So Great a Cloud of Witnesses

This is my office work station.  Some of you might recognize the pictures all around.  It dawned on me yesterday that the Bible talks about being surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1), and I found myself looking at the pictures on the wall.  Many of the people in these pictures have been on mission with me over the past 3 years.  Some have supported my ministry financially.  Many have spent time in prayer for me and my family as we minister.  There is no way to be able to express thanks to all these people that would reflect the depth of appreciation I have for them.  However, having their pictures in front of me is a constant reminder of what I am here for, and to keep pressing on.

So for those of you who that have found a place on my wall, and in my heart, thank you for your ministry to me.  And for those of you who I have yet to have a picture of to place on my wall - feel free to send me one - oh, and thank you also for your ministry to myself and my family. 

Finally, for those of you who would like to gain a place on my wall by traveling with me sometime, please don't delay - I promise that you will be changed as you serve God internationally.  I know I am.

Guatemala – Bundles of Love – Day 8 (December 10)

Today was a day of rest – we got up a little later, had devotions (Bundles of Truth), and then headed to Antigua for a relaxing day of shopping and touring.  The team had a lot of fun as we shopped for family and friends. 

By the way, we told John this morning that his “Cunha” was on its way from Great Britain.  He was rather excited when he found out.

Anyway, after a long day of shopping, laughing, and hanging out, we headed back to Thelma’s for dinner and wrap up.  What an exciting time we had as we started, from the youngest to the oldest, sharing the things that we had seen God do in their lives. Harrison was first, and the team did an excellent job encouraging him with his giftedness in compassion.  What a joy it is to see him grow into a godly young man. 

The rest of the group shared for over 2 hours!  From laughter to tears, the group encouraged one another, we challenged one another, we edified one another.  It was so enjoyable, it could have gone on for hours.

After we finished, we began to pack and get ready for bed.  We have an early start tomorrow as our flight leaves GUA at 8:45 in the morning.  It is 12:23 right now, and I am planning to get up at 5:30, so I had better get to bed.

We are ready to get home, and Kendra is ready for us as well.  We really have been blessed to be a part of this trip.

Guatemala – Bundles of Love – Day 7 (December 9)

The day began with Harrison jumping out of bed!  He was awake and feeling much better – praise the Lord!  I made a call to Ruth to see if Ludsvin can be brought over to Verbana during the party.  I hope this can happen.

We drove over to  Verbana, and began setting up for the party.  Teachers started arriving and the team was doing their final preps.  Dee was excited about her sign language, and I was really looking forward to seeing her do it.

As the crowd grew, we lined them all up and gave them tickets as they entered the main room.  The tickets were for the raffle for the prizes – and they had some very nice gifts.  When they were all sitting down, Alex got up and welcomed everyone, and then turned the program over to us.  Brooke and Heidi did their reading, Ann gave her speech, and Dee did her sign language to the song “How Beautiful”.  After that we played the song again and showed pictures of the teachers working with the children, playing soccer, and just hanging around.  They seemed to really like it.

After that, we started the “Fireproof” movie and the ladies began working on the hands of the ladies.  It was a long effort, but the ladies did a great job caring for the women.

The hightlight of my day – I gave Jose Luis a hug while he was still in the line outside and I asked him how his wife, Orpha, was doing.  He said she was in the hospital and not doing very well.  A while after he sat down, I stopped by his table and gave him a back rub.  It was a good part of the movie, so I stayed there for quite a while.  Anyway, when I finished, he stood up, gave me a hug, and said that he was so glad he came because that experience with him was so “healing”.  He cried as he said thank you – I was really touched.

The day continued with lunch, soccer, and handing out presents.  It was a lot of fun!  We took pictures, laughed with the teachers, and just had fun with them.  It is amazing how even if you can’t talk the same language, you can still communicate well.

During all of this, Harrison got to see Ludsvin – it was funny seeing them when they first saw each other.  Ludsvin ran across the field and Harrison met him at the middle.  They played together all afternoon.  Dee eventually made her way outside too and was able to hug Ludsvin and swing him around.  His grand mom was happy to see us, but seemed a little distant.  When she finally went inside and Dee got to do her nails, she became openly friendly.  Harrison said that he thought God allowed him to be sick yesterday so that Ludsvin and his Grandmom could have a special day today.  I love that insight from my son.

 
When all was done, we went back to Thelmas and enjoyed the evening together.  Tomorrow is a day of relaxing, shopping and visiting Antigua.  We are all looking forward to it.

Guatemala – Bundles of Love – Day 6 (December 8)

Today started out a little dreary – not because of the weather, but because Harrison is obviously sick.  He has had a rash all week but we were not sure what the problem was.  He was throwing up, so he didn’t eat much.  When we got to Verbana (the largest center), Harrison was told by the American doctor that he might have strep and should not be around the other children.  He was so looking forward to seeing Ludsvin, and now it would not happen.  I assured him that God knew this was going to happen, and he handled it well.  Dee and Harrison went back to Thelma’s to rest.  Maybe tomorrow he can see Ludsvin – but I doubt it.

It continued on a down hill slope as we found out that the children had already arrived, received their bundles and were sent home before we arrived.  I don’t know why that happened either, but God knows what He is doing. 

Instead, we got a tour of the facilities and a presentation on the work that AMG is doing in Guatemala.  It was very informative.  While the team was touring, I had to go see the facility that my last team was working on when we were here.  I wouldn’t have recognized it from the outside, and definitely not from the inside.  The facility was amazing.  Tile floors, two way mirror in the counseling room, new windows, clean restroom…  It was so far from what we had originally seen there.  Chad Smith and I sat talking about the facility and what God had done to bring the right group there to work on it, and what God was doing to bring about the staff to care for the kids.  The stories are amazing.

Eventually we headed off for Las Vistas where Ludsvin goes to school.  It was a great visit.  We sang with the kids in the church, shared about ourselves, and Dan again presented the gospel.  The room was full.  When this was over, we made our way downstairs to hand out bundles.  I was able to take pictures of some kids for my sister’s class in PA who gave money and pictures for a couple of kids.  It was rather cool. 

We talked with Ludsvin (Brooke, Josh and I) and gave him his gifts.  He even took us to his home.  I wish I had brought something for his grandmother and the family, but I was not prepared.  Next time I will need to be.

Soon it was time to head back to Thelma’s.  Dee and Harrison were resting and the rest of the group continued preparing for the teacher’s party tomorrow.  I think it is going to be great!  Dee is doing sign language, Brooke and Heidi are reading scripture, we are showing “Fireproof” and playing soccer with the men.  The ladies are going to do manicures for the women as well – I pray that goes over well also. 

 
The team brought about 60 gifts for men and women – we are going to auction them off as well – It is going to be a great day!

Guatemala – Bundles of Love – Day 5 (December 7)

Olintepeque was the final child care center we visited in Xela.  Otto (the Xela director for all 8 Xela centers) has been with us for the past 3 days, and is a pleasure to interact with.  John Snow was driving up front and trying to learn Spanish.  My favorite “John Snowism” – “Muchos Guchos”.  Trying to say, “It is nice to meet you (or literally “much pleasure”) which is actually “Mucho Gusto”, he was saying absolutely nothing – basically “much guchos” which no one knew what he was talking about.  We were laughing though.

We handed out bundles, talked with kids, shared the gospel, hugged the children, kissed some faces… It never gets old.  The kids are adorable, the parents are very gracious, and everyone is very welcoming.

When our time there ended, we drove to a local property that AMG owns and is planning to build a 500 child school building.  Presently 300 children meet in a facility designed for  ½ that many kids.  It is crowded, but the kids are very responsive and helpful.  We prayed over the property and asked God to provide the $200,000 USD necessary to build this building.  Then we headed back to the center for lunch.

Lunch was chicken.  Delicious, but I was leaving room for Tecpan.  They even served us ice cream – an incredible gesture of kindness as it is not cheap.  We thanked the chefs and headed off toward Guatemala City.

About 4:30 in the afternoon we arrived at Tecpan.  This place has the best food – steak, chicken, 2 kinds of sausage, pork chops – all on a grill placed right on the table.  17 of us ate off 3 of these grills, and we couldn’t finish all of the meat.  It was delicious! 

 
The remainder of the car ride was a lot of laughing and fun.  The team is really growing together and caring for each other well.  I am looking forward to seeing Ludsvin tomorrow.  Harrison and Dee are getting excited as well.

Guatemala – Bundles of Love – Day 4 (December 6)

The morning came without any drama – no early rising – no interesting events – just a wonderful morning.  By the way, I forgot to mention that Harrison (my son) figured out the shower problem.  If we turned the water on really slow, we were able to have a hot shower!  Yeah!

We ate breakfast, loaded up for a trip to the Rio Blanco child care center, and again did our devo’s in the car.  We talked about Bundles Full of Judgement (Jeremiah 10) and discussed the problem of idols in our lives.  Eventually we stopped and just like yesterday, broke up into the 2 other vehicles. 

When we arrived at the Rio Blanco center, we again went to the church and shared a little about ourselves.  Dan shared the gospel, and the children sang a song for us.  From there we began to hand out bundles.  The children are very friendly and patient with each other, but they have no idea of personal space.  They are almost standing on each other, but no one seems to mind. 

As we finished handing out the bundles, we were told a few stories about this center.  For instance, 2 of the workers who are in their 30’s originally entered the center as 5 year old girls.  They even had pictures of them on the wall.  We were also “serenaded” by one of the teenage boys (15 yo) singing “God of this City” in Spanish.  We found out that just a few months ago his mother passed away.  His response?  To write a song telling God that He will continue to follow Him and trust in Him.  What an amazing testimony.

Lunch was some kind of fish (we were told swordfish) and vegetables.  Surprisingly, it was very good.  I am not a fish eater usually, but I really liked this fish.

After lunch we packed it up and headed for Corinto about 1 hour away.  As we turned the corner of the final mountain, we could see the center and the children waiting for us.  We pulled in, interacted with the children (Harrison and Aaron played soccer with them) and then we sat down outside to present ourselves and the gospel.  The children and parents listened attentively.

Eventually we began handing out bundles – girls in one room, guys in another.  One name after another, one child after another.  By the end of today, we would have seen over 800 children and many of their families.  The team is tired, but they are really doing well.

When the bundles were gone, we took a few group shots, and a few funny Cunha pictures (you will have to ask).  One Guatemalan guy asked to take a picture with me, but I realized later that was just an excuse to have his picture taken with the girls.  Heidi was a champ and got a picture with him, followed by Brooke.  Eventually three of the other women took a group picture with him as well.  It was hilarious.

We drove back toward the hotel and ate dinner at La Casa Del Prado.  The view of Xela in the evening was breathtaking!  I pulled out my laser and we had a little fun drawing pictures on the dark mountains nearby.  We are sure that the locals believe aliens stopped by to visit.

 
Finally back at the hotel, we got ready for one more day of child visits tomorrow.  We are getting tired, but are looking forward to TECPAN tomorrow night!