Alliance Christian Center

Last Service Before Remodel

kirk — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 01:47:29 +0000

These are pictures from our service on April 1, 2012; the last service before the main auditorium was remodeled. Three pics and a composite. Click for full size.

A Full Circle of Blessings

admin — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:01:01 +0000

Special thanks to Hope Haven for this “re”-Post.
Original article here:

http://www.hopehaveninternational.org/news/A_Full_Circle_of_Blessings

A Full Circle of Blessings

February 8, 2012

A Full Circle of Blessings
Story and Testimony By Lisa Mitchell

I was introduced to Hope Haven by a couple at my church in Salt Lake City who have been associated with HH for a long time. I have a special place in my heart for people with disabilities and Spanish, and it has been SUCH an answer to prayer to be here serving the people of Guatemala! I have been here since June working in the wheelchair factory and now I help to host the visiting mission teams.

This week we had a wonderful team of men from the Alliance Christian Center and other churches in Ohio; they came to build houses in the poor community of San Juan Sacatapequez and also to sponsor and distribute ten wheelchairs. The house are international relief homes from Gulf Coast Supply (FL).

On our first day in the community, Mark Richard (HHIM Director of Operations) and I happened to walk by a house where an elderly woman in traditional Mayan dress was holding the most darling boy you could ever imagine, and it was apparent that he had cerebral palsy. There is no doubt that God put this little guy in our path, as the wheelchair distribution in his area was in a couple of days.

His name was Ellie, 7 years old and very friendly and interactive with us. The men from Ohio worked so hard and built three houses in his community, and on the day of the wheelchair distribution, it was arranged for Ellie to be brought to the factory so he could be fitted for a wheelchair. The entire family came, which is very common here as it is such a special thing for a loved one to receive mobility!, and everyone in the factory was charmed by him as well.

The next day, we went back to San Juan to finish up the last details of the newly constructed houses and to distribute gifts, Bibles, and food to families. We visited Ellie’s family to bring food and see Ellie in his wheelchair. He was very smiley the whole time and we prayed with them. (see photos below and above) The food was packaged and donated by Kids Against Hunger in Sioux Falls, SD who donated 28,500 meals to Hope Haven Guatemala to distrubte to wheelchair recipient families.

I would like to add that for me personally, this has been one of the most special experiences I’ve had here in Guatemala. To see it come full circle is a beautiful thing and often times I forget that God is working everything out; just because I only see the start or finish doesn’t mean the entire process isn’t there, and that is what I was reminded of.

Just writing this story about Ellie is very emotional for me, it is like every fiber in my being is full of God’s love. I will be back in his community next month with another group and am really looking forward to visiting Ellie’s family again. It is so humbling to bless the people here but ultimately I feel far more blessed just to be part of it all. To be completely unworthy in every way, yet be used by God for His purpose, I don’t even have the words to describe it.

Shippment for the wheelchairs, meals, and supplies was sponsored by US Navy Project Handclasp.

Guatemala – Jan 2012

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:07:28 +0000

This is from Mark Richards (Hope Haven International Ministries) regarding the recent trip to Guatemala. Thanks to Kurt Klingelhoffer for leading this team, for all the team members who served, and for all who provided financially to make it happen.

Mother and 7 children get a new home thanks to the Alliance Christian Center and Gulf Coast Supply. Hope Haven Guatemala hosts a team from NorthEast Ohio so they can build 4 relief Homes.

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Dear friends,

Whether we are refurbishing or building wheelchairs, Hope Haven International always try’s to get the most “bang for the buck” in utilizing volunteers, community service workers, in-kind donations and complimentary shipping. We have developed into an organization that can do $1 worth of good for 10 cents. You only need to look at retail prices for complex rehab wheelchairs to see just how expensive they are and look at the Hope Haven Kidchair and its durability and features for one tenth the price. The Hope Haven KidChair can be set up in minutes for a child’s needs and the RH takes hours and not weeks or months to build and the quality of steel will out last the corrugated tin by 2 to 3 times and is safe for water collection.

Before I began bringing wheelchairs to Guatemala in the late 80′s I was involved in construction projects in Guatemala and learned just how complicated building was in Central America.

We have been working with Gulf Coast Supply’s “International Relief Home” in providing homes to poor families. I never would have imagined that in less than 8 hours you could have a sturdy insulated 2 room house built and dedicated.

We had the slabs pre done by locals and built 4 houses in 4 days. See the emotional words of the mother receiving a Relief Home last week.
There is a side story of a young neighbor boy we discovered when building this home that we never would have found had not the grandmother been holding him when we walked by. Elmer now has mobility and independence in his new Guatemalan made Hope Haven KidChair. Elmer’s story coming soon!

This video is less than 1 1/2 minutes but will bring you to tears!