A Mosquito Report

I am having such an industrious day this Saturday,

which is quite unusual for me.

I have even put up the last of my suitcases from

my recent travels.

(Please don't try to calculate how long it's been since

my return.)

I must, however, put my industriousness on hold

and give you news about my mosquito problem.

I would probably do that for sure if the news

were bad, but tremulously I tell you it is good.

(No exclamation point, because it could be

temporary.)

I have not been bitten in over a week.

For almost a week I have not spotted any flying

around after having seen them in every room 

while I was packing for one of my trips.
When I returned home, there
were 13 mosquito carcasses inside this zapper.

Since then--0!

I still am not using my front door.

I sleep every night (uncomfortably) under a 

fan which has a "low" setting like a hurricane.

I now "suit up" to sit in my recliner.

I put on long pajama pants, my long robe,

and knee length socks.

And I sit there, a sight to behold, in front of

another fan which has a "high" setting

like that of a light ocean breeze.

I may be applying for a bank loan to pay

ABC Pest Control for their services.

Wild horses could not force me to tell you

how much I have paid them for this reprieve.

And now...what do I do?
They are "willing!" to keep coming monthly
until October!

A Vision to Behold: Villa Katy!

It is almost like a dream that I,

Linda Jane Lynn Stovall,

was able to visit Villa Katy in Colombia.

I had heard about VK since last year when it
was introduced to our church family.
It is Fielder's second partnership in Colombia, 
with San Miguel being the first.

Before I tried to relate our experience, I needed some

accurate background information.

I turned to the leader of our trip, David Hynson.

I told David that if he would give me the facts, I

would try to whittle them down to short form.

I cannot do that.

Each step in this story is essential to its impact.

So here is the marvelous background of Villa Katy.

Following are beautiful words from David:

"Last October (2018) Pastor Jason and I visited Villa Katy to meet with the pastor of a church plant there. He was hoping to become a Compassion Center for a neighborhood that is in great need.

We met in a shallow hole in the ground with about 50 or more children sitting in small chairs facing us. Adults and more children stood and watched.

The pastor explained his vision for the church and the community. He told us how he believed the gospel would spread through the community, giving the residents there much needed hope. 

Jason and the representatives from Compassion International asked him what he thought he needed. His primary need was a building with a worship center and classrooms, since the church was currently meeting in a home on the other side of the dirt road. Compassion also felt money was needed to pay the pastor a consistent salary.

What he needed most was sponsorship of 150 kids. I remember thinking that I had never seen such great need and such opportunity to meet that need come together as clearly as I did that day. I knew Fielder members would sponsor those kids in a single Sunday. I also felt they would donate the money.

When we finished talking I expected to see a program 
for kids. The pastor had not been speaking to them. There was  no microphone or sound system, so no one could hear us talking about the pastor's plans. I thought there had to be some entertainment planned for the kids who sat watching us. There was no program. When we finished talking, everyone got up and went home. By then it was raining, and some were in their Sunday best. Probably the only Sunday best they owned. The dirt streets had turned to mud.

Those kids and the adults with them weren't there to see a program or even to hear us talk. They were there to let us know that they were there; that they were real and they matter. They wanted us to see that they were committed; they were ready to be the church.

As amazed as I was that day, it got even better. 

A few Fielder members donated the money without even being asked for it. They had heard the story, and they wanted to help.

On Compassion Sunday, Fielder members sponsored all 150 kids, plus all of the new children available at San Miguel, plus more kids in the surrounding areas. A total of 358 children were sponsored in a single day, when 150 were needed. God provided immeasurably more than we asked or imagined.

When we visited the Villa Katy church on this June trip, that hole in the ground had become a 2 story work-in-progress building that towered over the community. As our team painted the classrooms, they let children into the building for the very first time; the same children who sat in the hole in the ground just to let us know they were there."

                                                          

**********************

So that's how it came about that our little group of

19 had the privilege of painting walls in the

miraculous location of Villa Katy.

This gives you a visual of the neighborhood.

The children were lined up and waiting for

our bus to arrive.

See them up the hill on the left?

Oh, my heart.

Krista and Martha greeting the kids.

Quite a building has gone up!

One of the classrooms which "we" painted

(Some of us never lifted a brush!)

This is the second floor!

View out the back from the second floor

Some of the painters were pleading to be "sprung"

This little girl was crying, and Dakota Stotler
made her smile with his bubbles!

I hope you can feel my heart's desire as I blog
about our trip.
I want to show my gratitude to God for 
everything and everyone required 
to make my trip possible.
I want to convey to you how life changing it was.
I want you to go on a future trip and be
blessed as I was if you possibly can.
Your child would LOVE to meet you.
At least you can't say you're too old!

Ode to Cameron Whitley

This is to be sung to the tune of

"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree."

"Oh Cameron, Oh Cameron,

How lovely were thy gestures.

Oh Cameron, Oh Cameron,

How good thou wast to me.

Oh Cameron, Oh Cameron,

HowcanIevergoagainwithout you?"
(It takes a certain amount of finesse to
handle that last line!)

When the group "joined me" in Miami, I asked

someone if the handsome young man who

had smiled at me was part of us.

Yes, it was Cameron Whitley, a pastor from Houston.

I remembered knowing Cameron's mom 

years ago at Fielder.

Cameron's church is also active with Compassion,

and he was observing the workings of a trip.

And from that moment on...helping me.

Actually, every time I took a step there were

18 hands reaching out to help me.

This is not much of an exaggeration.

I don't think I ever moved from one place to

another without generous assistance.

But Cameron, oh Cameron...

took total charge of all my luggage.

That would be one huge, gaudy, girly,  suitcase,

one pink and black carry on, and one

Vera Bradley backpack.

That's in addition to his own bags.

Here is some visual proof:

Arriving in Bogata.

He's got 'em all.

That's my backpack on his shoulder!

With Ramsey George.

And that would be Cameron

putting my carry on in the overhead!

We were getting Subway sandwiches.

Someone got mine for me, of course!
I hope someone got Cameron's, because 
 his hands are full!

 We must have already checked the big one,

so his burden is lighter here!
I just noticed that I don't even seem to be
carrying my purse.
Someone probably has that for me!

And even when fatigue gets the best of me,
Cameron and my luggage are still there.


CLICK FOR VIDEO BY KRISTA STOTLER

I received such a gift from God on this trip.
I was lovingly cared for by 18 friends--
never allowed to feel like a burden, 
even though sometimes I was!
But no one helped me more than my handsome
pack mule, Cameron Whitley.



Thank you, my dear Cameron.
Seriously,
"HowcanIevergoagainwithoutyou?"

"What's the Worst That Could Happen?"

After a long break, come back to Colombia with me!

We had a whole day set aside to visit Villa Katy

(pronounced "veeya kottie" by us pros!)
VK is very special to Fielder folks,

but...something great happened to our plans!

Compassion had organized the first

"Compassion Olympics," and we had the opportunity

to go to a parade involving children from all the

Compassion centers in Sincelejo!

Imagine what a blessing that we were there on

just the right day for this exciting event!

We were faced with only one problem.

We were headed to Villa Katy to paint (well, some

of us were going to paint) after the parade.

We had worn "special clothes" (again, most of us)

which could possibly be ruined by the paint.

Not our best duds, in other words.

So the discussion was, do we go to the parade in

our paint clothes?

We decided no one would see us anyway.

And someone asked that operative question,

"What's the worst that could happen?"

Never ask that question without realizing,

it can happen...and did.

We watched the kids assemble, 

 saw them at a mid point in the parade, then

loaded on our bus which took us to the ending point.

Gathering at the launch point!

Here they come!

See how they were all dressed in different colors?

I am so excited just posting these 

that I can hardly stand it!

They gave Krista and me balloons!

Then...

All of a sudden we seemed to be heading into their

stadium. There was some hesitation, but we 

continued to walk as a group--inside--

in our paint clothes.

Well, they had gotten word that we were there,

and had set up chairs for us at the very

front. We were treated like royalty!



After I had typed all this, I found a video which
I had taken of the ceremony.
I had not seen it since I got home, and I got
ridiculously excited!
The translator in the video is Leo, our guide.

You will see some faces you recognize!

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY EXCITING VIDEO!

It was wonderful! I waved my arm off at those

beautiful cheering faces!

Just think. We were probably the first real live

sponsors from America that over 99% of these

children had ever seen.

Our paint clothes could not have mattered less.

But they were televised that night!


This was just the beginning of our day.
We haven't even made it to Villa Katy yet!
Since it is now 4:00 here in Arlington, Texas,
 and I haven't done one thing today except work on this,
please come back tomorrow for...
the rest of the story!

Sunday--Altogether Wonderful!

The timing of our trip was built around our being

able to worship with the church in Colombia

 on Sunday. What a blessing it was!

The extreme heat and humidity necessitate  an

early start for the service.

We "dressed up" just a bit as a sign of respect.

But, oh my!

Our hosts and the children were dressed up
 so much more!

This is the fabulous praise team, beautifully 

coordinated, along with very talented instrumentalists.

(That's the pastor's wife in the lighter colored skirt.)

I was delighted to capture this photo.

The little boy shown here came on his own and

sat down beside Krista Stotler!
He's not one of hers, but

here she is letting him video part of the service!

That's Martha Partlow in the background.

And here are some of the worshipers, including

Dakota Stotler.

They were so earnest and sincere.

After the musical portion of the service, we who

speak only English ducked out to minister to the kids.

Our fabulous Tony Avilés brought the message 

in Spanish. 

What a privilege and blessing the whole morning was.

And then came the afternoon...

speaking of privileges and blessings and fun!

The pastor and his family took us to a nearby beach

resort on the Atlantic Ocean!

This was a very exciting surprise for all of us!

I pretty quickly wimped out and retreated to a

covered, cooler area for the afternoon.

My friend Nita Cobb perpetuated the idea that I

"spent the afternoon in the bar!"

with this picture!

I was "watching" the very exciting (to them!)

semi final soccer game in which Colombia was playing.

(Of course, I did have to first inquire as to what 

kind of game it was.)

(And I was accused of not being able to see

around that pole anyway!)

All the wild cheering and air horns were so much fun, 

even though the back of my hair has holes in it.

Oh, that's a little off the subject and vain. Sorry.

We were served another amazing meal here.

The fish was the most delicious sea bass I have tasted!

I got to sit by the pastor and family.

Oh, to be bilingual. They are so lovely!

We could have shared so much.

I just must insert my favorite joke...

Do you know what you call a person who speaks

two languages?  Yes, bilingual.

Well, do you know what you call a person who

speaks only one language? An American!

After a trip like this, it NO LONGER SEEMS FUNNY!

Okay, back to the beach.

When it cooled off a bit I left the bar (oops)

and got some lessons in Mexican Train from

Phillip and Logan and the pastor's son, Daniel.

It was wonderful to curl my toes in the sand
and beat the guys. (Not really--the beating part.)

If there is anyone out there reading this who

thinks being a Christian can't be fun, I

sincerely wish you had been on this trip with us.

I actually thought at times I was going to explode

from the fullness of Jesus...

and at other times asphyxiate from laughing.


Stay tuned.
 I'll share more about both types of highs.

We Arrive In Sincelejo, Colombia

We flew from Miami to Bogata to Corazal together.

All 19 of us plus Shane from Compassion.

These two had my heart at "Hello!"
Elizabeth and Tony Aviles.
Tony pastors at our Grand Prairie Campus.

A luxurious air conditioned bus drove us to "776."

"776" or San Miguel is the center where all the

children (over 400) are sponsored 
by Fielder members and at which our groups  
have done mucho work on past trips.

Approaching our destination!

To say we were expected is an understatement.
We were greeted royally with
When the Saints go marching in...

This was, is, and will always be a highpoint
of the trip for me.
It was a feeling I have never before experienced.

Click for my Video 

They had this wonderful machine which shot
bits of confetti into the air!
Soooo fun and unexpected!

The children presented a precious
program for us.
That spelled Fielder Church...
But some letter holders were shorter than others!
Bless their sweet hearts!!!

We were fed a delicious lunch, prepared in the
(very hot!) kitchen Fielder provided and built.

Notice that the rice is in the shape of a heart.
There were plantains and yummy chicken.



Through interpreters we got to visit with
some of the staff at lunch.
It is tough not being able to communicate directly!



Staff members (angels)

Nita Cobb had embroidered beautiful aprons
for the sweet kitchen ladies!

(The shortest lady was also on the praise team!
Just sang away into her microphone!)

The pastor's wife, Tulia, who took me under
her wing just like all the others did.

We did activities with the multitudinous children,
rotating groups every few minutes!
Some of our group (I'm looking at you Kelly, 
Denise, Elizabeth, et al) are very good at
 crafts. Some of the rest of us just attempted to help!

My craft: scratch off crosses 

Perfection!

We got to visit homes on this day.
Here are some pics from the one I visited.

That's the young mother on my left with her
two daughters.
Her home was particularly nice.
It still had only curtains separating the rooms,
and a dirt floor.

She had rice and beef cooking away on her stove--

in the extreme heat.

Bathroom

The little girls opening the big gift basket

Compassion sent to the family.

Our group outside the home.

Another group on their home visit:

We returned on our air conditioned bus to
the Arawak hotel (also air conditioned)
and had a delicious gourmet meal.
Compassion treats team members royally.
Every effort was made to make us
more than comfortable and well nourished!


Compassion is one fabulous organization.
You'll get to see their well-oiled
headquarters later in our trip!