Team Meeting 2020

Earlier this month we attended a team meeting in Orlando, FL with our Connections Cluster.  First Baptist, Orlando hosted us and we are thankful to them for opening their facilities to us.  We enjoyed getting to attend a Sunday morning worship service there and our boys especially enjoyed getting to attend their kid's classes.  Worship in English is always a treat!

We had full days of meetings and discussions.  For us, personally, it was a great time to learn more about Americas Connect and how to better walk alongside our US Baptist churches as they go through the program.  One of the key elements of Americas Connect is the pre-trip and on the ground training that we will do with the teams.  This really helps prepare the teams for not only their week in Guatemala but also prepare them for healthy missions involvement in the future.  We left with a much better understanding of what that looks like and how we can facilitate it.

We are excited about all the opportunities we will have this year to partner with US churches through Americas Connect and help them take their first steps in missions involvement.  If your church is wanting to get involved in international missions, Americas Connect is an entry level trip that will help get you on the right track.  If you have any questions or would just like more information, send us an email (yourmovingwhere@yahoo.com).  Whether you serve in Guatemala with us or not, we can help connect you to a place of service in the Americas with the IMB. Let's talk!

Our Americas Connect team representing the countries of Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Brazil, and Ecuador.  We are your IMB representatives ready to serve alongside you.

Our meetings were not 100% business.  We enjoyed some great times of singing, prayer, and devotion.  We were blessed by having Dr. Ronny Raines and his wife Angie drive down from Tallahassee to lead us in two sessions on our spiritual growth.  He is the Senior Pastor at Bradfordville First Baptist Church in Tallahassee. They are a sweet couple and we are thankful that they took time to invest in all of us.

Our kids enjoyed fellowship as well while we were in meetings.  A retired missionary couple living in Orlando came and led them for us.  Our boys had a great time and enjoyed their days greatly. 

The kids one night after supper getting treated to Krispy Kreme donuts.  

It was a great meeting.  We are thankful for the time to get to know our teammates better and encourage each other in ministry. 

Life Church Culver City, CA Team September 2019

We recently hosted our first Americas Connect team.  They were from Life Church in Culver City, CA.  We had a wonderful time with them!  We spent our week around the Antigua area working alongside national pastors. We wanted to keep them close by so that in addition to serving we could give them a good introduction to Guatemala and it's culture.  They were such an easy team to work with and the week went very smooth.  Here is an overview of our time together.

This team took an overnight flight out of Los Angeles to get here.   They arrived around 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning.  David picked them up at the airport, got them to Antigua, checked them into their hotel, and let them spend the morning resting.  We met them at lunchtime and walked into town for lunch.  We had our first meal at San Martin and then spent some time at our house that afternoon doing welcome and orientation.

enjoying the views from the rooftop of San Martin in Antigua

Sunday afternoon we drove over to San Andres Itzapa for a service with Bro. Apolinario.  The pastor from the church in California, Bro. Able, preached that evening and David translated.  It was a Lord's Supper service so the team also got to participate in that.  We love this pastor and his congregation and enjoyed getting to worship with them.

David and the team with Bro. Apolinario 

The team then spent the next several days making home visits to encourage and pray for people.  They worked with Bro. Apolinario and also worked with Bro. Julio at the Baptist church in San Felipe.  On Wednesday evening they participated in the evening service at Bro. Julio's church. Below are some photos of them out in the communities.

praying with some church members in San Felipe 

The boys and I were home during the mornings doing school and then would join the team in the afternoons and evenings.   David handles more of the ministry side and I love leading the culture/ tourist activities.  We have spent a lot of time scouting things for our teams and have come up with a good variety of activities and restaurants for them to enjoy. 

 Enjoying the volcano views during an evening meal at Sunset Terrace.

 

As part of our cultural learning we visit several of the local cathedrals.  Here we are in front of the San Francisco church in Antigua.

The boys absolutely fell in love with Elliot.  He is the son of one of the leaders on the team.   He was so sweet with them and loved on them well.  They really enjoyed him being a part of the team.  Here they are at some local ruins in town.

I love the chocolate museum.  One afternoon I took the team to do the class.  They enjoyed not only making chocolate but also learning about the history of it.  It is a fun class and all of our teams seem to enjoy it.

 This team member always enjoys it most of all. 

We visited the souvenir market and also the local market as part of our cultural training.

 the open meat market is my least favorite part of the tour 

Visiting the cross

 our team

Enjoying a meal at La Fonda de la Calle Real to sample some local Guatemalan food.

 

They flew out early on a Saturday morning and we were sad to see them go.  Throughout the week they were already talking about returning.  Pastor Able left excited to go home and share with his congregation about the trip and begin mobilizing others to go.  We are already in talks about some things their church can do in the future and are excited to know that they will be coming back down to work with us again.

Part of our job in hosting volunteers through Americas Connect is to not only give them a mission experience but to help them catch a vision for doing missions back home and around the world.  I think we succeeded with this team.

Is God leading your church to get more involved in international missions?  Americas Connect Guatemala is an easy, introductory trip that would help get you started.  From young to old, everyone can be involved.  Come on down!  We would love to host you!   

A Few Pictures From Our Time in Costa Rica

Last week we traveled to Costa Rica for a work meeting.  It was our first time to visit there.  We were all excited!  We had an early morning flight out of Guatemala City but it was direct.  We arrived in Costa Rica an hour and fifteen minutes later.  That's not bad at all!

leaving Guatemala City

Ben had the window seat.  As we got closer to landing he looked out the window and yelled, "Hey look!  It's the Grand Canyon!".  I could not help but laugh.

at the Costa Rica airport

We waited until all of our group arrived and then we took a bus to our hotel together.  Along the way we made a stop at a bridge where you see crocodiles down below.  Most everyone got out and walked across the bridge to see them.

A view of the ocean as we traveled

more ocean views

From our hotel we would see beautiful macaws flying around every day. 

We would also see monkeys.  Lots of monkeys!  They would come right down to the hotel and run around.  They would especially come around breakfast time and steal the sugar packs off of the tables.  The kids (and adults too) really loved getting to be so close to them.

Here is one about to enjoy a banana.

We spent our days in meetings while the kids had a fun time hanging out together.  A sweet mother daughter team from Texas came down to work with them.  They brought a suitcase full of VBS supplies and kept them busy learning, playing, and making crafts.  My boys had a blast!  They also enjoyed getting to know these other MK's and spending time with them.

During some free time we all went to visit the Manuel Antonio National Park.  There we got to see monkeys, sloths, iguanas, frogs, butterflies, bats, and more. 

We loved seeing the sloths the most.

There was also a little time during our park tour for swimming in the ocean.

ready for a pizza lunch

our last evening there

our Americas Connect team

more new MK friends

the sunsets were my favorite thing!

heading back home to Guatemala