Guatemala 2009
We had a team leave for Cruz Blanca in Guatemala. While there, they enlarged a school, provded medical care to children, and held a VBS. Below is a summary of some of their trip:
Monday, June 15, 2009
It took us 38 hours to get here but we finally arrived on Friday night around 10 p.m. Exhausted and overwhelmed after living in airports for two days, we settled in for the night looking forward to getting started in Cruz Blanca. Saturday came and we arrived at the ministry site in Cruz Blanca. Men were already there working and kids were hanging around. We jumped in. Pulling the roof off, changing the electrical, and digging sewer trench's for the 3 stall bathroom we will be installing. More kids’ mom´s and families started showing up, by lunch there were around 15 men from the village, 10 of us, 2 others from North Carolina and many children. Nate, Steve, and David took over on the electrical. Matt, Melissa, Ezra, and Kerri all got to digging the ditch. Jen did an amazing job capturing our day on film and Manuel translated for us. He was amazing, the bridge between two different cultures. He would do a little of every job helping us all communicate. But that's not the best of the story. He was sharing Christ all over the place and his testimony was being spread all over the ministry site. What a gift God gave us in Manuel.
Sunday came and after losing a day in our travel escapades we opted to work rather than go to church . When we arrived it was time to dig more ditches, mix concrete, build rebar support towers and finally pour concrete. Dave and Nate had to make a quick adjustment to the electricity and Kerri got her chance to do what she loves, love kids and meet the medical needs. Kerri, Melissa and Ezra got to work with another translator and began the job of medically assessing over 80 children, Vital signs, health stats weight and family history. Checking rashes, sores, vision and anything else that needed to be checked. These women spent the entire day pouring over children and loving them with God´s love. Laughing with them and crying with them. Their hearts are indeed a gift from God. Matt worked his butt off in the trenches never stopping to complain, gripe or get sore. He worked until every ditch was dug and all the concrete was mixed and poured. Steve, Dave, and I did our best to keep up with the young guns, and by the time we left every thing was finished.
Some women from the village showed up and spoke to us-something they wouldn´t normally do as there were so many men. They typically say nothing to men and only a little to the women that are with us. They thanked us for being there and helping and gave us hand woven gifts that they spent the previous two day weaving together. God is so good, so amazing. He truly is the great bridge builder.
Monday has come and gone as I write this and today we had our first Kids club. It was chaos of course as we got started later than we planned, more kids than we thought showed up and they were younger than we anticipated. Prayer has become the theme of this trip . We want to trust God for the impossible, the outcome and for everything. He is good and wonderfully amazing. We know we will never trust God in those ways until prayer becomes a normal part of our lives individually and collectively. So prayer is where we are finding ourselves. Its where we are finding ourselves being dependent on our Great and Amazing God. So the kids came we took pictures, made frames, played games, did skits and told the story of Jonah. We told them that just like God sent Jonah to Nineveh to tell them of His love for them and his desire for them to repent and follow Him. He sent Jesus to us with the same message. If we believe in Jesus then we become God´s children and He has a job for each of us. What an amazing day holding, throwing, cuddling and talking with these little ones. At the end of the day I got a glimpse of a God size event. Jennifer was hugging a little one, one of the many little girls that wouldn´t leave her side. Jennifer squeezed a little harder and smiled even bigger and told this little girl how cute she was, how beautiful she was and this child´s face light up like a Christmas tree. For you see there was no translator only a precious woman of God with a God size love to hug a child made in the image of our savior. It was love that was communicating. It was love that was being spoken and it was love that will forever remind both of these women of that special moment in the corner of a cinder block room. Nate was the play horse with little boys hanging all over him as he played games and climbed hills. His wonderful example of love told each one of these precious young men it was OK to play, it was OK to run. It was OK to cling and even to hug. He showed them it was OK to allow a man to show you affection and it will be OK to let God love you as well. Thank you, Jennifer and Nate, for showing us how to love and reminding us that of all the gifts of all our talents of all the opportunities of everything we can do it is love that speaks the loudest.
Thank you so much wonderful Savior for the opportunity to talk and play with these children today. I pray and ask you to pray along with me that their lives and hearts will be forever changed.
Serving Him in Guatemala along with 10 saints,
Tim