Day 4 - March 27/09

We lost our internet access for 24 hours, so we were not able to post a few days worth of blogs. But, here they are now!
I hope you have been enjoying the stories.

Darryn

Hola me familia y amigos!

Today started with a quick breakfast at the hacienda. We then headed to the Chicoy school for morning devotions where the principal Hector Bebe shared his testimony and his gifts of worship. After an emotion filled devotion, we were off to the sinkhole.

After a short, but steep climb, we reached the entrance to the sinkhole. We looked down into the gaping cave to see two men lighting candles and fires in sacrifice to the mayan spirits of the underworld. Les told us that many Guatemalan people come daily to the sinkhole in order to “please” the spirits and gain their own personal power. Les prayed with us and we could literally feel God lift our fears and worries off our backs. As we walked carefully down the slippery path to the bottom of the cave, we could feel God’s presence and his peace calming us and lifting us above the darkness both physically and spiritually.
Once we reached the bottom of the sinkhole, Les said a few words and then left it up to us to lead worship songs. It was incredible to witness different people of our group, starting worship songs that had significance in their lives, or that God had put on their hearts in this situation. Many songs fit perfectly with the dark setting that we were in: “Light of the world you stepped down into darkness; opened my eyes let me see,” and “Draw me close to you, never let me go,” were two of many fitting songs that we sang.
It was so easy to see the problems that the Guatemalans in the sinkhole had, because they were practicing them in front of us all. In a way, it is SO much easier to minister to someone who you already know what their consuming issues are, rather than ministering to someone who hides their problems behind superficial masks and disguises. In Calgary, people don’t always “practice” their hindrances from God in public because lots of the time, the problems are emotional and embarrassing. In Guatemala, the majority of their problems are clearly visible for us to see. Poverty, hunger, abuse, and witchcraft are just some of the obvious issues that we can see visually, and then act accordingly in order to help with their problems. As a class, as a team, we have decided that we will be Jesus’ light; not only to the people of Guatemala, but also to the people of Calgary. Even if we can’t see visually what they are struggling with, we will share God’s love with them and trust in God because he knows everyone’s heart and everyone’s mind.
The sinkhole was a truly amazing experience spiritually for everyone one of us, and we are excited to see how it affects us in our future here in Guatemala, as well as our future back home.

Immediately following the sinkhole, we headed off to what many of us consider our favorite place; Mocohan Christian School. We sang Spanish worship songs, and performed puppet skits, as well as games and crafts for the children. Everything was normal until we brought out the stickers and balloon animals. I have never seen kids so aggressive and intense about getting these things before. Countless numbers of hands were reaching and grasping to get higher above everyone else’s hands in order to get a sticker or balloon animal. The kids, like a pack of wolves, swarmed us and cornered us against walls so that we had nowhere to go. Many of us tried to hold the desired objects high above our heads. This idea worked for Luke. For the rest of us who weren’t 8 foot giants, well, lets just say, we ended up on the bottom of pile.

After the children’s ministry, we went to the developing school at Chijacorral to move soil again. This period of time was less than yesterday’s, but it still involved very tiresome work. After 2 and a half hours, we finished our task and went for dinner at the Peter’s home.

Today was an amazing spiritual experience, and we are excited for another packed day tomorrow! (without physical labour)
Adios!

Phil

Today was a very full day and all of us were thoroughly tired at the end. We started off at early devotions at the nearby school, which was an emotional and uplifting experience. The children sang even louder than the previous day, and our hearts were touched by the amazing connection all the children were sharing with God. They really showed us what it means to truly open your heart to God and lay down your life before Him. A 50-person hug line followed the devotional, where each child hugged each member of the team, like they never wanted to let go. We were all deeply moved by how much each child was willing to embrace complete strangers.

After having a quick breakfast, we raced off to Purulha, for more children’s ministry and work. Today, we worked for a full three hours on digging more space for the school’s expansions and our children’s ministry was more powerful than we ever expected. Our work was tiring, but once the children arrived at the school, everything seemed to flow together; God had planned the entire afternoon perfectly. Our ministry involved more dramas, different crafts, worship, and more hand painting, however at the end of our program, one of our leaders, Karen, held an altar call on our stage for the children. Our eyes widened and mouths gaped open as over fifteen children walked up to the front and asked Jesus into their hearts for the first time! Our team gathered around them and embraced the young, happy faces. Karen led them all in a prayer and we prayed for them afterward. The entire experience opened our eyes to the true power of the Holy Spirit. We were proud to know that God had used our dramas, puppets, crafts and worship to benefit his kingdom.

Following children’s ministry, we went to a Guatemalan home, weavers who are members of Impact Ministries, to cook supper with them. We were taught by the mother of the house how to roll tortillas and create the “Guatemalan-style” perogy. We rolled corn tortilla batter into palm-size, round pieces and placed some cheese in the middle and folded them over so they resembled pieces of ravioli. Once deep-fried with hot sauce on top, they were absolutely irresistible. Along with the meal, they family made us a rice drink made with milk, vanilla bean, rice and cinnamon sticks, which was very delicious as well. We played some bonding games that helped us loosen up as a group and we are slowly becoming more and more connected to each other.

After our full day everyone got in bed early and we thankfully get a later start to the day tomorrow! Almost halfway through our mission’s trip, everyone is agreeing that this experience will be life changing, to say the least.

Karlynn