Halfway

Hi! I don't really have much to write about this week. Tomorrow is the halfway point of my trip. It's been 5 weeks! Even though each day individually seems neverending, the five weeks as a whole have gone by fast. Everything is still going great for me. Give Kids The World is such an amazing place. It has stolen my heart. Some exciting news: Leandra and I are signed up to do airport greets! This means that we will go to the airport and meet the family as soon as they arrive in Florida! We'll be the first people they see. We have our training session tomorrow afternoon, then we'll be able to do it by ourselves. We are very excited about this opportunity. We're also making some great relationships with some of the staff and other regular volunteers, which is really exciting. Other than that, I don't really have anything new. Hope you're all having wonderful summers!

Oh--if you know anyone coming to Give Kids The World, please let me know. I would love to meet them. I don't get to see all the families, but I do see a lot of them!

Through This Strom

Hello!! I hope everything is going well wherever this blog finds you! I've learned a lot about praising God through the storm the past week, through my own experiences but more so through other's experiences. For me, I was very distracted by various situations at home this past week: a friend having a baby, a relative in the hospital, a friend tearing her ACL, just to list a few. Then my brakes were making noises, and I went to get the car checked out, and the problem turned out to be a lot bigger and more expensive than originally thought. I was so close to tears so many times throughout the day, and thank goodness Leandra was with me, because we could just laugh together, instead of cry, about how terrible our day was going. I had to learn to put those things aside and focus completely on what God has in store for me here. I had to learn that God is in control of those things and I can't do anything about them, even if I was at home. But all those things were so small to me compared to what one of the girls has gone through. Friday morning, Misty found out that two of her friends had been in a car wreck the night before. She prayed about it, and we prayed with her, and she decided to stay. It was a really hard decision for her, but she felt like she needed to be here. Then today, Tuesday, she received a phone call that her best friend was in the hospital with kidney and liver failure. She broke down and sobbed and none of us could understand why Misty was going through all this. Later tonight, she got a phone call that her friend had passed away. She came into the lounge, where we were waiting for a meeting to start, and told us. We immediately encircled her, and she fell to the ground on her knees, sobbing. We laid hands on her and prayed for her, cried with her, and just lifted up prayers to the Lord. But over and over in the prayers it was echoed that God had a plan and knew what was going to happen and that He was bigger than this pain Misty was experiencing. We prayed that God would use this tragedy for some good. As we were praying, I began to see one good thing that was already happen. Through Misty's loss, our team was drawn together. As we prayed together, it was like I could feel the hard feelings melt away, because our disagreements were so small. God has already used Misty's friend's death to bring our team back together. For the first time in over a week, I felt like we were truly unified as one team. Misty is most likely flying home in the morning, if she can find a flight she can afford. She also plans to return to Orlando, once she's spent some time with her friends and family, because she still knows God has a plan for her here. Even tonight, Misty kept saying over and over that she knew that God was going to use this and that it was His timing, even if she hated it. She praised God for the time she was given to spend with her friend and for the life that her friend had lived that had been a witness to so many other people.
We've had a lot of stuff thrown at our team this week, other than the things that happened to Misty and me, but God has been in the midst of it all. I'm learning to trust in God and His plan more than I ever have had to before, and I love that I'm growing in that way.
Continue to keep our team in your prayers. Jonathan arrived last Wednesday and has fit in very well with the team and added a lot to the team dynamics. Another child was led to Christ through Kids Club, and so many relationships are being formed that are leading to great conversations about Christ. It's amazing to see how God is working through us and using us to make His name known.

Pray for us

Hello everyone! I'm going to start with some really awesome news: Two children were led to Christ this week at our Kids Club! Yay! I realized I haven't described what everyone is doing here, so I'm gonna give you a brief description of everyone's job, so that you'll know how to better pray for them.

Johnnie, Brian, Tabitha, Lisa, Allison, Megan C., Robby, and Clay: All these guys are Innovators. They work at a secular job, an amusement park called FunSpot USA. Their whole goal is to minister to their coworkers, which they have had great success at doing so far. They are already forming great relationships. Pray that those relationships would continue to grow.
Melodye, Tabatha, Michaela, Misty, Megan W., Macy, Kayley, and Jonathan: This is our Creative Arts team. They have been working SOO hard getting their performance ready. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, they perform shows, offer free face painting, and talk to the people that come to their shows. They are awesome! They sing, dance, and do puppets during their show. They're rehearsals can be very stressful, and they are together for over 12 hours a day sometimes, so pray for unity among them. Pray that God would give them opportunities to share His Word.
Leandra and I: We're at GKTW, which you already know. We love our jobs! Pray that God would open doors for us to be able to talk about our faith, because we are not allowed to talk about our faith unless someone else asks a question. We are allowed to say that we are summer missionaries though, which opens doors for conversation.
Kids Club: We all do this ministry. We go into hotel pools and basically do a VBS three days a week from 10-12. We play games in the pool, have a snack, tell a Bible story, make a craft, then play some more games. This is where the two children were led to Christ. Pray that more opportunities will arise and more children and families would be led to Christ through this ministry.

Also, pray for unity among our group as a whole. The newness of everything is starting to wear off, and we're starting to see some big personality conflicts. We're together all the time, and that can start to take its toll on people. Just pray that we will stand strong and not allow Satan to tear us apart. We all see what's happening, and we're all praying about it, but we need your prayers desperately too. We're all getting tired, so we're more irritable, which isn't good for our unity. Also, Jonathan is not actually in Orlando yet, but he'll be here Wednesday. He is two years younger than the youngest people here, and three years younger than the youngest guy. He just finished his sophomore year of high school, so not only is he coming in late, he's younger than all of us. Just pray for him and for us, that we'll be able to include him and he'll feel comfortable around us.

Thank you all so much for your prayers!

Give Kids the World (GKTW)

I wish I could put into words how amazing Give Kids the World is. For those of you who need a brief reminder, GKTW is the village/resort where I am volunteering this summer. The village is for children with life-threatening illnesses who wish to come to Orlando. Everything is free at the village, from ice cream to carousel rides to air brush tattoos to nails and make-up to meals and everything inbetween. Half of our group went on a tour on Tuesday, and we all fell in love with the place. There is so much for the children to do. For pictures, check out the Melanie is Going to Orlando group on Facebook. On Wednesday, Leandra (the other summer missionary at GKTW) and I went to orientation and Friday they sent us an e-mail saying that we could call or come by to sign up for some shifts. We went and as soon as people found out we were the “GOBA (Greater Orlando Baptist Association) girls” they went nuts. They were so excited to have us and told us all about the volunteers they’d had in the past. We were worked out a schedule for the upcoming week, and we even got to volunteer that very night. We ran the carousel from 5-9. I wish I could explain to you the joy that I get from being there. One little girl and her mom were talking to another mother and daughter while they were on the carousel and the little girl asked the other mom why her daughter had decided to come here. The other mom explained that her daughter had always wanted to go to Disney World. The little girl said she had too. The she looked over to her own mother, with the biggest smile on her face, and said, “Mommy, my wish is coming true.” It took all I could do to keep from bursting into tears right there. One little girl rode the carousel for at least an hour. She changed animals every time. Toward the end of the night, a little girl named Bailey and her sister Brooke came over to ride. Bailey is four and is the “wish child.” Brooke is one and a half. Friday was their first night at GKTW. Bailey stole my heart, and Leandra’s, from the second she walked in the gate. She is the sweetest, most precious child. They rode twice then left to go to a party in the village, but came back to visit us and ride again before we closed. Today (Saturday) we worked in the La-Ti-Da Spa. Girls can have their fingernails and make-up done. And both girls and boys can get airbrush tattoos and their face painted. We met a lot of really sweet children tonight too. We met Karly, Kaylee, and Kylie, three sisters. Kylie is three or four and is the wish child in the family. They were all so sweet. We saw a lot of the same children from the night before, so it was great to start building relationships with them. About five minutes before we were about to close, Bailey and her family walked by. Leandra ran to the door and told Bailey to come get her nails done and get a tattoo. She came and was so excited. Her mom talked to us the whole time we were with Bailey. They had gone to Magic Kingdom, so Bailey filled us in on all the characters she got to meet. After Bailey finished getting her nails painted blue (because her mom will never paint them blue) and getting a flower tattoo, we closed up and headed back to camp. I absolutely LOVE being at GKTW. One of our supervisors, Tiffany, was a summer missionary with GOBA in 2005 and 2006, and now she is on staff at GKTW. Speaking of staff, there are only 145 people on staff at GKTW. They have over 10,000 registered volunteers, and 5,500 active volunteers. It’s amazing. In the castle, there are stars all over the ceiling with the name of every wish child that has come to GKTW. There are over 95,000 stars on the ceiling. Each child gets to make their star and then they can come back the next day, and a volunteer can show them the exact spot on the ceiling where their star is at. Isn’t that just awesome?
Also, to the WFBC Guatemala team that is heading out on Wednesday, you’ll be in my prayers! I know God is going to do great things through you!