Want to win a FREE TRIP TO GUATEMALA? Autographed LSU Memorabilia? A $200 Target Gift Card? Here's your chance!

AAB was supposed to have a raffle back in May, but for reasons that I can’t remember right now, we postponed it. I am SO glad that it was delayed until NOW because having the raffle a few months ago would not have come close to comparing to this!!

Before I start babbling, let me get down to business. This is for 3 separate items, so please be sure to read about each one of them before donating. Donations from each of these will benefit upcoming AAB projects reaching orphans and vulnerable children and families in Guatemala. To purchase raffle tickets, please email terry AT acrossallborders DOT org with which raffle you would like to buy tickets for and the number of tickets you want to purchase.

Item #1 – WIN A FREE TRIP TO GUATEMALA!!!!

For a donation of $10, you will receive 1 entry. If you donate $20 or more, you will automatically be entered for item #3, as well. Donate $30 and you will get an additional free entry for this item…$50 donation and you will get an additional 2 free entries for this item…$100 donation and you will receive an additional 5 free entries for this item.

The small print...please read before making a donation. Included in the trip is airfare from the airport closest to your home (AAB to choose airline and will select lowest available fare with layovers only in the U.S.), lodging, transportation while in Guatemala, travel insurance and an AAB tshirt. Meals and spending money are NOT INCLUDED. Just like any other trip, you will need to have access to emergency money in the event you need it. AAB is NOT responsible for charges associated with medical or other emergencies while you are in the U.S. or Guatemala. All fees associated with travel BEFORE the trip (including, but not limited to, passport application fees, vaccinations, items to be packed, preventative medications, luggage fees & overweight luggage fees, etc.) are NOT INCLUDED. Loss time at work and or salary reimbursement for the week of the trip will NOT be given. Raffle is open to U.S. residents 18 years of age or older. The trip cannot be “cashed in” for it’s monetary value. This trip IS transferable to any person residing in the U.S. that is 18 years of age or older if the person that purchases the original ticket submits to us in writing that he/she is gifting his/her trip to another person. This raffle is for a MISSION TRIP to WORK with Across All Borders in Guatemala. Special skills/qualifications are NOT required. There will be only ONE winner and said trip will be for ONE individual. The winner may choose to travel on one of our 2010 mission trips (tentative dates are
3/13-3/20, 8/7-8/14 or 12/12-12/18). The winner will be required to sign all forms and releases that are included in the AAB mission trip travel packet just as all other AAB team members are required to do before travel.

Your ticket numbers will be emailed to you within 24 hours of your donation and the drawing will be held on Friday, Sept. 18. The winner will be announced here no later than 8:00pm CST that night.

Item #2 – Win a baseball, a 32" bamboo baseball bat and a baseball cap…each autographed by Paul Mainieri, coach of the championship winning LSU Tigers baseball team!

A donation of $5 earns 1 ticket for this item. Drawing to be held on Friday, Sept. 18 and the winner will be posted here no later than 8:00pm CST that night. The winner will receive all 3 items (autographed bat, autographed ball and autographed cap).

Item #3 - Win a $200 Target Gift Card!

A donation of $3 earns you 1 entry for this item. Drawing will be held on Friday, Sept. 18 and the winner will be posted here no later than 8:00pm CST that night.

We would REALLY appreciate your help in spreading the word about this…so much so that we are giving away free tickets to those that post about us on their public blogs and Facebook. If you post about this on your public blog, you will receive 1 free entry for the Taget gift card. If you post about us (and link to this information) as your Facebook status update, you will receive 1 free entry for the Target gift card. And…if you post about us on your blog AND Facebook status, you will receive a free entry for the Target gift card for each post. If you decide to help in this way, please comment here or email me with your blog address and Facebook information. All free ticket numbers for this will be emailed throughout the week, ending at 5:00pm CST the night of the drawing.

If you have any questions, email me at terry AT acrossallborders DOT org.

Change of Plans

Last week I mentioned that we would be starting a cool online fundraiser the night before the AAB golf tournament which is being held Sept. 18. There has been a change of plans. In an effort to streamline the events, we will be making a BIG announcement THIS FRIDAY MORNING. Stay tuned for more details....

Together for Adoption

We are so excited to be attending the Together for Adoption conference in Franklin, TN
Oct. 2-3. Please let us know if you will be there. We would love to connect or reconnect with friends in the adoption community and field of orphan care.

Dare to Dream

“God can do things that are not possible for people to do.” Luke 18:27

“God always rejoices when we dare to dream. In fact, we are much like God when we dream. The Master exults in newness. He delights in stretching the old. He wrote the book on making the impossible possible.

Examples? Check the Book.

Eighty-year-old shepherds don’t usually play chicken with Pharaohs…but don’t tell that to Moses. Teenage shepherds don’t normally have showdowns with giants…but don’t tell that to David. Night-shift shepherds don’t usually get to hear angels sing and see God in a stable…but don’t tell that to the Bethlehem bunch. And for sure don’t tell that to God. He’s made an eternity out of making the earthbound airborne. And he gets angry when people’s wings are clipped.

Do you have a dream in your heart?”

Taken from: Grace for the Moment (morning & evening edition), September 4, Max Lucado

We all have dreams, don’t we? Some of them stay locked away in our hearts forever…others are freed and become more than we ever imagined.

I had a dream that was locked away once.

Looking back, I’m not sure what I was thinking. I didn’t know what I was doing…I was too afraid to act…I didn’t think I was ready…I could not possibly handle what I knew needed to be done. Truthfully, I still do not know what I am doing sometimes (with every new journey, there is so much to learn), I am still afraid more often than not and there is no way that I can handle all of this alone.

I can’t, but God can.

It wasn’t until I stopped trying to figure it all out that I “got” it. It wasn’t until I stopped talking about it and started acting on it that I began to see His hand at work. We can spend our entire lives talking about our dreams and our passions and knowing all along what He is calling us to do. As we continue to talk about how much we want to be living the life He is calling us to live and the reasons why we can’t for whatever reasons we think we can’t do something, the life that He created is passing by. Every day that passes that we use talking about what we hope to be, want to be or should be doing is a waste.

I wasted too many days. How many have you seen go by that could have been used to glorify Him, but instead where used to only talk about ways you hope to give Him glory one day?

Why can’t that one day be today? So many of us claim to have faith, but if we dig just a little, sometimes to just below the surface, we find that we really have very little of it. Digging a little deeper may reveal that we have none at all. If we have faith, true faith, then, “we are sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) and if we really have faith, we know without a doubt that, “…what is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)

I used to talk about having faith and I really believed I had it. I didn’t.

I used to talk about how one day I would work in the missions field…working to reach those that are already orphans and working to prevent orphans. I didn’t believe it. How could I? I had too little faith.

Sure, I had your basic “I have faith” faith. You know what I’m talking about. The kind of faith that makes you say to people, “Every thing is going to be OK…just have faith”, but not believing it yourself. Or the kind of faith that makes you think He is going to help this person out of a difficult situation and prevent that person from falling in to one, but never really believing that He would help you in the same situations….because you had been there before and He didn’t seem to care.

I dared to dream, but that was it. My dream would never become a reality because I couldn’t make it happen.

But God could. He did. And He continues to every day of my life.

That child that I never thought we would be able to adopt….because we couldn’t afford to adopt at the time, because the country we wanted to adopt from had become risky, because we were too afraid…is now our son because of Him. My time in Guatemala when I never thought I would survive…because I was too afraid, too weak, too blind….I did because of Him. And that dream of working with at risk families and orphans, but doubted I ever would…because again, I was afraid, weak, uncertain….I do because of Him.

My faith is still not as strong as it should or could be and I wonder if it will ever be. I doubt that it will ever reach it’s fullness during this life and at least I know that it can never stop growing. But I have faith and it is stronger in this moment than it has ever been. I rejoice in knowing that His way is perfect and that I have no reason to fear if I follow Him completely. It is amazing what taking leaps of faith can do to increase your faith. Still, “Lord, increase my faith” is still and always will be one of greatest requests. May we always remember that as long as we breathe, we never stop growing, never stop being stretched and will continue to be stirred. And may we always remember that living a faithless life is the equivalent of living life without Him.

What do you need to have more faith about today? What dream do you have that can be accomplished only because He can do can the impossible? Do you need to believe that He will provide a way for you to adopt that child that is waiting only for you? Do you need a reminder that He loves you right now, no matter what your past or present looks like? Do you need to be reassured that if you quit your job to begin His work that He will provide for your every need? Do you need to take that very first step in your walk with Him, but you are afraid to start?

So many friends and even strangers have shared their hearts with me in the past couple of weeks. I am not sure why some of these people share what is going on in their lives so openly with me, but I love being able to pray for others specific needs so hearing what is on their hearts means a lot to me. I know of many people right now that are currently trying to make decisions about adopting. Others are struggling with figuring out how God is calling them to make an impact in the lives of orphans and vulnerable children. Those that know they are supposed to spend their lives caring for these children are finding it difficult to take the leap of faith that is being required of them. I’ve been there and I know how hard it is. At times, I am still there…knowing that I have to go a little further, but hesitating before taking another leap. This was never meant to be easy, but we know that in the shadow of His wings we are safe. My prayer for those that I have spoken with over the last two weeks or so remains the same…that you will trust Him enough to dive so that you will learn first hand that in Him all things are possible. This post started because of you...because when I woke up this morning and read this, you came to mind. Thank you for allowing me into your lives and for giving me the opportunity to pray for you as you dare to dream.

Kairos

I spoke briefly to the college ministry of Istrouma Sunday about our December mission trip. As I mentioned before, we are thrilled about the possibility of some of these students serving with us in Guatemala. Please join us in praying for them as they try to discern whether or not they are supposed to take this trip.

Malnutrition in Guatemala

Source: Economist.com

"IT IS hardly one of Latin America’s poorest countries, but according to Unicef almost half of Guatemala’s children are chronically malnourished—the sixth-worst performance in the world. In parts of rural Guatemala, where the population is overwhelmingly of Mayan descent, the incidence of child malnutrition reaches 80%. A diet of little more than tortillas does permanent damage.
This chronic problem has become acute. Higher world prices for food have coincided with a recession-induced fall in money sent back from Guatemalans working in the United States (remittances equal 12% of Guatemala’s GDP). Drought in eastern Guatemala has made things worse still. Many families can scarcely afford beans, an important source of protein, and must sell eggs from their hens rather than feed them to their children.
The government and aid donors are providing emergency food supplies for 300,000 people scattered in some 700 villages. Up to 400,000 more may need help. In Jocotán, in the east, rehabilitation centres have admitted dozens of children who are so malnourished that their black hair has turned blond, their faces are chubby from fluid build-up as their organs fail, the veins in their legs become a visible black spider-web and their face muscles are too weak to smile.
What makes this even more distressing is that Guatemala is rich enough to prevent it. Other Latin American countries, such as Bolivia, Peru and Brazil, have reduced child hunger. Yet according to Unicef, the incidence of stunting—a common indicator of chronic malnutrition—in Guatemala is twice what it is in Haiti, where income per head is only a quarter as high. Stunting is not genetic: a study by the World Bank found that Mayans in southern Mexico are taller than those over the border.
That points to a failure of government in Guatemala. The Mayan population were the main victims of a long-running civil war between military dictatorships and left-wing guerrillas. Although democracy came, and eventually peace, social conditions have been slow to improve. Income inequality remains extreme, even by Latin American standards. Two-thirds of the rural population remains poor. Guatemala came second to bottom of a new index measuring inequality of opportunity in Latin America published by the World Bank last year. Whereas Guatemala City has shiny shopping malls, gated mansions and trendy restaurants, many indigenous Guatemalans scratch an inadequate living as sharecropping subsistence farmers. “These people were totally abandoned in the mountains with no infrastructure, no education, no health,” says Rafael Espada, the vice-president.
Much research shows that children who are undernourished tend to suffer from learning difficulties and end up poorer. So proper feeding is the first step in breaking the cycle of poverty. But schooling is vital too. Guatemala lags behind in educating girls in particular. As a result, mothers may not prepare corn-soya feeding supplements correctly, and may share them among all their children rather than favouring the malnourished.
The government fails to collect enough taxes from wealthier Guatemalans to provide good schools and health care for the majority, let alone the kind of targeted cash-transfer programme that has helped to cut poverty in Mexico, Brazil and elsewhere in the region. But urban Guatemalans are more worried about rampant crime, much of it by drug gangs. The government, like its predecessor, is full of good intentions. But several attempts at tax reform over the past decade have foundered in the face of entrenched political resistance. So malnutrition looks set to continue in a country in which it ought to be a cause of national shame."

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Sadly, this isn't new news, but I am happy to see it in the press (I am not a fan of the press, but am thankful that this brings much needed attention to this issue). I am disgusted by the fact that UNICEF all of a sudden seems so concerned about the children of Guatemala, but that is a topic for another day (if you do not already know why I do not support UNICEF, feel free to contact me). This article is all over Facebook and several people have already emailed to me. People are seeing it and that is a start. Obviously, Guatemala is nothing like many countries in Africa. Food is readily available. You will not likely come across children that are basically skeletons starving to death on the side of the road (possible, but not common). And chances are, many of the children you come across will not even appear to be malnourished, though they are obviously hungry. It took a while for me to grasp the concept of malnutrition in Guatemala because it is so different than what you see on TV commercials of children in Africa and beyond. But then I returned to Guatemala and watched a group of children eat. It was obvious that some of them had not eaten in days. Then it was confirmed for us that if the children do eat on a daily basis their meal consists of only tortillas, salt and an occasional serving of beans. Eating daily (or a few times a week) does not prevent malnutrition and THAT is the problem so many Guatemalans are facing.

How are we supposed to change this? What can we do to at least try to help this country save the lives of it's children? It starts with one family, one village, one orphanage. It is establishing feeding and vitamin programs that are continuous (even if they are formed slowly). It is educating mothers on how to properly give their children supplements and helping fathers (and mothers if possible) find and maintain employment. It is making sure that every child is able to attend school. It is water filtration and stove projects. It is projects that promote family self-sufficiency and community stability. It is committing to one area (or even just one family...whatever can be reasonably handled) and staying by their sides, doing everything possible to help them help themselves and filling in for them when they can't. It is praying for them and with them, knowing that the God that loves you also loves them and through you and others that He has called to walk with them, He will provide. You do not have to spend your life working in Guatemala or start an organization that works there. You do not even have to spend a large amount of money in financial donations and supplies. Malnutrition across the world is overwhelming, but your small contribution, no matter what it is, can end a child's suffering. Think about it. Tonight when you sit down with your family for dinner, remember these children that are not. As your children leave the table with full bellies, remember the children that may have only eaten a tortilla today. Ask yourself....are you doing all you can to help? If not, there are many ways to be involved. Through AAB, you can purchase food baskets for families or donate vitamins among other things. There are organizations working in countries around the world that we would happily recommend you support. Whether it is through AAB or another organization, we urge you to do something because something truly is better than nothing.

And now....

...back to your regularly scheduled blog posts.

I have to admit that there were a couple of weeks during that breather when I wondered if I would ever be able to think of anything to blog about again. It's pretty hard to keep a blog running when you can't think of anything to say. But we're back and because we are bouncing off of the walls with excitement about our upcoming trip to Guatemala and because so much has been happening lately, I feel like I can actually start writing again.

Where should I begin? We have a lot of updates...this is going to be a doozy!

1. Plans for the golf tournament are coming together wonderfully. AWESOME prizes have been donated, hole sponsors are increasing and teams of golfers are being confirmed. We are so excited (and a bit nervous, of course) about Sept. 18th!
2. The night before the tournament, on Thursday, Sept. 17th, we will be announcing an online fundraiser that is HUGE. When I say huge, I do not mean anything else. Seriously, people....this is big!!! Stay tuned...you do not want to miss this!
3. Plans for the October trip are going so well that I'm a little speechless about it. Our team is incredible and I could not ask for a better group to travel with us. We will be working on numerous projects while in Guatemala, including the launch of a vitamin program in Pueblo Nuevo, along with de-worming children and adults. In addition to that, we will be working with our partners at Servants 4 Him to hold a dental and medical clinics AND be working with the children's ministry to just pour love and hope into the lives of the children there. As if that isn't enough, we will be working in an orphanage providing a medical and dental clinic while beginning to build relationships there. And of course, we will be distributing all of the supplies that are being sent by YOU!
4. December's trip has turned into something we did not expect. Istrouma, our church here in Baton Rouge, is encouraging students in the college ministry to travel with us and interest in the trip so far has been great. Istrouma will also be providing assistance with other projects for that trip. We are humbled by the amount of support and love that our church family is giving to us and the people of Guatemala and I cannot wait to spend this time serving with them in December!
5. We are still collecting supplies for the October and December trips. Shoes and toys are still needed by the beginning of October in order to ship them in time for Christmas and OTC meds, VITAMINS and school and art supplies are still needed for the October trip.
6. In the next couple of weeks, dates for a spring and summer trip in 2010 will be announced. If you are interested in organizing a church group to travel with AAB, please email me at terry@acrossallborders.org. We are willing to work with groups at any time of the year and would love to reserve a week to lead your group on a mission trip to Guatemala.
7. Beginning in November, we are available to speak to your groups (churches, small groups, Sunday school classes, civic groups, etc.) about the world's orphan crisis, orphan prevention and ways you can make a difference. We would also love to help you implement an orphan care ministry in your church. For more information, email terry@acrossallborders.org. Details will be posted in November.
8. On a personal note, today we updated the blog that we used for our son's adoption from Guatemala. We will begin our next adoption in early 2010 and would love for you to join us on our journey as we go through the process to adopt a child from Ghana. You can follow our story at Adoption - The Real Truth.

I could actually go on with even more updates, but I will stop there for now. God's goodness is overflowing and we are in awe of all that He is doing in our lives and with AAB. This is an exciting time for us and while the children and families we are working with in Guatemala do not realize it yet, it is also an exciting time for them.