Guatemala Update - Monday

Hola todos,

Don´t worry, we´ve made it to Guatemala, although I´m sure you have assumed that by now. We´re still working on getting the password to the wireless network on our campus, so the internet is currently spotty at best.

All 108 team members are now here, after a couple of us came in on different flights, and the team members´spirits are high. Saturday night after we arrived was somewhat uneventful, as we just traveled across Guatemala City to the Nazarene seminary where we will be staying all week. It was late when we arrived, so after some time to wind down we called it a night.

On Sunday, we attended church at Iglesia Bautista Shalom, or Shalom Baptist Church - the church that we will be working with all week. We attended their worship service and then ate lunch with some of the kids from the congregation. Afterward we had the opportunity to visit the houses that our group helped to build last year. It was an incredible sight to see how much they had changed over the course of the year, and how much work had been done since. We worked on five houses last year, and are told that because of the work of our group and others that have come since, 20 people have come to know Christ Jesus. This was certainly exciting news for our group, and I´m sure that this has provided extra motivation for our team as we look forward to the hard work that we will do throughout the week.

After visiting the housing sites, we went back to the seminary for the remainder of the day. We had praise and worship through singing and teaching last night, and ended the night in our small groups. It has been encouraging to see the team´s excitement in taking part of the many things that God is doing here, and that was evident as we reviewed our observations and insights from the first day. Shalom Church is doing some incredible things, and is seeing great growth in their various ministries, but this will be a topic for another time. For now, I´ll simply mention that we are excited to be here and honored to be able to be of assistance to these people.

Today is Monday and it our first day of construction. Most of the team is working at the church, as there are many things to be done here. As they continue to build and grow, we´re able to assist by mixing and pouring concrete. Other parts of our group are working with the rebar that forms the foundation, and still others are working on cleaning and painting all of the students´ desks for the school. I might mention that Shalom also has a school for children that is essentially K-12, and the kids are off this week due to Holy Week. Two other groups are doing construction in other locations; and lastly, a few team members have been working to wash and wax one of their buses before the rainy season comes, as they want to preserve the life of the buses, some of their most valuable assets.

For those of you looking for specific prayer requests, I ask that you pray for the energy of our team as we proceed throughout the week. This certainly has not been a problem thus far, but after so much manual labor today, I fear we´ll be slightly more sore and less energetic tomorrow. Please pray that we will continue to be willing servants and will be open to doing whatever is asked of us. Pray that we will be a blessing to these people, yet in turn will be open to receiving the love that they are showing toward us. Everyone has been working incredibly hard today, which has been a blessing. Please pray that we will continue to encourage one another, as this is what will fuel us as the week continues longer. And don´t forget about the teams that we have in Mexico, Kentucky, and Houston - we´re praying for many blessings over their groups as well.

Thank you for the many prayers that I know have been showered over us already, and we look forward to seeing the amazing things the God will do in the lives of both the Guatemalans and us. I hope we can update you again soon. Hasta luego -