Day four Guatemala
As we wrapped up day there in Guatemala I was telling you about how we shared CR with Pastor Augustine and how he was really starting to get it. His eyes lit up with joy at the thought of healing coming to their village.
After we broke bread with our friends, they wanted to have a church service under one of the roofs that had been freshly put on.
We were all sitting in the room with dirt floors but a dry and new roof when that is when Pastor Saul came into the room with his personal bible, dressed up in his finest dress clothes. What an amazing picture to see a man just minutes earlier up on a roof working very hard to the next dressed up ready to share a word with our friends. Good lesson for all of us to see.
He then told us about getting his pastor license in a town about six hours away. He was so proud of that license and held it up to show us with great humility.
He was honored to be able to share God´s word with the village and hoped that the new community center would bring more from surrounding villages.
Again, as the week had started in celebration it ended with sadness as the pastor said in his words, my heart is broken that my friends are leaving me.
He then got choked up adn cried in front of the whole congregation.
Very moving moment to say the least.
There were lots of pictures and lots of hugs as well as tears as Pastor sang with every ounce of his heart of us in spanish. Videos and pictures to come soon.
The hardest thing in the world was to kiss and hug people in the village as we said our goodbyes. The men were starting to kiss our women on the cheek and hug us men when we left. Amazing. This is not their culture. They were showing us love. While we prayed for people, men were even shwoing their emotion thru tears. Again, amazing stuff, this just doesnt happen.
One village drunk even was inpsired by us being there this week and working to improve his village, that he had gone 4 days without a drink. Wow.
We called it a day and headed for the soup kitchen in Guatemala City.
Long drive down from the mountains and everyone was very tired, but we had a surge of energy upon seeing our sister Janet at teh Lords Kitchen. She moved here to only stay for a few months and has now been here 10 years serving hundreds to thousands of people in the kitchen every week. Amazing woman. I found out this trip that she has seven brothers and sisters and none of them have ever been there to see what she is doing. Reminds me that we need to stay invloved in knowing our families activities. Life is too precious adn too short. We may bring encouragement.
We saw so much brokenness and hurt. Amanda and I were leading worship with Taylor playing guitar and at one point the emotion became too great for her. In her words, it is so hard to see so many broken people and so many addictions. The tears were flowing...
The people here have hoplessness in their eyes like nothing we have seen before.
Mixed in with all the hurt and hopelessness we did see lots of joy and excitement for our being there. How humbling it was to hear how blessed they were for us to be there. In fact we were the ones blessed.
Long day and very exhausted but the team is being troopers. Gary hurt his back and desperately needs to his chiropractor. He is walking around like a hunch back. Please pray for him.
What a blessing this is to share with my sweet wife, daughter and great friends. God is so good.
Tomorrow is La Limonada, the ghetto of Guatemala City
Love you all.
After we broke bread with our friends, they wanted to have a church service under one of the roofs that had been freshly put on.
We were all sitting in the room with dirt floors but a dry and new roof when that is when Pastor Saul came into the room with his personal bible, dressed up in his finest dress clothes. What an amazing picture to see a man just minutes earlier up on a roof working very hard to the next dressed up ready to share a word with our friends. Good lesson for all of us to see.
He then told us about getting his pastor license in a town about six hours away. He was so proud of that license and held it up to show us with great humility.
He was honored to be able to share God´s word with the village and hoped that the new community center would bring more from surrounding villages.
Again, as the week had started in celebration it ended with sadness as the pastor said in his words, my heart is broken that my friends are leaving me.
He then got choked up adn cried in front of the whole congregation.
Very moving moment to say the least.
There were lots of pictures and lots of hugs as well as tears as Pastor sang with every ounce of his heart of us in spanish. Videos and pictures to come soon.
The hardest thing in the world was to kiss and hug people in the village as we said our goodbyes. The men were starting to kiss our women on the cheek and hug us men when we left. Amazing. This is not their culture. They were showing us love. While we prayed for people, men were even shwoing their emotion thru tears. Again, amazing stuff, this just doesnt happen.
One village drunk even was inpsired by us being there this week and working to improve his village, that he had gone 4 days without a drink. Wow.
We called it a day and headed for the soup kitchen in Guatemala City.
Long drive down from the mountains and everyone was very tired, but we had a surge of energy upon seeing our sister Janet at teh Lords Kitchen. She moved here to only stay for a few months and has now been here 10 years serving hundreds to thousands of people in the kitchen every week. Amazing woman. I found out this trip that she has seven brothers and sisters and none of them have ever been there to see what she is doing. Reminds me that we need to stay invloved in knowing our families activities. Life is too precious adn too short. We may bring encouragement.
We saw so much brokenness and hurt. Amanda and I were leading worship with Taylor playing guitar and at one point the emotion became too great for her. In her words, it is so hard to see so many broken people and so many addictions. The tears were flowing...
The people here have hoplessness in their eyes like nothing we have seen before.
Mixed in with all the hurt and hopelessness we did see lots of joy and excitement for our being there. How humbling it was to hear how blessed they were for us to be there. In fact we were the ones blessed.
Long day and very exhausted but the team is being troopers. Gary hurt his back and desperately needs to his chiropractor. He is walking around like a hunch back. Please pray for him.
What a blessing this is to share with my sweet wife, daughter and great friends. God is so good.
Tomorrow is La Limonada, the ghetto of Guatemala City
Love you all.
Thank you so very much for sending these words of heartbreak, but also hope and promise for the people in Guatemala. When I left China in 1997, the message God put on my heart was John 14. When you leave Guatemala, his Holy Spirit will not leave. The seeds that are planted will continue to grown and our intercessory prayers will continue the work in the lives of each and every heart that was touched. The scales will be removed from those with stares of hopelessness and there will be tears of joy.
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