SUNDAY, 7/29/12 – Taking in the beauty of Guatemala

An amazing first day in Guatemala!  We started the trip quickly realizing the value of arriving on a Saturday; the next full day being Sunday, the day of rest.  Therefore, instead of going to a village to serve other’s physical and spiritual needs, we found God serving our own spirits and each other’s with amazing fellowships, deep, relating conversations, and trust strengthening amongst the team as single cohesive unit, especially in our foreign environment (we had plenty of team building in GA before coming, but now we’re here and our spirits, attitude and comfort in God is put to the test).  As the day progressed, we concluded undeniably there are no accidents and that God designed this team with His perfect purpose.

Not to rehash Patrick’s summary, which I just noticed was there….   : - )  , but a couple notes from a different perspective (as he’s been here four times in the last five years and I was only here once four years ago) on attending church here; the church location, message, music and agenda was amazing!  Four years back, I attended church in an InterContinental Hotels seminar room located in the Guatemala City.  Now, four years later, the original message is performed and recorded at their own church now in Guatemala city and that video message is played each Sunday in eight other satellite churches around Guatemala (with more satelites to come).  The location we enjoyed worship at was a conference room in a four star hotel resort in Antigua (ironically, the resort was converted from a 16^th century Catholic monastery (which we toured later).  It was so awesome to see how the ministry in Guatemala is exploding through their NorthPoint like model of getting a single message out to multiple other locations and wrap around it the attractiveness of that satellite church location’s live worship music, pastor interaction and leadership, and fellowshipping with some amazing, loving brothers and sisters.   You could really see how purpose and technology will exponentially deliver God’s word to the people around this wonderful country.

Later, after fueling up over an awesome mountain top brunch, we burnt plenty of energy playing with the kids at the orphanage.  Patrick said it all.  It was just a huge blessing to give and receive so much love there.  Praise God!  What a day! 

Sunday

Today, we got up early and all excited about our first full day in Guatemala.  We ate breakfast and left at 7 am for church in Antigua.  It was a wonderful service about sharing the gospel.  It re-enforced the message that making a difference in one person's life can have a chain affect.  The service ended with a video with pictures to the Chris Tomlin's song, God of this City.  Awesome!

We had lunch on the mountainside.  Everybody enjoyed the food and the view.  The fellowship was was inspiring.  People were sharing parts of their lives with one another.  We got some pictures before we left.

We headed to the orphanage.  We spent about 3-4 hours there.  We arrived while most of the kids and staff were napping.  Then the kids started to trickle out.  The two year olds were so cute.  We got hugs and smiles all around.  These kids really know how to pour out the love of Jesus on you.  It melts your heart.  We had fun kicking the soccer ball around, playing with toy cars, and running around with the kids.  The kids enjoyed taking our cameras and taking and viewing their pictures.  We got to love on the kids and vice versa.  It's such a blessing.

Afterwards, we headed back to the mission house for some downtime.  [OK, I took a short Sunday nap.]  Some of the ladies made breakfast casseroles for Monday morning.  The house smelled good...mmm.  Then we ordered out for pizza.  It was good. 

Hermann and Linda came over to join our team for conversation during dinner.  Afterwards, Hermann spoke on healing.  We prayed for some of hour team members that needed healing.  As the Spirit led, one person after another was getting into the "hot seat" for prayer.  It was an awesome night!  All glory to God!  Praise Jesus!!

Everyone has taken showers now and is tucked into bed.  We have worship and devotional in the morning at 7 am before we head to the 1st clinic in Chimaltenango.  We are so looking forward to meeting the rest of the Guatemala team that will be joining us for the week.  We know that we will see some new faces and some family that we have not seen since last year.  Lots of hugs tomorrow morning.

God bless you all!  We love you!!

We have arrived!  Our team made it to the Mission House and we were received with open arms and a warm welcome, Guatemalan style. Thank you for your prayers for travel mercies and safety!      :-)  

As we journeyed through our first day not certain of what to expect, it became increasingly evident how God designed our team with His perfect combination of personalities, abilities, experiences and knowledge.  And, most important, the common thread that made it all gel so well together is that passion to be a servant, through love, for His kingdom.   This all shined through as we fifteen navigated our way through the shuttles, food courts, airports, and customs. 

Upon arriving, our long line of supply bins on carts (containing medical/dental/optometry supplies, children’s ministry items, bibles and gifts) were greeted by the Mission house doctors and staff to bring us to our home base for the week, via a school bus.  That was fun!  Since we got here pretty early, we were able to fully enjoy the entire day to divvy up the supplies, stock the food for the week, unpack, fellowship with one another and the Medical Mission Team, tour the beautiful new grounds of our temporary home (which doubled in size just one year prior, after 20 years of growth), and enjoy an incredible meal prepared by Brenda, our awesome culinary chef.

Yes, thank you Jesus for the gift to be here!  As mentioned throughout our group prayers today, we praise you for the honor of being here, as a unified body, to go forward and be the light and salt of the earth in your name.  May we hope to be able to give to the beautiful people of Guatemala as many blessings as you are already giving us.  

Love and thanks,

     

We are here in Guatemala!!

We made it safely. We had an early morning today. We met at the airport at 7 am. We got 34 pieces of luggage, 15 back packs, and an assortment of carry bags onto the plane. The plane was full. Praise God we were allowed to bring it all. And it all got here. We got to ride a school bus to the mission compound. That was cool. We had McDonalds for lunch at the house. We were hungry. It's so good to see our Guatemala family again! Hermann welcomed us and gave us a briefing. Then it was divide and conquer time. Some went grocery shopping, some stayed to repack the supplies. We had great teamwork today! We got it done and had some time for fellowship. Dinner is cooking and it smells good. Gotta go! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers! All for the glory of God!!

One more day until we go!

It's finally here.  The day before.  Time to get all the last minute preparations done before we leave.

Over the last month, we have purchased flip flops, packed supplies, had communion together, and been anointed & commissioned.  We've been blessed with dental supply donations and financial resources from hundreds of supporters.  Going on this trip with all these blessings to share with the people of Guatemala would not be possible if it was not for our supporters.  Know that we have prayed for you often and we will continue to do so.  Thank you!

Please continue to follow the blog while we are in Guatemala.  We hope to post updates often and with pictures!

Lots to do today!  Lots of excitement that can't be contained.  Everyone I meet will probably know I am going to Guatemala to do God's work.

Thank you Jesus!  We love You!

Less than a month until we go!

Less than a month until we go.  Time sure does fly by.  It's now the end of June and there's still more to do before we can go.

The team has had two meetings since the last note and we've shrunk to 15 people.  We are all determined at this point to make it happen.  The team unity is good.  Our last team building meeting day was full of activities that helped us learn more about one another and create a stronger bond.

Hopefully everyone has received all their medical shots by now.  Good news!  We don't have to take malaria pills this year.  That's so nice.  I also found out that we don't have to spend the night out in the field so we don't have to pack sleeping bags.  This means more room for the donated flip flops and medical supplies.

Bible sponsorship is going well this year.  We started earlier and we have more bibles sponsored.  The stories around who sponsors and why is amazing.  It's very encouraging and you just know that God is involved.  If you would like to sponsor a bible or two, it is just $5.  You can write a note in the bible and the person that gets it can have it read to them by a translator.  Some folks are using translators now to write the verse in Spanish.  Very creative!

Our fundraising is still ongoing.  We've made the big purchase of airline tickets for the team.  We're buying supplies, team t-shirts, items for the kids program, insurance, etc.  It all adds up.  If you are someone who would like to donate, you still have the opportunity.  We are asking everyone to donate by July 8th so we have enough time to get all the remaining supplies and pack them up on July 15th.

Please pray for our team.  Multiple members have had surgery, illnesses, loss of loved ones, you name it - the challenges are there.  We need God's comfort and protection to get us the rest of the way.  Your prayers encourage us and strengthen us.  God hears and answers.  Thank you.

We pray for you at each of our team meetings.  We love you.  God bless you and yours!!

Two months to Go!

Wow!  Time flies by when you are preparing to go on a mission trip.  Hard to believe that it's June.

The team has 16 members.  12 women and 4 men.  We will have two teenage girls on the team with us this year.  The younger generation is such a blessing.  God is faithful in raising up the next generation.  This encourages us as leaders and as a team.

On the fundraising for this project, we have reached the halfway point.  How encouraging!  We look forward to the people that God will touch through their prayers and sponsorship of the team.  We know that God is working in the lives of all who hear about our trip.  How exciting is that!?!

We have our second team building meeting this weekend.  God has blessed our team with an opportunity to get away at a lake house.  I'm looking forward to spending some time outdoors enjoying the beauty God has set before us.  We also have a schedule packed with fun and exciting things.  The team will be preparing by learning how to use a bilingual bible, an evangecube, and other exciting methods for sharing God's truth and encouraging the people of Guatemala. 

Please pray that everyone will be able to make the meeting, that the distractions will be few, and that their hearts will be open to what God has for them.

Thank you for following our story and supporting our team!!

God bless you!!!