Day 4
Saludos desde la ciudad de Guatemala. Mi espanol es muy malo estonces escribire estoen ingles.
Today, Wednesday June 1, the older ladies met with the women from the community. Janice, Linda, Kathy and I met with 13 ladies in the morning at the church on the top of the hill and 9 more in the afternoon under the bridge. The ladies loved the craft Janice had prepared and enjoyed being together and the friendship of other women and the Americans. Kathy and Linda were in their element because they held the precious babies while the mothers worked on painting and decorating the plastic flowers. We found out they are very talented, much more that we are, and they did not need the example we put together for them. These ladies are living in the community raising families, most of them without husbands. They are single mothers struggling to make ends meet. We cannot even imagine a life like theirs. We take so much for granted in our livesñ a trip like this will remind you of that.
Today we shared a short devotion with the ladies from Psalm 139. We learned how God has created us, all of us, with a plan and a purpose in mind. He does not place us here for no reason. We were reminded from this Psalm that even when bad things happen, God has still made us fearfully and wonderfully, and our lives are written down in His book even before we were born. The ladies shared prayer requests with us, some requesting prayer for family members who were away from church, some needing wisdom to raise their children in godly homes, some asked us to pray they would have the money to pay the next rent payment. These women work as nurses, maids, selling vegetables and making tortillas for a living. They love their families and especially their children, and they want the best for them. They were reminded today that everything we have is from God and we owe Him our thanks and our worship.
My translator today was Betsy. She shared with me that she is a Christian but had been away from the church and her faith for many years. Her parents raised her in a Christian home and her mother prayed for her for years, asking God to protect her and bring her back to him. Her mother{s prayers were answered, and Betsy has come back to the Lord and is now working with Buckner and other ministries to share her faith. There is nothing like the prayers of a mother.
The rest of our team worked with the children teaching the story of Zacchaeus and sharing the plan of salvation through beads and bracelets. The children love our team and are especially drawn to the young people. The kids learned today that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but even more importantly, Jesus saw him. They learned how to make the decision to follow Christ in their own lives and how much they are loved by God. Enough for Him to send His only Son to die for them. The children enjoy the crafts very muchñ they love leaving with something to take home. It is heart warming to have them meet us at the door each day, waiting for our big bus to pull into their community. This is an amazing team, ready and willing to do whatever needs to be done to minister to the children and make them feel special.
Tomorrow is our last day with the children. Pray for us to have strength to finish strong, to leave these children and their families with the knowledge of God{s amazing love and provision for them. God is doing a great work through Buckner in Guatemala and I am so thankful to have joined Him here.
Hasta manana!
In Christ Alone,
Pam
Day 5
Today was our final day with the kids from the CTC and the church. Today we talked about following the example of Christ as we shared the story of the feeding of the five thousand. Kids learned the verse Philippians 2:5 and talked about how we should have the same attitude as Christ. In both places we had are biggest number of kids. In the CTC we actually had to turn kids away because we ran out of room. Our team did an amazing job with the extra kids. It was chaotic at times but it was also incredible. God definately was with us as we continued share the love of Christ with these children.
One of the amazing things about these kids is how they take care of one another. You can tell they are truly a community. In both places we saw older ones helping younger ones, brothers and sisters taking care of each other. They made sure everyone got candy, everyone got a nametag, and everyone was able to participate. I’m blown away at how resiliant these kids are in the face of difficult circumstances. Jeff Mize and I were allowed to tour one of the homes under the bridge. It was made of cinder blocks and sheet metal. There were 3 very small rooms (a kitchen, a wash area, and a bedroom). It was one of the poorest places I’ve ever been, but it was it home for this family. They were glad to show us around.
Today we were also able to donate all of our supplies from the week, as well as clothing and other donations that had come from home. They staff at the CTC (which also ministers to the church) was extremely grateful. One of the highlights were the dress and shorts that Dulcy White and her team had made for the kids in Guatemala. The staff was so excited. Mario, one of our translators, asked me, “your church made all this?!” He couldn’t believe it. Thank you to Dulcy and her team. Their hard work will be enjoyed by several children and families in Cerritos and Santa Rita.
A highlight everyday for our team was the music time with the kids. Jeff Mize plays the guitar and everyone sings, laughs, and enjoys the time. Today we taught the kids “This Little Light of Mine”. We taught it to them in english and it was amazing how fast they picked it up. We used the song as a reminder to them to carry Christ to their families and to their community. El Cerritos and Santa Rita are definately poor communities but you can see hope and light in the children of the community. We are so thankful to have been a small part of what God is doing in these two communities in Guatemala City. He IS the Light of the World!
Tomorrow will be a day of sightseeing and shopping in Antigua and then we’re headed home on Saturday. Thank you FBC family for your prayers. We look forward to sharing our trip with you.
Christ First,
Jimmy
To see pictures from our trip: click here
Final Update:
I wanted to share some prayer requests that the children had. Brandon C. asked several of the kids both at the CTC and the church to write down a prayer request. Our translators put them in english for us. This is just a sample of some of the requests but it gives you a great insight on what these children deal with. Please read over these and PRAY!
–Please help me out getting a good grade for my exams
–Today my teacher punished me, so I started crying but I know I did wrong so I regret about it.
–My mom and dad have problems because my brother passed away and they suffer a lot.
–I don’t want to fail one year of school because I don’t want them to laugh at me
–I have a struggle to going to church. I don’t know why but is hard for me to get to the church
–My house is not well constructed so when its raining all the water comes in. Please ask God to help us.
–Some people want to kill my dad it was at night. I was already sleep, the people come to my house and it was horrible, they threatend and my dad was drunk.
–Once I fell down and I hurt my head very hard. I was bleeding and they took me to the doctor. Now I’m OK and thanks to God I’m here with you.
–Please help my parents because they are looking for a job.
–My father left home
–My little brother is sick
–I was sick on Sunday. I was vomiting. They brought me to doctor. God heal me.
–My dad’s death
–My uncle’s death
–My dad died
–I fight with my friends and I get sad
FBC Allen Missions 