I'm gonna invite Mike and Dottie so
please help me welcome them to the stage
I'm gonna we're gonna do something a
little different with testimony today
we're gonna do a little interview so go
ahead and take a seat I'm gonna tell you
a little bit about this wonderful couple
their names are Mike and Dottie but they
also go by mami and papi and some of our
wonderful interns and team members that
have been to Guatemala before have met
them before so they are from Guatemala
and they are the founders of Casa
Alleluia which is an orphanage or a
children's home they have been an
incredible blessing and such an
inspiration to us that we had to come
out here we had to bring them out here
so they could share with you guys what
God is doing through them and in their
ministry so I just wanted to ask you
guys can you tell us a little bit about
how Casa Alleluia was founded and you
told me a little bit about the first
trip Mike that you went to and took to
Guatemala so tell us about that
I was I was raised in an alcoholic
family and one of my brothers killed
himself another one of my brothers died
from heroin overdose and I didn't know
Jesus Christ but I wanted a different
life and I went off to college and I met
dotty and Dotties father is a pastor
and he led me to Jesus and Dottie and I
got married and we had three children
and they all died from heart disease and
so we decided we wanted a big family and
we asked God to give us a big family so
we adopted nine children and then one
day a man invited me to go to Guatemala
and I went to Guatemala and early in the
morning four o'clock in the morning I
walked across the street from where we
were staying and I bumped into something
that started moving so I waited till my
eyes adjusted and it was children
children
I walked nine city blocks of Guatemala
City of nothing but children sleeping on
the ground no shoes no jackets rainy etc
you knew they've been abused
you knew they've been used I cried for a
week the last day that I was in
Guatemala I told God God I do not want
to go back to Louisiana I do not want to
go home
I want to do something for the children
but lord I don't speak to Spanish and I
don't have any money and I don't have
any land and I don't have any visas more
than 30 days I don't have anything and
God spoke to my heart there on the side
of a hotel in Guatemala City at five
o'clock in the morning and he said Mike
I don't need money
I don't need buildings I don't need land
I don't need government approval all I
need is somebody that will love them
and God has blessed us with six thousand
children over the last with all the
glory to him
six thousand children over these last
thirty years we live there we're still
there we'd come home twice a year to see
our family and Dottie might want to
tell you is okay please so I wanted to
hear a little bit of the stories of some
of the children and how their life has
been impacted through your ministry the
Lord sends us children through the
courts of Guatemala and one night late
real late we got a knock at the gate and
our oldest son went to the gate and
who was taking our place now and I and
they they the policeman had a little
girl and she was precious but I we
didn't get to meet her the next morning
but he brought her to us and said this
is Maria that's a common Latin name
there's Maria and so Maria was just
she's about ten years old and she
blessed my heart because she just hugged
me so tight and I couldn't understand
why and a lot of kids but think you know
your color of our skin is is wrong so
they stay away from us
and but Maria she just she grabbed a
hold and and every time I see Maria she
hugs me but the reason she's so happy is
because she's come she was a slave to a
family and she was ten years old and she
had to do all the washing all the
cooking all the cleaning and and
whatever was leftover out of the food
that's what she got to eat and 
it's just ten years of my age well the
courts got ahold of this situation and
brought her to us and Maria is
just an amazing story of how what God
does in bringing us these children I
want to tell you a couple of stories
because we don't have a lot of time but
many many years ago seventeen years ago
in fact a judge called me and asked me
to bring Dottie my wife and go to the
court and when we went to the court the
judge was so angry and she had a
policeman with him and I didn't know
what was going on and she said take me
to the hospital and I took her to the
hospital and the policeman and her
brought us into a room and there was a
little girl she was 18 months old and
when she saw me she just went crazy
crying and screaming and yelling she was
18 months old and had been sexually
abused by her father and see it took
three and a half months before I could
hold her she was so scared of men and
over the years Jesus saved her filled
her with the spirit today she's in
college  she's an assistant
dorm parent at our house and she's just
a lovely lovely girl another wonderful
story that God gave us was one of our
first girls and this was many years ago
nearly thirty years ago now but this
girl had been abandoned by her mother
who moved to New York City and abandoned
the family and her father grandfather
and uncle sexually molested
her every day of her life every day
until she was eight years old and when
she was eight years old her 12 year old
brother kicked his father and the father
almost beat him to death but during the
night he took his two of the brothers
and his sister and he came to our house
that girl was eight years old within two
months she was saved and filled with the
spirit she could lead other children to
the Lord
and in that period of time she got
accepted when she graduated from high
school to Union University in Jackson
Tennessee full scholarship
full scholarship made all A's and B's
graduated with her
MBA on top of that she taught at
the University of Quebec she's married
now with three children her husband is a
Guatemalan also and they have a ministry
they preach they teach  they are
just so filled with the love of God it
is what we have seen is what God told me
on the street God said all I need is
somebody to love them and when you
minister when you do the things that you
do throughout your community people
don't care anything about that unless
you love them they have to see the love
they have to feel the love they have to
know that we have had all of these
children we have children that have
graduated from college now that are
architects their doctors assistants
their nurses their technicians  God
has blessed us over 2,000 children
they've gone to college at our house God
has blessed us beyond anything anybody
could have imagined we never would have
believed it but God is so awesome
yeah let's give it up for Jesus how
incredible is it when there was a couple
who out of an active obedience is now
influencing not just these 6,000
children that went through their home
and not just these 2,000 kids that
graduated college but their families and
their future children and the
surroundings around them they're
completely breaking generational curses
and generational blessing is now
starting because of this wonderful
couple there's such an inspiration and
there was something that was really
interesting that you mentioned to me
about the hardest thing to deal with and
I wanted to you to touch on that a
little bit because it was really
surprising to me and how you kind of go
about dealing with that issue a deal so
de bendiga ai muchas  si
bienvenidos one of the things
that we found out that surprised me
because when I tell you that an 18 month
old has been raped or I tell you you
know kids have been beaten almost to
death and we had we've had kids come to
us they were beaten with Barbed wire but we
have children that we I have one boy
that his father got mad at him and stuck
a knife in his eye and he's blind in
that eye  we had to get him an
artificial eye these types of things are
so horrible but once one story kind of
wraps up my heart a man came to our
house and he was talking with one of our
leaders and a boy walked in one of the
teenaged boys and the boy was real mad
and the boy actually spit on David on my
helper and David just cleaned it off and
told him to go to his room and there was
an American visiting there and he said I
can't believe you let him walk away I'd
just laid him out and David said he
didn't spit on me and he said I saw I
saw him spit on you he said he didn't
spit on me he spit on the judge that
sent him here he spent on the police
that took him here he spit on his mother
who abandoned him you know and what we
have found incredibly with all of the
thousands of children is that rejection
abandonment to the boys is  more
difficult for us to deal with than the
sexual and physical abuse of the girls
it's unbelievable how hard it is for
boys to overcome rejection you know
 that's one of the devil's most
powerful tools that it uses is rejection
thank you for sharing that story it's
really incredible and I'm so grateful
that you guys are there ministering to
these people to these kids I wanted to
ask you guys about what the things in
the projects that you guys have going on
right now we went to their home I've
been there three times already and it's
it's not a home it's a community it's
hundreds of kids live there there's a
bunch of volunteers there's dorm parents
there's employees or staff there's it's
such a wonderful community of kids you
go in there all the kids are super
friendly they want to come and hug you
they want to spend time with you they
love people and they love community and
you can see that their lives are being
transformed and one of the they have
lunch for them every day breakfast
dinner they provide everything they
could possibly need their education is
provided for I mean the kids in
Guatemala they don't have the education
that we have here they don't have access
to that but the kids that are going to
their home they have access it's their
choice if they want to go to high school
if they want  to continue to
college they provide a place for them
they don't kick them out when they're 18
there's another dorm that's just for the
older kids kind of like a transitional
period to set them up for success
unfortunately not all the kids choose
that route but the ones that do they end
up in a really really great place in
life so I wanted to ask you to tell us a
little bit about things going on right
now and the dialysis centers as well  the most
important thing going on right now is
number of years ago we were asked by a
physician to take care of a little boy
that was four years old dying from
kidney failure he had been abandoned at
the hospital so they could not get him a
transplant he came to our home and  he
died seven months after that and because
of his death because of that God moved
in our heart to open up a kidney
facility or a renal facility and so we
have had about 21 children with kidney
disease nine have died but every one of
them had died was born again hallelujah
they but they died we had three that
have had successful kidney transplants
we have eight right now on campus and
she mentioned about the food our grocery
bill is twenty eight thousand dollars a
month okay but for our dialysis unit
it's a thousand dollars a month per
child for the medication and for the
treatment and everything and God has
provided all of these years thirty years
God has provided we owe no man anything
God has taken care of every need in our
lives  you can imagine all the
children that have been sick and needed
doctors throughout that time but what we
really need right now is for you to pray
that God would send us house parents we
need house parents and you can have
older boys older girls or little bitty
boys like that I would not suggest that
group okay but pray about it and pray
that God would send us somebody to take
care of that yeah and if it's been on
your heart to serve or to go to missions
whether it's long-term or short-term
they are taking you know missionaries
and it's a really really wonderful place
to serve like I said we've been there
multiple times and we will continue
going back and serving us alongside with
them because it's incredible what God is
doing
the house that he's talking about these
kids are growing up it's all provided
for but it's like American standard
living because in Guatemala if you go
out from homes like this the standards
of living are much much worse they you
know they could have like four walls and
a floor and they're happy like when you
ask somebody
oh you're building a house what kind of
house are you doing and one guy was
describing to me Jonathan was describing
to me he said oh I want he drew it in
the sand he's like I want it to be like
those four walls and a roof and a door
and that's it that's all he wanted and
so the fact that their home they provide
a really nice environment it's very cozy
very homey it's incredible that God has
provided all of that for them so my
question for you right now is if there
is anybody that has been prompted by the
Holy Spirit to go and do missions
whether long-term or short-term and they
would praying about it or they've been
scared to do it because it's
uncomfortable as the unknown
what is your encouragement for people
like that don't be afraid don't be
afraid God is awesome do not be afraid
if it's in your heart to try you know
it's God's gonna give you the
strength to do it don't be afraid to
step out somebody said one time you must
have a lot of faith I'll tell you
something it takes faith of course but
what God showed me was obedience is the
key to God moving in the lives of people
and if you don't understand my favorite
prayer that I pray is you know I believe
but help my unbelief and just be
obedient to do it even when there's that
doubt that's in there and God will place
you in the right place yes amen thank
you for that and he and Dottie are
both such great examples of the
obedience to God because you don't have
to be qualified you don't have to have
an education you don't need money you
don't need to know how to do something
you just obey go and then thousands and
thousands of people have been impacted
through that obedience so if any of your
interested
we are limited on time but if any of you
are interested in hearing more of their
story or you're wanting to get involved
by going or you're wanting to
financially sponsor support their
ministry and welcome to come up to us
after service we'd love to get you
involved and get you plugged in and also
right now as we're gonna finish up I
want you guys to pray for our ministry
pray for our church because we do want
to reach people are our mission
statement is thousands locally millions
globally and that's what we want to do
and our mission team is just kind of the
birthing but we want to send people out
in places and and even plant people in
places like you guys so if you guys can
just please pray for a ministry sure
father I am eternally grateful for the
salvation that we have in Jesus Christ I
thank you Lord for the love of God I
thank you Lord that we can meet today
Ukrainian slavians Americans Guatemalan
Mexican and we can all meet with the
same God with the same Jesus with the
same love led by the Holy Spirit Father
I pray in the name of Jesus for this
ministry I am touched by the praise and
the worship and the heart of the people
father I ask you in the name of Jesus
that you never never limit them but you
would open all the doors to touch the
tri-state area Tri City area and then
move off and touch the globe father I
pray in the name of Jesus that wisdom
would fall upon this place and father
you know more than anything but that I
love the most is mercy and grace O God
give us mercy and give us grace
sometimes it'll look overwhelming
sometimes it'll look like it's something
more than we can chew but God you are
the one that gives us the authority you
are the one that gives us the love for
others father I just pray that what is
manifested in here in this wonderful
praise services would one day be
manifested throughout this community and
father I pray that these  people
would realize they can go into the
highways and the byways there are so
many children and so
young people in this area that are
suffering just like my children there in
Guatemala and father I pray that they
would find them and bring them to the
throne of grace that they would bring
them you never know Lord if the next
leader is not on the streets right now
just a  teenager thrown away or in a
halfway house father I pray that we
would have a hunger and the thirst to
touch children to touch the lives of
families and father to keep families
together father give them wisdom give
this leadership the wisdom of God every
day every day in every situation and
every circumstance I ask it in the name
of your my precious Savior Jesus Christ
amen we have 3000 children that are
married so I bet you I have more
grandchildren than you do
