Labor day holiday....fun with grandkids...went to Orange Street Fair....visited with Aunt Betty in Long Beach. Get back to my blog later today...

I listened to Francis Chan all morning...for hours. He makes me want to be a better Christian. Recently, I read two books that changed my life. Half the Sky by Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn and the other book, Authority in Prayer by Dutch Sheets. I must warn you that you will need a box of tissue for the Sky book: horrifying, sad and disgusting all at the same time. We cannot ignore the horrendous plight of women and children in this world. We must be aware and then act on our knowledge. The other book by Sheets, gives us one of the important tools for this fight, prayer. Without prayer, we're all goners. Pray and ask God where He would use you in the fight for the voiceless. I'm counting on you.

I'mmmm back

I'm finally back. I gave up trying to write in my blog because it turned into a chore..not my intention. Also, more lame excuses, for some reason my cursor jumps all over the text..very annoying and I haven't been able to find a solution. So much has happened in the last 15 months. Yes, that's how long it's been since my last post. Too much to discuss. Let me say that I have completed two courses of training for teaching caregivers of traumatized children. I completed the Celebrating Children course with Janna Moats and Loom out of Portland. I also completed the two Modules for teaching with Crisis Care Training International out of South Carolina. I then went to Fairbanks, Alaska and taught Module I. I am currently in the process of reorganizing the nonprofit and seeing where God will send me with all this wonderful new information. Stay tuned, and i promise it won't be 15 months before i'm back. 

Almost Home

Wow, gone 3 months and now 3 days till I go home. Very excited about seeing my family and sharing all that God has done in these past months. When I left the States I truly believed God was calling me away to spend time in His Presence. He did not disappoint. Learning His intentions for the children of the world has been a revelation of His goodness. Working on the Crisis Care International material has opened my eyes to the traumatized lives of millions of children. Women and children all over the world are in crisis. The enemy of our souls is prowling around seeking whom he can devour, and he is devouring our children. War is not only devastating our present it is destroying the future potential of a generation of children. Who will answer the call to restore a hope and a future for these children. I will. Join me as I am trained to bring hope to the hopeless and a voice to the voiceless. Pray with me, work with me, find out how you can change the life of a child who has lost all hope for their future. Together we can stop this destruction one life at a time, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and our willingness to follow Jesus.

Milly's info

Her legal name is Mileyda Ibarra. Remember you cannot put her name on a check at all. It will make the check void. Your donation is tax deductible. Because of so many missionaries working in restricted situations there are no online donations unless you decide you want to donate to her monthly, which would be awesome, but if it's a one time donation for her insurance, these are your choices.
1. You can call in a donation to Emily Sinke, who is the person who handles donations.
# 903 509-5307
 Remember they charge for credit cards, 3.5% and that is deducted from the donation so an extra 4% would keep Milly from paying that fee.

2. You can mail a check made out to YWAM Tyler
  Address:
   YWAM Tyler
    PO Box 3000
    Tyler, Texas 75771-3000
Please put a sticky note that gives Mileyda's full name, Mileyda Ibarra,
She is in Italy but the donation site is in Texas, and that is how you are able to receive a tax deductible donation.
God bless you for your willingness to help Milly with her insurance.
Cheryll

Celebrating Children Workshop, Romania

The workshop in Romania was informative and just plain fun. Janna Moats and her team from Loom in Portland, did such a good job of giving valuable information and combining it with creative activities. The days went quickly and every day I kept thinking of how many people could benefit from this important information. Although, the workshop is intended for cross-cultural workers, I could see many applications for parents and caregivers in my small community. I look forward to going home and sharing with people in the community who are active in making Barstow a better place to live.

I began my next training program, Crisis Care International Training. This pilot program is being delivered online for the first time and I'm excited to be part of it. Our team consists of a woman from Northern California, myself, a lady running a children's home in Sri Lanka, and a gentleman from Uganda, that had his computer stolen so don't know if he will get a new computer in time to continue the class. I'm sitting in the airport in Dublin so I'm missing the second class...bummer. I will rejoin the class next weekend. Too zombified to continue with this post..been up for 24hrs except for 2 hours of sleep slumped over in a chair at the airport...ugh.
Ciao

Lost in Translation

FYI, if you decide to travel with your Kindle and use it for email and Facebook, it actually works for those two tasks. If you want to post on your blog, forget it, it doesn't work. Found out the hard way. Romania was amazing and the people hosting the conference were kind and generous. I loved it at the Constanta base. I told myself I wasn't going to mention this because it's sort of tacky, but I find the inner comedian cannot resist telling everyone, ok the two readers I have, about the crap. Apparently, the word for the fish carp, is spelled "crap" in Romanian. The first time I went into a grocery store I was completely baffled by all the "crap" for sale. Crap salad, crap by the pound, grilled crap, and of course, the ever popular, crap eggs. Needless to say I could barely control myself. I did not bother to ask the guy I was with because I guessed the humor of the situation would get lost in translation and he would wonder what kind of terrible person I must be. Two days later, a Romanian friend and I went to a fancy restaurant, and sure enough, you guessed it, there was "crap" on the menu.

"Lumi, I have to ask," pointing to the menu. "What is with the crap?"
She said, It"s a fish."
I immediately realized it was carp, and went on to explain the meaning in English for the word crap. She did think it humorous but again something was definitely lost in translation.
Sorry it still makes me smile. I won't even bother to talk about the workshop I attended. It was life changing...I'll save that for the next blog on a more serious note.
Ciao