NEWWORLDSON CONCERT

Want to enjoy and Great night of worship and great music to liven your walk with the Lord?

Sunday night November 7 at 7:30pm NewWorldSon will be in concert at Community Reformed Church in Zeeland, they have been very generous to Open Doors Orphanage and are giving the proceeds from the concert to Open Doors.

Community Reformed
iTickets

So where do you fit in? Ask a neighbor, invite a friend, maybe someone who needs a little encouragement. bring them to the concert and let them and you be touched by the power of awesome Christian music. By doing that you are supporting Open Doors.
click on the links below to see and hear a little more of New World Son

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaHLTLmgDmc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17eWXuUTq5s

Love and sacrifice

What does love look like? A question Dan posed to us in our devotions one night. I ask you what love and sacrifice looks like? I ask because yesterday i was a witness to what love and sacrifice are by 2 different people. Let me tell you what God did yesterday. It was Erin (the 2 year nurse from Hudsonville) birthday yesterday and she wanted to do something special for her birthday but instead of it revolving around her she made it revolve around others. We went out to eat at a restaurant that had a play land for kids. She wanted to take a 16 year old boy from a near by village who suffers from Osteomyelitis, a bone disease that eats at the bone. Marcos and his mother and her 1 1/2 year old daughter came with us to eat. Love to me is a mother and son who only eat half their meal and pack the rest into napkins and stuff in their bag to bring home to other family members. Love is to not eat the whole meal and let others share in a treat. Love is to be so poor that you will not fill yourself without thinking of the rest of the family. Love is sacrifice and not indulge yourself. Love is a mother letting her daughter enjoy an ice cream cone when she could be.
Love is a 22 year old women thinking of others on her birthday above herself. Love is giving up what you do not need.
Love, what have you done to show love today?

picture updates

4 weeks

A brief look at where things were a month ago today and where things are today. God has given us men and women who have given of themselves and served with willing and blessed hearts. Glory be to God for what he is doing through many people. Thank you!

Framing team arrives

Well after some issues with a van not starting and hassles of getting a van that could transport our whole team we made it to the airport, the team of 22 people have arrived at the base and did not want to sit and do nothing. So below are some pictures of what was accomplished in about 2 hours worth of work. The post are out from the orphanage and we are ready to begin building walls. God is so good.

The container has arrived!!! Praise the Lord for a timely arrival, you never know when things happen here in Guatemala, but our 40' container filled with mostly donated items is here without theft, or too much damage. The container brought us counter tops, cabinets, interior and exterior doors from Lumbermens Inc. stove from Merchandise Equipment and Supply, plywood, trim wood, treated wood, 2x4's from Standale Lumber, Paint from Repcolite Paints. Copier scanner fax from Noordyk Business, and many other items to make the orphanage a reality.
Tomorrow we pick up 22 more team members to help build the orphanage. we will be taking down some 600 plus posts holding the roof up at present and building the interior walls, as well as doing all the rough in plumbing and electrical to be ready for 14 more team members coming in next Saturday to drywall.

Ephesians 3:20 says, " Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, ACCORDING to his power at work within us." (caps i added)
Please continue to pray that we can be in accordance with his will and power to do more than we can ask or imagine.


Load is too heavy for the Cat, it took 6 Guatemalans and Me to stand on the back as counter weight, Real OSHA approved counterweight
Why wait for the machine, 10 Guatemalans just started pulling skids without us asking to the back of the truck

Earth shakes

Phil Wickham in his song TRUE LOVE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sonjpHbeDQ, says "the Earth was shaking in the dark all creation felt the fathers broken heart" I can only think of that when I feel the earth shake literally under my feet as it did just an hour ago here in Guatemala. Well, today was the first day feeling an earthquake. In fact a 5.0 earthquake. All creation can feel the fathers heart break for those who do not yet call him Savior. Well I can say that those words now have a different meaning after feeling Gods heart shake the ground and remind us who is in control and who is the one who ordains the earths movements and each individuals soul.

What about you, do you shake when you know someone doesn't know Christ, when someone Will go to bed tonight without food?

The roof is poured

The Morning began early at 2:45 the concrete mixing crew arrived to start mixing the concrete to pour. All 80 yards of it. yes that is 2:45 in the am. The day went well with only minor problems of running out of water and a belt breaking on one of the 3 mixers. After 6 and 1/2 hours the floor was poured. the pictures show a roof on top of the orphanage that 3 weeks ago was nothing. Glory be to God for sending great men and women to help us get so far. This week we continue the work of the orphanage to keep us on pace to have the framing electrical and plumbing crew arrive on Sunday.

Day before the roof pour

Well we are progressing very well. It could not be done if we did not have guys and ladies here with servant hearts. doing all that they are doing. Even more than we expected. God is blessing us with great weather. Here are pictures of the structure befre the big pour. Thank you for your prayers and encouragment.

Today we began to build the roof of the orphanage, again God revealed himself in another big way. The company here in Guatemala that engineered the roof and designed it, first of all gave us an awesome price and really is helping us out. Today the head engineer came out to make sure we knew what we were doing, and yes she is a Believer in Jesus Christ, she leads a small group here in Guatemala city and told us that when we are finished she wants us to let her know so that her church here and her small group can become involved in the orphanage and help us out. Another gift from God and another person that God is using to be obedient to his call. Check out the pictures below of the beams being set and the roof being built

God's provision and timing

Well construction is continuing in spite of rain everyday, some days all day and night some days just a few hours. But God has revealed himself in this as well. From the floor being poured int he rain and then not raining while we finished the floor, which is now as smooth an nice as ever. to yesterday a series of events that again was perfect timing. The road into the base is not good, very pour and a lot of washouts. Buses can get through, some are getting stuck, some trucks are getting stuck. We have had 3 loads of gravel brought in to help with the road. Yesterday we were to receive our precast beams to build the roof, to unload those we have to rent a caterpillar bobcat. So here is the series of event that have happened. All the trucks were running late, and Esturdio was not feeling well and had to go to the hospital for some testing. So Dan and i went to meet the trucks at the end of the dirt road( the 3 mile rd that takes 35-45 minutes to go) to bring Noami to be with Esturdio. a truck was stuck in the road. Max (Noami's dad) was waiting for us (we did not know he was even coming this way) on the other side of the stuck truck. max brought Dan to meet which ever truck showed up first well it was the Cat truck. Dan was able to level some of the road and the precast truck showed up, they unloaded the truck at the end of the road because the truck was still stuck. when the last beams were unloaded the truck was pulled out and Dan was able to get the cat home. Today we will go and reload the beams and bring them here to the base and be ready for our fab team to start setting beams Monday.
God is good.

Building the form for the main center concrete beam

progress