News : Vinton church group plans mission trip to orphanage in Guatemala

Several members of Blessed Hope Church of Vinton will be traveling to Guatemala early in July to help Iowa missionaries at an orphanage there.

"Ten of us are going, including Pastor Jim and Karen Blair," said Kristi Lutz, one of the volunteers who will leave on July 3. "We are going to New Life Children's Home in Villa Nueva, There is also a school that is linked to this home (orphanage). We will be staying at the home in dorm-type rooms and working in the school/home/community. We are not 100% sure what we will be doing there but past groups have worked with the kids, sorted donations (clothing, shoes, books), worked on building projects in the community and even in the school."
The McCauley family, from Aplington, has been working there for the past few years. Jeff and Jodi McCauley first adopted some children from the orphanage before feeling called by God to move there with their family.
The main organization " is New Life Advance International (NLAI). It was founded in 1954 by Drs. Fred and Clara Jarvis and was known as New Life League, Inc. Since then it has advanced into NLAI. There is some information on this at www.nlai.org/about.php. NLAI has ministries in Guatemala, Haiti, Middle East, Thailand, India, Nepal, Bhutam and San Juan.
"We are hoping to continue with mission work in Guatemala and maybe even in some of the other areas," said Lutz.
The website for the McCauley family blog is

http://missions.firstpresaplington.org/mccauley/blog.