Author Archives: Carroll

Missionaries

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This week is a guest post from Christian Life Center, Langley, Canada with Steve and Anna Lindberg. Steve and Anna served as missionaries at James Project of Latin America/Shadow of His Wings in various positions. Steve worked construction, Anna helped with the sponsorship program, and they later became team leaders. They share their hearts about their two-year experience living in Monjas, Jalapa, Guatemala. This video shows Shadow and some of the children while they share their experiences and encourage others to answer the calling of the Lord.

Most of us who step out in service to the Lord, do not have the giftings to do all that is necessary. What we lack the Lord said you would pour into us. Some of you may feel a nudge in your heart to be in service as a missionary. Follow that nudge and see where it leads you. It doesn’t matter what your age is or whether you feel qualified but it’s about the fire in your heart. Listen to Anna and Steve and if there is a stirring within yourself, pray and make a contact with someone who works with missions. The need for missionaries is great. I love the saying that the rewards are out of this world. That is true, but there are also many blessings in ministry in this life.

Anna and Steve Lindberg

Steve & Anna Lindberg from Christian Life Assembly on Vimeo.

Switch Them: Part 2

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http://www.livingundertheshadowofhiswings.com/2016/02/switch-them-part-1/

I sat with frustrated house parents and an agitated girl, praying for insight for a volatile situation. This situation needed to be defused, and I did not know how to do that. Lord, I need you to guide me in how to deal with all of this. I had listened to the parents describing the disrespect and hurtful words hurled at them by the young teenager Karla*. Karla had confided in me that unfair accusations were being made against her. This cycle had gone on for over a year, and I needed to act now.

Vilma* waited for my response after she informed me that she wanted to quit being a house parent. Sighing, I said, “I think we need a time-out. It is not good to make a decision like this in the midst of anger and hurt.” I didn’t have the answers, and I needed time to sort through everything before making a decision.

Shaking her head, Vilma cried, “I can’t do this!”

“You are a good house mother and have helped many children in your home. They need you. There’s an answer for this, but we need more time to get it resolved.” I explained my idea to move Karla into a neutral home for a couple of days until we devised a plan.

I checked with another couple who already knew the problems with Karla. They agreed to open their home to her, and Karla moved in temporarily.

IMG_2240From the beginnings of the orphanage, we set a precedent that the children would not be moved around from one family to another. These children need stability. In real family relationships, the family learns to work through the problems. If a child acts out, she faces the consequences with the parents, and they work with her. The child experiences the discipline and love of the growing-up process. Moving a child from one family to another would provoke instability and insecurity. That described their before-Shadow lives, but at Shadow we provide consistency.

At Shadow we keep siblings together and we don’t want them to be in separate orphanages. Often the court will transfer a child to us because a sibling resides at Shadow. Even the court system stands firm on the idea of siblings remaining together. Placing them in the same home at Shadow establishes a stronger family and a sense of belonging. In the case of these two teens, each had a sister in the home with them.

When I woke from the dream and heard the words “switch them,” I knew what we had to do. I called the couples into the office and explained what I heard the Lord saying.

“It has been our policy not to move children from one home to another, but perhaps it is time for an exception. I think the Lord has opened my eyes to this idea for this particular circumstance. If it doesn’t turn out favorably, we will come together and work on a different solution. What do you think? Do you agree?”

The parents’ smiles, nods, and the look of relief filling their faces confirmed that this plan could be the answer.

The next day the two girls changed homes. Susy* and Karla knew this would be their last opportunity to stay at Shadow. I told them they would begin in their new families with a clean slate. I established the rule that neither set of house parents could talk negatively about their former daughter or bring up things from the past.

After the girls moved in with their new families, I nervously waited for feedback. The reports started to come in a week later. “We found out that Karla likes to sing,” the house father said with a grin. The house mother added, “They gather around Papa and sing songs almost every evening. It is a blessing to hear them.”

Encouraging words of positive progress continued to come in. Susy wouldn’t talk to her previous house parents but opened up to the new ones. I marveled at how the Lord worked it out. The tension and stress of the house parents lessened, and peace reigned. I could only guess what would have happened if we hadn’t acted on the words: “Switch them.”

*Names have been changed

Switch Them: Part 1

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Loud words woke me up: “Switch them!” Coming out of a groggy state, I heard them again: “Switch them!” I chuckled because I knew that the Lord had given me an answer to a situation that had hung over us for a year. There are always going to be problems with personalities and relationships in any group of people. This problem involved two sets of house parents and two rebellious, uncooperative teenagers. Neither case related to the other, except for the continual attitude problems of the girls.

The first couple met with us to say they couldn’t have Susy* in their home any longer. She disrupted the lives of the other eleven girls and their own biological three with her attitude and disobedience. As I listened to the husband state their situation, his wife’s eyes pleaded with Joanne and I to come up with an answer. They had talked with, counseled, and prayed for this child for months. Suggestions from others were acted upon, but nothing worked. We saw their desperation but explained that the only option left would be to transfer the girl to another orphanage.

The house parents left the meeting with the weight of their hearts holding them to a slow walk. They felt they couldn’t let Susy leave Shadow. That meant separation from her older sister, who would remain in their home.

Didn’t God have a plan of some kind? My heart cried out for an answer.

The second couple also dealt with a difficult girl. I didn’t know it at the time, but they were leaning toward leaving the orphanage as house parents. As I talked and prayed with them, I could see the struggle in Vilma* as she dealt with the disrespect, abusive words, and attitudes.

Both couples continued to pray for their situations. Lord, show me what we can do. These parents are good people, and yet they are being torn apart by these two girls. I fought my frustration and the lack of answers.

IMG_2340Late one afternoon I was getting out of my car, and as the garage door went down, a call came in. The house father demanded I get back to the orphanage immediately. In my weariness, I asked the Lord for wisdom and energy as I drove back. I entered the house to an angry house father who jerked the door open for me; a jaw-clenching, red-faced girl sitting on a bunk bed; and a teary-eyed house mother who sat on another bed.

“Tell me what happened,” I asked, not really wanting to hear the story. It would be a similar story from the past, and I didn’t know what to do. Lord, I need to see this situation with Your eyes. I don’t have the answers, but You do.

“I can’t do this anymore! I’m done!” blurted out Vilma. “I can’t be a house mother any longer. I quit.” The battle with Karla*, filled with rebellious explosions, had gone on for several days.

For the sake of everyone involved, decisions had to be made now. Would we let these qualified house parents leave over one child? Karla had been a part of the orphanage for several years but had turned into a tyrant when she entered puberty. Was it time for the stress filled house parents to quit, or should the girl leave? My thoughts had taken several twists and turns before I had any answer.

*Name has been changed.

Poorer Population

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When we missionaries shop at the market in Monjas, Guatemala, we are on the lookout for a way we can help the poorer population by buying their produce. The poor are easy to spot, because they don’t have the funds to rent table space. They squat on a piece of plastic or the concrete that’s close to the other vendors. Sometimes this means their selling space sticks out into the street, but that doesn’t inhibit these people. It’s their way of life.

During the first several years of the orphanage, I drove our cook to the market and helped her with purchases for the kitchen. While she did the bargaining, I watched the ladies around me selling their garden goods. I began to see a pattern in how the system worked for the vendors.

Each city has a particular market day, and the vendors that sell for a living travel from city to city. They rent their space and set it up on the appointed day. Monjas’ market day is Tuesday. Local people from Monjas rent their spaces inside the market building for the entire week, but on Tuesday, they move their produce and wares outside to compete with the visiting vendors. It’s easy to find the locals, because they cluster on the same side of the market building.

I prefer to purchase items from the locals to support them, but there are times when I can only find a particular fruit or vegetable in the visitors’ section. My first choice is to buy from the little ole’ ladies who have few items to sell from their little gardens. I know they are trying to earn enough money to buy food for the day.

One day, I saw a tiny elderly lady kneeling barefoot on a three by two-feet of well-used plastic. My eyes lit on some corn on the cob lying in front of her knees. She stared up at me with eyes full of hope. “Can I help you, lady? I have fresh corn,” she said in her quiet almost garbled voice.

IMG_6012I couldn’t resist, and I bought all that she had, about eight or ten ears. She thanked me and looked like she had won a winning ticket. I returned to the house and took my purchases to the cook for a future meal. A few hours later, I heard someone call my name. I went to investigate, and there stood the same lady at the door with a whole plastic bag full of corn asking if I’d like to buy more. This little entrepreneur found out my name and where I worked. I’m sure she left the market and went to her garden thinking she found an easy hit. She did! I bought the rest of her corn, and off she skipped, I’m sure feeling very proud.

There are vendors on our streets daily who knock on the door or shout from the street selling something they made that day. They might sell doblatos, tamales, corn cakes, and the list goes on. One can see a wheelbarrow, looking like it went through World War II, full of an assortment of fruits and vegetables. I remember a time when one of our missionaries bought two live chickens from a lady to help her out. She helped him tuck each head and neck under an armpit so he could carry them home. He didn’t have a plan for the chickens, other than to put them in his yard and have roasted chicken some future day. We laughed when he told of his morning outings looking for eggs hidden in the yard.

We desired to help poorer population who work honestly to have funds for their needs. Even with our good intentions, word got around, and people came knocking on the doors of the missionaries daily. The more we bought, the more they came. In time, we moved to the new office on the property. The mile trip into the country discouraged the sellers, but we continued to help the poorer population when the opportunity presented itself.