Trinity's Angels

Let the Countdown begin ... 7-6-5-4-3-2-1

One week out and the new adventure starts. Well ... actually it has already begun but 7 days from now we will be walking through the door that has been opened for us to pass through to Peru. The airplane door! By midnight Friday night we will touch down at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima and be in a country we will call home for awhile. Not sure how long - but long enough to have packed ranch dressing packets so that we can have a "taste" of home as the days pass by !

Each day as we get closer to January 27th this whole journey gets even more real! Yesterday and today we sold my refrigerator, dressers, beds and other household items. Tomorrow the same - Saturday too. As each piece leaves and the house gets just a bit larger with open space there is no sadness. Selling the material things brings funding for the projects throughout Peru. There is exhilaration, excitement, anticipation and surrender for the road ahead. No regrets, no second thoughts - just an appetite to serve.

Surrendered in His Mighty Grip,

Stephanie and Cindy

www.trinitysangels.org

What in the world is better because of you ?

Ahhhhh...the question that pops up from time to time in each of our lives. Do we make a difference? Will we be remembered? Do we do all we can when asked? What in the world is better because we are here, because of us ?????

Another year has breezed by and is ready to close out. It's that time again when we all seem to reflect on the highs and lows of the past year and look forward with anticipation to the New Year. With that comes a clean slate and the opportunity to start over - making resolutions. Resolutions that somehow never seem to make it out of the first week or two!! So as you reflect on 2011 and look into all that awaits you, all the opportunities available in 2012, take the time to ask yourself the hard questions ... what difference will you make? Are you living purposefully or just living? Are you contributing or consuming? Are you amassing material things or giving to others? What in the world is better because of you?

In His Mighty Grip trying to answer that question for our own lives,

Stephanie and Cindy

www.trinitysangels.org

www.trinitysangels.com

 

An element of risk

is inherent when you pursue your dreams. But what a rush.......That is what will happen January 27, 2012 when we take that step/leap of faith and head to Peru to begin work again in the mission field.

Grant update: As most of you know we have written and submitted two grant applications for funding projects in Pucallpa, Peru. One for the H.O.P.E. project to build/repairs homes for impoverished families - the majority are single parent families. The second is for the D.R.E.A.M. Resource Center which will provide access to materials for women to start or expand small businesses allowing for self sustainment of their families. These women generally do not have access to resources that would give them a hand up in developing these enterprises. It will also function as a safe place for children providing: mentoring and help with their schoolwork, arts and crafts activities, sports programs and healthy snacks. A library will be available to both the women and children to improve their reading skills.

September 30, 2011 was the submission deadline and the notifications were anticipated to be received within 45 days. Due to the large number of applications, last week we were told that date has moved to the end of January 2012! Good News - we are still under consideration. So - we head to Peru most likely ahead of a funding decision. Please pray for financial provision in this area. We could sure use it!

Risking it all under the cover of His mighty Grip...

Stephanie

 

 

Will you help make a radical difference in Cynthia's life???

Cynthia is a young 11 year old girl that lives in the jungle town of Pucallpa. I met her several years ago when I went there for the first time and continue to see and spend time with her as we return to her neighborhood.

She loves hanging out with Cindy - one of the bonds they share is the same first name. Cynthia is a smart girl, eager to go to school, loves to learn and she attends church on her own 3-4 times per week. She sings her little heart out and it's a joy to watch her worship. The last time we were there I sat next to her and we were passing time talking about general things and I happened to ask what she had eaten for dinner. She said she hadn't eaten yet - it was 9 pm. Not unusual for Latin countries to eat dinner late. Yet she said that they didn't have anything for dinner and probably wouldn't eat until the next day around lunch time. I was surprised. It's commonplace in this area not to have enough to eat as in many parts of Peru but it still shocks me and leaves me almost gasping for air. The church service started so that ended our conversation.

As we sat there for the next hour I heard her stomach growling several times. Not just a small rumbling - it was loud. I felt badly...thinking about the dinner I had eaten and the snacks that were up in our apartment. My stomach was content and didn't know the feeling of hunger that she felt.

After the service I told her to come upstairs to the church apartment and gave her the pizza we had left over from our dinner. I wish I could describe with exact vivid detail the look on her face. The two pieces that were left over is all that was in the box and when she opened it you would have thought it was an entire Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. Her comment, "Thank you, I'll take them home and share them with my family." Are you kidding me? I would have eaten them on the way home if I was as hungry as her stomach sounded. No way that was going to feed a family of 5 including 2 adults.

She taught me a great lesson in sharing. It doesn't take much. Really. What will it take to make a radical difference in Cynthia's life???? Food. Basic supplies. $10 per week. Cynthia is like so many children in Pucallpa - waiting for their next meal not sure when it will be.

IT'S TIME to stand up, reach out and help her and kids like her. What will you do?? Please go to www.trinityangels.org and make a donation.

Feeding the hungry through His Mighty Grip,

Stephanie and Cindy

www.TrinitysAngels.org

Two Grants - Two Chances

As most of you know Trinity's Angels has submitted two grant proposals to USAID/Peru for funding for $50,000 of each project. One is the H.O.P.E. project for the building of basic housing and repair of existing homes to bring those to habitable standards. The other is for the D.R.E.A.M. Resource Center to provide access to assistance and support for underprivileged women and children. Training for small start up businesses, hands on labs and possibly micro-finance loans for the women. The children will have a place to go after school to receive additional help with homework and mentoring; programs for crafts, activities, and recreation along with providing a healthy snack. A small library and computers will also be available for use by the women and children.

It just seems to keep multiplying and taking off from there and I can't see the end..... - helping the kids whose parents are just not around to parent them, providing meals for families without food - perhaps involving cooking one meal a day that families without food, bible programs for women and children, a small orphanage, small crop gardens - anything and everything that will help these people. From there quite honestly my mind reels as the Lord lays program after program after program on my heart for these people. Giving them a hand-up, not a hand-out. They are extremely capable and hard-working but lack access to basic things they need to succeed. The joy, and pure beauty of it all is encouraging their self sustainment and watching them grow and provide for their families, something they currently struggle with every single day.

To tell you that I have been just a "little!" overwhelmed during the process is an understatement and yet every step of the way the journey has been guided. From finding the grant to the very last word type before the final submission of the proposal. My spirit says to stay strong and faithful and I truly believe that. Yet every once in awhile to be honest I falter and trip over the small rocks in the path I am walking.

So fighting back the tears of happiness, uncertainty, of knowing that I need help - here is my simple but HUGE request. No need to click a button and vote for your favorite charity (of course we are yours!), no need to get your friends signed up for anything (unless you feel the NEED to forward this prayer request). We received word that BOTH of the projects are being considered and reviewed by the technical committee. There are delays in awarding the grants due to the large number of applications received. After reading it I felt a huge weight bearing down and I started doubting and faltering. How could our application shine above the others? Stopped to breathe, pray and ask what needed to be done to get these proposals to rise to the top, for the reviewers to "hear" and "know" that these need approval - for the FULL amounts.

So, please, on my knees - literally asking each of you to stop and.......

Just SIMPLY PRAY... God knows the outcome...in that, I trust and believe. I accept and surrender to this journey.

In His INTENSE Mighty Grip,

Stephanie

www.trinitysangels.org

www.trinitysangels.com

P.S. - I wrote this from my viewpoint not speaking for Cindy Nickell - but I know that she feels the same way!!

H.O.P.E. stands for HOUSING, OPPORTUNITY, PROTECTION and ENPOWERMENT

D.R.E.A.M. stands for DEVELOPMENT, RESOURCES, EDUCATION, ABILITY AND MOTIVATION

Just need to write one more for "B.E.L.I.E.V.E." and then we have our 3 words - HOPE, DREAM, BELIEVE !!

Helping out - La Paz, Bolivia mudslides

At the end of our last trip to Peru, once homes were built, food distributed and kids hugged - there was a pull to head to La Paz, Bolivia. A mountainous city - great culture, history and jammed pack with houses.

 
What that reason was we were not sure. Yet...we felt that we could lend assistance at the area of the recent mudslides. We set out one morning in search of someone who could point us in the right direction to offer assistance when we came across a building where there was a truck unloading supplies at the main library. There was alot of "busy-ness," tv cameras and activity. So we waited and watched. And...moved in closer!

 
The mayor of a neighboring city from Santa Cruz was there with truckloads of food to help out their "sister city" of La Paz. And then...he walked in our direction, the tv cameras followed the mayor, and we seemed to always be in the background right behind him. We waited for our chance to be interviewed and waited and waited, we flipped through every tv station that night including CNN looking for our pics! We just knew that Trinity's Angels was going to be represented. But we couldn't find any picture with us in it. We apparently were cropped out! Go figure.

After the area around the library cleared out and the tv stations left, we started asking people if we could help, in any area where they needed assistance. First,  we were put in touch with the man running the center and were told to help sort through the clothes that had been donated.  Mounds and mounds, bags and bags of clothes were brought down the stairway into a huge room where they were sorted by size and type. Here are a few shots of us with masks on - we had to use gloves too in order to make sure that we weren't stuck with anything or breathed things that we shouldn't! It was a good feeling to be a part of the disaster relief program.

 

 
At the end of that process we asked if we could help at the camp at the bottom of the mudslide and were put in touch with the Executive Secretary of La Paz. He accepted our offer and told us that he would call us and tell us where to report. Now that was divine intervention. Although I just KNEW he would call - unfortunately he never did. Still waiting!

 
Stacks of food, water and supplies that would eventually be shipped out to the camps where the people affected by the slide were living. They were so organized - it was awesome to watch the process.

The following day since we hadn't heard from the director we decided to take matters into our own hands Oh no!!!!  We decided to go to the camp area. We flagged down a taxi and hired him to drive us to the main site. And it took our breath away. He was a wealth of information and explained a great deal about what had happened, how and why. We stayed at the main site for about 30 minutes - just unable to walk away. If he would have let us - I believe we would have stayed all day just to watch and pray and be with the people.

 

With a loud crash the hill slid at 7:20 in the morning. Surprisingly there were no fatalities as the shacks were buried under tons of mud and dirt.

 
Searching through the rumble to find what little possessions they have in life.

 

 

During our time at the slide site, the ground at the top of the hill started to rumble and slide again. In that moment we knew that there had been a reason we were not suppose to help. No reason to put our lives in danger when it could be helped. As we left the site it was enough to know that we had obedient to the call He placed on us.

 

In His continual Grip,

Stephanie 

 

 

How Will Your Destiny be played out?

No one knows for sure the answer to this question. What we do know is ... we are active participants in that outcome because of our choices and action. Taking responsibility. How much effort you put into it and what you let affect you are choices that you make.

Honestly, I let the opinions of others dictate to me. I allowed the words to become truth and talked myself out of writing a grant in search of funds to build homes in Pucallpa, Peru. It was too long of a process, too hard, too much work. Yet on behalf of Trinity's Angels I made a commitment to Luz Divina church that we would build a home for every member of the church. I neglected to ask first how many member families they have! Small problem....there are 300!

Weighing on my heart is that promise and not wanting to fail. So a couple of months ago I made a CHOICE to research, on my own, available grants. And there it was ... a grant offered by the US government in conjunction with a joint program dedicated to helping people in Peru! I was ecstatic. I read the directions and started on the road of grant writing.

Things flowed, positive answers to question I asked of the grant manager in Peru were received. Ideas and thoughts materialized. Words formed and were written, Pages read and re-read. Changes made and made again. And finally, yesterday afternoon, the grant was signed and sent. Proudly submitted on behalf of people in desperate need.

It should come as no surprise to me that this process flowed fairly smoothly. For I know WHO was guiding the entire process - start to finish.

And now we wait for a positive answer. We can use your prayers.

Claiming His favor while standing firm in His Mighty Grip,

Stephanie

Let's get Radical...

Just finished reading the book, "Radical" by David Platt. Wow - hit me right smack in the middle of my passion!!! Portions of it are highlighted and written all over with notes and stars reminding me of the passages that reached out and GRABBED me! It is a good read and I highly suggest it. Read it with a new perspective - let the words roll through your mind and reflect on how radically it speaks to you. I think that there are seasons in a person's life when it will speak more directly to your core. So if you read it and it doesn't affect you now...then I suggest hanging onto it and re-reading it in a few months or next year. There WILL BE a point that it makes you, shall I say, uncomfortable to "stay" where you are.

Walking a radical life is exciting to me. Intriguing. Fascinating. Thrilling. Of course you say - it speaks to you. And you are absolutely correct. The bar needs to be set higher. Time must be set aside to make a difference. Wholeheartedly I agree with that and if that is the case then my actions have to support those statements. I am not willing to accept what the world is willing to accept and be satisfied with that. My choice is to walk on the narrow road, the one less travelled. To be intentional.

Not only will you make a difference in the lives of others but think about this point. If you embark on the narrow road you end up closer, to those walking it with you. That brings on a "nearness," which translates to a deeper closeness to those that are walking alongside. How exciting is that! For I know who is walking beside me on this journey. In fact it puts a big HAPPINESS all over my face.

It'a time to get  R-A-D-I-C-A-L.

Radically in His Grip,

Stephanie

It's Hot in Texas !!

I was watching the news tonight while working out - yes you read right - exercising. Ugh!! Anyway...while watching the news the temperature showed up at 100 + degrees at 5:30 pm. Incredible. It is the 24th day in a row of triple digit heat. Unbelievable. The heat just drains the energy out of me and I don't want to be outside or do anything.

And then I started to smile...because honestly I would trade in this HEAT to be in the HEAT in Pucallpa, Peru building houses. The heat, the sweat, the work, the bugs - all of it just to be in the midst of where I am called to be. Somehow - that heat is bearable.

In His Mighty Heat filled Grip,

Stephanie

Courage

In our fast paced lives there are moments when we should re-evaluate things -  we need to take time - stop, listen, look and find the courage to follow the dreams that speak to us, to find the courage to take that one step forward in pursuit of those dreams.

My absolute favorite movie of all time is THe Wizard of Oz.  And...my favorite character, second only to the Wicked Witch of the West, is the Cowardly Lion. King of the Jungle and afraid of his own tail! Yet when he finds the courage - there is NOTHING he can't accomplish. And the funny thing is that he had the courage inside of him all along. He just didn't know it because he hit the wall of internal fear. The kind you slam into each time you take off on an adventure, a challenge, a dream. Push past it, past the fear and the people that tell you it isn't feasible or can't be done and keep pressing forward with determination. You too have the courage inside of you to fulfill your dreams, plans and purpose just like the cowardly lion!

Take a look at some of the people we've met along the way who walk in courage everyday. Some of them are living out their passion and others are just living - with the courage to make it through to another day despite their living and economic conditions.

 
Yanett - our liaison with La Sagrada Familia orphanage in Lima, Peru. Her contagious enthusiasm draws you in and her enormous heart for the kids knows no bounds. She has overflowing love for all off them and it is that passion that drives her and her mission to help clothe and feed these young children.

 
Paolo  - dances and entertains to the beat of a different drummer. He is a member of the dance troupe from Iquitos that performs in the kid's programs in his hometown and along the Amazon River. Currently, he is working in Lima now earning money to pursue his calling and desire to be a youth minister.

 
Ninfa - Trinity's Angels helped to repair/build her home so that she and her daughter would be able to live in better conditions away from the rotting wood, insects and chaos of her prior home. Now she is cooking and selling dinners in front of her house on tables with chairs for her "customers" to sit. It is breathtaking to see her shine and push forward earning her own money Where there seemed to be no way - there is hope and opportunity. 

 
Juanita -this fiery woman has passion and love that overflows to all she meets. Her heart breaks for those less fortunate which are numerous in and around Lima, Peru. She prays continuously for everyone that crosses her path - a powerful intercessor. She speaks about The Word of God to everyone and the kingdom expands daily through her efforts. People are covered by her prayers.

 
Simon, Phillip and Samuel - these young men traveled from Germany to minister to children Peru and along the Amazon. They felt a continuous pull from the Lord calling them to reach people around the world. With little financial backing and a big dream and deep passion that moves them they now travel to foreign countries where they feel called working with kids around the world ministering to children and young adults.

Cynthia, on the left, is an 11 year old girl that given the opportunity will change her life and current living situation for the better and make a huge impression on the world. She has hope and is not afraid to voice those dreams that drive her. Whenever there was a worship service you could find her right in front singing her heart out to the Lord.  
Pastor Jennifer of Luz Divina church. When she was in college she signed up for a 6 month stint to minister to the people of Peru. After the initial 6 month period was completed she signed up for another 6 months and then another and finally decided to stay for good and call Pucallpa, Peru her home. She is one of the pastors at Luz Divina, the church we partner with in Pucallpa. The congregation loves her and the feeling for her is mutual. She is SOLD OUT for Christ and living the plan He created for her with enthusiasm, compassion and love. A great example.

 
Oscar - this young man is studying to be a pastor. Not too many years ago he was living a tough life on the streets of Lima. Involved in drugs and other things he was invited to church and that was all it took to turn his life around and be on fire for the Lord. He captures the attention of children and his sermons speaks directly to their hearts. With his fun loving and outgoing personality he is making a huge difference expanding the Kingdom. Great things are happening because of his obedience to the calling on his heart.

 
Ray Skaggs - I simply have no words to explain the effect this man has had upon my life the last 4 years and the pull I feel for the people of Peru. He started Words of Life, a non-profit that we work alongside, and has been instrumental in introducing us to the people and places that need assistance. After several years of traveling back and forth to Peru, he decided to move there on pure faith knowing it is absolutely the place where God wants him to be. The call is so strong and the purpose so defined on his heart there is nothing that deters him. Nothing. He makes an impression daily on the people of Peru and everywhere he travels.

RISK IT FOR HIS GLORY. In His Grip.....risking......

Stephanie

www.TrinitysAngels.org