China 2009

October 20, 3:00 AM the alarm went off. Time to get up and go to the airport. I’m not a morning person, but I had been waiting for this day for the last year. China was just 30 more hours away!

This year, we took a team of 8 to build a church in Wu Nu Deng, a village about 2 hours from WuHan. As we arrived to the job site on our first day, we had huge feast prepared for us. The people in the village cooked amazing food and gathered in a home to welcome us to their village. After our feast, we began to work. There were about thirty people from the village that helped us move and prepare the bricks. Our team got busy and laid brick around the perimeter of the building about 2 feet high that first day.

As we worked, some of the ladies from the church would sing hymns and then ask us to sing back to them. So we would take turns singing songs – Chinese and then English. It was great to hear as we worked. Although it is a little difficult to bend, climb, and lay brick while you are singing! By our last day working on the building, the exterior and interior walls were 8-10 feet high! What amazing progress in just a few days.

On our last day in the village, we had a dedication service. Of course, we started with a huge feast. They loved feeding us and we loved eating the food!! To announce the dedication, a huge box of fire crackers was set off. For about 5 minutes there was non-stop fire cracker action in front of the church. It did the job of letting people know something was going on! We had about 200 people at the dedication. During this time, we had testimonies from team members; we sang worship songs; Jimmy preached a short sermon. For many of these people, this was their first exposure to the Gospel. We gave Chinese Fire Bibles (Bibles with commentary and study help) to the local preachers. Because of generous donations, we were also able to provide funds to finish the building construction. We were also able to give the church a key board and guitar. We also had toys, candy, balloons, clothes, shoes and many other gifts for the village and the church. Thank you to those who donated funds and supplies!

After we finished our part of the dedication service, the preacher spent several minutes thanking us for coming and for the work we did. Then something happened that we’ve never experienced before. The people in the village (most of them did not go to the church) brought bags of peanuts, eggs and oranges for us as a gift! We had a 50 gallon bag of oranges and about 30 gallons of peanuts given to the team. It is hard to describe how humbling it felt for people who have nothing to give us so much as a token of gratitude for helping their village.

As we travelled to and from the job site, we stopped at a few other churches to pray with and encourage the preachers. As we stood in several church buildings, we joined with the preachers to pray for God’s blessing in the villages and the churches. As we encouraged the preachers, many of them had tears in their eyes … and so did we.

In WuHan, we visited the seminary and spent time with the students. We taught some classes and gave encouraging testimonies. We were also able to participate in Sunday services at the Thanksgiving Church in WuHan. The team sang and Jimmy preached. We also had a wonderful piano special by Billy, one of our team members. There were 8 people who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior at church that day!

Our ministry did not stop when we left WuHan to go to Beijing for our site seeing days. God uses all kinds of things and encounters to minister to people. Last October, Maggie was our tour guide in Beijing. Many of us spent a lot of time talking to Maggie and sharing about Jesus. In April, Maggie accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior! She began reading the New Testament. One of the first things Maggie told me when she saw me was that she was now a Christian. She was so excited! As we drove around Beijing in our tour bus and walked through the various sites, I had opportunity to answer questions that Maggie had as she read the Bible. Questions ranging from why are there numbers next to the scriptures (verses) and why is the New Testament so much shorter than the Old Testament to why does the Bible talk about Israel so much. We gave Maggie one of the Chinese Fire Bibles. When she opened it and saw the commentary and Bible study help, she actually squealed and jumped up and down! We have been keeping in contact and I just received another email from Maggie. She told me that she is not having as much difficulty understanding the Bible. When she has trouble, the Lord gives her light. I can’t wait to see her next year!

We would love for you to join us in China in July 2010. For more information, please contact us at jimmy@clearvisionministries.com.

Report from Honduras

We just returned from seven weeks in Honduras. We worked with Barry and Penny Compton with Open Door Ministries again. We had a wonderful and busy time. During our stay, we participated in medical clinics, evangelistic outreaches, feeding station, clothing distribution, construction work at the girl’s home and the orphanage, filling in for the house moms and much more.
We lived at the Casitas most of the seven weeks of our stay. There are five boys and five girls at the Casitas. Three of the boys and three of the girls were there the previous two times we were in Honduras. We were kind of surprised they remembered us.

Elida, the Tia at the girl’s casita, gave us her room. So, we moved in and became part of the casita crew. The kids get up at 6:00 am and go non-stop all day. We were continually amazed by the amount of energy the kids have. We played basketball, soccer, and just goofed off a lot outside. I also did manicures and pedicures for the girls several times. Juanita, who is 4, had never had her nails painted before. So after every nail she showed it to me and asked, “Esta bien?” After an hour, she was still coming up to me and asking, “Esta bien?” Seriously cute! We sang songs and read Bible stories at night. We made it all the way through the Old Testament and through the birth of Jesus. The kids loved the stories. Some nights we would read four stories.

Taylor cooked a meal for the kids. He cooked for the girls one night and the boys the next night. They loved it! He made chicken parmesan and pasta for the girls and a pan-seared bar-b-que chicken with onion, green pepper and pineapple for the boys with homemade mac and cheese. Is your mouth watering? The kids and Tias all acted like we were treating them like royalty. It was precious to watch their eyes light up as they enjoyed a meal they had never had before.

Jimmy was Mr. Fix-It and I was Dr. DeAnna. The Tias, Lillian and Elida, both took advantage of having a man around to fix things for them. ☺ So, Jimmy did quite a bit of plumbing work and other repair work for the Casitas. I bandaged numerous cuts and scrapes. Most of them didn’t need bandaging, but after one of the kids really needs first-aid, the others all would look for a cut, scrape or something that would need a bandaid. Taylor was the big brother for the kids. They absolutely loved him!!

We also gave the Tias some time off. This was an adventure! We decided the girls were more ornery than the boys! We did have a great time during our entire stay with the kids. We were showered with hugs and kisses every day. I miss that so much already!! One of the girls, Yami, was really quiet and didn’t warm up to us for the first couple of weeks. We would give her hugs and talk to her, but she just kind of looked at us. After the second week, though, she was almost constantly in one of our laps. One day, she came up to me and gave me a hug and kiss and then laid down in my lap and went to sleep. All of the kids at the Casitas have been abandoned and abused. To see them laughing, playing, giving and receiving appropriate affection, and singing was amazing especially considering all they have experienced in their short lives!

One day while we were at Casa Grande, we found out that one of the babies, Kaylita, had a very contagious virus. Her mom, Kayla, was really worried. She didn’t know what would happen or how it would affect Kaylita. Another lady and I prayed for Kaylita and Kayla. Afterward, I just encouraged Kayla to trust God and continue to pray for healing. Two days later, I was back at Casa Grande. Kayla ran up to me and gave me a hug and told me that Kaylita was completely healed. Praise God! Not only did this miracle touch Kaylita, it also really spoke to Kayla about God’s love and greatness.

Another girl from Casa Grande, Karla, is the mom of two little boys – Carlito and Jonathan. She is 15 and was abandoned by her mom when she was a baby. As a teenager, she lived in the park in the center of Tocoa. Until she came to Casa Grande a year ago, she had lived a life of being abandoned, abused and without any understanding of love. We connected immediately when we met. I had several conversations with her and had the opportunity to pray with her a few times. One Sunday night, she asked another girl to interpret for her because she wanted to tell me something and wanted to make sure I understood. She told me that she has felt so much love from me, Jimmy and Taylor, and explained that she had never felt that much love before.

We brought a new girl to Casa Grande about half-way through our stay. Merlina is 13 and seven months pregnant. Her mom prostituted her out for food. Merlina’s “husband” decided he didn’t want her any more after she was pregnant when he couldn’t get any money for her. We went with Penny to pick her up from the government child services agency. She was scared to death. She is from a very remote part of the country. We went to the mall for lunch after we picked her up. Merlina had never been to a mall before. She just looked around and was in shock at all she was seeing. Then came the escalator. She didn’t know what to do at the escalator, so we showed her how to get on and off. I watched Merlina that day and made sure she felt safe and as comfortable as possible. She spoke maybe five words the whole day. During the short time she has been at Casa Grande, we saw a huge transformation in Merlina. She absolutely lights up the room now, laughing, smiling, and talking. We were able to take Merlina with us and a team to Las Palmas for ministry. She held babies and handed out toys to the kids. What a beautiful transformation.

We had a team join us for a week in July. We put in ceiling tiles in the kitchen and bathroom at Casa Grande. This greatly helped with the heat in these rooms. Thank you team!! Our team brought several donations for the Comptons, Casa Grande, the Casitas, and for the river people in La Ceiba. We walked through a community of extremely impoverished people along the river in La Ceiba. We distributed clothes, shoes, toys and Bibles.

The Comptons had not had time off in over a year. So, our team took them for a few vacation days to Roatan. We covered all of their expenses and spent a few days ministering to them. Later, Barry told us they appreciated that time so much and, in tears, he said it was such a blessing for his family to be able to just relax for a few days.

CVM purchased floor and shower tiles for bathrooms in some new staff housing at the Casitas. A team from Florida came and helped us lay the tile for the bathrooms and did some finishing work on the two apartments. These will be used for long-term volunteers.

We visited the feeding station several times. Jimmy helped a team install a stove and do some painting. We distributed food and played with the kids. We always enjoy going to the feeding station. We saw several kids that were at the kids club we facilitated last year.

We went to Badalancho, a village in the mountains, our first week in Honduras. The village is a 5 ½ hour hike up a mountain and across 5 rivers. Two days before we were to leave, Taylor had an accident with a machete and had a very deep cut on his leg. The doctor put in several stitches, but said he could not go to the mountain because of muscle damage from the cut and the water has staff in it, which he felt was too risky. So, Taylor stayed behind at Casa Grande while we went up the mountain. The hike up the mountain was treacherous and extremely difficult. There is absolutely no way I could have made the hike. I was invited to ride in the back of the supply truck with the cooks and our food. We got out several times to climb hills that were too steep for us to ride in the truck, but I was able to ride up most of the way. Thank God for his provision!! While we were in Badalancho, we worked with the Comptons and a team from North Carolina to do a medical and dental clinic. We saw over 450 patients during the 2 ½ days we were there. Some of the patients walked seven hours to get to the clinic. There is no medical care in this area. I was the pharmacy tech for the clinic. We gave medication for infections, parasites, pain, coughs, and many other needs. The dentist pulled over 250 teeth! Jimmy was a dental assistant and saw a lot of things that I’m sure he will never forget!!! He learned how to give shots and pull teeth, but most of the time held the flashlight and spit bag. One of the evenings, we showed the Jesus film, sang a song, and prayed for people. Each person who came to the clinic was also blessed with clothes, shoes, and toys for kids.

We were able to go to a new place of ministry in Las Palmas. Las Palmas is a very impoverished village remotely located in the middle of palm trees. The people in this village do not have cars, there is not electricity, and they only recently received a well to pump in water, however there is not running water in the homes. The people bathe in the river and walk to the one well pump to get water to cook with and drink. In our first visit to Las Palmas, the ladies from our team, Penny, three girls from Casa Grande, the teacher for the girls at Casa Grande and some people from her church, visited homes, did children’s church, and distributed clothing. As we walked through the village to invite people to the church, we split up into several groups. My group was invited into one of the homes. We were offered bags of beans and a small barrel to sit on. As I was sitting on a bag of beans, I was watching the lady of the house removing dried corn from the cob. I asked her if it was for tortillas and she said yes. We sat and talked for several minutes. We participated in the children’s church program. I was able to sing a song with the kids. Then, we distributed clothes to over 100 kids and several adults. It was crazy! The people were very polite, but we were swarmed! They were so appreciative for the clothing. As we were getting into the van to leave, a lady came running up the van with a bowl. She handed it to me and inside was a stack of fresh tortillas. They were amazing, but more than that, she sacrificed to give us tortillas.

Our second trip to Las Palmas was in our last week. We brought three different girls from Casa Grande, including Merlina, the teacher, the Comptons, and a team from Florida. Before we left, I put together a couple bags of medical supplies. I grabbed several first aid type items, parasite treatment, pain relievers and antibiotics. Penny, me and one other person were the only ones who knew we had medical supplies. As we walked in groups to each house, the teacher and I went to a house by ourselves. We were talking to the man and I heard him say “infermo”. So, I told him that after the drama presentation, we would do medical treatment and we could help him. The team did their drama, we passed out toys to the kids, clothes for some of the babies, and drinks for everyone. While all of this was happening, the teacher found me and told me the man was there for medical treatment. Penny and I looked at his foot and determined he had a serious infection in his toes. He was in extreme pain. We cleaned them, medicated them, gave him some pain reliever and antibiotics, as well as gauze and other supplies he needed to continue care. Without treatment, he was just days away from losing his foot. The man was so grateful for the help. God put us in the right place at the right time.

Making a Difference in the Galapagos Islands

We absolutely love Ecuador. It is a beautiful country and the people are amazing. This year we spent two weeks in the Galapagos Islands. We traveled by plane, bus, ferry, bus, and a three-hour boat ride to get to San Cristóbal, where we spent our first week.

We had two projects on San Cristóbal. Part of our eighteen-member team did some finishing work on the church building and the rest of the team did a Kid’s Club. On Sunday, we attended the second service the church has ever had. There were about a dozen people plus our team.

The construction team mixed and poured a ton of cement to finish flooring and sidewalks. They also moved huge lava rock boulders and built a lava rock wall around the perimeter of the church. This will eventually be used as a foundation for future growth of the church. Some of the team installed lights in the church.

The Kid’s Club team went out on Monday to the schools and soccer fields to invite kids to come to the church for the Club de Niños. Tico the clown(a.k.a. Taylor) and team members made animal balloons and gave them to the kids. Each afternoon at the Club de Niños, we played games, learned a Bible verse, had a puppet skit, gave out prizes, and had a lot of fun playing with the kids. The first afternoon, we had about 75 kids and about 10 parents. The second day the kids started arriving 30 minutes early to play with Tico and the balloons. On the third day, we had over 120 kids and parents! The kids had so much fun. They laughed and played and learned about Jesus. It was an awesome time!

On the Wednesday night, Pastor Wilson wanted to have a closing service with the team. When we arrived at the church, there were 12 boys from the Club de Niños at the church. We thought that they would leave when they realized there was no clown, puppets, games, or prizes. But, they stayed. The boys sat on the first two rows and listened. During the service, the team prayed for Pastor Wilson. We gathered around them and laid hands on them and prayed. The boys watched what we were doing, came up, put their little hands on the Pastor and prayed with us.

At the end of the first week, we traveled to Santa Cruz. The rest of the team went home. We facilitated leadership training for seventy-five church leaders and people in the church who are business owners. This was exciting for us as well as those who attended the training. This was the first training these leaders and workers had ever participated in. Their eagerness to learn, excitement and gratitude amazed us.

Pastor Wilson was at the training. As soon as he saw us, he grabbed the missionary, Bill McDonald, to interpret for him. He told us that on Sunday there were 30 kids from the kids club at church. They were all asking for Tico. Pastor Wilson said that the parents stood outside the building and listened. When church was over, he talked to the parents and they were pleased with what their kids were learning. Someone in the church bought a clown outfit for the pastor. He told the kids to come back on Friday for Club de Niños. Thanks to all those who donated supplies, we were able to leave games and other tools for the church to use for Club de Niños. Pastor Wilson said they are doing something every Friday for the kids.

Pastor Wilson told us they didn’t know what to do to get people to come to the church. But they watched the team go out to the schools and soccer fields and talk to people on the street. He said they learned from us and are excited about what God is doing in their church.In our November newsletter, we told you about the team member that had been a professional clown. He taught Taylor how to do balloon animals and told him some things to do with the balloons to share about Jesus. A week later, Taylor was using those very things in Ecuador. Coincidence? No. Divine? Definitely! God is doing great things around the world.

China 2008

China is an amazing country. The scenery is gorgeous, the culture is fascinating, and the people are exceptionally kind. Our team worked on building a church in a small village about an hour outside of WuHan, in the Hubei province.
When we arrived at the jobsite, the ladies had prepared a feast for us for lunch. They made about 18 different dishes for us to eat. Each day we were on the jobsite, we were blessed with the delicious food. Can you imagine cooking 18 different dishes each day for about 30 people on two little Coleman burners? They are true servants.

We laid brick for the walls of the church. We made a lot of progress in a short amount of time. The government officials were there watching us the entire time. Although we went to China to lay brick for a building, the real focus and purpose of the trip was to build the church – the people.

On the last day, we had a dedication service. We arrived late because we attended a wedding that morning. When we got there, it was raining but there were a couple hundred people standing outside waiting for us. The ladies had prepared another feast for us and they insisted that we eat first. So, while we ate, the people stood outside and waited in the rain. No one rushed us and no one left. After we ate, we gave some small gifts to all the children – marker, coloring book, small toys, candy, and balloons. Then, we began the dedication service. Still all this time people waited. The team purchased a keyboard for the church, which we were able to present to them at the dedication service. The church had about 12 people in it, but there were over 250 people at the dedication service! Even with the communist officials there, we were able to pray with almost all of the people!

Jimmy and another team member spent a morning teaching a theology class on the Holy Spirit at the seminary. DeAnna and two other team members taught in two English classes at the WuHan University. We were able to share about ourselves, our family, and our culture. I talked about Jimmy playing the guitar and me singing; next thing I know Teacher Xu is asking me to sing a song. So, I sang Amazing Grace in a class at a communist university. We explained why that song is special to our culture. Then I sang Silent Night and was able to share about why we celebrate Christmas.

Building a Church in China

Today was our second day of work on the church in China. We've made a lot of progress on the building, but even more importantly, we have had some wonderful interaction with the church people.

Taylor absolutely loves China. He's had a lot of fun learning how to lay brick, eating great food, and talking to Teacher Xu.

It's hard to explain how amazing it is to be in China. We visited an older church (built in 1989) today after we finished work. You could just sense the presence of God in the place.

Tomorrow will be an exciting day. Jimmy is teaching a class at the seminary and I get to go to the University to teach an ESL class.

God is doing great things in China. The people are so open to God and seek him & serve him with all that is in them.

Countdown to China

We are so excited to be going to China again. Just a little more than a week & we'll be arriving in WuHan. I am anticipating God doing tremendous things while we are there. Then a few days after China, we go to Ecuador. Ecuador is an amazingly beautiful country.

The past few weeks have been busy with a ton of paperwork. It's amazing all you have to do to go out of the country! Visas, insurance, emergency contacts, etc., etc., etc.

As we've been preparing for these trips, I have been continually reminded to run with endurance…

We have faced tremendous battles the last couple of years. It feels like one monstrous war with a bunch of little battles and some pretty massive massacres. I know that is a graphic description, but it feels pretty accurate. It seems like everything is a struggle. I’ve asked God several times if it would be possible for something to be easy. I would love to hit the Staples “easy button” and have everything become simple. Unfortunately, that’s not the way life works. If there were no difficulties, we would not get to know God as our rescuer, our strength, our provision, our banner. I admit that it is not fun to go through, but it is amazing to see God work and to internalize who He is. As we have been preparing to go to China, it has looked like the project was going to fall apart numerous times. It would have been so easy to just quit in March when we had to reschedule or when we didn’t have the funding for the project or the people or when the airline prices were too high. We’ve had to remind ourselves often that we can’t give up. We can’t let circumstances dictate what we do. God is the one who is control. He’s the one who gives the directions. He’s the one who makes all things possible. Even when all we see are impossibilities, if we continue with endurance, fierce determination, God makes the impossible possible.

Frequently Asked Question ...

We are frequently asked, “what do you do when you are not traveling?”
We communicate almost daily with missionaries. Our communications vary from coaching to encouragement to planning. This is a critical part of our ministry. One of the guiding principles of our vision is to be an encouragement and support to our missionaries. We also use this time to do fundraising and plan for our upcoming projects. Both of these activities involve a tremendous amount of phone calls, email, and some in-country travel. We are always looking for new people to go with us on projects. Time is spent meeting new people and sharing about CVM.