On Mission

2009-07-13T08:27:00.001-07:00

2009-07-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well today we finished our work with the children in Mahogany Heights. More than eighty students heard the story of Jesus and his love today. At least two asked Him to be their Savior. God has been so good to us all.Everyone at the Vo-Tech is doing well. Mr Lyle and Mrs Rose have been so wonderful to us all. Their are a testament to God's love and faithfulness.Last night we were blessed to be a part of a Taiwanese Prayer Service here in Belize. Our night with them is beyond my ability to describe. Words cannot do justice to what the Spirit of God is doing in this congregation and in Belize.We saw the handiwork of God today in the Belize Zoo. Jaguars, snakes, scarlet macaws, the tapir (mountain cow), and many other animals reminded us of our God's creative brilliance.It's getting late and we must be getting to bed. Please continue to pray for us fervently. God has been with us in so many ways. We love you and are so greatful for the opportunity our church family has given us.

2009-07-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

Hello Church,God is so majestic! He has done great things. We spent Sunday worshiping with the boys, and enjoying a beautiful day. We passed out fliers in a community village called Mahogany Heights. We saw a lot of children and hoped to see them all at Bible School on Monday.Well, Monday came and we spent the morning with around seventy children. We sang songs, did crafts, played games, told bible stories, and had koolaid and biscuits (cookies). We told the parable of the lost sheep and recognized Jesus as our protector. We spent the evening working with Lyle and the boys on a few chores around the school. Today has been wonderful. Everyone is well and looking forward to the rest of the week.We are thankful for your prayers and plead for your persistence. All good gifts are from our God.With love and joy,The Carterville Student Belize Mission Team

Belize Mission Update

2009-07-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

Well we'll be on our way back tomorrow and can't wait to see you all. We all have so many amazing stories to tell. God has been so good.

If you haven't see our posts I'm really sorry. They are under comments on the last post. I only recently discovered how to create a new post.

We love you all and will see you soon!

A Word From the Youth In Belize

2009-07-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

We've arrived safely in Belize and are snuggled up in our beds after a busy day. Lunch at Cheers here in Belize, supper, basketball, ice cream night, and meeting the boys has been more than enough to wear us out.

We all send our love and covet your prayers beyond words.

May God Bless and Keep Us All

- Stroo

Carterville Students in Belize

2009-07-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

This morning, Stroo caught a plane with a bunch of Carterville students and adults. They are flying to Belize where they will spend a week working with Lyle and Rose at the Belize Vo-Tech (http://www.belizevotech.com/). They will be leading Vacation Bible School in a nearby village and working with the boys at the vo tech. Be praying for God to use them and to give our students a passion for missions and a clear vision of a God who is at work all around the globe.

Check back for updates.

Mt. Harmon

2009-07-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

A handful of guys from Carterville and a lot of guys from Mt. Harmon in Perry County have been working hard for months to complete a new sanctuary and fellowship hall. The work is almost done and it looks great. Way to go guys! Good job.

SonPower Missions

2009-07-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

The Carterville Student Choir had a blast in Orlando at the SonPower student choir retreat. But here's the big news. They spent a day on mission in Orlando! So kudos to our music department and the students who opted for elbow grease over Mickey and Friends for a day. Way to be doers of the word!

Put Your Hammer Where Your Mouth Is

2009-07-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Everybody says that they want to ensure that Carterville is always a full-on missional church, but the key is that we have to all be willing to pitch in. Lots of things are easier said than done. Missions definately makes the top of the list, but several guys from our Men's Ministry took the lead on one of our summer mission opportunities and got it done. Man did they ever!

Carterville Men did a great job with the wheelchair ramp and porch repairs in Petal last month. More than a dozen men and youth pitched in to show the Love of God through sweat and elbow grease.

If you want to be a part of local missions in Petal, contact the church office.

Home Safe and Sound

2009-05-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks for praying for us and for supporting our work in Nicaragua. We had a wonderful trip - very successful!

Here are the final stats.
Professions of faith from adults and older children - 178
Medical Patients Served - 2,467
Prescriptions Filled - 17,159
Dental Patients Served - 455

We also distributed Bibles and befriended many people. Thanks for helping us serve the Lord by serving people.

Nicaragua 2009

2009-05-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ready to Be Home

2009-05-01T16:40:00.000-07:00

We had a good day touring Nicaragua today. We went to the market in Massayah and then to a volcano and a scenic lake with little shops and local music, but we all really want to be in Mississippi.

Tammy Guyse and Linda showed the market who was boss. Lins, you will like the shirt that Ann Culpepper and others helped up pick out. David Tynes has a surprise for the kids that might make our church a little more festive this Sunday - Margaret, get ready.

Mrs. Alice, Linda, Meredith and John are good.

Frank, ask Ann about her experience at the market. Oh, and send her another suitcase for all her new stuff. The economy in Nicaragua is improving hourly thanks to the Americano.

Thompson Lidell did an excellent job of our final devotion this morning. We are all proud of him. Good job Thompson. Bryan Fenton says that Darlene is comming with us next time (so get your passport).

Sorry no pictures today, but you will see plenty Sunday night at 6:00.

Lins, I miss you and the boys. Can't wait to see you guys tomorrow.

A good week in Siare

2009-04-30T17:02:00.000-07:00

We made it back. What a week. We will spend the night in the misson home celebrating the weeks works and resting some. Tonight we will have a banquet and tomorrow our Jacksonville frineds will leave as we go out to see some of the sights and markets in Nicaragua.

Siare
Siare was a beautiful but extremely remote village. We were high in the mountains with no real proper village area - just rough dirt roads and scattered houses. We were between 4,000 and 5,000 feet in elevation which made for wonderful weather. Scattered showers, cool nights and lots of breezes.

The isolation of the village made it difficult for people to get to the clinic. We know of people walking for hours on very steep mountain roads to visit the clinic. I am always impressed with the gratitude of the people and with the determination that they have for getting to our camp.

Coffee: The climate and elevation of Siare make it ideal for growing coffee. The coffee plants grow in the shade of larger trees, and the hillsides everywhere are covered in plants that are budding and will produce ripe beans in October. There was a small processing plant in the jungle behind our camp. We discovered it on a short hike on Wednesday.

As always, the kids in the village stole our hearts. Our childrens church team did a fantastic job. David Tynes was a pretty good actor in our Exodus skit. He was pharoah. Go figure. Heath and Brent Wade were big hits on the baseball field. They came prepared with a wiffleball set and every free moment they had a crowd of ninos wanting to play. Larry Watkins would be so proud of you, Heath.

Our evening worship services were very well attended every night. It was so refreshing to worship with our Nicaraguan brothers and sisters. The picture to the left is from our last night of worship. Brother Hogan is playing the maracas and dancing with Adolfo.

Ok, we all had a good week. Other people need the computer, so I'll log off. Thanks for praying. We will give a full report on Sunday night at at Carterville.

Praise the Lord.

A Message From Ben...

2009-04-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family. Monday night I received a surprise phone call from Ben. They arrived in the village of Saire safely and are enjoying the mountains. He was happy to report that they have an actual porcelain toilet to use - and those of you who have been on this trip before know what a blessing this is! Trust me - I can speak from experience!

The team is in a moutain area that has not been visited by a BMDMI team before, so please keep them in your prayers. They are having a few decisions made during the chapel times, but not the overwhelming response that they normally see. Ben asked me to post a request for prayer - that the Holy Spirit would move and that hearts would be turned to Christ.

He did mention that the weather is cooler than they are used to, but I am sure that is a welcome change. The area is very remote (although he called from his cellphone and I heard every word perfectly!) but there is no internet and no real "city" like the last few villages they have visited.

Please say a prayer for the team - they will be in the village until Thursday serving, seeing patients, and preaching. I expect Ben will make a post Thursday or Friday from the mission home with pictures, so check back then!

With Blessings,
Lindsay

Saire

2009-04-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

We Made It

2009-04-26T05:52:00.000-07:00

We made it to the mission home last night aroun 10:00pm! We will be having breakfast, a devotion from Pastor Anthony McCullum and then we'll be headed out for Saire. We should have our clinics and chapels operational just after lunch for a half of a day's work.

The only real close calls we had yesterday were with one of our team members passports. We had a small problem that caused a close call, but we prayed very earnestly and I believe that God worked everything out. As you read this it won't sound like much of a dynamic praise report, but from our perspective it is.

It has been good to see Spike and the team from Jacksoville. They made it yesterday at lunch after a very early morning.

May God bless you all as you worship this morning. Be praying for God to accomplish His good purposes through us. I hope to find internet in Saire. If I do I will update often. If not, I will update again on Thursday. We are off!

Free Day Missionaries on Tour

2007-05-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

Today was our free day. We went to the market in Masaya. Its definately a cultural experience. Its an open air market...although the air is smelly in places and all the booths are covered, so its really not that open. Anyway, imagine hundreds of booths with shelves of trinkets, clothes, shoes, machetes, hammocks, wood working and every tourist baiting souvenier imaginable. Everyone wants to sell you their goods. You could really get lost in there. In fact, I dont remember if Kyle came out. Hey I hope hes not still there. Anyway, they sell produce, meat and souvienrs all in the same noisy market. It is no place for the clostrophobic. But we survived.

After the market, we went to eat at a local restaurant that has been deemed safe by the local missionaries. The food was great, but it was greater when Adam found out that he could buy a pizza there. Youve never seen a Papa Johns that was more appreciated. Everyone else ate a Nicaraguan steak.. not what you are thinking..smaller..thiner...but very good.

We wound up at Crater Lake. Its an old volcano that has become a lake and a tourist attraction...much like our own Crater Lake in the US. There are shops and people who want to shine your shoes, sing you a song, give you a neclace, take your picture or anything else for a little cash. Someone had a local duo sing a little anniversary tribute for Adam and Amelia. Touching. I know.

As usual, Preacher led a great trip and of course today DR was her normal super tour guide. But now we are all tired and ready to get back home. Cant wait to see everyone in church Sunday morning.

Back at the Mission Home

2007-05-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

We finished our work in the village of La Libertad. The week in La Libertad was fabulous. The setting was amazing. We were in the mountains with beautiful backdrops of mountain peaks and tropical vegetation. The climate was actually mild ... thats a first for our group. We had a little rain everyday, but it was never a problem.

We saw plenty of people during the week and our clinics were able to offer a lot of assistance to people who lived in the area. People traveled as many as four hours on horseback to visit our clinic. Everyone did great. I cant wait for Sunday night when we can all see the pictures together as a church family and hear the final report. We miss you guys so much.

Today was a little tough. We packed up and left the village around lunch. The hardest part of the trip is leaving. The village was our home for a week, and leaving the children was heart wrenching. They got attached and so did we. They were crying and some of us were. It is amazing to feel loved this way. The goodbyes were hard, but they reassured us of our place in the village and in a way, our place in the world. It is good to love God and to love His children. Today it seems like all Gods children really are one big family. We are truly all brothers and sisters.

The village sent us off with a celebration. Local children dressed in festive clothes and danced local dancxes for us. The mayor presented a plaque to bro. Hogan and the local pastor expressed his appreciation for ou work. It is great to feel so appreciated.

The five hour bus ride back to the mission home however was not so great. And, to top it all off in true mission trip style, one of the buses broke down. Fortunately for us it was on the street just outside the driveway of the mission home. The bus stopped to back into the driveway, and with a loud clank, the driveshaft hit the ground. We figure that things like that are to be expected.

Tomorrow we will spend some time sightseeing and shopping. Tonight we will celebrage together in a banquet at the mission home. All is well as we wrap up a good week.

In La Libertad

2007-05-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

Big thanks to the mayor of La Libertad. She is allowing us to make this post in her office on the city computer. I couldn´t find an internet cafe in the village, so this is a huge gift. Here´s the update from Wednesday.

We´ve been here since Sunday. We were off to a slow start after traveling a long and bumby road to the village. Rain slowed us down as we tried to get our clinic set up for our first chapel. That was Sunday. On Monday all was well.

Chapel services have been great. Anthony is doing a great job preaching. He has been a huge new addition to our team. We´ve seen about 1,800 people so far and over 200 decisions for Christ. God willing that will continue or increase today and tomorrow morning.

John and Linda joined us yesterday. It is great to have them back. They know the ropes so well, and it just feels more normal with them around. We had a very sick team member from Florida last night, but the doctors did great. Meredith Wilson did an exceptional job. We prayed a lot and she is back at work this morning. It was a late night for a lot of people on our team.

The Pharmacy is doing well. The dentists have pulled more teeth than you want to know about, and Dr. Mauldin is leaving today for a commitment at home, so they will be without her after today. She has done a great job.

Preacher is doing a great job leading the team. He and I got a personal tour yesterday from the mayor. I was just tagging along with the dignitary. It pays to have important friends. She drove us to the gold mines and to an local ranch. It was very impressive.

The children are beautiful and we feel blessed to be here. Thank you to everyone who cooked, brought food, packed pills, gave money and prayed for us. It is good to be a part of our church family.

The village is beautiful. We are loving this trip. I´ll update you more when we get back to the mission home on Thursday evening. We miss you guys and hope you have a wonderful night at CBC.

T

Day 2

2007-04-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

Everyone is in the kitchen standing in line to bleach their hands and have breakfast. CBC folks are picking out ties and trying to find bibles for church. We miss all of you, but its great to know that we are connected as a church family whether we are in the same country or not.

Pray for John P. He has been sick since last night. We hoped that he would wake up feeling better, but that wasnt the case. He looks better now, but to be on the safe side, he will stay in the mission home this morning. He and Linda will join the team in La Libretad as soon as he feels better.

The mission home is beautiful this morning. Its peaceful and the plants are so healthy. We have lots of church members who would absolutley love to see the plants here. Some of the things that we grow at home are here too, but they are really thriving in the Nicaraguan climate. Its really something.

One interesting note about typing here. I couldnt find the @ symbol. At home you type shift then 2 and youre all set. Not here. You have to press alt and 6 and 4 at the same time. Try figuring that one out. I still cant find the apostrophe, so bear with the poor contractions. Pray for us today. Well have our clinic set up after lunch and we will see our first group shortly after that. Today will be a busy day for us.

We hope that worship goes well for you guys at CBC. May God bless you as you gather today. I hope that He will speak and move and show us more of what he wants.

God Bless You, and somebody give Curry a hug from Daddy please. ...Ben

We Made It

2007-04-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Managua and all are safe...most are sound. Its a late night for us and since Nicaragua doesnt observe daylight savings time, its later for us that it is for them, but who can complain.

We have one sick missionary and a lot of lost luggage. Fortunately for the CBC crew all the MIA luggage belongs to our Floridian friends. We were cutting it pretty close on the flight from Houston. They held the plane and offered passengers 600 dollars in travel vouchers to wait for tomorrows flight because they overbooked. Of course Bro. Hogan wouldnt let any of us take them up on that deal, but 8 others did, and that made enough room for all of Spikes folks.

The mission home had a great supper waiting for us. Pollo on skewers with a few sides and sweet bread. All is well. It is good to see our friends from Jacksonville and to sit on the porch of the mission home enjoying the breeze off the lake. May God bless our trip. Please be praying for us, and forgive the lack of appropriate punctuation. The keyboard is a little different.

Good night.

Nicaragua Mission Trip

2007-04-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

I hope to be able to update you on the progress or the church's mission trip to Nicaragua. Of course that depends on the availability of Internet access to the mission team in La Libretad. Please spend time praying for the team members and the people who will come to the clinics, and check the blog every couple of days for updates.