We are really wanting to learn as much about the area as we can. We want to know names of towns and villages, where they are, we want to know where the Baptist churches are, who the pastor's are, their names, etc. On Wednesday we decided to take our list of churches and head out on a three person "prayer team". By three person I mean David, Cruz, and I. We packed a loaf of bread, some peanut butter, chips, snacks, bottles of water, food for Cruz, and headed out for the day. Our first stop was in Las Pozas. We knew there was a church there but didn't know where it was. We drove down a few dirt roads looking before we stopped and asked someone to point us in the right direction. We were told to look for a green building and this is what we found-
It's a little green (ish) haha. No-one knew we were going to be visiting them that day so we caught everyone off-guard. The pastor greeted us at his door and welcomed us in. We were surprised to see his face. We knew him as the pastor at the church in La Torre. We didn't know he was now serving at Las Pozas. Shortly after we arrived his wife left to walk to the local store. She came back with two can drinks, some sweet bread, and a live chicken. She assumed we would stay for lunch. We declined her cooking us a meal because we wanted to move on to other areas. We did spend a long while there visiting with them and had a great time doing so! We found out that there are around 335 families living here and 65 of them belong to the Baptist church.
Bro. Miguel, his wife- Rosa, Cruz, and David
Our next two stops found no-one at home. We made notes of where these churches are and their names.
Iglesia Bautista Arca de Salvacion in Santa Rosa
Iglesia Bautista Betania in La Torre (where Bro. Miguel used to pastor)
Next to visit was Mision Bautista Capernaum in El Tucan. This is a mission started by the church in La Ceiba where we worshiped this past Sunday morning.
The pastor was away, but we found his wife and kids at home. The president and vice-president of the women's group also happened to be there meeting with her. We liked that timing. I enjoyed visiting with all of them for a short while.
Inside of the mission church
Cruz and I with the ladies. The pastor's wife- Manuela, is in the pink blouse.
We were excited about visiting with Bro. Oscar and his family at Cruze del Pato, but they were not home. He is the pastor that asked me to visit the pregnant lady in the hospital a few weeks ago. We wanted to get an update on her and the baby, but didn't. Here is his church- Mision Bautista Jehova Jireh. This is also a mission started by the church at La Ceiba.
The K'ekchi' obviously love color and it is evident by the way they paint their churches.
While we were standing outside of his house calling his name, two women and some children came walking along the path that we had hiked to get there. They stopped to look at us. I think they were mostly looking at Cruz, but for whatever reason they stopped. We asked them if they knew where the pastor was and all they would say was that he wasn't home. We introduced ourselves and when I told her my name, she told me her baby was named Regina too. That really broke the ice to talk more. After asking a few questions I discovered that she was a non-believer. We couldn't get over how nice and friendly she was. I asked if I could take a picture with little Regina and this is what I got-
She showed me where her house was before we left. I plan to get this photo developed and take it to her on our next trip that way. Who knows if God will use something as simple as a photo to touch her heart.
We left there and headed to Linterna 1. We had planned to visit this area before Cruze Del Pato but missed the drive to the church. We decided to catch it on the way back home. If we had not done so I would have missed meeting the lady above. Anyway, this is Iglesia Bautista Cristo es la Roca in Linterna 1.
We enjoyed a good visit with the pastor, his wife, and two of his children.
Inside of the church.
We were invited back to worship with them in March, and are looking forward to it.
David, Cruz, Bro. Santiago, and Juana
Our last stop of the day before heading back to Sayaxche was along this trail to the home of Bro. Marcelino. He is one of the K'ekchi' national missionaries. He lives in Linterna 1.We love him, and always enjoy working alongside of him!
Bro. Santiago went with us to show us the way. We didn't visit there long, but did take a few moments to offer a few words of encouragement and pray for his family.
Bro. Marcelino, Maria, Cruz, and David
Cruz and I with Maria, Bro. Marcelino's wife. I think this was the first time we had met her.
We returned home in the afternoon, tired, but glad for the visits we had made. At each stop we had a time of prayer for the pastor, his family, and the work in that area. We can only hope that they were as encouraged from the day as we were.
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