School Supplies Needed for Guatemala

The children in Guatemala are getting ready to end their current school year and the new school session will begin in January, 2014.  School supplies are often too costly for families, so children are often unable to attend school.  Our team is excited to be able to bring school supplies as gifts this year.  We are looking for the following items:

Folders
Pens or pencils
Erasers
Staples/staples/staple removers
Rulers (with metric measurements)
Backpacks
NO PAPER PLEASE

We are requesting that the backpacks be "neutral" (no Disney characters or themes).  Please let us know if you'd like to help to supply a needy child with a backpack!  Contact Jenni Ramsey at jenni.ramsey@cox.net.

Stuffed Animals Drive Featured in Local Paper

Last month The OC Register (Orange County, CA) featured a story on Jordan and Aidan Ramsey's stuffed animals drive for El Salvador.  The article contains a few minor errors.  Neither of the boys traveled to El Salvador this summer and Aidan took the Silly Bandz that were collected to El Salvador in 2011.  Jordan served in El Salvador in 2010 and 2012.

Tustin students collect stuffed animals for donation

By LUKE HAROLD

08/21/2013 12:28 PM

Two years ago, two brothers attending Arroyo Elementary led a project to collect multi-colored rubber bracelets from their classmates to donate to orphanages in El Salvador.

This time, Jordan and Aidan Ramsey have collected more than 1,000 stuffed animals from their classmates, their church and other sources.

"It was fun," said Aidan, 10, of the effort to collect the stuffed animals. "A little complicated, but we still got it."

They left for El Salvador on July 20 as a part of a team of 19; the toys are being distributed among kids in hospitals and orphanages there over the course of a week.

"They don't need stuff to be happy, but they're glad that they do," said Jordan, 11, who will be entering sixth grade.

The boys' mother, Jenni Ramsey is the aid and outreach director for the nonprofit group All Blessings International through Kentucky Adoption Services. She coordinated the trip in conjunction with Ripple Kids, a program implemented at Arroyo that recognizes community services efforts of kids. Volunteers have traveled to Guatemala, El Salvador and Haiti to help locals.

"The orphans in El Salvador don't have stuffed animals or toys," Jordan said. "They barely have anything."

He and Aidan spent a week in El Salvador in 2011 after collecting 4,000 Silly Bandz, which are silicone rubber bands molded into various shapes and typically worn by kids as bracelets.

"They really enjoyed them, they played with them all day," Jordan said.

Their mom began volunteering in El Salvador in 2009.

"I'm excited," Jenni said. "I feel like I'm blessed to love what I do."

It costs about $2,100 for each person on the team to make the trip. The team is comprised of mostly high school and college students affiliated with the Village Church of Irvine. Jenni leads 10 to 12 training sessions to help team members better acclimate to the culture. The group will stay in a nearby housing complex generally designated for people coming on goodwill trips.

"They're going to be pretty happy that the Americans care for them," Aidan said.

Information: allblessingswest.blogspot.com.

Contact the writer: lharold@ocregister.com, 714-796-7963, @luke_harold

To view the article online, go to http://www.ocregister.com/waptest/articles/salvador-518037-jordan-stuffed.html

2014 El Salvador trip dates confirmed!!!

Mark your calendars! Our next El Salvador team will be serving with SUS HIJOS from July 5-12, 2014.  Applications will be accepted in early 2014.

Introducing the 2013 Guatemala Team!

It's official!  We have 15 team members (8 kids and 7 adults) and our flights are booked to serve in Guatemala from November 23-20, 2013!  Meet the team:

CA team members:

Jenni Ramsey (team leader) - 3rd trip to Guatemala
Aidan Ramsey (age 10) - 1st trip to Guatemala
Marlene Eckert - 2nd trip to Guatemala
Roberta Keenan - 5th trip to Guatemala
Stephen Keenan (age 18) - 1st trip to Guatemala

TN team members:

Amy May (adopted in Guatemala w/ABI) - 3rd trip to Guatemala
Jackson May (age 16) - 2nd trip to Guatemala
Conner May (age 12) - 2nd trip to Guatemala
Nicole Spining - 1st trip to Guatemala
Brendan Spining (age 12) - 1st trip to Guatemala

NE team members:

Danilo Bolanos (born in El Salvador ) - 1st trip to Guatemala
MaKenna Bolanos (age 13) - 1st trip to Guatemala

VA team members:

Lori West (adopted in Guatemala w/ABI) - 4th trip to Guatemala
Ryan West (age 16) - 1st trip to Guatemala
Wendy West (age 9) - adopted in Guatemala at age 3, 1st time returning since adoption

As you can see, we have an incredible team!  We are so excited to serve alongside long term missionaries, Art and Lisa Camarena, and will be visiting families, delivering supplies, doing construction projects and participating in their weekly Bible study ministry.  We will also build and deliver beds an in impoverished community.

This ministry room @ Art & Lisa' home 

will receive a much needed paint job from our team!

Art and Lisa have become like family 

to many of the Guatemalans they serve...

The cost to build and deliver beds is $50/bed.  We will be delivering four beds to four deserving families (who currently sleep on the floor).  If you would like to contribute towards specific costs (beds, food/supplies for families, paint/construction needs, school supplies, etc.) or support our general trip costs, please send a tax-deductible check to All Blessings Intl, 13111 Hewes Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92705.

Our team is collecting school supplies and we are in need of backpacks, pens, pencils, erasers, glue and small supplies.  No paper please.  The children in Guatemala start school in January and school supplies  are very costly.  Thank you for your support!

July 2013 El Salvador Trip Video

Tonight our team gathered for a reunion and trip report.  It was so great just to be together!  Over 50 people showed up to support the team, hear stories, watch the team video and process the trip.  Every heart was moved as we heard how each team members' life had been dramatically changed by their week of serving in El Salvador.

David Hughes, the youth pastor at The Village Church of Irvine, did an amazing job producing our team video.  Thanks David for investing so much into this unbelievably touching video...

El Salvador 2013 Vimeo Video

As one team member said tonight, "This is just the beginning".  We truly believe that these team members will continue to advocate for the forgotten, abandoned and orphaned in El Salvador.  We encouraged each other to continue to share our stories and have no doubt that many team members will return next summer (and recruit others as well).  We're grateful for the lifelong friendships that were formed on our team and look forward to seeing God work in our hearts in the days, months and years to come.

We closed our evening with some challenging words from David Platt's book, "Radical" (which all team members were required to read):

"The Bible says that when Jesus told the rich young man to sell everything he had and give to the poor 'the man's face fell.  He went away sad, because he had great wealth.' Jesus was uncovering a blind sport in his life, and he didn't want to see it.  He walked away with full hands but an empty heart.  Tragically, he was leaving behind the only one who could bring him the life and joy he so desperately desired.

I don't want to be blind to these things in my own life.  I don't want to pursue stuff and in the process miss Christ and the pleasures he alone gives.  I don't want to miss eternal treasures because I settle for earthly trinkets.  'Where your treasure is,' Jesus says, 'there your heart will be also.'  The way we use our money is a barometer of our present spiritual condition.  Our neglect of the poor illustrates much bout where our hearts lie.  The mark of Christ followers is that their hearts are in heaven and their treasures are spent there. 

Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.  They are easier to ignore before you see their faces.  It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms.  But once you do, everything changes.  As I see their faces, I realize that I have a choice.  You and I both have a choice.  We can embrace Jesus while we give away our wealth, or we can walk away from Jesus while we hoard our wealth.  Only time will tell what you and I choose to do with this blind spot of American Christianity in our day." - (pages 138-140)

MEN NEEDED for Nov 23-30, 2013 Guatemala Team!!!

We are currently in the process of forming our Guatemala team.  We have four women and three kids (ages 9, 13 and 16) on the team and are desperately in need of men with construction abilities.  Our team will be serving in an orphanage, building and delivering beds in an impoverished community and partnering with Art and Lisa Camarena, missionaries supported by Jenni Ramsey's home church, The Village Church of Irvine.   The Guatemalan people are warm, hospitable and hungry for God.  We will celebrate Thanksgiving together in Guatemala as we are privileged to bring hope, healing and compassion to this beautiful land.  Is God calling you to join our team?

Contact Jenni Ramsey for information at jenni.ramsey@cox.net.

El Salvador Trip Report on Aug 18

We are home!  We had an uneventful day of travel and were greeted at LAX by family members and friends.  This week our team has been resting, processing the trip and experiencing culture shock and re-entry.  There have been many texts, emails and Facebook posts back and forth from team members and it's clear that everyone misses each other!

We will be hosting a trip report on Sun, Aug 18 at 6:30 pm at the Asciuto home.  Everyone is welcome!  We'll be telling stories and showing our team video.  Please join us!  Please contact Jenni Ramsey at jenni.ramsey@cox.net or 714-941-6310 for the address.    Hope to see you there!