Hi everyone we had a very exciting week this week in ministry!
On Tuesday we went into a nearby village called Chimachoy and visited with some of the families there. The organization we are working with, Dar Para Dar, is putting together some soccer teams from the local villages for upcoming soccer tournaments. This has been a great way for them to spend time with kids and gets the chance to share with them the gospel and encourage them to develop their relationships with the Lord. Soccer practice always includes a Bible study and praying together. That is certainly something that would be great to add back into sports in America! So while we are out and about recruiting kiddos for soccer we were also able to check in with families and see how they were doing as well pray for them and speak the light of Jesus into their lives. This was a very special time for me as we got to see the genuine love and dependance on the Lord these people have. We were able to pray for physical and emotional healing for many people as well as encourage them with the word in their everyday life. Something that has stuck out to me so much has been the heart of the people in Guatemala. No matter what house we were visiting these folks gave all the glory to God for what they had and also did whatever they could to show us the heart of God through their actions. We were given gifts of food from the harvest from farmers, invited to have a sleep over at the house of the village “mom” who watches out for everyone in her village because she heard we were cold and overall we were simply received with grace and intentionality every where that we went. Every family dropped what they were doing to spend time with us and it was an awesome experience to get to know them better and share the word of God with them.
On Wednesday we hosted a team of short term missionaries from South Carolina at prayer mountain for fellowship and some good ole fashioned hard labor which they did not shy away from. We cut down trees and greatly expanded the road and flat space needed for the block shed that we will be building to host the tractor generator and other expensive supplies that stay on the mountain. Most importantly we got to connect with them on a personal level and encourage them to spend time with the Lord. The theme of Dar Para Dar is to serve out of the overflow of the love of the Lord not out of duty or desire to “earn” our salvation. This has been a wonderful lesson for me to learn while I am here and so I was grateful for the opportunity to share this with their group as well. Resting in the presence of the Lord is such a foreign concept to all of us from America but it has proven to be my favorite part of the trip so far and proof that God’s plan for our life and His ability to produce fruit far out weighs our ability to accomplish things on our own.
On Thursday we spent the day visiting with a family who was in need of a home. Dar Para Dar was able to get funding to build them a new home and it was incredible to see their reaction to this life changing news. We arrived as the husband of the family was working to clear ground to build himself a house in the next 1-2 years. They had been living with another family in home made of adobe and had been planning to build their own home of adobe when they had saved up enough money and resources. Dar Para Dar is going to be building them a block home which is far greater when it comes to structural integrity and providing shelter from the elements. After receiving the news the family solely expressed the faithfulness of God and gave him all of the glory for their provisions. It was awesome to see the perspective they had that all good things come from God and that He had heard their prayers and requests for help. They have a young baby and soon they will be able to have space of their own to grow their adorable family of 3 in their new home! Materials start to arrive on Tuesday for that project and we will be stepping in to assist with moving the materials up the mountain to the build site and helping to prepare the contractors for their work, I am very excited to watch this project develop.
On Thursday night we partnered with the other team on our squad that hosts a public worship night at a coffee shop in Antigua. They call these nights Worship Room and it was an incredible night of worship and fellowship. Earlier in the day before Worship Room, my team mate Noah and had made a quick trip to the bank. After waiting in line for quite some time we decided the errand wasn’t needed and skipped out of line to head back into the city. Although it seemed like a small decision God was at work because as soon as we stepped out into the street an American couple came up to us asking if they could get help with their ATM card and withdrawing money int he local currency. This was certainly God at work as they were running behind and didn’t have time to work out all the details with us but wanted to meet up later on to make an exchange with us as the could not get their card to work. So we were able to invite them to Worship Room and thus they were able to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit and see how the kingdom of God interacts with one another. It was cool to see how God used a failed errand to plant a seed in those peoples lives. Just more proof that God is capable of making good out of any situation and that when we are abiding in Him small menial decisions to hop out of line at the bank can prove to actually be of divine origin.
