It's Today!

The past 40 days have been truly wonderful for me! (Busy but wonderful. LoL) When I started this giveaway I had NO idea if anyone would even show up, and to say that I've been blessed by it, is an understatement! I've gotten to meet new friends and reconnected with old ones. Thank you so much for helping me celebrate. God is so incredibly good!

Today is the wrap-up of my blog giveaway—but first I want to link to those that have come in since November 2nd, when I did a Linky post. I don't want you to miss out on them.

Gery wrote in about The Children of Timor.

Heidi, in Asia, told us how a verse posted at her door changed lives—and not just hers—in One Day to Give—A Recipient's Perspective. (You really don't want to miss this one!!)


Rich Brown told us about going to jail for Crossing the Double Yellow Line, and how it changed his view of things.


Allan Jackson sent lots of pictures and wrote about their ministry in Manta, Ecuador, For Love.


And my dear friend Laury slid in this morning with God's Smuggler. (I'm gonna hafta find that book and read it again now!)


While Laury slid in, Katy Lin squeaked in by telling us about the Hoyt family in Uganda in her post Missions Matter. (hehe, I love the title, Katy Lin!)


Some of you may have noticed that I set up another site for this project called Missions Matter! The site will still be around, and I'm deciding what I should do with it now that these 40 days are over. I feel there's more that can be done with it, but at the moment, I'm clueless as to what. SO, if any of you have any ideas, please let me know!! Missions is in my blood, and if there's a way that site can be used for good, I want to do it. The whole purpose of this giveaway was to boost awareness of missions, and I do NOT want to stop doing that. So, let me know your ideas! If you don't want to put it in a comment, you can always email me at patterly [at] gmail [dot] com. I'd love to hear from you! (For those of you reading this here on Missions Matter! --Welcome! And if you have any ideas, please let me know!!)

NOW, what you've been waiting for! I asked my girls and my 'little boys' to help with this...
Drum roll, please!

The winner of Green Leaf in Drought is: Kim Roof, who is a missionary in Peru. She sent an email about the Lasting Impact of her parents, who were also missionaries. I thought this was wonderful because she caught THREE typos in her post--which I posted for her. THREE! (and no, you do NOT get bonus points for finding my screw ups, so don't even ask! LoL)



The winner of By Searching is: Tracy, who told us about her missions trip to Mexico

And since I just happened to win a book that I had recently purchased, I drew an extra name! Laury is the winner of Courting Miss Adelaide by Janet Dean.

Send me your snail mail addies and I'll get them in the mail to you.

Since the giveaway is over, Patterings will be getting back to normal—whatever that is. Oh wait, Patterings has normal, Patty does not. LoL—I've totally given up on normal. Totally. Truly.

What's normal at Patterings?
Patterings is about how God uses everyday happenings to draw my attention to Himself and to teach me spiritual lessons.

Patterings is also the home of Fiction Fridays, so every Friday I post a short story that I've written. This is a meme that anyone and everyone can participate in, whether they write fiction, or simply enjoy a good story. There's a great diversity in our 'regulars', so there should be something for just about everyone.

Come back and join us!
And thank you, again, for helping me celebrate! It's been wonderful!
Hugs to each of you!

Missions Matter! ~Blog Giveaway coming November 12th!

For Love

Although this will be my last missions post for my Missions Matter! blog giveaway, I will be posting (sometime) about my years in Ecuador--after I figure out how to use a scanner and scan in some of our old photos. I had wanted to post it before this, but time has not cooperated with me, so I'll just post it later since I'll be still doing some missions posts. *grin* Be sure to come back Wednesday afternoon to see who the winners are for my birthday gifts!


This year Allan and Pearl Jackson celebrate 8 years of working with abandoned youth in Manta, Ecuador, and 2 ½ years since Montañita Verde Children’s Homes was built.
Not only do they administrate the children's homes, they are working with the Manta City Dump Community and the many other ministries of the Por Amor Foundation. Both Allan and Pearl were brought up in Ecuador as Mks and their love for the people is so very evident. Allan worked as a contractor, while Pearl administrated the orphanage, but now they are 'full time' at the Children's Homes.


Por Amor Foundation
Foundation For Love
By Allan Jackson

Nothing is as simple as it looks. And it is not easy, but since we decided on full time work with orphans and abandoned kids, we are just plain happy. This work, and the Children's homes, have survived at times day to day, mostly month to month, not knowing at times where food etc. will come from, and yet we are all here and fine. All because of many others who I consider true partners in raising and reaching kids that otherwise would have no home and little hope. It all means nothing if not done for higher reasons than just humanitarian effort. We cannot speak of this without pointing skyward and thanking our gracious Creator, Friend and Bringer of Hope. (LoL--is bringer a word?)

Here are two of my latest concerns that keep me up at night. (What keeps you up at night?)

We plan to open Home 2 soon--Lord willing. There are tons of needs, but we are thankful that good interim house parents are in place. We still will be needing to find the monthly support for this house raising 14 kids--equipped to house at least 5 babies. House one is housing 17--3 more than what it was made for.

There's also a new project using up my brainwaves.
Project Soup Kitchen --Barrio Los Esteros, Manta
Here's a prayer item that can be voiced over this next year as we proceed.
I met with Giovany, who is the pastor of a small church planting work of our church. This fairly new church (they have been meeting for a few years) is located right down where the rubber meets the common road--close to downtown and yet in the industrial tuna packing plant neighborhood. This has been a red light district, and has been a bit of a shady place. The building was built to be a small fish packing plant and they started renting the building a year ago, giving them a building to meet in.

It is unfinished, and some of us, along with our pastor Velez, are asking God to provide the money to buy and finish it. The third floor will be ours, the Por Amor Foundation, to set up as a soup kitchen specifically for drug kids living on the streets. Currently no one does anything for these cases here and this will be a first step until we develop relationships and see need for taking some in...which will not be in Montañita Verde, but a different home. --Anyhow, we are in beginnings of this so I don't know all the details... God knows. This has come about because I have had this desire for many years and have not been able to reach these kids that no one wants. And now "coincidentally" I have met others with same desire. Too much coincidence to be accident.

The second floor will be a clinic for ladies since most of the thousands working for these tuna plants are women. The church seeks to draw them to God by ministering to medical needs--this is a group of doctors from our local church--they are also wanting to tackle an HIV/AIDS clinic--I will also be fund raising to finish off clinic.

I had a meeting with our Salvation Army brethren who have moved into the area two years ago, the Captain is new, actually she's a captainette and she's Aussie. She has seen this need also, is supportive of these efforts, and willing to send personnel for training in dealing with addict kids. Well, there are too many coincidences on this one, different Christians from all different walks, meeting and wanting to push towards this.

I'm not asking for folks to switch focus away from Montanita Verde Children's Homes, just simply to pray for this effort and keep us in mind. Right now our focus is on opening Home 2---Keep people praying about that also!

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This is a clip that a visiting church posted on you tube after visiting Montañita Verde Children’s Homes. Also listed there is a clip about the dump ministry that Por Amor is involved in: http://www.youtube.com/PorAmorEcuador

Pearl is a mother of four and works at Por Amor Foundation office each day. She is the Executive Director of Por Amor, so she has way too many responsibilities--I don't know how she does it, but, that's just our Pearl. She spends her spare time enjoying school activities with other parents, hanging out with family at home, doing farm chores together, and painting toe nails every fifteen days.

Allan is the gopher, builder, cleaner, secretary, Director's Assistant and let's not forget the "Joe the Plumber", the Grounds Logistics, and Construccion Manager. He stepped down from the president position a year ago, so as not to have to attend as many meetings. Now they call him Director of Construction and Maintenance (titles are very important here), but really he's just the kid's favorite uncle. He's got the guys raising chickens and pigs currently. The local university is helping teach agriculture on the small farm which also part of Montañita Verde. Allan likes to ride bicycles with his boys around Montecristi, ride Honda 650 XRL up northern coast, and most of all, when not overly busy, every 3 months, fishing the Cojimies Inlet.
********

This is a ministry that has been on my heart since I first reconnected with Allan a couple of years ago when our class was getting ready for our class reunion--which is tough to do when everyone is, literally, scattered around the world. I love hearing how God has worked in his life, and how God is using his family. Be sure to check out Por Amor Foundation.

Missions Matter! ~Blog Giveaway coming November 12th!

Crossing the Double Yellow Line

A Missions Matter! blog giveaway post!

Every time I think life is getting back to normal it throws another challenge at me. I think that maybe I should quit hoping for normalacy--whaddya think?

At the beginning of my 40 days of celebration, Rich and Lisa Brown sent in some articles, and I posted Lisa's Forgotten People article right away, but every time I've gone to post this one, something else has come in, so I've saved it. This is a story I got to experience on the praying grapevine end--which is the best grapevine to be involved in. My friend, Debbie, forwarded an email to me about Rich being in jail, and I (and my family) began praying for him. Not just for him to get out quickly, but that good would come from it. This post shows how God answered both of those prayers.

Crossing the Double Yellow Line
By Rich Brown

As I strolled along in my car I knew that today would be an easy day. All I had to do was go about another 30 minutes and I would surprise Aaron, a Peruvian musician recording in Cayambe, Ecuador. It was his birthday. I would take he and the other two guys out to eat and make it special for them even though they were far from home.

There was a gas truck going so slow up the hill, that three cars in front of me passed it on the corner, and I followed behind. When I came to the corner, crossing back in front of the gas truck, I noticed that the dotted yellow line was now a double yellow line (NO PASSING ALLOWED). I quickly slowed down in front of the gas truck, just as I heard a car honking his horn. He was very angry. I pulled over so he could pass me, but he was dressed in a Colonel uniform and motioned for me to follow him to the police.

When we got to the police, the Colonel made it clear that they were to put me in jail for what I did, passing on the double yellow line. In Ecuador, it is against the law, with penalty of minimum 30 days in jail for passing on a double yellow line. He threatened to put the two policemen in jail if they did not put me in jail. He copied my information and said, “I will check tonight to see if you put this man in jail.”

I quickly called, and text messaged all my friends. The ones who I was supposed to surprise thought I was faking it and this was all part of the surprise. I finally convinced them to come and pick up my car and take it to a safe place.

People from all over the country started calling me, some trying to help, others saying they knew someone that could help, and others just wanted to visit me and keep me company.

The jail was filled with about 60 people in one big room with 30 bunk beds. I had to pay $20 for the bed, and quickly did as I saw that the beds were filling up fast. I was able to get to know others who were there, most from drinking and driving, or driving without a license. I played cards with the guys and spent a lot of time reading, writing and praying.

My devotions that day were on Romans 12. I sat on my bunk and read it with different eyes. All of it brought on new meaning. “Don’t think of yourself higher than you ought…” and many other verses that stuck out in my mind. It talks about us being the body of Christ with different gifts. I decided right away to sacrifice things right in jail. Every meal I got, I made sure I shared half of it with someone else (food is not provided for you in jail in Ecuador, you have to find family or friends that will provide it for you.

Miracles happened as the lawyers worked the system to try to get me out. They knew that my wife and son were in Canada visiting her parents, and I was supposed to be taking care of my other three kids. Thanks to Heather Martin, our intern, they were in good hands.

We went to the hearing, and on the way the policeman that had to accompany us said, “that same Colonel put me in jail for sitting down for five minutes on the job. I had been standing for 7 hours straight.” I said, “you know what, God put me in jail, not the Colonel.” I had learned that God was doing something in me and in the men around me in Jail.

God worked another miracle as the secretary that took down my information said, “I am also evangelical. I go to the Alliance Church in the Valley.” I said, “Really! My parents helped start the mother church to that one.” We started talking about all of the pastors we knew etc. She heard my story and said, “You will be back with your kids tonight.” I said, “I hope so.” She said, “You will. The man in there that has to sign all the papers also attends the Alliance Church in the Valley. My lawyer’s mouth dropped open. He is not a Christian but he said, “Even with all of my contacts to try to get you out, you were supposed to serve 15 more working days. But who would have thought that God would help us out today.”


I was only in jail three days. I got home and had a party at our house. There were two women from the women’s prison here in Quito, Ecuador who were out on bail, who were baptized right in our apartment complex. We celebrated together. I didn’t say a word about my 3 days in jail; these women had been in prison for years.

Inca Link Ecuador, and Soul Light Link are organizations working closely with the Alliance that are now making plans to find jobs for people in the prisons of Ecuador. This will give them an opportunity to work, not be bored, and live a more dignified life. One youth leader said, “I have several machines to make clothes, I will donate them for this ministry.” Another said, “Our church is going into the men’s jail now every Thursday night to do a Bible Study.” Another one said, “My Dad just did a leadership training in the women’s jail.

Crossing the double yellow line changed my life forever. It was not the Colonel that put me there, it was God. Now, I expect to be more involved in jail ministry. Finding ways to help those who were where I was. And, I don’t plan on passing on the double yellow line any more.

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Rich Brown and his wife, Lisa, served with the C&MA in Lima & Trujillo, Peru, from 1994 to 2004. Now they are in Ecuador working with Youth Leaders in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. To learn more check out Inca Link.

Missions Matter! ~Blog Giveaway coming November 12th!

The Children of Timor

A Missions Matter! blog giveaway post!

This week my parents have been visiting and I've used the week to rest and recharge--which I found I really needed. This is an email Gerda sent that I wanted to share with you. Gery and Andy are a retired couple who do work in Indonesia. Here's Gerda...

I just want to tell you about the children.

I want to tell you about Iman, who was so happy to have a sponsor, but did he show it? No way! When Mary-Lynn set him down, to tell him he had a sponsor, who would send him to school, buy him shoes, schoolbag, supplies and uniform and that he had to do his very, very best, he just looked at her solemnly and nodded his head. He did not show his happiness at all. When Mary-Lynn watched him leave her house, he suddenly took a little skip and then an other one. Then he started jumping up and down and calling to his friends: "I have a sponsor, I have a sponsor."

Then there were two girls from the Island of Savu. One was 17 and the other 18 years old. The older one had a Muslim boyfriend. Both the girls have a grade 3 education. Their father came for help. Could we help somehow to make the girls more independent. We offered a sewing course. That had worked for two other girls, who now make all the uniforms for the school. No, the girls did not want to take a sewing course. They wanted to farm, a goat farm. This means you get a goat and when it has a kid you can milk it and sell the milk. You walk all day with the goats and find grass to eat for them along the roads and rivers. A society in Ontario sponsored them and paid for the goats, cost $45, each. The girls did well and the society wanted to buy them an other goat. With two goats, the girls would be independent and not need to marry a Muslim boy. Marince and Seni Kana were happy with the goats. Marince, the one with the boyfriend, wanted to break up with him. The boyfriend was not only a Muslim, no he was also a very controlling, abusive person. Her parents did not know that. She was afraid of him and afraid to break up with him. He had told her “If you break up with me, I will kill you and your family.” She was too scared to tell her parents, until one day she could not take it anymore and told him it was over. That day was also the day, that her father had gone to Mary-Lynn to get the money for the second set of goats. It is 8 1/2 hour trek to Mary-Lyn's house. That night the boyfriend set fire to the house. He also had a knife with him. They screamed for help and the neighbors heard them and came to help. The neighbors also caught him. The father was so angry that he took the guy to the police in Kupang. The same 8 hours again, and when you have someone arrested in Timor, you pay for his keep and the court fees, etc. This is the way things are done in Indonesia. Of course the father was full of remorse when he came to tell us what he had done with the goat money. He offered to sell some of his land to pay for the goats.

We had a dilemma. If the farmer sells a piece of property, he will be able to pay for the goats himself, but his income will go down and he will produce less rice for his wife and 11 children. Yet if we do not ask for the money back, they might think that the white people have an endless supply and others might find reasons to use sponsor money for other uses. Besides that, there would always be the blame and shame on the girl.

We have told him to keep his land, he has to pay back the $90, but he can do it over a long period.$1.00 or 50 cents a month. We also showed him that the Bible said that no interest should be charged. He and his family are happy-- they saved face, no blame and shame for the girl and the exboyfriend behind bars.
****

When we visited Isak's home, to bring a letter from his sponsor, we found a 7 pound baby. There is nothing unusual to finding a 7 pound baby, but this one was a year old. The mother had no milk and you do not grow from rice water. To buy formula, it costs $24 per year. $24. to save a life. When you send a letter to a sponsor child, we have an excuse to enter the home and see other needs in the child's family.

Rani
And then there was Rani. Rani had been sponsored by a very enthused young man. He right away paid for three months. After that he did not pay on time or not at all. Rani however did his very best and we did not tell him that he did not really have a sponsor, that supported him all the time. Rani lives on Rote Island and it cost about $12 per month for him to go to school. His family had heard about the new Christian Junior High School. Rani wanted to go there. It is a five and a half hour trek to go to the new school, but when the new school opened, Rani was there. He had no schoolbag, no shoes, no uniform. He also had no sponsor, but Rani did not know that. He trusted that he would be looked after, and he was.

He was not the only one that showed up without being registered. 7 more showed up, all from the Island of Rote. All without sponsors. Mary-Lynn emailed me and asked what should she do. I said, buy them shoes, books, uniforms and supplies. Good, she said, I did already. That week again I learned of the providence of God. Every day the mail brought me cheques. Little cheques, a birthday party gift, instead of more presents. Cheques without explanations. Just made out to our organization. At the end of the week, when I sent the funding to Timor, we included $510. Mary-Lynn asked:"How did you know we spend $502?" I said we did not, but the Lord knew. We now have a slush fund of $8.

Selamat
Gery Vandenhaak

Missions Matter! ~Blog Giveaway coming November 12th!

Feeling Linky, too!

We're to the final countdown to the giveaway (and of course, to my birthday). There's just ten days left to join in the fun—I'd love the help in celebrating!

October is finally over, and it went out with a bang. Our church puts on a children's carnival every year and we get to help. It's great fun spending time working with, and playing with, our church friends, but it makes for a very busy week. I've also had some cleaning projects going on here at home, and to be honest, I'm really tired! My parents come for a visit tomorrow and I can't wait. I'm looking forward to relaxing and visiting with them—it's a treat we don't often get!

In the past ten days, since my first Linky post, I've had some more great missions posts come in that I want to share with you. These are just the ones that are new.

Sharon wrote about Women on the Edge, a great sounding book.

Debby told us about her mom's great faith while in the jungle in Up the River.

Gerda sent me a post about their trip to Cuba where they can take in Bibles 12 At a Time.

Karen posted about a missions book they're reading to their kids about Cameron Townsend--Wysliffe Founder, and how it made an impression on them--they're currently in Russia, and I've loved following her these last several months!

In When I Grow Up, Danielle told us about when she was little--and how she's doing part of her dream in Spain.

Yvonne posted a short story she wrote, Nando is Home, which is based on a story a missionary told her.

Kim let me repost an email she sent me--I loved hearing about the Lasting Impact her parents had on people who were saved while they were ministering in Peru. (She, and her family, are missionaries in Peru.)

Tracy shared her Mexico Mission Trip Memories with us and told how she came to have a special souvenir.

I also posted Joyously Abandoned with excerpts from Green Leaf in Drought. What an impact it's had on my life!

Don't forget: November 12th, around noon or so, I'll be doing the drawing for the blog giveaway—so the announcement will be sometime that afternoon. Help me celebrate by posting about missions!

Missions Matter! ~Blog Giveaway coming November 12th!

Lasting Impact

A Missions Matter! blog giveaway post!
By Kim Roof, missionary in Lima, Peru.

I could be here all month writing about the things God has done, and is doing! God is awesome!

I'm on a trip right now with my husband in Arequipa, Peru, where my parents were missionaries for about 8 years. I lived here for several of those years before going to Alliance Academy. My husband and I were just visiting a friend of our family, a lady that used to take care of my brothers and I when my parents had to travel...a dear godly woman. Her son was telling of how he will never forget the impact the missionaries had on his life back in 1970. My parents, among other missionaries, were some of the pioneers here in Peru that held open-air campaigns every night to raise up churches in areas where there weren't any. I remember sitting in those open-air campaigns and watching people come to Christ, and seeing people being healed, and hearing all the other stories my parents always tell me--I can say that my parents are my heroes! To tell you the truth, I don't know how they made it as missionaries here in Peru back in the 70's. All I know is that they had a tremendous faith in their God!

I never thought of returning to Peru, where my parents had been missionaries, but since I've been here over these past 15 years, I never fail to run into someone that got saved under my parent's ministry or was touched in some way by their lives. They are still living for God, and some are in the ministry today because of the impact my parent's ministry had on them. That really blesses me because I know that our labor as missionaries is not in vain! It's God that does the work in people's lives, but He uses willing vessels (like us) to reach those people. So, wherever you are (I'm talking to missionaries around the world...even in the U.S.), keep up the good work and don't grow weary or give up. Many lives have been touched, are still being touched, and still have to be touched by you!

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Tom and Kim Roof have been missionaries since 1992 and founded Followers of Christ International soon after they were married. After language school and serving in Mexico, they moved to Peru and have been working in coordination with the Church 'Camino de Vida' with Pastors Robert and Karyn Barriger. Their initial assignment was to be directors of the Bible School of Camino de Vida for 6 years, and then have been in full time children's ministry since they year 2000. During this time their children, Daniel and Charity, were both born in the country of Peru.
The Roofs are responsible for a nationwide children's ministry, Corazones en Accion (Hearts in Action International of Mario and Suzanne Babarczy) through which they do evangelistic events, teacher training workshops, children's congresses and minister in schools and churches, and also present a faith based program called 'STOP' that teaches children how to prevent sexual abuse. Their vision and heart's desire is to reach the children and young people of Peru, and raise up the church of Jesus Christ in Latin America and in the Nations.

Missions Matter! ~Blog Giveaway coming November 12th!

12 At a Time

A Missions Matter! blog giveaway post!

A retired couple brings Bibles into Cuba
by Gerda VandenHaak

Two years ago, we visited my brother in Ontario. He told us that for the last 5 years he had been going to Cuba, about 3 times a year, to bring in Bibles and medical supplies. The people were so poor they needed everything. Then and there we decided, once we were retired, to go on a trip to Cuba with him!

This past October we finally went. We had with us, 12 Bibles, 2 bikes, 400 sewing needles, 420 pens, 300 tooth brushes, 40 small toys, 20 spools of thread and lots of used clothing. We thought that we were totally prepared and were sure that my brother, already experienced in this activity, would be able to look after us throughout the trip. But then we found out that my brother was not going to be able to come with us. We were on our own. That's when we realized that our approach had been all wrong.

It was not on a man, but on God that we had to rely.

Going through customs
It is illegal to bring anything new into Cuba. Used clothing is allowed, but that is all they will allow. You can bring Bibles, but no more than 12 per couple. If you bring in more bibles, it is considered propaganda and they will simply take them and burn them. 12 Bibles does not seem like much, but it is 12 more Bibles than they had before.

When we got to customs in Cuba, my husband Andy was held up. It took them 15 minutes to compare his picture with the one in his passport. Here I stood, shaking in my boots in front of the customs clerk, who was waving our English Bible around. I just stood there and prayed. There was no way that we could hide all that stuff we took along! He then picked up a Spanish Bible. "How about this one?" he said. Suddenly I found inner strength, I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Everything that you see, they are gifts for our friends and your people here. There are three more suitcases and they all have the same thing in them. Gifts for your people." "What are the names of your friends?" he asked. "George (Horgie) and Blanca," I replied. He waved us on and never even looked in the other suitcases. We were the last ones to be checked and everyone else was scrutinized, but us he waved on. We thanked our almighty God and walked on.

Searching for Christians
My brother had told us how to make contact with the Christians. "It is quite simple really," he said, "you pray quite openly for your meals and someone will approach you and ask if you are a Christian. He will then direct you to the nearest group of Christians or church."

Well, we did that, but it did not work. The Lord had other plans for us. We could not have prayed more openly than we did. We had arrived on Friday, and by Saturday no one had yet approached us. The staff at our hotel told us it was about a one-kilometre walk to town and we figured we could do that. Again we prayed that the Lord would lead us to Christians and we started walking.

This is a communist country, so first we had to walk past a guard. Nothing happened and we continued down the road. Suddenly, a girl with three small children came out of the bushes. She said, "Hi, my name is Melissa, want to come to my house?"

We has been warned that beggars would come out of the bushes, so we said, "No, but we are looking for Iglesia Protestante (Protestant Church) and also for Blanca and Horgie." She said she didn't know about the church but she did know Blanca and agreed to take us to her.

She indeed took us to Blanca's house and when we mentioned my brother, Blanca hugged us and invited us into her home. My brother and sister-in-law had visited two years before and she still remembered them. She showed us her home--two rooms, about 8 by 10 feet each, and a lean-to, about 5 by 8. There were no windows, just openings in the cement wall and though she had a beautiful ceramic floor there was no front door, just an old curtain.

She pulled me into her lean-to. "Look," she said, "look I have food, much food." I could have cried. She had about 2 cups of rice and 2 cups of brown beans; that was all (we visited about 10 homes during our stay and that was the only time we did see some food). People there have no closets or cabinets, so when you walk in their houses you can see all that they have. Blanca had two children. Her lean-to held 3 plates, 1 soup bowl, 3 forks, 2 knives, one spoon, 2 small pans, and that was it. There is equality in communist countries they are all equally poor.

They do all have free utilities, so Andy had to duck because the free power was hooked up, but since they have no lights, the live wires hung from the ceiling. All the houses have a fridge, but except for a cola bottle full of water, Blanca's fridge was empty. All the women have a sewing machine, but no needles or thread. They have free medical care, but they don't even have Band-Aids or Tylenol. They can write out a prescription, but cannot fill it.

Lunch
Blanca was very gracious. We gave her family toothbrushes and pens and left. Outside Melissa was waiting. "Please," she said, "I now know an Iglesia (church) in Pilon 20 kilometres away." Blanca had said there was no church or Christians nearby so we decided to go with Melissa to her house.

Again we saw great poverty, about 30 people and nothing in the house to eat. Most of the children were completely naked. They possessed two chairs and we had to sit, while they looked at us. We sort of promised to come back with more gifts and only gave them a toothbrush this time. Melissa came outside with us and told us that if we were there at 9 o'clock the next morning, her brother would take us to church for 10 dollars. We agreed, and told her we would be there.

By then we were ready to eat the lunch we had taken with us. We took our sandwiches out of our baggies and something strange happened.

All of a sudden there were people looking at our food, with a look in their eyes we had never seen before. The look was hunger.

Wordlessly, I handed my food to the nearest person and turned to Andy to ask him to do the same. He was already doing it. The woman took my sandwich and broke off a small piece, and then handed it to the next person. There was somehow a great dignity in what they were doing. No one spoke and they all ate.

Visiting a brothel
Back at the hotel we were told Melissa was a prostitute, and to stay away from her. Now what were we going to do? Again we turned to God in prayer and Sunday morning found us waiting for Melissa, outside the compound, away from the guards. We didn't let the guards see the car we left in. It was a 1955 Lada.

We had to go 20 kilometres to the town of Pilon. It was about 35 degrees outside the car, never mind the inside temperature. The car broke down 4 times on the way up and 4 more times on the way back. "No problem, we fix," our drivers would say, and on the side of the so-called road, they would monkey around and fix it. We were also treated to some very loud rock music throughout the trip. I, for one, will never forget that trip. For 500 feet at a time we would drive in the ditch, because the ditch was in better shape than the road. All through the drive Melissa kept eying our backpacks and offering to hold them. Finally, I opened one backpack and gave her a Bible. I know she hoped for a blouse, but she thanked me anyway.

When we arrived at the church, we found it had a front door but the side was totally open. During the service, pigs and goats wandered in freely, and were promptly chased out. We were welcomed, given a Gideon Bible and seated in the front of the church where a young man, Herardas, offered to translate the sermon for us as it was being preached. The people knew what Melissa did for a living and a snicker ran through the church. We gave all our Bibles to the pastor and after checking each one, he handed them out. There were about 10 Bibles for the 150 people.

Never have we seen such rejoicing upon receiving the word of God as we witnessed that day.

They were even more excited because it was the whole Bible, the New Testament too.

The sermon was on a portion of Genesis, about Abraham, Hagar and Sara and the fact that Abraham had a son with Hagar. This was an act of unbelief and disobedience, the minister said. He then warned the congregation against people like Melissa. Problems in their families were caused by the unfaithfulness of the men, he said, and that had to stop because the Lord forbade it. The previous night Andy and I had made up our minds to use Melissa as a guide to go to church but that we would not go with her anywhere else, or give her anything else. Now, Melissa sat next to me in church -she was reading the passage and kept looking things up in her Bible. Slowly a tear slid down her face. For the rest of the sermon she quietly cried and our hearts melted. She introduced us to her nephew and niece and we promised them we would bring something for them to Melissa's house.

The following Monday we set off to visit Melissa. We had with us, shirts, pens, toy's, etc. We certainly did not feel comfortable at her house, now that we knew what the girls did for a living. A brothel is simply not a good place to be. We handed out our gifts and left as fast as we could. We also gave Melissa gifts for her niece and nephew and stressed to the other girls that these gifts weren't for them but were for Melissa, to take to her relatives. After that ordeal was over, we walked to Blanca's house with our gifts for her and her family. While we were there, a girl from the brothel came and told us to come, because the people in the brothel were being real mean to Melissa. We said sorry, but we weren't going to go there again.

Later on, we rented mopeds and again went to Pilon. A lady at our hotel had given us money for the church, but did not dare go there herself. When we got to the outskirts of Pilon there, walking along the road, was Melissa! She had been kicked out of the house of ill repute and everything except her Bible had been taken from her. She was going home to her parents. She asked us to come with her, and we did. She was welcomed home with open arms and when we left, she asked, "Are you coming to Cuba again?" "Yes," we answered. Then she said, "Next time you come, you will not find me in the bad house, you will find me in the church."

It is something totally awesome when you realize that the LORD, who certainly did not need us, used us.

The Lord willing, we will go again next September; our goal is a Bible for every family in that church.

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The VandenHaaks live in Canada and do other mission work in Indonesia. They also have many other stories to tell.

Thank you so much for sending this in! It has blessed me greatly!

Missions Matter! ~Blog Giveaway coming November 12th!