FEAR October 21, 2009

Below is few more paragraphs from our friends, the Richardsons, regarding the feelings prior to coming to Guatemala last week, and how God responded….

Fear:

“I had many fears coming on this trip. The voices of family and friends reminded me of the dangers: H1N1 outbreak, no guaranteed competent medical care in Guatemala, American children being targeted for kidnappings/assault/robberies, a corrupt police and government, parasites and unsanitary living conditions. Despite my fear prior to the trip, while on the trip I never felt threatened or worried while in Guatemala. In many ways, I felt safer than in some parts of Macon, GA! These people in Guatemala were existing, albeit meagerly, and I couldn’t envision them hurting or robbing the Americans that they recognized were there to help them. One villager even asked me if I was one of the Americans that was there to “bring new life” to the villagers. How ashamed I felt that I had so many fears, all of which were unnecessary, when these people didn’t even have basic needs met. Yet, these people weren’t fearful at all.”

The Holy Spirit Using 200Q October 21, 2009

Below is a quick “guest blog” from our friends Mark and Katheryne Richardson. They just returned home from their trip to Guatemala and sent us some thoughts… here they are…

“We learned of a family that had an 12 year old daughter named Blanca. She had been raped by a neighbor and became pregnant. She delivered a little girl who was about 1 year old at the time of our visit. The family had been selected to have a home built by 12 x 12 Ministries. Mark and I planned early one afternoon to deliver some clothes and blankets for the baby to use, as it was getting cold, especially during the evenings. As we had already experienced, planning wasn’t always useful/necessary in Guatemala! We ended up first visiting a near-by village, and staying much longer than anticipated. On our way home, we stopped by Blanca’s house to deliver the clothes.

Mark and I saw their living conditions, which were typical of the area: a tiny shelter, comprised of tin, piece-mealed together, a tin roof which was kept from blowing off by a few cinder blocks, one room for sleeping everyone (3 adults and one baby), and one tiny cooking area with a fire. The interior of the house was black and filled with smoke. The baby had crusted eyes and nose, filled with black mucous from the smoke. Their clothes were worn and tattered. When the wind blew, the tin pieces rattled and threatened falling down.

While our friend Brock spoke to the 12 year old’s father in Spanish, we handed the clothes we brought to Blanca. Mark was very moved by this particular situation. He reached into his pocket and put his hand on a 100Q (about $12), but didn’t remove it. He asked our friend, “Would it be OK if we left them some money?” Our friend replied in English “It is sometimes best to provide clothes or something else besides money.”

At that point, Mark said he decided 200Q (about $25) was the amount he wanted to give, but he didn’t take it out of his pocket yet. Our friend added, “Actually, this man just told me that they are going to be evicted soon because they can’t pay their rent. Their new house that we are building isn’t ready yet. Maybe you could give a donation to be applied toward that instead of just cash?”

Mark replied that would be fine.

Our friend asked the father how much their rent was, and the reply was 200Q. The room was still and silent when Mark commented that the amount he had in his pocket that he planned to donate was 200Q.

Our friend took the 200Q to the landlord the next day”

Electric “Company” October 15, 2009

Well, many of you have told us that you enjoy some of the quick blogs which just give a quick glimpse into our days in Guatemala. This is one of those hopefully “quick ones”.
At the core of DeepStream and all that we hope to be to those around us is “relationships”. One family, the Lopez’, live in Buena Vista and were one of the 12×12 home projects a few months ago. They have 4 younger kids who greet us every time we come to the village of Buena Vista for any reason at all. As we go to their home to visit it was brought to our attention that this family had no electricity in their home, so basically by 7:00, its lights out, or candlelight at best. It has been on our heart to help them in this area. In Guatemala, the get the electricity wired and hooked up and around $50 or so, and we told them we would handle it.
Now on to the rest of the story…. When I went out this past week to give the father some money to get the job done, he told me that the total cost was closer to 1000Q which is somewhere in the ballpark of $120. Even that figure is nothing compared to what it would cost to get electric hooked up and installed in the states, but something in me just felt like I wanted to express to them that our family would be able to do “part” of it, but not the entire amount… so, we as I was talking to my friend Brock, who was handling the translating, etc… I had told Brock that our family could do 600Q but that I would think it would be cool if the family could do their part. (keep in mind, this was a totally private conversation) As we entered the Lopez’ home, we expressed our desire to help with part, but that we weren’t able to do it all, and with a thankful heart and humble spirit the father asked, “Do you think you could do 600Q?” The rest was history as I felt very at peace with the truth that the same amount had been put on my heart and on this mans.
God is good, He wants us to experience Him in all ways, even small ones. We just need to listen!

Just How I am Feeling… September 29, 2009

Good morning,
I sure hope everyone is having a good day.
Last night I was just reminded of how many people in my life I have who care for me, pray for me and love me.
I was so thankful that although I am really far away from them I still feel close to them and that is comforting.

We are doing well here. Life is tiring- mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially- it hits on all levels every day and it is tiring.
Mentally we are absorbing so much Spanish in one half of the day then doing a short amount of Home Schooling in the afternoon. Aside from that keeping up with the updates, pictures, blogs takes time. Our belongings are still not here so that weighs on the mind as we have now been here a month and still missing some of the key elements to settle. Being surrounded by another culture each of us have to understand, translate and then speak to go to the store, have to car fixed, anything. So at the end of the day we feel like our brains are fried!!!

Emotionally we are still adjusting and not sure we will ever feel comfortable completely with our living situation. Aside from the fact we have a German Shepherd that sheds 5 lbs of hair a day! the rains flood the hallway and stairs to our bedroom and living room so you are putting your shoes on and off all the time as to not track water throughout the main 2 rooms we use. The house is generally dusty and smelly b/c we are open to the elements of the street. People cook with wood here so 3x a day you can see and smell the smoke and it enters our bedroom, living room ,kitchen if the doors are not shut and of course the other parts of the house that do not have doors to close are always exposed. Emotionally we all just feel like we are not home, not comfortable, not able to just go ahhhhh. we are home. This is okay. We knew the situation coming into Magdalena, Milpas Altas and we are willing to adjust. It is just taking time. We hope in the future to make some changes to our home, but for now we are learning how to be thankful even when our home does not feel like it as we know home is where your heart is, not where you are comfortable. We have electricity,a hot shower, beds with pillows and blankets, couches and tables and chairs we are way ahead of some of the people here and for us to complain that smoke fills our home would be rather rude as our neighbors need to eat and they need to have fire to eat. The noise level here is way elevated as compared to our quiet, private hill in Stroudsburg! Buses with the loudest horns you could imagine, roosters, barking dogs, loud music all at 6:00 or earlier- every day in fact it is louder on the weekends as people are home and not heading off to work as much. That has been draining emotionally, mentally, physically as we really have to work at being rested and getting quiet. I do not have a washer or dryer yet so my laundry is always overflowing. I cook on a camping stove top burner with 1 pot and 2 frying pans for my use. I miss my kitchen and the ease of the tools and machines. I am grateful for friends here who have let me use their machines a few times to cut down on the work, the piles, and brought us dinners. When our shipment arrives I think physically it will relieve some of these burdens.

Our shipment is dragging on costing more and more money everyday. Our 19 year old car is leaking water from the sunroof and the starter and alternator need to be replaced at least that is what we think. The mechanic is outside speaking with Mark about it now. We were stuck 2x yesterday thank God at shopping centers where we were safe. Getting home took us 3 hours as opposed to 1. But while sitting, frustrated, tired and just plum done- we prayed, we asked God to help us not be distracted by the things of this world that in the big scope of why we are here these things are not important. Our house, car, money are not ours- they are all God’s who graciously allows us those comforts. We prayed and felt better, felt more centered and left the situation grateful for the stress of the car not starting again as we were able to unload the garbage and upload focused intentions. We did get the car started and made it home safely close to 6 when we were to return about 3, but all is good as the mechanic is looking at the car now. Vegetables, fruits and things you can buy at the market are very inexpensive and man have we loved, loved running down the road for the freshest eggs, veggies and fruits filling our bellies with goodness. Junk food is cheap here too- just as in the US, but every other thing is just so dang expensive; gasoline, clothing, shoes, meats, cereals, baking things and electronics…whew they are just crazy high! Still thinking if we are going to purchase a small oven as we don;t have one yet, but we also need a dryer for when our washer comes so I think that will trump the oven for now. Here labor is next to nothing and the people are good at what they do. In our town we have bakers with great bread and desserts real cheap, plumbers, mechanics, carpenters, welders, window makers, a bunch of tiendas and sorry attempts at school supply stores, but they work. Living here is not that expensive- rent is low, but electricity is high so it balances out. We need to buy water( can not drink or cook with the local water) so we have 5 gallon buckets we refill every day and a half, but they only cost about $1.80 each. So the money we spend monthly seems to be the same as in the states for some reason although it is not.

Because we are here for more than culture exposure for our family, different education for our children, to see a new part of the world and have a family adventure, we feel the urgency to be a spiritual bridge to the people here. We are here mostly to help others see God’s love for them, the freedom found in knowing you are loved and accepted. The peace that comes to your home, marriage, life when you decide to surrender and say, “I want you, Jesus, to lead me. I can’t be happy without knowing you are close to me.” We are busy with so many of our own needs that the time we want to have to minister to the people here physically is less than we had hoped. We know it is temporary until Spanish School is done, but it weighs on our hearts that there are people who have a corner of their home to stay dry, their bellies are empty, their house is dark, they are being ignored our abused. We feel burdened to help, to encourage, to know, to be friends with our neighbors intimately and that takes time and full brain capacity of which we have very little of both. Spiritually we question our motives for being here- yes it is for others, but are we learning the lessons God has us to learn while here or are we just stressing ourselves out?

To sum up my month here, I am just spinning. The good and the hard, the funny and sad, the challenge, the beauty, the stress, the reliance, the absence of comfort make my mind just spin. The kids are doing good, Mark too. We all feel great about tackling this adventure together and growing closer as we have to have much patience with everyone. Life is not easy. Life is not comfortable. In fact sometimes it is not even enjoyable, but it is our life and we never, ever want to feel unappreciative of the most important parts of life. Being loved, having peace are immeasurable necessities of life. Some strive their entire existence to feel what we have felt these past few months. We know we are where we need to be right now. We have no doubts of our future. We are secure in our love for each other. We have a peace that Jesus is with us suffering when we are, laughing, crying just as we are. We feel we are close to His heart helping those whom others feel are not important enough to help.

Although wore out in all aspects of this human life, we are usually uncomfortable, we are stressed and we are far away from “home”, we are just so incredibly thankful, overwhelmingly loved and cared for, extremely hopeful for enormous blessings to come this way and in sheer awe that we are given this opportunity as family to be here. So, please keep communicating to us your thoughts, your dailys as that helps us feel close to you all. We value your encouragement and as the Lord leads, your prayers. Month 1 has been……whew! and we would love for you to come and share in this journey while we are here in Guatemala.

I love you all.
I am thankful for you.
I pray for you.
I miss you.
I hope to see you soon.

Because of Jesus,
Gina

LOCO GRINGO!!! September 26, 2009

Two days ago I got a call from my friend Brock, who was at the time, in Guat City. He had been spending his day taking a young handicapped boy from Buena Vista from Doctor to Doctor in order to have tests done. Brock needed me to quickly go to “Esbins” home and get his mother on the phone so that they could relay some info. Well, as many of you know, I am currently learning Spanish and am very far from being able to communicate clearly. Nevertheless, off I went with my son Eli. The errand for Brock went very smoothly and on that end, mission accomplished. This is where it starts to get interesting…

As I got back in my car and started backing up, I noticed a bump under my tire, but assumed it was the curb. As I continued to back up, 3 of the village boys were running towards me, yelling something in Spanish which I couldn’t understand. I stopped… got out, and that is when they took me over to a huge bag of corn, which apparently a lady had placed next to my car (unnoticed by me) and as I backed up, I had run over it, causing the entire 50 lbs of corn to spill out into the road. As I I stood there, I now had attracted a larger group of children who were all telling me different things, and of course the woman who had just come back to the village with her bag of corn, was now standing there as well, all staring at me waiting for me to speak.

My mind of course was screaming all kinds of things and trying to get something to come out of my mouth in spanish became the next challenge. All I could think of was getting her a new bag and trying to salvage whatever we could. You have to understand that this bag of corn represented many days of food for this womans family. She had just spent a good portion of her day, traveling by bus to get the corn, and had finally gotten home, unloaded the bag, and now this… All I kept saying was “lo siento”, which is sorry… My 7 year old was by my side staring at me the whole time as if he were saying, “can’t wait to see Dad get out of this one…” After standing there cleaning up corn for a good bit of time, I apologized again and simply said, “LOCO GRINGO”, which for those of you who don’t know would be something like, “crazy white guy”, and you should have heard everyone laughing. As I walked to my car to leave, all the children were running after me pointing and repeating, “loco gringo, loco gringo…” Hoping this doesn’t become my nickname in Buena Vista, but for that moment it was.

While there isn’t too deep of a point to this blog other than to relay the things that I often get myself into it here in Guatemala, there was a couple of lessons learned…

1) Always check under your tire for bags of corn, prior to backing up.

2) Go to the village with someone who speaks spanish!

3) Seriously, always remember the value of things. This bag of corn didn’t look like all that much to me, but you could tell that to this woman and to every child there, they knew it meant food for a family, for children, a mom and a dad.

Anabela and her Hijas! September 15, 2009

Anabela, Lucia and Carla.

Spanish school in Antigua is going well. I feel like all of us are adjusting to the culture by learning the language, the ways of Guatemala and the specific culture for our area by submerging ourselves in these classes. They are not easy, but they are enjoyable. When we come home and our heads feel like they are going to explode with information we know weʼve had a good day. Most days after lunch we are then doing a few lessons with the kids in math, writing, reading. We try to take a walk and be out in the streets of Magdalena keeping our presence known and observing the ways of our town. Still feel really strong that Magdalenaʼs people are our neighbors whom we want to help, learn from, and become friends with as we both become more comfortable with each other. One village adjacent to Magdalena is Buena Vista, which is another location that we know we are going to have a presence in daily. DeepStream has already been used to physically connect funds from the states to; build homes, provide food, clothes, shoes, medical assistance, sports programs to the sweet people in this very poor village. The kids ask often to go visit Buena, but our time here these few weeks is focused, at least for the next 2 months in Antigua at CSA- our language school.

Mark and I have the same teacher, Anabela Ponce fuerte who has 2 daughters ages 7 and 4, Carla and Lucia. Even though we have only met the family a week ago, we have known them for about a year now. This connection is nothing short of amazing and just like God to do for us as He knows we are seeking to help people wherever we go. I struggled with being in Antigua so often when I knew we were to be in Magdalena and Buena, but God has made my doubts dissipate by connecting us with Anabela. Brock took classes at CSA last September. His teacher told him of a fellow teacher (maestra), whose daughter has a very large tumor on her arm needing attention but the family has no means, nor was there a doctor who had knowledge of how to handle the case. Brock let the need be known and families from the states helped her financially get to Denver where a doctor performed the first stage of surgery on Carla. That was last January. Now 9 months later we are connected again with Anabela and her daughter Carla who needs to make several more trips back to Denver as her tumor is so large is needs to be shrunk slowly before it can be removed. Carla also has growths of blood vessels bright red moles, which as she grows are growing too. Her sister, Lucia has a cyst of some sort on her eyeball that needs attention. Anabela tells us she is saving her money so she can update their Visas so they can travel back to the states to start improving Carlaʼs quality of life. Although she is 7 she is not in school as her condition is too dangerous and the school says they cannot accept her. After 5 days of conversation with Anabela about her life, meeting her daughters and knowing the unique connection from the past we are burdened to help this family. The pay Anabela receives from CSA is enough for food, clothing and shelter to which she is thankful, but to help her daughter she needs financial help. We feel it is not a coincidence that once again DeepStream has been connected with this family. We plan to use our energies and whatever resources we can raise to help this family.

1. We will continue to go to school at CSA for the 2 months even though it is very expensive as we are enabling Anabela to have steady income by being her students.

2. We plan to buy bread and pastries from Anabela as she is also studying to be a baker to have a second income.

3. We plan to bring her fruits and some meat weekly as she only has enough money to buy beans, eggs, tortillas, herbs and supplies for her cooking classes.

4. We plan to allow her to share her burdens with us during our 4 hour classes and to assure her we are praying for her and her family.

5. We plan to help her get her Visas, to get to Denver, to stick with her until Carlaʼs treatments are complete.

So as we update you on our journey in Guatemala this is heaviness we want to share with you. This family needs our help. They are doing what they can to help themselves, but we all know that sometimes we just need each other. Us being Anabelaʼs students is not a coincidence and is part of a plan we feel God has set in motion for His people to
help. Please consider how your family, your class, your church, your friends can help the Ponce fuerte family. We have only shared with Anabela that we will tell others to pray so even if you commit to pray for her let us know so we can share your names and maybe a picture of you guys with them. We have attached a picture so you can see the
family, the condition of Carla and visualize the situation. For now we close with hearts overflowing with love, appreciation, sadness, excitement, and hope. Thank you very much and please, be in touch.

Because of Jesus, Gina

HABLA ESPANOL??? September 7, 2009

Well, one day down on the Spanish class thing and many more long ones ahead. For those of you who don’t know, we decided to put our entire family in classes for the next two months so that we could fast forward the learning process a bit, while at the same time being able to practice what we are learning while heading in to the villages and interacting with our neighbors. Gina and I are sharing a teacher, Corinne and Isaac have one, and Bryn and Eli are sharing one. As I type the kids are paired up around the house quizzing each other and doing their home assignments together.

Our friend Kerrie Johnson is also going into the classes each day with us. When we arrived today we were so excited to find out that Kerries teacher was the same one who had taught her hubby Brock, and our teacher just happens to be the mother of a little girl who DS helped earlier in the year with a surgical procedure that could only take place in the states. It was special as G and I, were able to relate to our teacher that we had been praying for her daughter and we were excited that God had connected us again. Once again, God has shown how He is before us paving the way in this journey.

We are excited and thanking God for this new opportunity to not just learn a new language, but to also share our life with our teacher, AnnaBella and continue the connection which started months ago.

What Exactly is DeepStream? November 14, 2008

What Exactly is DeepStream?The Elusive Question- What is DeepStream?

 

DeepStream is a movement that is bigger than just the Johnson and the Schmidt families. It is a movement calling for our live’s to be ones of worship, worship that has an influence on the culture around us. It is a movement calling people to live a life that is not caught up only in doing, but heavily in Being all that we are supposed to be. We feel that there is a general movement happening in America today that is calling people back to their roots, settling them into their rural routines and leading a more focused life. Life that is focused back on God and His original designs and plans for each individual and for each home. Other religions are also calling for a more quiet, controlled, peaceful life, but we suggest to add the key ingredient to making this way of life truly successful- GOD.

As we have encountered people over the past few years, we are hearing stories that relate to this movement in others lives as well. It is a deep stirring for something more, for a faith that goes beyond Sunday’s and reaches into the reality of our everyday lives. It is a leading back to the true heart of worship and de-compartmentalizing our lives so that we can make worship happen at all times.

There is a fire burning in us and within many that we have connected with that has a renewed passion and excitement about God and our relationship that we can have with Him through Jesus Christ. This stirring is helping people rediscover a life that has purpose, the kind of life that Jesus said He came to give – Abundant! (John 10:10)

When it is all said and done, DeepStream came into being as God stirred our families to refocus, slow down, get back to real worship with God, and really loving our neighbors, and our hope is to influence the culture in which we live to do the same. What’s with the name DeepStream? Kindof a picture of God’s love (Deep) and the movement of God (Stream), taking us to places that are new and exciting.

Great Quotes – #1 November 26, 2008

“Hard things are put in our way not to stop us, but to call out our courage and strength.”

“He who has no fire in himself cannot warm others.”

“You give of little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of your heart that you truly give.” -

Kahlil Gilbran

“I never knew a child of God being bankrupted by his benevolence.”

“What we keep we may lose, but what we give to Christ we are sure to keep.” -

Theodore Y. Cuyler

“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it”. -

Psalm 118:8

“Seeds of discouragement will not grow in the thankful heart.”

“Take time to be holy, Speak often with God, Find rest in Him always and feed on His Word, Make friends of God’s children, Help those who are weak, Forgetting in nothing His blessings to seek.” – William Longstaff

“God will only mend a broken heart if He is given all the pieces.”

“We pardon to the extent that we love.” -

La Rochefoucauld

“Don’t be sad about the things you want and don’t get. Think how many things you don’t want that you don’t get.”

“He puts into my hands gifts to relay to others.”

“There is no creature, regardless of its apparent insignificance that fails to show us something of God’ s goodness.” - Thomas a Kempis

“It is easy to praise when things go right. It is more precious to praise when things go wrong.”

“I’ve learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them.” -

John Stuart Mill

“I am an optimist. It doesn’t seem too much use being anything else.” -

Winston Churchill

“Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.” –

Corrie ten Boom

“Blessed are they who have to gift of making friends, for it is one of God’s best gifts. It involves many of going out of one’s self and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another.” –

“Our Lord does not care so much for the importance of our works as for the heart with which they are done” – Teresa of Avila

“Peace is seeing a sunrise of sunset and knowing whom to thank.”

“The highest knowledge is the knowledge of God.”

Thomas Hughes

Great Quotes – #2 December 10, 2008

Watch for good times to retreat into yourself. Frequently meditate on how God is to you. – Thomas a Kempis

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

How grateful we are for the tongues that have brought the message of Christ! So much of blessing comes through the tongue. But what hurt that little thing can do also! The tongue must be under control at it’s roots down in the heart- the Spirits control. – S.D.Gordon

When I was much younger… I thought myself almost infallible; but I bless God, I know better now.-John Wesley

The soul like the body, lives by what it feeds on. – Josiah Gilbert Holland

The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family. – Thomas Jefferson

One must never be in haste to end a day; there are too few of them in a lifetime. – Dale Coman

God is glorified, not by our groans, but by our thanksgivings. – Edwin Percy Whipple

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. – John Burroughs

Yielding to the will of God is not bondage- it is a blessing.

God gave you the gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?” – William A. Ward

How can you expect God to speak in that gentle and inward voice which melts the soul, when you are making so much noise with your rapid reflections? Be silent, and God will speak again. – Francois Fenelon

The extravagance of God : More sky than man can see, More seas than he can sail, More sun that he can bear to watch, More stars than he can scale. – Ralph W. Seager

Prayer requires more of the heart than the tongue. – Adam Clarke

It is very east to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption to forgive them for having witnessed your own. – Jessamyn West

LEt us put an end,once and for all, to this discussion of what a good mad should beand be one! – Marcus Aurelius

The world is full of discourages. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another.

Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word. – William Barclay

There are many different kinds of prayers. Yet all prayer has one basic purpose. We pray not to get something, but to open up a 2 way street between us and God so that we and others may inwardly become something. – John Huss

I find that it is not he circumstances in which we ar places. but the spirit in which we meet them that constitutes our comfort. – Elizabeth King

We would be more grateful if we knew how much of what we take for granted is planned by God. Praise loudly. blame softly. – Catherine II

Conscience is God’s presence in man. – Emmanuel Swedenborg

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. – Winston Churchill

It is in loving, not in being loved the heart is blessed; It is in giving, not in seeking gifts we find our quest. – M.E. Russell

He who rises from his knees a better man, his prayer has been answered. – George Meredith

No one ever said at the end of his days, “I have read my Bible too much, I have thought of God too much, I have prayed too much, I have been to careful with my soul.” – J. C. Ryle

You give of little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of your heart that you truly give. – Kahlil Gilbran

I never knew a child of God being bankrupted by his benevolence. What we keep we may lose, but what we give to Christ we are sure to keep. – Theodore Y. Cuyler

Schmidt’s New Adventure January 7, 2009

Our family Christmas Eve

Dear Family, Dear Friends,

We want you each to know this information at the same time. Although cheesy, overused and impersonal,
e-mail is a great tool. We have been wanting to share but decided to wait until after the holidays. We are
broadening our horizons, exposing our children to a different way of life, taking a jump of faith in a new
location. To some of you, this is no surprise as we seem to relocate quite often throughout our marriage.
When we moved to Stroudsburg 5 years ago it was for several reasons:
*To adopt a slower pace of life where our family could choose our own schedule and have more time as a family.
*To get out from behind the church walls (we were a Pastoral/Ministerial family) and into the community by “being” the church instead of calling people into the church.
*To expose our children to a different culture- southerners to northerners- private school to public school etc…
*To reconnect with Gina’s family in PA, NJ, & NY.
*To follow through with the ministry(DeepStream) God grew in our hearts to encourage, strengthen, teach and support married couples and the family unit.
*To take a leap of faith and relocate without a job, place to live or firm plan of what to DO with DeepStream.

We feel reconnecting with family, organizing our time the way we see fit, exposing the children to a different culture, giving DeepStream a home base have all been accomplished by moving here. Part of the slower pace and exposing the children to another slice of life were necessary mature, to be able to grow in our faith and increase our burden to help people. By the moving of our hearts we relocated here trusting God would heal, encourage and help us grow closer to Him. He has and continues to do just that! Our desire has become deeper to be closer as a family, to minister together, to bring Jesus into the community, to take a leaps of faith often giving ourselves as we feel that is the best way to mature, help others and obtain inner peace. In our family time together as we talk, pray, read, share and listen we not only see the need for our family to venture to new places, but we also see the ministry of DeepStream broadening. Good strong marriages are important and so is a solid family, but as a family we are burdened for the people who have no family, whose marriages have crumbled, whose families have been torn apart. As the children have matured they have developed their own tender hearts- wanting to help people in Jesus’ name.
* Since the age of 9 Corinne has mentioned adopting a child. Through our support of IJM all the children but mostly Corinne have expressed remorse over the hardships children around the world face daily. She has consistently asked if we could adopt a child from one of these place to rescue them and bring them into a loving and happy family.
* Isaac has always talked about wanting to go to Africa. He is mesmerized by the culture, landscape, devastation due to famine and poverty.
* Compassionate tears fall from Bryn’s face when she sees someone disfigured. She comes up with a slew of ways people could help and how we should not talk bad about them because God made them special.  She likes to meet new people and learn about their ways.
* Eli wants our “homeless” friends to live with us, share his room. His 7 year old mind does not understand why these people have to live outside when there are so many houses and especially our big house. He wants to be friends with everyone he meets.
* Mark yearns to help people have clean water by building wells.
* Gina dreams of loving on people with a gentle, calming touch or a compassionate listening ear.
* Both Mark & Gina love the idea of spending more time together with the freedom of traveling, helping others,   exposing our children to the world and working side by side for a Higher Purpose.

Over the years we have given up our will to God and asked Him to take us wherever He wanted us to be for Him- from neighborhood to neighborhood, city to city, state to state, job to job. We have always been burdened to help people. We actually have hoped to move to another country and truly we never felt an impression to a specific place or a specific people. We have some dear friends who recently moved to Guatemala because they were burdened to help the poor specifically in that country. We thought, “Yes! this is a sign that we are supposed to go there- we’ve not had a clear leading of what to do or where to go, but this is perfect!” We are going to see them February 4th-11th and hope to help them with their overwhelming and beautiful work, but we are not called to stay there- at least not yet- it could change:)

Our plan and when we say “plan” it is in the loosest sense- its more like an idea that we hope to follow through with-is to follow the burdens of our heart and go and help people. Sounds like we could do that here in the USA and we might- we are willing to go wherever we feel nudged to go, but for starters we are “planning” to help others by working
*in orphanages *to relieve those who are already serving and need a “vacation.” *with the hungry *with those who are disabled, sickly *with those who need clean water *with those who need rest from the stresses of life

Since we don’t have a leading to a specific place as of yet, setting up camp for a 3- 6 month period to help organizations, groups, people already working at these capacities is where we hope to start. In order to do that, we will be freeing ourselves of commitments here and making changes in order to have the flexibility to relocate  requently:
*selling the house *selling most of our possessions *home educating the children

We have more questions than we do answers. Our hearts, our faith tells us it is time to go, although very sad about leaving our loved ones, we have followed Jesus’ calling in our lives in the past -we will do so in the present. A lot of emotions have been evoked but rest assured none of them have been fear or worry.
*Excitement! We love adventure!
*Thankful- for God hearing our prayers and providing a way for us as parents to teach our children to follow their hearts, to listen to their inner voice, to do good to all men.
*Humbled that we have been granted the privilege of being used of God in any small way as a united family.
*Grateful to enter another dimension of trust, freedom, and faith.
*Saddened- to know this way of life with this group of family & friends will be changing.
*Overwhelmed…just because of ……everything.

Truly God has proven Himself faithful and we trust He will continue to do so as we follow our purpose to:
*be used of God to minister to the needy, less fortunate, hurting, lonely, sickly, discouraged, outcasted, homeless, disabled, hungry, thirsty, sore, unloved, unwanted, unappreciated, tired.
*be a tool to connect man with his Maker- the one who is calling them (and you) to find Him, trust Him & believe in Him through Jesus.
*be a family to those who have none

So….as we stated we probably have more questions than answers. Talking about this together would be great- we entertain your comments, thoughts and ideas. As with any move there is much to be done! Our property will go up for sale late February. We see ourselves staying here through most of the summer, but we are not sure of that. We plan to come back to the states to re-group and visit our loved ones whenever possible.

Because of Jesus~ Love all. Worship One~
www.deepstreamcommunity.com
www.deepstreampa.com

Thank you for being part of our lives. By design, God had our paths cross either 20 years ago or 2 months ago, we count it a privilege to have such wonderful, sweet, understanding, loving and kind friends and family. What you have helped us create in our family & home we desire to share with others who may never have the opportunities that we have been given.

A Gathering Force – by Francis Chan January 15, 2009

I had to post this to our blog… one of the greatest articles I’ve read articulating how DeepStream feels about the church and what it should look like.

Is there any logic in believing that God started His Church as a Spirit-filled, loving body with the intention that it would evolve into entertaining, hour-long services? Was he hoping that one day people would be attracted to the Church not because they care for one another, not because they are devoted to Him, not because the supernatural occurs in their midst, but because of good music and entertainment?

Try to imagine what conclusions you would come to if you had no prior church experience. The things in church services might make sense to the American church-attendee, but they don’t make sense biblically.

Picture yourself on an island with only a Bible. You’ve never been to a church-you’ve never even heard of one. The only ideas you have about church are what you’ve read in your Bible. Then you enter a building labeled “church” for the first time. What would you expect to experience as you entered that building? Now compare that to what you actually experience when you attend church.

GANG RELATED
A while back, an ex-gang member got baptized at our church. He fell in love with Jesus and turned from his old lifestyle. But after several months at the church, he stopped attending. When we asked him why he stopped attending, he answered: “I had the wrong idea of what church was going to be like. When I joined the church, I thought it was going to be like joining a gang. You see, in the gangs we weren’t just nice to each other once a week-we were family.”

That killed me because I knew that what he expected is what the church was intended to be. It saddened me because I realized that the gangs paint a better picture of loyalty and family than the local church body does.

But what if the church looked like this?

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)

That describes what the ex-gang member was looking for. It describes what the world is waiting for. I used to look at this passage as something that was wonderful but could never happen in the twenty-first century. There are just too many cultural obstacles for the Holy Spirit to overcome. He is powerful enough to raise the dead, but not powerful enough to form a sharing and loving body in our individualistic society. I doubted God’s ability to stir a body of believers to love tirelessly and give without restraint. I reasoned that this type of fellowship was probably not intended for our time. Besides, we don’t have time to love like this.

Looking back, I wonder if I came to those conclusions because there was a part of me that wasn’t sure I wanted it. It’s interesting how much our theology is driven by desire.

There came a point where the elders at our church concluded that there was no reason why God wouldn’t want the church to look like it did in the beginning. From there we reasoned that if God wants that, then we want it too. But the exciting part came when we resolved not to settle for anything less. We would pursue this for His Church regardless of how many would be turned off and move to other churches. If this is God’s standard, then we will one day give an account for how we led His people toward the biblical model.

But where do we go from here? The hard part is answering the question of how. There are probably many who want our churches to function like the early church, but how do we get there?

START WITH WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL
In other words, start with yourself. It’s wrong to blame others for the condition of the Church. And it’s silly for leaders to blame followers. God wasn’t satisfied when Adam blamed Eve or when Eve blamed the serpent.

Our elders started with what we could control. We can’t control other people. We can’t make the congregation “break bread in their homes” or “sell their possessions.” We also can’t control God. We can’t make Him do “wonders and miraculous signs” through us. I can, however, sell my possessions as people have needs. I do have control over that, so that became the first logical step. As we do our part, we trust God to bring about the “awe” and “wonders” in His time.

It was a beautiful time of sharing as our elders laid “everything” at each others’ feet. We surrendered the keys to our cars, homes, and bank accounts. I actually believed the elders who looked me in the eyes and said, “What’s mine is yours. If anything ever happens to you, I will support and care for your kids as much as I would care for my own. I will be your life insurance.” And because they had a history of genuine sacrifice for the sake of the gospel, I trusted what they said. From there, we began going to some of our friends in the congregation and expressing our commitment to them (something anyone can do).

And now this mentality is spreading. New life is permeating the church as individuals are backing up their words with sacrifice. Cars and homes are being sold or given away. Expensive vacations are joyfully replaced with spending on others. People are being taken into homes-not only for meals, but to live. It’s still the beginning of the process, and most people probably still come for the teaching or the music, but there’s a growing number at our church who are coming to be with their church family and they don’t care about who’s teaching or leading music.

THERE MUST BE MORE
Something real was happing in the early Church. It was something of the Spirit, too powerful to be replicated by human effort. Imagine taking a friend to one of their church gatherings. Your friend might not experience a smoothly run, professional service. But one thing he would experience: God. Do we even need to ask which is better? So much of church growth today has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. The right team of talented people can make any church grow. When people sit through creative services, is it really God they’re experiencing?

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying that we shouldn’t give our best to God. If you’re a musician, work diligently at your music. If you’re a teacher, labor intensely over your messages. I’m just asking you to be willing to rethink what you’re doing and ask: How can we create a more biblical environment where people see and experience God?

I’m reminded of the story of Gideon in Judges 7. God tells Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.” (Judges 7:2-3)

If you remember the story, God then reduced the army to 300 soldiers. God did not just defeat the Midianites-He was careful to do it in a way that gave Him all the glory. He did not want to allow Israel to boast “that her own strength has saved her.”

May people see our churches and know that mere human beings could not have created what they experienced. May we seek the priorities of the early church and trust God to once again produce the fruit of the early Church.

“And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)

Francis Chan is the pastor of Cornerstone Church and the president of Eternity Bible College in Simi Valley. In addition to being a pastor, Francis speaks to thousands of youth throughout the U.S., challenging them to deeper commitment. He can be heard on his radio program “Truth Be Known.” Francis has a great sense of humor, a genuine love for Christ, and a commitment to teach straight from the Word of God. Francis and his wife Lisa have been married for twelve years and have three daughters and one son: Rachel, mercy, Eliana, and Ezekiel. He is a graduate of the Master’s College and Seminary.

News Update from Schmidt’s January 29, 2009

First our family is wonderful.  We are so thankful to all of you who have responded to our update from a couple weeks ago and are excited with all that God is doing in our heart as a family.

After the news settled in, days went by, the kids shared their hearts, Mark and I prayed and talked and talked.  We felt chastised by the Lord.  We felt like He said, “Has your faith not grown at all in the past 3 years?”  ”I gave you the land, I built you the house, I have sustained you.  Don’t you think I can still sustain what is already mine AND provide for you to do what I ask?”   UHHHHHHHHHHH went our hearts.  We talked, we prayed.  Then all of our family and our friends freely shared their thoughts,  and each shared the same thread of, ” Can’t you do both?”   So that is what we are praying about now.

We KNOW God has enough resources to pay for this house and to provide for our travels.  WE KNOW He can do it and we want Him to do it for His praise.  Our family/friends who know Him are praying and waiting to see.  Many- in fact most of our contacts over the past 5 years here in Stbg think we are kinda nuts, but they are curious to see how this all plays out.  So not to us, but to Jesus name be the glory for the miracle others are waiting to see.  He will not disappoint- He will not be silent.  We will go through the fire, we will have to adjust, we will have to sacrifice, but we feel all the more blessed that we can add to our lives instead of shutting life down here and starting over AGAIN.

Although we are willing- we are not at peace of leaving here, yet.  So our first project seems to be partnering together with another ministry Equitas (www.equitas.cc ) and raising funds to build a well, and then going to Malawi,  Africa to experience firsthand the work that God is doing in that country.

You know how God works- next week there could be an entirely different plan.  We are kinda used to looking a little scattered- that’s okay because we know we are crazy anyway….:}

Love to you all,

The Schmidt’s

Guatemala trip (Feb 4th- 11th) February 3, 2009

Tomorrow a.m. at 6:40 our family will embark on the first of what we hope to be many adventures out of our country and into another which has great need.  We will be spending the next week in San Lucas, Guatemala, ministering with our close friends and partners in the DeepStream journey (www.deepstreamcommunity.com).  As many of you know, Brock and Kerrie and the kids took off back in August 2008 for fulltime streamlife in Guatemala and so quickly God has allowed them to connect and get involved in some wonderful projects (www.deepstreamguatemala.com)   As a family we are excited to go and experience firsthand, what we’ve been privileged to follow since they moved there.

 

Please remember to pray for us this week, if you think of the Schmidt clan.  Pray for:

• Safety as we travel to and from Guatemala
• That God would open our eyes to the world of ministry that is out there!
• Our children’s hearts would be moved in big ways

 

We are thankful for your prayers and look forward to sharing the adventure with you when we return.  Check out website (www.deepstreampa.com) while we are gone for updates, pictures, etc…

March Newsletter February 17, 2009

As we boarded the plane on February 4^th, I clearly remember asking Jesus to show us the way while we were in Guatemala, praying for clarity.  Praying not just for myself, but that Gina and I would see the same things, hear Jesus voice the same way, and that even our children would experience Jesus in a way that would give them a glimpse of the vision that He is putting in our hearts.  In a way that only God can do, He answered all of those prayers.

 

Many of you know the journey we have been on the past few months of discovering what the next step will be for our family.  We communicated a strong feeling to you in late December, regarding involvement in missions and meeting needs of the less fortunate.  Our next piece of communication that we sent out to you expressed that we were praying for peace as far as selling our home and officially moving to the next part of the journey.  Neither of us felt settled with putting the property on the market, leaving Stroudsburg, and beginning a new chapter.  As we talked together we committed it to Jesus, telling Him that we would go if He would show us both and make us both “good with it”.  We have told many of you in the past weeks that we had more questions than answers, and with each day, we seemed to have more questions, and fewer answers.

 

As our week unfolded in Guatemala, and we engaged the local people, ministering in various ways, questions began to get answered and it was quickly clear what the next step would be.  Each night Gina and I would sit in our room and debrief on the activities of the day asking each other what we were thinking or feeling.  All I can say is that as a husband and wife, you get to know each other and without having to even say too many words, just looking at each other, or squeezing the others hand, God was clarifying for us that He wants us to take the step – to GO to Guatemala and help meet the needs.  To list just a few of them:

·         Children going to school

·         Feeding center for local village children

·         Creating jobs and business opportunities for local families

·         Eli’s Chicken Club (Details will follow)

·         Massage clinic

·         Helping with the Homes for the Homeless

·         Clean water needs

 

We are thankful to each of you for praying us through this time of searching and dreaming and are hopeful that you will continue your prayers for our family and ALL that we are expecting God to do in the upcoming months (Selling a home full of stuff, 2 cars, etc…)  As we were in Guatemala, it was wonderful to see firsthand the activity of God’s Spirit in the local villages and it is exciting to know that He is leading our family to become a part of His movement and plans.  A thought that kept coming to mind often while I would look down the mountains at the sheet metal roofs of the villagers was “look at all that needs to be done, just to meet the most basic of needs.”  It was overwhelming to see first hand the immense need in just the few villages that we were in, and to hear Jesus voice saying “Just Go – I’ll take care of the rest!”

 

As we make plans to transition to Guatemala in the summer of this year, we hold tight to Jesus promise that there will “Always Be Enough”.  We trust His will for our family and His provision on the road that He has placed in front of us.  We would love to keep you updated in the upcoming months and beyond about the ministry that God is calling us to in Guatemala, and ask that you pray for our family as His vision unfolds in front of us.    

 

In April, we will both (Mark and Gina) be heading back to Guatemala for another week, leading a team of massage therapists to Magdalena, Guatemala and the surrounding villages to meet the physical needs of the many women who have rarely felt a loving touch, especially one in the name of Jesus.  While there, we will also begin looking into potential areas for our family to live.

 

We love each of you!  Your friendships are from Jesus and we know that we’ve been connected for a higher and eternal purpose.  We hope you will journey together with us on this adventure and pray with us.

Rethinking the Cross February 27, 2009

The Cross… Done… Work Finished… Complete… Forgiven… Ultimate Sacrifice… Total and Pure Love… I recently was listening to a podcast on the cross and was brought back to focusing on Jesus love and the Grace that was poured out on the cross. An image that too often comes to the mind of people when thinking of the cross, is that of an angry God or Father, needing to punish someone for the sin that was committed by mankind. So before I go too far with my thoughts, realize that I’m not going to deny the fact of there being consequences for decisions and lessons that we are taught by choices that we make. What I want to do here is draw our attention to a Father who is upset, but not with us. His anger isn’t directed at us because he is mad at us when we sin, but is rather focused on sin itself and angry with what it has done to His most prized creation. The Bible is packed with passages on how deep Father’s love is for us! I hear a song on sirius alot by a very popular group that has a line about God being angry with the world… I don’t know if there can be anything further from the truth. I believe that Father compassionately looks down on the world and each of us, full of love and desires that each us come to know Him and walk with Him the way Jesus does – that we would know Jesus the way Father does.

The podcast had a great illustration of anger vs. love. The speaker told the story of a boy who had got caught in a swarm of bees, and hearing his cry, the boy’s mom begins to run towards him to scoop him up and rescue him from the thing causing so much pain. As the mom is running towards the boy, he can see the upset look on her face, and could easily mistake her look to mean she is angry at him for getting caught in the swarm. Rather as the mom runs towards her son whom she loves so much, she’s upset with the bees that have surrounded him and are about to sting her son. Do you see the point? How easy it could be for us to get focused on Father’s “wrath” or “anger”, and forget to see the object of His emotion. What if the boy in the story, thinking that mom was upset gets so focused on his own perceptions and ends up arguing with mom, or fighting her rescue attempt? How absurd, but isn’t that often what we do to God? If we take our focus off of how great Father’s love is for us, mistaking that He is angry, we find ourselves constantly living overwhelmed by guilt, feeling as if we don’t measure up. Measure up to what? Remember, Father isn’t in to measuring. If we allow ourselves to focus on guilt rather than love it is as if we are standing arguing with Father about His Grace not being good enough. Stop! Just let Him rescue you from the bees! Let Father scoop you up from the middle of swarm and run you to safety! That’s Grace… that’s the cross! Totally yours… finished… Done.

Here are the words to a song that I think sums this up incredibly!

By Your Side…

Why are you striving, these days? And why are you trying to earn grace? Why are you crying? Let me lift up your face. Just don’t turn away. Why are you looking for love? Why are you still searching, as if I’m not enough? To where will you go child, tell me where will you run? To where will you run?

Cuz I’ll be by your side, wherever you’ve fallen.
Dead of night whenever your calling,
Please don’t find these hands that are holding you,
My hands are holding you.

Look at these hands and my side. They swallowed the grave on that night. When I drank the world’s sin, so I could carry you in, and give you life. I want to give you life.

And I’ll be by your side, wherever you’ve fallen.
Dead of night whenever your calling,
Please don’t find these hands that are holding you,
My hands are holding you.

Cuz I, I love you! I want you to know.
That I, I love you, I’ll never let you go.

Book Review – Repenting of Religion March 19, 2009

.I Recently finished reading the book “Repenting of Religion” by Gregory Boyd. Had never read any of his teaching or thoughts and actually bought the book to check him out. Shane Claiborne, in Jesus for President, frequently quotes one of Boyd’s other books “The Myth of a Christian Nation”, so I was a little intrigued and was looking for a new read. I searched his name on Amazon, and was surprised by the number of books Boyd has written. Needless to say, I didn’t by “The Myth of a Christian Nation” and ended up with this other one, simply because of the title.

Quick review – My assumption was totally off. I was expecting a book pointing out all that is wrong with religion, and rather found myself confronted with the truth of all that is wrong with ME! This book brought me face to face with the reality of my judgmental nature towards others (often without realizing it – often due to my feeling better by judging someone else’s “problems”). A few specifics which cause me to recommend this book to everyone:

1) Boyd packs this read with the truth of Scripture.

2) He bases the premise of the book on the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” and how we have continued to eat of that tree to this day. (have to read the book for explanation)

3) Boyd focuses a immense amount of time on our center being found in Christ, and how everything else flows from this point.

4) He has done a thorough job showing how Christ being our center, affects our ability to love God, love ourselves, and love the world of people around us.

I could easily ramble on and on about ALL that Gregory Boyd teaches in this book as it has transformed the way I view myself and my relationship with God, but I will save the details for when you read it.

Schmidt’s – April Update April 6, 2009

Well it’s been a month or so since we last updated all of you on the plans and happenings within our clan so here we go. This past weekend, April 3-5th marked the first of many sales which we will be having as part of the purging process in order to make the eventual move to Guatemala in the summer of 2009. We awoke Friday morning to heavy April showers, which continued throughout the day but didn’t deter the shoppers. Saturday was marked by more shoppers who brought strong winds and more rain, but weren’t deterred either. Ahhhhhhh, then Sunday hits and we see it… sunshine… beautiful and guess what? More shoppers. We are praising God for a great weekend and the fact that we saw and enourmous amount of our “STUFF” sold during this first sale. His ways are awesome as many of our items sold to friends who also told us to keep them and use them until we move. So basically the bulk of the large items are accounted for, and we get to use them. Thanks to many of you who prayed for us over the weekend. We felt you walking through this with us!

Some upcoming plans within our family include a nice get away this Easter week to Tennessee. Should be a great time to relax and be together as a family. On April 19th-25th, Gina and I are heading back to Guatemala for the “Massage with a Mission” trip and taking 4 others with us to set up clinics as wells as work on a few other projects while there. While there we will be staying in the teamhouse which DeepStream Guatemala and 68 Ministries use for groups who come in for ministry trips. Will be great to get back to our future “home”. We should have some time while there to scope out some living possibilities in Magdalena. We will also take some of the funds that Eli’s Chicken Club has raised (www.deepstreampa.com/projects/) with us to bless a couple of families with small farming businesses.

The LivingWell Project which is geared towards building a well in Malawi, Africa is seeing a good amount of support and we are nearing the halfway point of our goal. You can read more about that at www.deepstreampa.com/projects/

Other than that, the kids are all great, getting back to soccer, navigating through their school schedules and other activities. Spring normally ramps up and becomes a little busy, but nothing unmanageable. Each still are very excited about the move to Guatemala and looking forward to getting there. They handled the sale of many of their items very well this past weekend as well.

That’s it for now… will keep you posted as things progress towards the goal of heading to Guatemala. Keep praying for the sale of the house as we know God will do it!

Tale of two boys April 27, 2009

Fresh back from Guatemala and wanted to send a quick shout out with Praise and also ask for some prayer from those who read this. Had a great week in Magdalena, visited some of the local villages again and had an amazing time. One report which I wanted to give is a followup from our trip in February. While there we met a family with two boys, both with legs in casts, born with deformities and had never walked. We learned that they had been blessed by a missionary who lined up surgery where they broke both legs, reset them, and put them on the road to recovery, where with some rehab they would be soon walking. Praise God they are!!! We just returned from our Massage with a Mission trip and had the chance to visit with them, perform some rehab and massage on their legs and get pictures and videos of them walking, talking smack to each other as brothers on who’s faster, and so on. As we fought back the tears we watched the boys race from one side of the room to the next, and praised God together with their mother that they are finally walking.
Dad wasn’t there at the time to celebrate the moment with, which brings me to our prayer request. A little background first. When we were there in Feb, we learned that their father who used to come home drunk, beat the wife and kids, and then take the food and leave had come to know Jesus personally. Alcohol is a huge issue with the local men in Guatemala, not uncommon at all to see them regularly staggering through the village streets. As we celebrated with mom on this trip, she told us that her husband had been drinking again and back to some of these old ways. While saddened deeply by the news, it brought to our attention the vast need for Jesus and His peace and His Hope. All we could do is pray over this beautiful home and family, asking God to release this man from the bondage that Alcohol has in his life. Please pray with us. There is so much that they can be celebrating as a family, only one person is regularly missing and we are praying that God will bring him home.

“Dawn” May 17, 2009

Telling Mark about the memories I have speaking with a local woman named Dawn and
the hardships of her life as we eat. I share how I still feel for her and all her friends and
how hard life is and I wonder if she is still with her same boyfriend or with another. Then
my heart feels for the other people we have met here in Stroudsburg who are without
real homes, families, food, jobs, stability, friends and I wonder why I just think about
them and I never to anything to spend time with them as often as I think of them, we
could all be best friends. My mind then takes me to, “Well youʼre leaving soon so what
good does it do for you to get all involved and then leave?” So I do nothing, except
think of it.

Driving down 611 with Mark that same day we see Dawn and her boyfriend. I am on the
phone, Mark is on the phone. We look at each other to make sure the other has
witnessed the same sight we just did and wait at the stoplight. She passes. I see her
face, her wrinkled 40 something year old face that looks like she is in her 60ʼs. I see her
slow crooked walk from all the ailments and lack of nutrition and medical attention over
the years. I see her in her baggy mens jeans because that is all she has that will fit her
and I see her grey, dirty hair pulled back in her usual tousled pony. I start to cry. I feel
the lump in my throat that I felt after watching Schindlerʼs List and I breathe heavy. All
the while I am feeling so sorry for her, so sad she is hurting, surviving in the state that
she is. I am just heartbroken for her- literally feel my heart breaking and my throat
collapsing. The light turns green. We drive on and continue on our errands. 3 days later, she is still in my mind. I still pray for her, think of her, feel for her. I am also thinking, “Why the heck did I not, get off the phone, jump out of the car and give her a huge hug and say, ʻGod has been laying you on my heart lately. Do you remember me? How are you doing? Where are you living now?” I know why I didnʼt get out and talk.

As I said before, I am leaving soon and what good does it do to help someone now when I will just have to leave them anyways. My heart is still breaking. My throat still has the lump, the clogged, stuffed feeling is in my chest as I think of me now. How I missed the opportunity God so clearly gave me. How I say I want to be used for Your Good every minute God and then when He makes it so very obvious I can think of everything else but to go do it. God is loving me by hearing my heartʼs desire and I am loving myself by thinking it is about me. I also know that it would be wonderful to get an unexpected hug, a friendly hello and a warm smile. I am not sure she exactly remembers me and she might be a little freaked out from someone jumping out and coming up to her to embrace her. But I know where some of my other friends in a similar state live. I know where some of them work. So why not go there? Again, I am leaving soon and what good does it do to start something and then have to leave? I feel the same way with all of life here in Stroudsburg. Should I work at my friendships? Should I build my business? Should I plan the next night out with friends? Iʼm in limbo not here- not there.

We live out of town about 6 miles away from the friends we have made that I wish we could spend more time with on a daily basis. We have a big enough house to house them all. We have enough land to build them places of their own. Our refrigerator is full, our home is warm and dry. When they came here once for lunch, they were itching to get back to their surroundings, back to their home, their environment. They were glad for the lunch, the conversation, the visit. But they wanted to get back to their own place. We are leaving soon. I wonder how long we will be in Guatemala. I also wonder if we will return here. Not for our extended family. Not for this location which honestly is not for me either. But if we will ever get a chance to be friends with these people with whom I truly want a friendship. I wonder if in Guatemala I will repeat my mistakes of not getting involved because I am not sure how long we will be there.

My heart aches. I have a lump in my throat. Not because of their heartaches, or their condition, but because of my selfish, self- centered, approach to my life, my heart condition. I am praying now, more for me. That I will be able to think clearly in the moment and see the heart of God right in front of me without the thoughts of the future. For me to realize that a hug may be all that is needed for Dawn and I donʼt need to decide what is best for tomorrow- just for right now. I am praying for forgiveness of my
sin of disobedience and laziness.

The Swine Flu May 29, 2009

Interesting quick conversation tonight with my kids that stopped and made me think for a while and a comment that my older son, Isaac, made has stuck with me. In our small town area of Stroudsdburg, PA there have been a couple of recent incidents involving potential “swine flu” cases. It seems like everytime we turn around we hear something about this new “epidemic”. One of the kids asked, “What’s so bad about the swine flu?”, and so ensued a brief chat about it. At one point I said to the kids that what gets me is that there are countless people, men, women, and children, dying due to lack of clean water and other real issues out there facing people. Why isn’t that making the daily headlines in every newspaper? Isaac’s reply – “I think it’s because the swine flu might affect us…” I turned to my wife and could only say – “That was deep!”

What a huge truth in that statement by my son. It continues to ring in my mind, those words “because it affects us…” Makes you think doesn’t it? Or it should anyway. Why can’t we see that the water issues and poverty facing the majority of the globe does affect us? Why can’t we see that this is a real epidemic that is ours to help remedy. Brings to mind another quote I read recently where the author is talking about God being just and perfect and all powerful. How we question God sometimes and ask, “why is there so much poverty in the world, so many starving people…” When really God could ask us the same question. Do you think He made too many people and not enough resources? Is it possible that in our nice bubbles we are failing to see the needs of those around us and connect the solution back to the resources which we’ve been blessed with? Think about it… pray about it… there are so many efforts underway that need the support of each of us.

Would love to hear your thoughts. Email me at deepstreampa@gmail.com or visit our site at www.deepstreampa.com

I Can’t Even Imagine June 29, 2009

As many of you know, clean water needs have been on my heart for many years now and within the past few months we decided to help with the cause that is already underway in Malawi, Africa. God united our family with a couple in Charlotte, NC who is already having a huge impact in Africa, building wells, providing clean water for villages, setting up sponsorship programs and sharing Jesus hope with the people. The organization is called Equitas (www.equitas.cc) and my friend Steve Cook is currently finishing up a trip where he has been in Malawi, researching new locations, meeting with villagers and capturing a lot of his trip on film. As I’ve been following Steve on his journey it has blown me away once again to see how people in our “modern” world are forced to live out their daily lives.

I CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE living in these conditions for a day, let alone every day of my life. As I’ve looked at the pics and the faces of the people my heart breaks and it rejoices. It breaks for the people who are faced with daily challenges that are so far beyond anything that I face, it rejoices as I see their happiness, as they drink from a refurbished or newly built well.

Kids drinking from refurbed well

It breaks as my friend Steve recounts meeting a young village girl named Victoria, who is 11, and has been forced to survive alone as an orphan, taking care of her two younger siblings. I can’t even imagine one of my children, my 11 year old son for instance, having to survive without his parents, and to have to do it in the third poorest country on the globe. It rejoices to know that Victoria met Jesus in the life of Steve as he loved her and poured himself into her as they met that day. (for more on Victoria visit Steve’s Blog at www.equitas.cc/blog)

As I type and think of all the need around the world I pray that my heart continues to break for the people who need. I pray that we all “see the multitudes and are moved with compassion” as Jesus was. Not just moved emotionally, but moved physically to act. I also hope that in the midst of the need, the chaos, that we all can rejoice and rest in the fact that God will restore His creation one day. That all will be made well. Until that day, may we all do our part to bring His Kingdom to earth, here and now.

www.deepstreampa.com
www.equitas.cc

August 2009 Update August 8, 2009

First on the agenda is a huge thank you to everyone showing so much interest in the ongoing happenings with our journey to Guatemala. The emails, Facebook comments twitters and phone calls have been an overwhelming reminder of God’s goodness to us. Some of your children have already been connecting with ours via the site and for that we are thrilled. So much has happened since our last update from on top of Delaware Water Gap. We are trying to keep it short, but the details are what make our journey very exciting.

• July 11th- Packing up the car the evening before our trip to Guatemala to find a place to rent, up our driveway comes a couple who wanted to see the property. Mark was outside loading the suitcases and intercepted them and encouraged them to come take a look at the inside of our home too. Honestly, selling the house was one of the furthest things from our mind as we were heading to the airport in less than 12 hours. They were on their way to dinner and he wanted her to see a home he sees often while cycling. 4 months prior, when we first put the “for sale” sign up, he took a picture and it has been in his iphone ever since. Recently they decided to get serious about buying and he remembered the photo. So, we walked them through, chatted a bit, told them we would be listing with a realtor when returning next weekend and basically said our goodbye with them commenting that their dinner conversation would be rather interesting after seeing our home. As we’re in Guatemala we get an email from him that they were interested in seeing the home again asking us not to list it with a realtor just yet and we set up a second showing for the following Sunday.

• July 15th- We secure a home to rent in Magdalena. Prior to our arrival God organized a good place, one which needs very little work to get it ready for our family to move in August 24th. Basically the “teamhouse” as it was called, which housed missions groups coming to work in Guatemala, came available. It has been cleaned and updated just missing the means for a washer and dryer hook- up which we are hoping when we arrive to win over the landlord and make that change. Our new place is located right in the middle of Magdalena, and should provide us with exactly what we need in order to host our own friends and family who have committed to come visit. (There is no turning back now guys!)

• July 16th- Still in Guatemala, Gina checked into flights for our move date. On the spot we booked all 6 tickets, knowing we would be leaving the states in August even with a house still on the market. Excitement filled our hearts as we realized the faith move we were actually taking right then. We’ve said all along that we were going, no matter what, and would trust God to take care of the house selling. So the “buy tickets” button was hit!

• July 18th- The day after we returned home, after the showing, the nice couple interested in our home stayed and talked with us over some snacks and we discussed possible sale price. In conversation we were able to see the great story unfolding between our families. Both have done missions work in Haiti and share a similar faith. They told us they feel that God led them to us and to our property. You have to understand that our family since March has been praying specifically that God would sell the home in a way that only He would be praised, He would be honored, and we’ve prayed specifically that our home would be sold to someone who could appreciate the foundation on which our home was built- Jesus. We have wholeheartedly believed that our home would be sold not concerned with the market or this or that. We have had family and friend and their friends praying along with us and when the buyers told us that they feel that God led them to our home, oh man! So much glory goes to God as we know that He is the one who drew them here in His timing for both families to be blessed and for all those involved to be WOWed by God’s Hand. We have learned to never underestimate the power of praying for specifics as well as moving forward into unknown territory. When we got down to negotiating final figures, an email from him stated that while they had been advised to low ball the offer, based on market and our move to Guatemala, they felt strongly that just as God told our family to move in faith and trust Him with our finances, God was now telling them to act in faith and trust Him with all the financial aspects, and to move forward at the agreed upon price. Within 2 days we were under contract and moving forward. Closing date is Friday, August 21st, we move Monday August 24th. Isn’t that just amazing! Yes, the house is sold, but knowing the timing, the opportunity to feel blessed and be blessed is just so sweet.

• August 10th- God has provided a way for us to ship many of our belongings to Guatemala. Mark, Corinne and Isaac will be driving a trailer full of our belongings, as well as our Kawasaki Mule down to Tampa, FL where it will ship to our new country.

We ask you to please pray with us on a few specific items.

• The process with home closing- August 21st is the closing date.
• The travels to and from Florida 8/10-13th and in our move to Guatemala – 8/24/09.
• Financial needs which arise with the shipping, plane tickets, and set up costs in Guatemala as we settle in to our new home.
• Homeschooling the 4 children.
• Learning a new language.

Thank you for taking your time to keep updated on our family. Next time we should be coming to you from our home in Magdalena. Check our site for regular updates at www.deepstreampa.com and for ways to contact our family.

Because of Jesus,
The Schmidt Family

Transitions August 21, 2009

Out of breath – running 100 miles per hour – excited out of our minds – empty house – sad due to so many goodbyes – organizing details in Guatemala – finalizing work in PA – wrapping up so many details and almost ready to go – these are just a few thoughts that come to mind as I start this quick update. It has been an exciting couple of weeks in our family in so many ways and I just want to say THANKS to all for praying us through it all. The next 2 days will be spent focusing time with our family and soaking it in. It is these relationships that we will miss the most, living life together with our family and friends here in PA, NJ, and NY.

When it comes to the details I was telling Gina that I should be past the point of being “amazed” each time God shows up and does something for us, and rather should just be reminded that this is WHO HE IS, and just pray that I can be in a constant state of AWE. Our journey as a family the past 15 years has been one “amazement” after another when we look back at it all. He truly is AWESOME, a God of details. In Luke Jesus talks about how if God feeds the birds and clothes the fields then why don’t we think he will take care of us. This most recent journey to Guatemala and all that it takes to get 6 people from one country to another has proven to us once again that God is involved deeply with us, in every aspect of life, and wants to be in that position all the time.

As we look to the week ahead we will be signing off and hopping on the plane on Monday a.m. and should be up and running with communication by Tuesday. Our home closing will be taking place on the 28th, so pray the details into place with us. We thank you all for your prayers, friendship and support of our family.

The Schmidt’s

4 Days in Guatemala August 29, 2009

So much has happened in the past 4 days that I don’t even know where to begin. I know we have to start somewhere so I guess we will go with Monday. We landed and hit the ground running. Our flights over were full of excitement and nerves. This trip to Guatemala was different than the past 3, as we knew it wasn’t for a week. THis time it was to settle in, learn the language, and begin a new life in the midst of the culture of Magdalena, and the surrounding villages.

We arrived at our new home and begin settling in right away. The first nights sleep was shorter than we are used to, and was right up to par with what we had experienced on our prior visits. Buses honking horns, dogs barking, and firecrackers at 5 a.m. These are all daily occurences and we’ve been told that we will get used to it. I can still here Corinne sit up in bed on Wed night, in our dark bedroom for 6 saying “Please be quiet!” to the dog next door. Tuesday morning we went to see 2 vehicles that our friends had lined up for us to see, and ended up buying one the next day (a 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser – old but in good shape). A man I met today asked me, “how in the world did you get a Land Cruiser in 3 days of living in Guatemala?” and he proceeded to tell us that it is one of the more sought after, and less expensive when it comes to repairs. The way it all worked out assured us that God had this vehicle timed perfectly for our arrival. The rest of Tuesday and Wednesday were spent running errands and doing some start up shopping.

Wednesday night was a bit of a shocker for us, in a good way. Many of you know that since we have known we were going to be relocating to Guatemala, our family had made plans to get a German Shepherd as soon as we arrived. We have actually had our friends in Guatemala on the lookout for the last few weeks. So on Wed night at 10:30 our friend Brock walks to our home and says to us, “You guys won’t believe the email I just got and the phone call I just had…” He proceeds to tell us that there is a missionary family who has been planning to leave and return to the states, who has sold everything they have and leave next week. The only thing they have left is their dog, who needs a home. Not just any dog, but a German Shepherd. Can God do anything else to prove Himself to us? We are blessed beyond imagination and today added the newest member to our family. Katie, a 6 year old female. We actually drove 2 1/2 hours as a family through the beautiful Guatemala Mountains to get her. First time venturing out alone. This completed our first 5 days here and as I type tonight we are looking forward to the weekend and time to hang out as a family, and enjoy time together, doing something other than unpacking.

We are excited to get into the village tomorrow for a visit to Buena Vista. Isaac actually asked me earlier in the week, “Dad, when are we going to start helping people?” It is great to know the kids are excited to start making visits.

Thanks again to all for your prayers.

Divine Appointment September 1, 2009

Yesterday was a full day. We started off the morning by having our first family worship time in Guatemala and in our new home. Most of the time was spent talking about what we’ve seen so far, sang some songs together and just enjoyed some time as a family, ramping up for our day. Later that afternoon we headed out to Buena Vista where we met one of the recent families that DeepStream built a home for. We were very blessed with the time we spent together with them and I am always blown away by the generosity and love that these people show towards all of us. When we showed up and were invited into their home, the wife actually offered us all some home cooked local vegetables, which is this area reminds me of the story of the widows mite in the Bible. This family, in gratitude, was literally given all that they had as a gesture of their friendship to each of us. From there we went out to another part of the village and played with many of the local kids. It was great to see our children hanging out, running, playing ball with the other boys and girls.

Later in the evening is when it got most interesting. We had to go out and do some errands, took our dog for a walk at a local park and were supposed to go watch our friend play in a basketball game and then out to dinner, but for one reason or another we decided to just go home and be together as a family, eat dinner, etc… After dinner our doorbell rings and as we open it, it is one of the local girls and her nephew, sobbing and in spanish telling us that her older brother has come to their house drunk and it beating up her family. Her other sister had told her to go and get Brock, our friend, but since he wasn’t home, they came to our home, figuring we could help. An hour later there was another ring at the door and standing outside was the entire family of 7, kicked out of their home by the drunk brother, wanting to stop by and let us know that they were o.k. and on their way to another relatives house. We invited them in and even though we speak very little spanish, had a great hour or so with them. Isaac made them some coffee, Corinne got them some cinnamon rolls, we poured the kids some juice and then sat and fumble through a beautiful conversation. One of the greatest parts of it all was to know that had we gone to the game and to dinner, no one would have been home to help them or to listen to them. It reminded us that God knows what He is doing. It was also eye-opening for our entire family, especially the kids as they stood by our sides, watching the entire night unfold.

Always be ready!

Cutting the Grass September 29, 2009

Today my family and I went to one of our friends in Magdalena. I helped him build a swing and cut the grass. We built the swing with wood and rope. We dug holes in the ground about three feet deep. Then we took two pieces of wood and stuck them into the ground. Then once we were finished with that we put the crossbar on the top and fastened it with rope. It was a lot of work and we used old fashion tools.

He has planted sections of grass that I noticed were really long. I asked him how he cut it and he said that he cut his grass with a machete. I asked him if I could try to cut it and he said sure. It was really fun but it was much harder than using a lawn mower. It was a really good day to hang out with a Guatemalan family and I am starting to like Guatemala better.

New Life Awaiting September 2, 2009

When we actually got here last week, it took me a couple of minutes to realize “wow!, I live in Guatemala!” I was nervous and excited at the same time! Guatemala is a really wonderful place but sometimes there are things that just really annoy me. There are flies everywhere, alot of the men have problems getting drunk, and there are dirty wild dogs everywhere.

Speaking of dogs, my family and I picked up a 6 year old female German Shepherd last week. Her name is Katie. Its actually a funny story about how we actually got Katie. When we were in PA our family decided to get a dog when we got here, and all decided on a German Shepherd. We got to guatemala and couldn’t find one, but after 3 days in Guat we got an email from another missionary who was leaving the US with his family and they happened to have a German Shepherd named Katie. Although is isn’t a puppy like we wanted, we got a dog! God basically gave us a miracle.

Anyways, we are all good and getting settled into our room. We all sleep in the same room. It’s unexpected and kindof nice! We all got phones and everything. I am so excited although I miss my friends.

Love you and thanks for supporting our move!
xxxoooxoxoxoxo

August 30, 2009 September 1, 2009

Johnny, Sophia, Stephanie, Christian, and Susanna

Hey! Haven’t blogged in a while. Just wanted to tell you about some amazing things that happened. O.K. first, Sunday the 30th, we went out to Buena Vista. That is the place where we made a playground nad soccer/basketball field. I met some really nice kids. One name is Oscar-Nueva (9 yr.old) and Christian (7). There were three little girls, the youngest, Stephanie has a small tumor that might be cancer and has to have surgery soon. Her two sisters Susanna and Sophia were so very sweet. “How old are you?” I asked them. “CINCO, CINCO, CINCO!” They told me.

Now I just want to talk about Katie. Katie is our dog. She is our six year old German Shepherd. She loves people and loves anyone who scratches her tummy. Here’s the story. OK, this family emails our friend and says they are moving back to Michigan from Guatemala. They have sold everything but their dog, a german shepherd girl. Just what we wanted, FOR FREE!