Our first day of serving the children, and the team is excited about getting to work. The plan for today is devotions (Philippians 1:3-11) and then going to Verbana for to learn about AMG Guatemala, and then heading to Las Vistas to paint the facility and love on the children.
Our visit to Verbana was
wonderful. We heard from Brian, Chad and
Carla about the ministry of AMG Guatemala and the “At Risk No More”
program. We learned about the
partnerships that AMG has with Young Life, International Justice League,
Habitat for Humanity, just to name a few.
We were challenged to take part in the ministry by praying for them,
giving as possible, and sharing the mission and vision of AMG Guatemala with
others. We were saddened by the stories
of the children that face difficult circumstances every day, but we were
encouraged by the growth of the outreach that AMG is having in the lives of
these kids.
We toured the facility, and
saw a bunch of kids (who stopped us to hug and play with them). We were able to see the medical center and
dental center. We saw classrooms and the
large meeting room. We saw the kitchen
and the counseling rooms. It really is
an amazing place to visit. God is doing
great things here at Verbana and throughout Guatemala.
From there we left for Las
Vistas. When we arrived, you could sense
the anticipation of many of the team members as they sponsor children in this
facility. We were given our orders to
paint before lunch, and we got right to work.
Then, after about an hour of painting, we were on lunch duty (we served
the children lunch). I think the team
really enjoyed watching the children’s faces light up as they fed them rice and
beans. We will probably feed them lunch
each day – I know the team will enjoy that.
After we ate our lunch, we
got back to work. They did an excellent
job painting the outside walls of the facility.
They are painting them yellow and blue – like the other centers in
Guatemala (and like the inside walls of Las Vistas). We started on the yellow today, and they did
an excellent job getting most of it done with a first coat.
Eventually the kids came out
for recess, and painting time was over.
We played with the kids. The team made up games, played choo-choo,
chased the kids, played tag… whatever
they could to interact with the children.
Some played with a bunch of kids while others just focused on one or
two. It was great to watch the team
loving on the kids. The kids were non-stop
action, but the team played right along with them. Rick ended up on the ground piled on by 10 or
so kids. Bobby was picking multiple kids
up at a time. Some of the girls were
teaching the kids games. Some of the
group was just sitting and talking with the kids. It was a lot of fun.
The day ended with dinner
and our usual wrap up time, followed by some singing, making of “wordless book”
bracelets, and looking through today’s pictures. We had fun laughing and sharing, crying and
talking, singing and praising our wonderful Lord. All in all, it was a great day.
Thought for the day: We were talking tonight about the fact that
Brian and Chad shared that they were only “scratching the surface” of the need
here in Guatemala. It is a humbling
thought, but even though they minister to and with over 9,000 people here in
Guatemala, their impact is still seemingly small. They are excited about the growth that God is
giving them, and they are working to deepen and widen the impact they are
having here, but they need to take it one step and a time, and follow God’s
lead.
Yet Brian also mentioned
that AMG Guatemala is actually in place because the church (the body of Christ
in Guatemala) is not doing the job (and frankly, the church in the States isn’t
either).
Imagine what it would be
like if the church in the States sought to have a deeper, fuller, more meaningful
impact on their world. Imagine what it would
look like for us to take “risky” steps to reach the poor, the needy, the widow,
the orphan, the homeless, the weak… How
would the church look different than it does today? What organizations would no longer have a
place in our society if we, the church, reached out to “those” people?
What are we afraid of? Why don’t we risk more for the sake of the
Gospel? What kinds of “crosses” are we
bearing for the cause of Christ? Or is
all of that just “early church” speech because they don’t have “freedom of
religion” like we have in the US?
God help me to be willing to
give and go, to love and serve, to sacrifice and follow, so that others might
come to know the Good News! Help me be
willing to give all for the One who gave all for me.
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