Day 3 - March 26/09

The name of the game in Guatemala is to be flexible! The team activities have been switched from the original itinerary. 11A is now following 11B's published itinerary & 11B is now following 11A's itinerary. The reason for this switch is that 11B has many times more sponsor children & needed to follow an itinerary that would allow students to be freed up for home visits.

Darryn

This morning we had a quick breakfast and raced off to devotions at a nearby school. The worship we witnessed there touched all of our hearts and brought some to tears. The children had their hands all raised as high as they could reach and were shouting praises to God at the top of their lungs. It was miraculous feeling the power of God moving through the small room we were in with them. They only had one worship leader and a microphone, but the power of the Spirit that manifested there left us in awe.

After devotions we traveled to Purulha, a nearby village to work on an ongoing school project and to minister to the children there. Before starting work, we ventured down the famous “Sink Hole” for a morning of prayer and worship with the team. The worship and testimonies shared down there opened our eyes and humbled our hearts. Emotions ran high throughout the one hour prayer and worship time, and we were all changed when we came back out.
To ease the high emotions and heavy hearts, we went the rest of the way to Purulha and began our work on the school project there. After an hour in the hot sun with pickaxes and shovels, everyone was ready for lunch. We had managed to move a fair amount of dirt into a nearby pit to make space for the school’s expansion. The lunch was one of the best we have ever had. Everyone had several generous helpings!

The most fun, and surprisingly powerful part of the day was about to begin when we started our children’s ministry work. The entire team seemed to immediately bond with the children and we enjoyed an afternoon filled with crafts, drama, worship and games with over 100 children from the village. Everyone opened us with open arms and the children clung to us all afternoon. Each member of the team was affected and touched in several different ways as they played with the children. We look forward to tomorrow when we have another chance to bond with the same group of children, as we will be returning to the village to continue the work we started today.

Finally, after a full day, we attended a communion service at the nearby church to witness a powerful sermon and some more amazing worship. The dinner that was served afterwards was delicious as usual and after that we were all ready for a good night’s rest. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to bed early as I was busy writing the day’s activities all down! Tomorrow is promising to be another stretching, and powerful day in Guatemala and we all look forward to the work God will do in our hearts and the work we can do in the hearts of others!

Karlynn

Hey!

Today was our very first full day of ministry in Tactic!
Our morning started with a bang as we joined in on a worship service at the Chamche Christian school. The kids absolutely blew us away. The passion with which they worshiped was incredible, and the volume that they used to worship was insane. We stood in awe of them giving everything to God. They didn’t care who was watching, they didn’t care if they sang the wrong part at the wrong time; all they cared about was that they were worshiping God. It was incredible.

After worship we had a hugging line with all 211 children at the school. It was so amazing to get down on our knees and hug these kids, and we could see in their eyes that they were having the time of their lives. Karen (one of the Impact ministry members) told us that these kids appreciate it so much because its not something that they experience often at all.
We had breakfast at the hacienda and then headed to Mocohan school to do children’s ministry. We did skits, songs, crafts, puppetry, and games with the kids. Some of our team who had sponsor children got to meet their sponsor children and there reactions were amazing! The children’s eyes widened with their smiles as they met their sponsors and received gifts from them. It was so surreal to see how much of an impact sponsorship and prayer truly have on these kids’ lives.

After the joy of children’s ministry, it was time to get the gloves on and get to work! We could either use a pick axe, shovel or wheel barrel in order to move dirt from one end of the developing school’s yard to the other. After 4 hours of work in the blazing sun, we finished our first task and headed to our hotel to get showered before dinner and church tonight.

Phil