Isn’t God great? I am constantly amazed that we have been chosen by Him to serve Him, and I am baffled that He would give me the opportunities to minister with various teams around the world. Today was no exception. The morning was a typical missions trip morning, breakfast, devotions, and then we headed off for the center to work.
We arrived after a brief stop at the hardware store and we
got to work. Pat found her way into a
classroom and began interacting with the students. Jesse and Jon continued working on the “coke
bottle” lights, and eventually moved to a rebar form for the water tower. The rest of the crew found their way into paint
brushes and rollers, and the painting of the facility continued. Shortly after we began working, we were asked
to stop to go on house visits.
What a pleasure it was to walk with the children to their
homes to meet their families and see where they lived. Both of the children we visited lived in
fairly nice (by local standards) homes.
The family I visited was a mother, her 2 daughters, a grandfather and
some uncles. The grandfather was 80
years old – which is old for a Guatemalan person – I was surprised that he was
that old. He looked to be in good
health. The family all professed knowing
Christ, which was a blessing. Pedro
shared some verses and we talked with the family for a while. Jon led in prayer, and eventually we headed
back to the center.
We were met with bologna and ketchup sandwiches which we
were told was our lunch. I was fine with
that, but about an hour and a half later they told us lunch was ready. Today
was chicken and rice, with a papaya chaser.
Again, another great meal!
After lunch we got right back to work, but an hour and a
half later we were on our way to Oratorio (another center close by) to visit
with sponsored kids. The Johnston family
had 5 children there that they sponsor, and while they were visiting the rest
of the team went on a tour of the center.
We talked with kids, asked them funny questions, hugged them, kissed
them, and genuinely showed them that we were there to love them on behalf of
their sponsors and Jesus Christ. It was
fun to interact with the teachers and the students. This center is cared for by the teachers – it
really is a nice place.
After a while, we were challenged to a basketball game by
the teachers/staff. We played for about
45 minutes! It was a blast – I have no
idea who scored more, or who actually “won” the game, but when it was all over,
we took pictures, hugged each other (all nasty and sweaty) and prayed
together. One interesting highlight was
the group hug with Inger (who did not play) by all the sweaty people (including
my nasty self). She was literally wet
when we all backed away – it was disgustingly hilarious!
After the game we packed up and headed for the hotel. It was nearly 6:30, so we cleaned up, ate
dinner, had our “recap” time and headed for the pool by 7:30. Pete, Phil, Silas, Ethan and I headed next
door to get ice cream for everyone – it was a nice treat. Eventually we headed off to our rooms to rest
and get ready for tomorrow – another day of work at the Matochos Child Care Center.
Thought for the
day: I have had the opportunity to
talk one-on-one with 4 or 5 of the team members so far, and I really enjoy that
time. It is great to hear what they are
learning and experiencing. What really amazes
me is the path that many of them took to get here and what God has done in
their lives to bring them to where they are today.
In light of our study in James today, it reminded me that
our good God who is the giver of good gifts orchestrates our lives in such a
way that if we will just trust Him with the outcomes, He will do amazing things
with us – even more than we could ever imagine.
We long to have an eternal impact on this world, and He desires that we
have an eternal impact as well – if we would just surrender our own passions
and plans to His will, we will be amazed at what He does.
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