We recently wrapped up a wonderful week working alongside a team from Easthaven Baptist Church in Brookhaven, MS. This church is close to our home area and is in the same town where we have done all of our Stateside Assignments. We use their association mission house. They had not initially planned to come to Guatemala. They were going to Nicaragua, but due to the current unrest there they had to cancel their trip and look for something else. They wrote us about three weeks out to see if we could take them. We were thrilled about the opportunity to work with them and did all we could to make it happen. They came and we had a great week working together. Here are some photos of how we spent our time.
a team photo after they arrived at the hotel in our town of Chiquimula
The team having breakfast on their first morning. We live right next door to the hotel where we house our teams. It is so convenient!
Our first stop of the day was to visit the Lubecks. They gave a presentation to the team explaining the importance of Bible translation, how it is done, and gave an overview of the Chorti work. It was a sweet visit and I think the team learned a lot. Mrs. Diana also served everyone her homemade cinnamon rolls which was a big hit with the team.
Next we visited the church in La Libertad. They were finishing up a prayer meeting so we were able to encourage them, hear their needs, and pray for them.
My sweet Cruz ready for our next visit. He is a trooper!
We hiked down the trail to make a home visit to pray with a family.
visiting in La Libertad
Traveling the mountain roads in the back of Miguel's truck. My boys live for moments like this with the teams. So much fun!
Later that day we made a visit in San Juan Ermita to pray for a young guy who is paralyzed.
The next morning was Sunday so we took the team to our weekly Bible
study in Nearar. During the service a few of the team members shared
their testimonies and others helped me with the children's class. It
was the first time to be able to take a team to a church service in
Nearar. I think it went great and really encouraged our group there.
A team photo on the drive back down the mountain.
We had a picnic lunch at a local gas station in Jocotan and then took
the team around town. We walked them through the local market (which is
busy on a Sunday) and then finished out our time with a tuk tuk ride.
That evening we attended service at Bro. Fito's church in Chiquimula. One of the team members shared their testimony, David preached, and Cruz played the keyboard while singing a praise song. It was a great night of worship and fellowship.
ready for our morning hike in La Esperanza
Monday morning we headed out to the village of La Esperanza. It was our first visit to that village. One of the school teachers there is Miguel's neighbor and she invited us to come and share with the children. She told him it would be a hike but did not elaborate on the difficulty. I have hiked a lot of trails in this country and this was certainly one I will not soon forget. Had we known how strenuous it would be we most likely would not have taken the team. I am glad we did not know though because we would have all missed a huge blessing.
Brooke and Ben hiking in La Esperanza
At one point we crossed a swinging bridge. It was so refreshing to hear the water flowing underneath. We were so hot that we all wanted to jump in.
arriving at the school
One of the team members shared a Bible story and a few songs. We then played some games with the kids. The team was able to bless the school with some supplies. We were well received there and I look forward to getting to return there someday and share again.
The team with the school director.
Madison with some of the children
they all loved to jump rope (including mine)
the team with some of the students in La Esperanza
We had our picnic lunch at the creek. My boys love to stop there to play in the water and throw rocks.
two swinging bridges in one day makes for fun memories
The rest of the afternoon was spent making home visits in Chanco. Here is the team on one of those visits.
We love having our teams in our home each night to debrief the day. They also usually eat two of their evening meals in our home while here. We usually spend some time playing games afterwards. Here we are playing SkipBo on Monday night.
On Tuesday we began the day in Nearar. One of our team members is a retired physical therapist. We have a little girl with cerebral palsy in our Bible study group. Some of the team met with her mother at the church that morning to teach her some therapy movements to do with her child. The rest of us made home visits in the village. Luz, the pastor's wife, lined up the visits that she thought we needed to make. They were strategic and each one was to encourage people to come to the church services.
making a home visit in Nearar
praying with a young mother in Nearar
praying with a family in Nearar
(On a side note, several of the ones we visited came to church this past Sunday morning. Some for the first time).
That afternoon we made our way to Muyurco for our weekly Bible study. We normally meet there on Thursdays but moved the day to Tuesday that week due to the team. Some of the team hiked to make a home visit with a young guy who has an injured leg and had been down for a few months. He does not attend our Bible study but his parents do. I think the visit had a big impact on all of them. The rest of us stayed at the Bible study house and had a tortilla making class. I had lined it up ahead of time and we were all excited. It was not only fun for us but also a huge encouragement to our Bible study host there.
My boys enjoyed it just as much as the team did.
our tortillas cooking
Ready to eat. We all enjoyed them and were happy to share with the rest of the group when they returned.
me with some of our Bible study family in Muyurco
some of our group ready for the afternoon Bible study to begin
A few of the group shared testimonies with the adults and the rest helped me with the children's Bible study. Here they are singing a song after our story time.
fun times!
loving on the children in Muyurco
It rained on us all the way back down the mountain and into town. We enjoyed our last meal at the hotel and then spent the evening packing. On Wednesday morning we made the drive back into Guatemala City. We arrived in time for lunch and then spent the afternoon shopping at the market for souvenirs to take home. We were overnight at our mission house and then the team flew out early on Thursday morning. We were sad to see them go. We had a great week together and we cannot wait to work with them again in the future. It was not in any of our plans to be on mission together but God lined it up and we are all so glad that He did!
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