Amazing Guatemala Medical Team

What an incredible experience to be in Guatemala serving others! The very first medical team into Guatemala for The Chance to Dream was a huge success. With only 6 team members, we were able to serve 326 patients, fill 357 prescriptions, distribute 9,780 vitamins, and provide pain relief with 4,500 tylenol. We would not have been able to do this without the amazing support of numerous local individuals.

We were blessed to serve in two different communities. We operated a mobile clinic in a school as well as a fire station. The volunteer fire fighters were our primary connection as well as some amazing local doctors.

A big thank you to the Bomberos Voluntarios of Antigua Guatemala! What an incredible group of people to serve alongside. 

The paramedics helped to run stations and provide necessary medical care to hundreds of people within their community as well as surrounding communities.

Please continue to pray for Guatemala and our connections in country. We are currently seeking team members for a medical team in January as well as funds for much needed medications and supplies.

Short Video of the Sheppard Family :)

Ten Prayers

The Original 10 Prayer List Items:

1. Adoption: The adoption for Jordan is complete!! Praise God! He is shown below on the left with Steevenson on the right. They are amazing young gentlemen! Both are now 8 years old. Jordan is one month older then Steevenson.

2. Passports: Roseminique's passport came today in the mail. We only have one passport we're waiting on. Jordan's passport was submitted on Friday, which is EXACTLY six weeks before his departure. I will be traveling a few days earlier with the medical team as well as Julia, Melissa, and Roseminque. Hopefully Jordan's passport will arrive early. They say 4-6 weeks for processing.

3. TEAMS: The Guatemala team leaves on Thursday. Please pray for safety of the team and that we will be of service in country. We will be assisting an amazing local volunteer fire department operate a health fair and medical clinic. 

I'm currently seeking team members for a medical team to Haiti August 19th as well as a building team to Haiti October 15th. Both are 8 day trips (7 days in country). No building, medical, or language skills are required. Teens and college age team members are also a huge help. Volunteer service hours are awarded. Please contact me: HaitiMissionaries@gmail.com or 503-888-0050 for more information. I will be out of the country until the first of August. 

4. WORK: Ron and I are both still working. We will be gradually transitioning out of our current positions and transitioning into part time employment and full time ministry service. Please pray for a smooth transition! 

5. SUPPORT: We are actively seeking monthly support. Please pray and consider partnering with us on a monthly support basis. Even $10-20 a month would make a HUGE impact on our ability to serve in country. 

You can donate by going to www.mtmhaiti.com and clicking on "long term missionaries" and write our names "Ron and Linda Sheppard" with the code number "0628". Or you can call Mountain Top Ministries at 812-870-3939 to set up monthly support payments.

6. HOUSE: Keeping the house for now, but having my oldest son who cares for my mom move into the house. We need to build some wheelchair ramps and make some adjustments to the house, but grandma saying she is happy to move back to the house. We currently live in the house that I grew up in. 

7. FAMILY: My mom is moving into our house. This will cover the overhead on the house. Our intent is to leave the USA without funding anything left behind in the states. This seems to be working out just fine at this point. 

8. HEALTH: Six of the kids went in for shots and various things. One needs to go for lab work this week and four more need to go in next week. Trying to make sure everyone has a check up and is updated on vaccines. 

9. MEDICAL INSURANCE: This is taken care of. Praise God! 

10. FAITHFULNESS:  “Everyone would like to have stronger faith. By themselves, the scriptures may not strengthen your faith, but being faithful to what they teach, does. In other words, faith cannot be separated from faithfulness.” 

― John Bytheway, When Times Are Tough: 5 Scriptures That Will Help You Get Through Almost Anything

Seeking Supplies for Guatemala!!

We're seeking last minute supplies for a Guatemala mission team that leaves next week. If anyone is able to donate supplies over the weekend, they can be dropped off at the Sheppard's House: 160 NW Merle Drive, Hillsboro OR 97124. A tax deductible receipt can be provided or cash donations can be made at The Chance to Dream website: www.thechancetodream.com

Just click on "donate" and put a memo for Guatemala supplies for July 18 Mission Team. I'll be making a cosco run and dollar store run on Monday and buying items with any/all funds that come through for supplies.

Items best purchased at Costco:

Adult Multivitamins with iron (no gummies- they melt)
Children's Multivitamins with iron
Prenatal vitamins
Tylenol
Tums

Items from Dollar Store:

Hydrocortisone cream
Triple antibiotic ointment
Antifungal cream (lotrimin/tolfinate/athlete's foot cream, etc)
Bandaids
Hemorroid cream/ointment

Miscellaneous Items for the Health Fair:

Balloons
Coloring Books
Stickers
Crayons

Fourteen One Way Tickets to Haiti, Eleven Passports, One Adoption Decree, and One Certificate of Foreign Birth

We have booked 14 one way tickets to Haiti. Yeah!! Julia, Roseminique, and Melissa will be traveling with me on the 19th of August along with the medical team. The rest of the group will be traveling on the 23rd. It was over $100 a piece cheaper to travel a few days later, but it will also probably be helpful to get the team set up and also have a chance to get things organized a bit before the entire family arrives. 

Five more passports arrived in the mail today! We now have a total of 11 passports. We are just waiting on Roseminique's (it has been submitted) and will need to submit for Jordan's passport. It is exciting to see them all lined up. Let's just pray that I do not put them somewhere important and forget where exactly that is! They would be much more difficult to replace then passport photos from Costco.

Jordan's adoption decree and birth certificate is actually in the hands of our amazing attorney. Thank you Scott! Jordan is now "officially" a Sheppard (although he has been an amazing part of our family for 2 years). We cannot believe how quickly the process went through after it was finally filed in the courts. God is good! We should be able to file for his passport next week.

The details are coming together. There seem to be a million challenges, but then there are blessings that offset those stumbling blocks. We continue to work on raising support. When we were at VBS last week, we ran into a friend that asked how raising support was going. I kinda shrugged and said, "Well, it's going. We don't know exactly how it is going to work, but we have seen the same thing with all of our adoptions and funding all the mission teams over the years. The details tend to come together at the last minute." The friend made an amazing statement that I really appreciate. She said, "Our God is a just in time God".

Praise the Lord! That is exactly what we have seen. I had just never heard it phrased like that. We may "want" to have all the details outlined months in advance, but the Lord tells us to just breathe and rely on Him. He has it covered. It is nice though to see at least some of these details falling into place. Thank you everyone for all the prayers and support! Without prayers, none of this would be possible.

Happy 19th Birthday David!

Nineteen years ago today I gave birth to an amazing little boy. It was a scary moment. The doctors had done an amnio to make sure his lungs were developed, but apparently the tests were wrong. When they removed him via c-section, he didn't cry or make a sound. He wasn't breathing. They whisked him away and thankfully David recovered quickly from that little bump in the road. He has been an amazing joy to parent and has grown into an incredible young man.

David speaks Mandarin Chinese and plans to move to China next year. He has a heart for China and in many ways is following in his great-grandparents' footsteps who were missionaries in China and throughout Asia for the bulk of their lives. He spent last summer living in China. When he was 4 years old, he traveled to China and stunned many people with his language abilities. He is an avid reader and is often seen reading with his younger siblings. He's a pet lover and is shown below with our dog Thor.

Although he only has 6-8 more classes to take at Portland State in order to graduate, his remaining classes are not offered online and are spread throughout the year. Therefore, he is in the process of transferring to another college where he can finish his final classes online for his bachelor's degree in international studies, business, and Chinese. He plans to travel with us to Haiti and serve on the field teaching at Mountain Top's school for the year. He hopes to become fluent in French, Haitian Creole, and Spanish one day. He will be a big help with his knack for languages and his teaching abilities. He currently teaches English online into China.

David is an amazing big brother. He is shown above with many of his siblings at Focus on the Family in Colorado holding baby Naomi. David loves to play the piano, volunteer with rod building and fishing with Irvington Covenant Fish Club, practice languages, play basketball with his siblings, read, and go to the movies with friends.  He also has the patience to run with me and train for various events.

David has a kind heart and loves the Lord. There is one moment that stands out in my mind when I think about describing David's heart. Many years ago as we were leaving church, David mentioned that someone from youth group asked him what was wrong with his sister. One of the teens was simply curious regarding the disability (global developmental delay, autism, and mild CP) of one of our children. I asked David what his response was and his answer was, "I said there's nothing wrong with her. She's just Phuong".  It was as simple as that.

David has always had the ability to see beyond challenges that may be presented and see the person underneath. It is a completely true statement to David. There is nothing "wrong" with his sister. She simply is the person God made her to be. Thank you David for being who you are and seeing the world  and people the way you do. Happy Birthday! We love you!