A box that means the world…

Imagine growing up in a poverty-stricken country where there are shortages on everything. There are millions of children around the globe who lack the basic necessities.

So for them, receiving a gift box full of essential items like toothbrushes is an incredible event. Now add in some brightly colored stickers, markers and a yo-yo or doll, and the youngsters begin to imagine the loving kindness of a people in another land.

CTR’s  annual Operation Christmas Child  gift drive is launching the last weekend in October.

Cristi’s story

Posted by Cristi Hodoroaba

NOTE: Cristi Hodoroaba founded Camp Bit of Heaven, a ministry that reaches out to the young people of Romania with the hope of Christ. Those served include Romania’s large Gypsy population.  The camp is located in the central part of Romania in Fagaras – near the Carpathian Mountains.

Cristi and his wife Daniela have three children. This is his story about God has called him to be His voice to the young people of Romania.

Thinking back of my life I see how I was privileged to be raised the way I was. My parents had three boys and lived in Romania under communism, fearing God more then the authorities. They would take us to church every Sunday and Friday, even when we used to live miles away and the means to travel on overcrowded buses or by foot many miles. Their christian living example was somehow followed by all three boys who started to grow in the Lord by working along side other Christians doing mission work in the villages around, on one-to-one with people that they would trust, or by working with children and youth in churches.

An extreme Romanian makeover

Posted by Norm Kopesky II

This weekend another team from CTR leaves for Camp Bit of Heaven to help organize and run two weeks of camps for Romanian children from poor and small villages.  Some will be gypsies and some from orphanages, kids who in many cases have never known of God’s love or hope. There will be scripture teachings and lessons, games, a lot of singing, campfires and interaction with kids whose lives differ from our own and yet we all share in the need for a Savior.

Twelve years ago, CTR helped a Romanian couple named Cristi and Daniela Hordoraba purchase this piece of property.

Set your DVR!

Miss Marie's house no longer looks like this, thanks to volunteers and those at CTR who donated supplies and financial gifts.

Here’s an update from Diane Jacobson, one of our Christ The Rock OAKS (organized Acts of kindness and Sacrifice) volunteers who left Appleton one year ago to help rebuild homes along the Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricane Ike.

Diane reports that one of the homeowners she and others helped will be featured on the Today Show on Wednesday. Marie Carmen, or “Miss Marie” as her friends call her, is in her seventies and will be the recipient of an award to be given by Today’s Al Roker as part of his Lend a Hand feature.

Says Diane:

“For those of you who do not know Marie, she is a lady who many of you who responded to our need for help actually got to assist her after the damage to her home from Hurricane Ike. For those who have had the great pleasure to have helped in rebuilding her home… THIS IS AWESOME!!! Thank you to all of you! Marie’s story is a great one and she is an amazing lady  Also for those who have worked in her home you can see the blessings that come to those who wait! We all love Miss Marie and are very excited for her to be able to tell her story! Our hope is that her story will encourage you, bless you and pull on you heart strings to lend a hand yourselves and either come or come back to help us get more people just like Miss Marie back home.”

Diane and her volunteer partners will be with Marie in her newly-refurbished home when the Today Show crew arrives. You can catch Marie this Wednesday morning June 24 between 7:30 and 9:00 a.m.

Mexico Team headed home with stories, blessings!

For the past week, a team of 32 youth and adults from Christ The Rock spent a sizzling time of service in Musquiz, Mexico, one of the poorest slums in that nation. The people they met and ministered to were a blessing, and many are coming back with memories and stories you’ll want to hear (scroll down to check out JJ Dempsey’s story and see the photos).

Some fast facts about this trip: Did you know the students and young adults…

Ø       Put together a 4 day Children’s Program that will be done 2 X a day in 2 different places ministering to about 100 children

Ø       Put together a Soccer Tournament in a new area with an opportunity to share Christ with all who participate.

Ø       Put together a drama

Ø       Putting together messages / stories to share at the evening events

Ø       Put together their very own worship band

Ø       Put together crafts for each day

Ø       Planned the games and activities

Ø       Supply shopping, inventory, and packing

Ø       They even did the team devotionals and team worship books and will be leading this team each morning

Ø       This past week God used them to collect a large donation of T-shirts that can be given away as gifts to the children – all because God laid it on someone’s heart.

Serving up heat in Mexico

Posted by JJ Dempsey

Heat is the one issue we struggle with in Mexico.  It zaps the life out of even the most upbeat of us.  Drinking hot water (cold when we arrive, but heated by the sun quite quickly) is difficult for most and not very refreshing.  We’re praying for clouds.

In spite of the heat the team is holding up well. We continue to have some sickness, but the team continues to step up and care for each other. 

Keeping the memory alive

Posted by Amy Spreeman

It’s now been one month since I returned from Haiti with our team. As with any trip like this, memories can fade if the traveler does not constantly remind herself what she experienced!

Here’s a video we put together to capture what we saw and felt as we experienced this incredible country:

more about “Haiti Report-Stock the Storehouse – t…“, posted with vodpod

Going slumming

God's children in Soleil City, a slum within Port au Prince, Haiti.

Posted by Amy Spreeman

I am still processing all that I have seen today. My energy level that was at its peak for the last two days is now beginning to fall a bit, and I sense that sleep tonight will be hard and sound. I am not prepared for the tears that are keeping me up.

Pastor Lavaud is anxious to show me a slum area. “You mean it gets worse than what I’ve seen?” But I keep that thought to myself and eagerly agree. I pack my camera gear into the car. As we drive through the poorest section of Port Au Prince, Soleil City (city of sun), I see poverty like I never could have imagined possible. The filth that one million people have to live with in this place is hard to describe in words, but I will try.

Bon Jour from Port au Prince

Posted by Amy Spreeman

This is the first of several reports from Haiti, where I am spending the week gathering the sights, sounds and stories from a nation where poverty is at its worst.

Port au Prince is alive with street vendors

From the moment we step off the plane in Port au Prince, Haiti becomes a real place to me. The faces I’ve seen in photos and online look into my eyes, children smiling and adults wary of this white person in their world.

Pastor Lavaud, the man with whom CTR has built a relationship, packs our bags into our rental car and drives out into the streets. Immediately the scope and the weight of the poverty here becomes stunningly obvious. The crumbling cement exteriors of the homes spill into the streets with the rest of the day’s garbage. Everyone is an entrepreneur; street vendors selling their meager wares and women carrying large baskets on their heads.

The roads are more like narrow dirt alleys, with sections of unpaved muddy hills and bumps. There are brightly-painted buses called tap-taps that people hop on and off at intersections. Every vehicle is packed with people. Those children who are lucky enough to attend school are walking home in their uniforms, carrying books and holding the hands of younger siblings.

A Haitian woman closes up shop for the day. Not many customers are able to purchase her wares.

The word comes to us of news about the large container of beans and rice that Christ The Rock has donated to the Stock the Storehouse fund. This very day the container has cleared Haitian customs after sitting in a warehouse for several weeks. This is lucky for us and good news for the people of Hinche, a town three hours northeast of here. The people will be able to eat this food for quite some time as 400,000 portions of beans and rice will provide daily sustenance.

A bed for our heads

Tonight we are staying in a missions house called Matthew 25 House. It is a large home with many rooms on a secured property in the middle of Port au Prince. There are gates, armed guards and dogs to protect the visiting missionaries.

Helping the hungriest–

UPDATED: Truck is in port!

A few weeks ago Christ The Rock sent a large shipment of food to Haiti, thanks to all those who contributed to our Stock The Storehouse fund.

It takes some time for the container and its contents to be inspected by customs authorities, but as soon as it is cleared the people in the community of Hinche will have rice and beans. Lots of it.

Hinche is a city north east of Port au Prince, where we’ve built partnerships and relationships over the years. Haiti is by far the hungriest, poorest, neediest nation on this side of the globe.

Through our connections, we’ve been able to arrange for a large container of food–imagine the biggest semi truck you’ve ever seen–at a very inexpensive transportation rate.

Almost from the moment our church body heard about the great need, they’ve generously poured their love and gifts toward this incredible opportunity.   From those donations, we’re going to provide 50,000 pounds of dried rice and dried beans to the hungry.

It costs just one dime to provide a plate of rice and beans as a meal to a hungry person in Haiti. This container we’re providing will provide 400,000 portions!

Please pray with us that we can continue our work and minister to those in need in Haiti with the love of Christ.