Community Fall Festival

SMM will be partnering with the Hardee County Ministerial Association and helping with the upcoming Community Fall Festival held in downtown Wauchula at Heritage Park. We hope that you will join us. Lots of volunteers are needed along with tons of individually wrapped candy. 

For more details, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/184516748388318/

Celebration Hardee Campus : Costa Rica Mission Trip

Celebration Hardee Campus is excited to send out their very first mission team! We leave bright and early tomorrow morning. Big thanks to everyone who supported our team. Now meet the team;

Lee Valadez: (Team Leader) Lee was in Costa Rica last year on a Sub30 misison trip and fell in love with the country. Lee is addicted to Sport Center.

Vickie Hinojosa: (Co Leader) Vickie loves mission and has done mission in Greece. Vickie may very well be the next cake boss.

Jessica Gilliard: Jessica’s mission’s field is at a middle school where she is a math teacher. Jessica loves dancing to Mexican music.

Amos Trevino: Amos did missions at the L.A Dream Center and is excited for his first international missions trip. Amos’s outgoing personality will liven up any crowd.

Angel Garza: Angel has recently been accepted to be apart of the A21 Internship in Greece, she leaves Jan. Angel can’t wait for Hunger Games 2 to come out.

Gloria Solis: Gloria works for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a sports ministry. Gloria loves chick-flicks

Rebekah Nix: Rebekah is very excited to go on her very first mission trip! Rebekah’s favorite movie is the Little Mermaid

Continue to pray for us this week & stay tune for updates throughout the week at Celebration's Mission Blog

Dara Maclean Concert - Pictures

Pictures from the Dara Maclean & Joshua Price concert will be posted at www.sendmemissions.smugmug.com later today!

Thank you all for your love & continued support of these benefit concerts!

Dara Maclean Concert Tonight

Concert tonight is at 1121 Louisiana St., Wauchula, FL 33873

Doors open at 6pm
Concert begins at 7pm

$10 Tickets at the door

Guatemala Team has returned home

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support during the past few months and especially this past week. We have all made it back to the U.S. and can't wait to go again! 

Orphan's Heart continues to take trips to the Malnutrition Center, along with many other trips to different countries, throughout the year. Consider joining them! For more details, visit www.orphansheart.org

Guatemala Day 6 - Part 2

WOW!  That seems to be the word of the week.  Everyday more and more amazing things happen that just totally left us saying WOW!  Just a few days ago 55 people showed up from four different states really, mostly strangers and now we are all leaving as friends.  It's amazing what can happen when brothers and sisters in Christ work together to honor Him in all they do.

I'd have to say that today was what I would call bitter sweet.  We've spent only a few days loving the precious babies of Guatemala but in so doing we've fallen totally in love with them.  It's amazing when you open your heart and commit to serving God how quickly He can change you.  Now today, Thursday, in many ways was going to be the same type of day but in other ways would soon be the saddest day of our trip.  We arrived at the center just as we had everyday before and jumped right in to performing the same duties we'd been doing each day.  Bathing babies, changing diapers, potty training, feeding babies, folding clothes, preparing lunch for the babies, building a new roof for the pavilion, cleaning floors, painting walls, the list could go on and on.  But the entire time we are serving in the back of our mind we know that a giant "good-bye" is coming.

We were treated to a nice surprise today.  With it being July 4th in America we were all called outside to a Guatemala fireworks celebration and a local Christian School brought their drum band and played music for us.  Truly heart-warming.  The people of Guatemala are the warmest, most humble and loving people I've ever met.  We were even treated to hot dogs on the grill and baked beans (Guatemala style) in honor of the holiday.

As the end of the day drew near you could feel the emotions begin to change as everyone on the team started making their rounds and getting in their final hugs and kisses.  Each one of the precious children had truly become family.  When the call to board the buses came it was of course a giant cry fest.  Not knowing if we'd have the opportunity to see the wonderful children again or ever get the chance to return to serve the people of Guatemala.

As our night was drawing to a close we gathered together once again to celebrate the day and share what God had shown us as we served Him.  After many heart felts stories were shared Matt, one of our team members on this trip shared some very challenging thoughts that I believe helped us all put things into perspective.

He used a song by Brandon Heath to remind us that just as we've been serving the people in Guatemala willingly and with a loving heart we have the same opportunity everyday right in our own back yard.  We may have need this mission trip for God to truly change us but now that He has we've been given a second chance to go out and change those around us.  

"Give me your eyes for just one second.  Give me your eyes so I can see.  Everything that I keep missing.  Give me your love for humanity.  Give me your arms for the broken hearted

Ones that are far beyond my reach.  Give me your heart for the ones forgotten.  Give me your eyes so I can see"  "Give Me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath.

I believe it's safe to speak for everyone on this trip and say that God truly changed our lives.  We were each humbled and grateful to have been given the chance to serve the children of Guatemala.  I pray that reading our blogs from this trip that God has spoken to you and that if He is calling to step out, get a little dirty and come and serve Him that you will listen and be obedient to His call on your life.  If you are...you will be forever changed!

Guatemala Day 6 - Last Day at the Center

Today was our last day to love on our Guatemalan babies. At the malnutrition center, everything went smoothly as we played games, sang songs, and ate hotdogs to celebrate the 4th of July. A group of us went to a nursing home and did crafts and music with people there. We shed tears of sadness and tears of joy, but we made it and can’t wait to get home and see our families! Again, thank you for you prayers and love, we couldn’t have done this without you!

The teams begin to leave on Friday morning to make their way back to Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and Louisiana. Please pray for safety throughout the day. 

Happy 4th of July (Guatemala Day 5 - Part 2)

(Recap from yesterday, July 3rd)

Rose began our day with a devotion reminding us to stay close to the Shepherd who leads us because He knows what's ahead and will protect us. Wise words when the enemy is stealthy and quiet, sometimes not even seen. The harm happens when we stray.

Wednesday, Day 3 at the center. By now we've become more familiar with the routine and know where things are, so we all went right to work and things ran smoothly. Windex was flying in the Canary room as every square inch of the glass partitions between the individual cubicals  were wiped down. Also, the outside windows in the Canarios Room were decked out with new curtains.

Shaving cream was the hit of the day!  (with the kids AND the interns and translators I understand! :-) It's the simple craft ideas that seem to be the favorites. Squirt a little shaving cream on the table in front of a child and just let them play. Simple pleasures and just good clean fun! (Get it?)

We finally finished with the inventory today of all the supplies these teams brought. Diapers, clothes, formula, medical supplies, toys, shoes, lotions, craft supplies and 9,020 band-aids later, we'll be able to stock shelves at the center, as well as share supplies with the elderly day care and a local hospital.

Today also held extra blessings for a small group of us who went back to the elderly day care we visited yesterday. We took play dough and beach balls, a devotion and Spanish CDs and had a blast! We were treated to a dance performance by the residents and we all joined in. Such beautiful, sweet and gracious people. They truly blessed us beyond what we could have possibly given them. Another team will visit again tomorrow with more fun activities planned. Can't wait to hear all about their visit.

Dinner tonight was a special time at La Peña del Sol. From the frozen lemon-coconut drink to the live Andean pan flute music, the buffet of great food and all the amazing scarves and jewelry purchased from Felipé, we enjoyed our special evening out. (Well, all except for the swim back to the buses! Have we mentioned yet that its rainy season?)