Our first July El Salvador team gathering with Susan Ackermann

This week our July team gathered for lunch with Susan Ackermann, one of the missionaries that we partner with in El Salvador.

Susan and her husband Kurt founded HIS CHILDREN after serving for many years in the government orphanages in El Salvador.  It has been a privilege to serve alongside the Ackermanns and we look forward to working together this summer.  Susan has been batting cancer this past year and has been receiving chemo treatments in Kentucky while her family continues to serve in El Salvador.  Last month we raised enough funds to fly Susan to Southern California and are treating her to a week of R&R!  It has been so wonderful to spend time with Susan this week and to bless her with rest, food, fellowship and prayer!

El Salvador team member receives national college award.

Last month former El Salvador team member, Amanda Deal, received a highly prestigious collegiate award for her service in El Salvador.  Amanda has participated on two of our short-term trips and played a crucial role in planning the quinceanera last summer.  She will be serving with our team again this July.  We are so proud of Amanda's accomplishments and passion for El Salvador!  Congrats Amanda and enjoy your trip to New Orleans!

To read the article about Amanda's award, click on this link:

Cal State LA Athletics

2013 El Salvador Trip Dates Confirmed!

It's official!  HIS HANDS/HIS FEET, the humanitarian aide/outreach arm of All Blessings Intl., will be sending a team to serve in El Salvador from July 20-27, 2013.  We are accepting applications now.  The trip cost is $2,000/person and team members will need to turn in $100 with their application.  The remaining funds can be raised through All Blessings Intl.  To receive an application, please contact Jenni Ramsey at jenni.ramsey@cox.net.

Our team will be serving alongside HIS CHILDREN in orphanage work by bringing hope, joy, gifts and encouragement to the children in the government orphanages.  We will also serve in HIS CHILDREN'S new transition homes for teens phasing out of orphanages and participate in a local outreach/feeding to the homeless.  Sadly, many of the children in government orphanages end up on the street after "aging" out of the system.

To learn more about the trip, contact Jenni Ramsey at jenni.ramsey@cox.net.

To view a powerful video of the work of HIS CHILDREN in 2012, click here:  HIS CHILDREN VIDEO

College Article Highlights El Salvador Team Member

Post written by Jenni Ramsey

Last month Cal State LA Today published an article on one of their students, Amanda Deal, who has traveled with our teams twice to serve in El Salvador.   I  have known Amanda since she was a young girl in our church.  Amanda's mom and I served together on our church staff for many years and Amanda babysat our boys when they were toddlers.  It has been such a privilege to watch her grow into a beautiful, godly young woman and to serve alongside her in El Salvador.

Amanda first served on our July, 2011 trip, where she became deeply burdened for the teenage girls.  That summer I watched Amanda remove her brand new Nike basketball shoes and give them to a nervous teenage girl who owned only one pair of flip flops.  I'll never forget that moment.  To read the post about that experience, click here:  "Giving Away our Shoes"  Amanda vowed to return to El Salvador the following summer after Stephanie Keenan,  another team member, received the vision to throw a quinceanera for these forgotten girls.  And Amanda kept her promise.

Amanda played an integral role in organizing the quinceanera this past July, soliciting funds and donations from family members, friends and fellow college students.  She organized a "dress drive" at Cal Sate LA and received many stunning dresses for the quinceanera.  Most of the girls who participated in the quinceanera had never owned dresses of that quality, style or glamor.  To read Amanda's post written on the night of the quinceanera, click here:  "Transforming Hearts"

To read the Cal State LA Today article, click on this link:  Cal State LA - Sports Feature on Amanda Deal

One of the things that I love most about leading orphan outreach teams is seeing the profound transformation that takes place in the hearts of our team members.  It has been so incredible to watch God move in Amanda's life as she has fallen in love with El Salvador.  I have watched her future plans as a college student evolve as her heart has become broken for "the least of these."  She is a gifted athlete and leader and it has been a blessing to be part of her life for so many years.  I look forward to watching Amanda shine the hope of Jesus as she serves our hurting world through her gifts, talents and passions.

Orphan Sunday 2012

Post written by Jenni Ramsey

Last Sunday our church (The Village Church of Irvine, CA) celebrated Orphan Sunday along with thousands of churches in twenty-two nations. Mike and I were honored to share about our adoption journey during the service. It was a thrilling morning as we celebrated many of the ways that God is moving through our church community in orphan care. Mike did an awesome job preaching on God's heart for adoption. He brought Hailey onto the stage at the beginning of his message and it was priceless to hear him speak about adoption with Hailey in his arms.

To listen to Mike's message, click here: Mike Ramsey's Orphan Sunday message 2012

One of the highlights of the morning was interviewing the Skelly family. Last year God spoke to the Skellys during our Orphan Sunday service about the foster care crisis in the US. This fall they received their first foster placement of a precious baby girl. It was so exciting to pray over their family with their foster daughter in their arms.

We also welcomed the Steele family home from Ukraine. The Steeles participated in a hosting program last summer through Nightlight Christian Adoptions. They met Nadia during the program and fell in love. After a grueling year of paperwork, they finally brought Nadia home just three days before Orphan Sunday.

It was a privilege for me to introduce families in our church who have been touched by adoption. There are approximately fifteen families in our body who have experienced the miracle of adoption and each story is powerful. We asked all of those families to stand with their "Adopted"signs. At the end of our service, our lead pastor, who has an adopted son, spoke about how believers are adopted by God. Adoption into God's family is the heart of the gospel. We organized a "flash mob" of people to hold up "Adopted by God" signs. It was powerful!

We are so grateful to be part of a church that is passionate about the orphan crisis. Our church partners with Lifesong for Orphans in providing adoption grants to families and has participated in two blood drives (through Blood for Missions) to raise funds for grants. We send three short-term teams every summer to serve orphans in El Salvador and Africa. Mike and I look forward to encouraging families in our church as they follow God's calling to foster care, adoption or orphan care through short-term trips, advocacy and beyond in the years to come.

Quinceanera Article from The Tustin News

We are grateful to The Orange County Register for posting an article this week about the quinceanera hosted this past July in El Salvador.   The article can be viewed at:

http://oclatinolink.ocregister.com/2012/08/28/o-c-woman-makes-dreams-come-true-in-el-salvador/

To view the blog post about the quinceanera, scroll down to the post dated July 11, 2012, entitled "Transforming Hearts, the Quinceanera," or just click here:

The Quinceanera

A Letter from a Salvadorian Government Official!

All Blessings is honored to partner with Kurk Ackermann and his family in our orphan outreach work in El Salvador.  Kurt is the founder of the non-profit organization, HIS CHILDREN, which serves at-risk children living in orphanages and on the streets of El Salvador.  Our July orphan outreach team partnered with Kurt and HIS CHILDREN to organize the quinceanera for 43 girls (from a government center).  Kurt recently received the following letter from the Director of Child Welfare Services:

English translation:

San Salvador July 11th, 2012

Dear Mister Ackermann,

Wishing abundant blessings to you, we write you in this opportunity to thank you for coming and celebrating the 15th birthdays. We hope that God continues favoring you in all the projects you do. We want from our heart to thank all the people who unconditionally joined this great effort. We are asking God that He can protect you for the rest of your lives, we want you to know that all of you have a special place in our hearts.

Thank you for making possible our dream of each and every one of us. It was a wonderful experience that we will never forget, and we will take all those moments of preparations, make-up and dress selection, the accessories, the perfume, the shoes and the transportation, the guys helping us walk to the event, the delicious food, the cake the encouraging words the dance, all this has been engraved in us.

We will always continue to pray that all of you return safely to your country and the ones that are staying that they can receive great privileges from our God.

With all our hearts, 
Jose Alvaro Leon Canizales (Psychologist and Government Representative)

Wow!  What a powerful letter!  It was such a privilege, honor and blessing for our team to be part of such an unforgettable event.  We will never forget the beautiful, young women that we met during our quinceanera experience.  We are also grateful that the quinceanera allowed HIS CHILDREN to receive greater favor and respect for the government that they are called to serve.  That's what it's all about!