The Power of God is Movin Around the WORLD (Can you feel it?)

Hello Friends and Family!!!

We have been having an incredible time here and I can not believe how quickly time has flown by.Thinking about leaving here in a week and a half is heartbreaking because of how much we have grown attachedto the Capricorn kids. Our whole team has connected with different kids so well and gotten the amazing opportunity to hear their life stories and share in their laughter and struggles. I personally have gotto spend a lot of my time with a young teenage girl named Viveline, and I absolutely LOVE her! She isso sweet and beautiful, and opening up with her and sharing stories has been so encouraging to me. She hassuch a hard life, but her persistance and faith in God through hard times is awesome. She has been a Christianfor a year now and really has a heart for God. Keep her in your prayers!! Pray for her future!

Another little girl I've grown to love is named Linette. The first time I met her I was playing hand games with all the other girls, and she came up behind me to play too. I was so impressed with her becauseshe was sooo small and cute, but took the game so seriously and caught on faster than everyone else. I askedher how old she was, because I thought she could be no much older than 5, but she is 8 years old! I was inSHOCK and it broke my heart. I think she might have HIV, and when you have it at such a young age, along withmalnutrition, it can seriously stunt your growth. Its a big possibility, because its not normal for her to beso small at her age. I can easily hold her in my arms and she is sooo tiny and light. I wish you could meether too, you would fall in love with her and her size would break your heart. Pray for Linette, and all theother kids in club that will face the terrible side effects of HIV and other diseases. Sadly, 1 in 3 willhave to deal with it.

Tuesday night was definitely a memorable and defining moment for everyone on our team. We had anintense discussion about all of our experiences with the kids and how it has been effecting us. Its a veryweird feeling spending all day with kids who are living in real poverty, and then coming home to such anice place with a beautiful beach and every comfort we need. I think understanding and seeing poverty has been changing allof our hearts, I know its changing mine. I think Jesus has been using these kids and their stories to convict me of my carefree and selfish lifestyle back at home. God's heart is with "the least of these" andhas made it our responsibility as Christians to love people as he would love them. I have been so blessedand priveledged my whole life with everything I need: food, shelter, education, support, loving family and friends.I feel like now Jesus is saying to me since I have blessed you, use these blessings to serve my people. Afterknowing God's heart, our whole team knows that our lives have to change. It is time for all of us to useare blessings to benefit God's kingdom, and respond by reaching out and caring for all those people whoare hurting and need love and care. Our team was definitely broken, crying, and just praying to God to breakour hearts and change our lives. This is not just a phase, but a permanent change of our attitudes and lifestyles.

This week during the mornings we have been renovating a property that will be used to equip thesurrounding community with skills they can use to make money and break their cycle of poverty. Its an exciting project, and will provide people with new opportunity and fresh starts. It has not been easybecause we have been doing a lot of menial and tedious tasks. I have spent my days washing windows, scrapinggum off the bottom of desks, and washing paint off floors. I've never cleaned so much in my entire life!Other team members have been painting, weeding, lifting heavy things, and helping in anyway they can. Thecool part about it, besides the vision of the buildings, is that we get to work alongside 12 local peoplefrom the community. They are soo awesome and fun to get to know. 10% of the money we paid to go herewill go to pay these workers, so THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT! It has gone a long way!

Keep us all in your prayers as we continue on! On Friday we will be leading youth group, so pray that God gives us the words to say and uses us to speak to the youth of Capricorn. Next week we will spend sometime in the clinics talking to people and maybe walk around Capricorn and pray for the people of the neighborhood. Pray that God uses all these opportunities for his glory!

To all family and friends I miss you ALL (love u 6 and Michelle!!!!!!) HAPPY BIRTHDAY GLORY! Keep reading :)

LOVE,
Denise