's a friend that's moving. I'm great at being logical when it comes to friends clothes.

I am really thankful for all the amazing friends we have. Abby, Six, Cisco, and Melissa all came over with no advance notice to help us clean, pack and throw stuff away. Then my sister came yesterday all pregnant and everything to help me wrap it up. I know we would not have been able to do it without the help of all these awesome people. So thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

It's kind of surreal. We are really leaving. I mean like really, REALLY leaving. The next 5 weeks in Houston will be spent tying up loose ends and hopefully spending time with people.

Then the part I am really excited about. :) visiting friends and family I haven't seen in years! I'm so excited. I feel like a little girl.

If you have not yet signed up to be a prayer partner please do it! All you have to do is pray for us I know there are more of you praying for us than we have on the list so let me know!