SUPPORT US FOR GUATEMALA MISSIONS TRIP!

Dear Friends,

I still remember what it looked like to see the volcanoes for the first time. Last year during our trip to Guatemala, I was spellbound by them. I also vividly remember teaching the kids the worship song “Mighty To Save” which contains the lines “Savior, He can move the mountains / My God is mighty to save” while looking out the window at the volcano. The sweet spirit of the Lord in those moments working with the children of the two schools—Proximos Pasos & The School of Life and Hope—was amazing. We went to serve and to bless and returned blessed indeed.

It was the blessing of a lifetime for us. And one of the greatest parts was getting to share that experience with Noah. His eyes lit up as he took in every moment of his Guatemalan missions’ adventure.

We were able to make that journey largely through the generosity of family and friends. The experience was phenomenal and it birthed in our hearts a passion to serve the Lord in Guatemala once again this summer. Once again, however, we are going to depend on the generosity of others to help us make that journey.

This year, we are joining our church, Gloucester County Community Church, on a return trip to work with Mission Impact in Guatemala. Our church team will be conducting a VBS style program for the children at the school as well as once again providing lice washes for the girls. There will also be a work team coming to do construction on the property.

This year will also present a new adventure for us—we are taking all 3 kids with us! Some of you might be worried about us bringing the little kids with us, but they are already veterans of air travel and are both looking forward to visiting Aunt Lauren in Guatemala. The schedule of the trip allows for the kids to have afternoon naps at Aunt Lauren’s house, and by working in the schools, we will be in a nice safe environment for them.

So, we are asking you to prayerfully consider supporting our family trip to Guatemala. We will be going at the end of July through early August. The church team will be in Guatemala from July 25 to August 1, and the family is planning on going down a few days earlier to enjoy some alone time with Aunt Lauren and help her prepare for our team. Taking a family of 5 on a missions’ trip, however, doesn’t come cheap and we are relying on God to supply the need!

Please pray about what the Lord would have you give. You may make donations directly to us if you like, or you can make your checks directly to our church (which will allow you to have a tax deduction at the end of the year!) If you write the check to the church, please put “Hughes Family Guatemala Missions Trip” in the memo line so that it will be credited to our account.

As with last year, we plan to give our friends, family, and supporters a daily glimpse into our journey with our online blog. Each day we will be posting updates from the field complete with pictures and hopefully this year video. It will give you the opportunity to literally join us on the missions’ field and get a firsthand view of your money in action!

Check for updates leading up to the trip and daily during the trip at: www.thehughesfive.blogspot.com.

Finally, the most important thing you could do for us is pray. This is a spiritual journey for us and will require spiritual support. We thank you in advance for all of your prayer and support! May God bless you for your generosity! We look forward to being able to share with you the lives that were touched by your generosity and support!

God Bless,

Bill & Jaci Hughes

FYI: Send checks to us whether you make it out to the church or not. If you need our address for mailing purposes, just email us!

Noah Wins Christian Character Award

We are so proud of Noah for winning the Christian Character award for his class. Each class had one student selected to win that award. As a parent, it is so nice to hear that our son was selected for this award.

A few weeks ago, several of the coaches at our Kids Avenue program identified Noah as someone who does the right thing in class even when his close friends in the group are acting up.

Now, no kid is perfect, but Noah continues to show a maturity and a Christian testimony that is worthy of celebrating and honoring. Some kids are leaders and some kids are followers. Noah is both--a leader among his peers and a follower of Jesus Christ.

Please pray that Noah will continue to maintain this worthy testimony before the Lord.

Also, pray for Noah and the rest of us as we prepare to take a missions trip to Guatemala. Pray for the financing to be made available and pray for our spiritual and physical safety during the trip (what with all the swine flu out there!)

GUATEMALA 2009

Coming soon! Our plea for your prayer and your financial support as we seek to--GULP--take the entire family with us on a missions trip to Guatemala this summer. Our church, GCCC, will be taking a church trip to Guatemala this summer and we will be joining them and running the program at the schools. We are also hoping to go a few days early to spend some time with Lauren and help her get prepared for the team.

Please be in prayer for our family's safety, spiritual growth, and finances as we seek to heed God's call to return to Guatemala!

Check back soon for updates about the trip and for how you can make a donation to our trip!

Hughes Family Walks The Steps of Abraham: Where To Lord?

As we enter the Easter weekend, we find ourselves restless.

Have you ever been restless before?

If you have, then you know what I am talking about. You know that there are times in your life that you feel like the Lord is directing you to some great next stage in your life, but you don't know what that is or when it might come to pass.

Jaci and I feel very restless this Easter season.

For some time, we have been praying that the Lord would direct our steps and open the doors for us that need to be opened. So far nothing.

Of course, the first instinct when the doors remained locked and shut down tight is to question the Lord as to where He is.

Of course, as Job knows, God then has the potential to respond by asking us where we were when He created the earth. He is somewhat bigger than we are. (Especially with our nearly 60 pound combined weight loss!) Okay, so He's a lot bigger than we are. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts.

The frustrating thing for our family right now is that we feel like God has given us a vision of where He wants us to ultimately be, but we haven't gotten the road map yet. We know where He wants us ultimately to end up, we just don't know the timeline and how we are to end up there!

In our culture of immediate gratification, it is very difficult to be put into a holding pattern. It's difficult when the GPS isn't giving us the next route to take.

So, we find ourselves praying and becoming increasingly frustrated that God doesn't move at the pace that we would like Him to. Please pray with us as we seek God's will for our lives and are expecting that He will open the doors that need to be opened.

Easter is all about the death of our old life and the re-birth of something new entirely. In almost 10 years of marriage, Jaci and I can both say that we are not the same people who entered into this covenant back in 1999. We have grown and changed throughout the years, but the cool thing for us has been that God is having us serve together. This life is meant to be a team sport for the Hughes family and we remain on the same team.

After 5 years of serving with Choices of the Heart back in 2007, God made it clear to BOTH OF US that I was to take the step of faith to leave and spend more time serving in Kids Avenue. After a short time without that second income, we were able to enter into a new position with Kids Avenue at church that helped to offset the lost income from Choices of the Heart.

That in itself is amazing, because if you were to tell me that I would be serving in Children's ministry even 3 years ago, I would have laughed at you. However, we became involved in using the 252 Basics Curriculum for children and have found it to be an amazing tool to train young people for lives that serve the Lord and live according to His Word.

Jesus wants our faithfulness. Sometimes that faithfulness is hard to maintain when things don't fall into place the way we would like them to. Sometimes getting that vision of the promised land is frustrating when you know that you are stuck in the middle of the wilderness somewhere with no estimated time of arrival in the promised land.

We have seen God do the miraculous in our lives and we are trusting that He will do again. Please pray for us during this time of testing!

May God bless you this Easter season with the miracle of Jesus' power in your life. May you come to know Christ more deeply and intimately than ever and may you also get a glimpse of the promised land that God has for you and yours.

May we all have the courage to wait on the Lord and step out in faith when called to do so.

Happy Easter!

Biggest Loser Update!

After 2 months of dieting, I am happy to report that the Hughes family has lost over 50 pounds! It's a good feeling to lose that much weight and fit into clothing that hasn't fit you in a while! Both Jaci and I feel like we have a lot more energy and feel healthier! Together we have now lost 53 pounds now!