As we once again adjust to home in the southern hemisphere it is no more evident that we are "not in Kansas anymore" than when we look up at the night sky. The Northern Star with it's Big Dipper are conspicuously absent and the mighty Orion is upside down. Most of you know (especially Crosby, Stills & Nash fans) that the pride of the southern hemisphere is the Southern Cross. There are two other stars that I find fascinating, though. Alpha and Beta Centauri form a small line that lead to the Southern Cross, they are called the pointers to the cross.
Marcy and I visited Quinta Betel in February and we were prepared for moving here and planting roots and living here for as long as the Lord desires. We prepared mentally and spiritually to move here. We have now been here for almost two months. We realize how much bigger than us all of this is. There are kids here that have been abused, but we knew that. They have experienced things, though, that are are hard to imagine and to just think about it brings a flood of emotion to my life and it didn't even happen to me. Many still carry this hurt around like a backpack full of heavy stones. Every time we learn one of their stories it feels like a knife is sinking into my heart. I realize how little that I can do for these kids, how inadequate that I am to give them answers, to put them back together. I am then reminded of those two otherwise ordinary and somewhat insignificant stars that point to the glorious cross. I don't want to be "The Conaways- Missionaries to Argentina" or "The Conaways- God's gift to Quinta Betel", I want to be "The Conaways- Pointers to the Cross". Only at the cross of Christ will these kids find healing and a place to put down that heavy load of hurt.
Please continue to pray for us as we point to the cross. Lift these kids up to Him, you may not know them personally, but He knows who you are talking about. Thank you for standing with us in prayer and financial support. We love you very much and are grateful for you.
Update
*We want to thank our home church, Crossroads Family Worship Center in Callahan, Florida. Thank you for coming and working feverishly to make our house into a home. Your hard work is a blessing that we get to experience everyday. Thank you also for making a long overdue laundry room a reality for the girls home. They will finally have a washing machine in the home and not have to burn cardboard and scraps of wood to have hot water, but they will have a gas hot water heater. For before and after pictures from the teams work go to the picture page on our web site.
