We have just finished our devotion for this morning.  Bro. Teddie has been teaching in the book of Jonah, which has caused me and I’m sure others to ask ourselves if we are running from God’s will in our lives.  There are two teams preparing to go back into the village today to finish up the cementing of the floors, another team will finish hanging doors and windows, Eddie Hall and Kevin Vice are taking a team to the Seminary to do some painting and we have a crew that was gracious enough to stay behind and do “spring cleaning” here at the house.  We built 6 more houses yesterday (which gives a total of 15 houses built in all), and 7 were cemented.  We did get a little rain yesterday while building, but the Lord blessed us and saved the heavy rain until we were back at the house.  Plans for tomorrow are to dedicate the houses and visit the orphanage.  We had “pizza night” last night.  We certainly have not been going hungry, Ms. Caroline Ford is a wonderful cook!  She says it is her job to send the men home healthy and the women home fat!  Please continue to pray for us, Bro Teddie will blog tomorrow.

No internet service last night.  We have had our devotion and are leaving for the work sites.  I will write more later today.  All is well. 

A blessed Sunday!  We had our devotional time at 7:30AM and then left immediately for a church service.  I made the decision yesterday that we would attend a service at Pastor Max Lara’s house with his family and a few others.  This allowed us to see Estuardo and to pray for him.  The Lara family sang, our group sang a couple of songs, and Pastor Max preached.  Of course, this took place in Pastores which is where we got our start in Guatemala thanks to Evangelist Danny Lafferty.  Precious memories!

After the service we made our way to Antigua and Las Antorchas.  We were there early and Philippe Rambert and staff had us in and out in no time.  The group was busy shopping by noon and shopped until 3:30PM or so.  I came back to the mission house to pray! 

Samuel Acan has moved to the mountain temporarily.  He is staying in John & Laurie King’s casita for the next month or so.  This is a big help to him and us as he doesn’t need transportation from and to his house each day.  Samuel wanted me to be sure and give Betty Creech a shout!  Love is in the air?  He can’t wait until July 19th! 

Morris and Diane Bryant are right – Whitney is strictly a “need to know” person.  She doesn’t volunteer any information unless you ask her specifically.  Example:  I have “led” our musical worship for the first two mornings while lamenting the fact that this group had no one to lead us.  This afternoon Mary Hall tells me that Nathn Searcy is a gifted guitarist.  Nathan just happens to be Whitney’s boyfriend.  I guess she didn’t know he could play the guitar.  He is now our worship leader for the rest of this trip!  God is good!

I also learned tonight that Callie Wheatley is a pianist.  So, tomorrow morning she makes her debut as a pianist for GRACE Ministries!  God is good! 

Tonight was such a romantic night!  First, one of our batchelors (they have to remain anonymous) wrote a poem called “Jessica’s Sonnet” and he allowed me to read it to the whole group.  It was so sweet!  We have been playing “The Dating Game” in hopes of hooking the Hall twins up with Batchelor #1, #2, or #3.  We know they have boyfriends back in the States but this is just for this week.  The twins aren’t cooperating but we press on!  That’s the way we roll! 

Then, Nathan plays and sings this song he wrote just for Whitney!  Something about missing Virginia, Miss Virginia, West Virginia, whatever!  The ladies cried and thought is was just too sweet!  Please! 

Kevin Vice asked me to tell his daughter that he will be sending an e-mail to her in the next day or so.  He has read the blog. 

We did see a miracle today!  Kayla Brown, the one with the “severly” twisted ankle, the one who had to literally be carried everywhere yesterday and this morning, the one who missed her rotation on kitchen duty this morning because she couldn’t walk, the one who knows how to “milk” a situation, was remarkably healed just in time to go shopping today.  She walked with no limp and no ill effects from her tragic injury!  Hallelujah! 

Bro. Jerry sent me an e-mail saying all is well at home.  He complimented Kathy & Tammy for their ministry through song today.  Many members of our team send their greetings.  We prayed specifically for the services at Friendship today.  Pray for us Monday as we go back to the building sites. 

You had probably better get used to these GRACE posts coming late at night.  It is almost 10:00PM here and I just turned my computer on for the first time today.  It is actually the first time I have even been in this room since Bible study this morning.  I had kitchen duty tonight so that delayed me considerably – steak & gravy is a beast!  The ladies did an awesome job cooking today! 

We had a good Saturday with no rain.  We completely finished three houses, got two more ready to receive the concrete and a sixth one has the tin on one side.  Today took us back a few years to the days of pushing the vans up hills.  We are in some nice vehicles but the weight along with the wet roads made it impossible to climb a few of the hills.  Thank God for strong guys! 

It is amazing that we got done what we did today in spite of the fact that Kayla Brown twisted her ankle this morning and was unable to work at all today.  It was tough but we had folks pull her slack! 

It was really neat to listen tonight as the folks were just sitting around talking and enjoying each other’s company.  No one even brought a computer with them but cell phones are in abundance. 

Tomorrow we do church, Las Antorchas restaurant, and shopping in Antigua.  We will be praying for the services at Friendship and ask you to pray for us too. 

I know this entry is coming really late but it is honestly the first chance I have had all day to sit down and blog.  I just got my computer out and turned it on.  Sorry for the delay!  It has been a long day and if I weren’t trying to show Ryan Johnston (Faith Baptist of Bartlett, TN) up then I probably would skip today’s entry.  However, Scott from Arkansas and Jim Peters from Dalraida set the bar high so here it goes!

First, the Lord blessed us as we had 20 folks flying out of Gulfport, 15 out of Mobile, and 1 out of New Orleans on two different airlines.  The air travel went very smoothly and we all arrived in Guatemala separated by about fifteen minutes. 

We had the unexpected treat of seeing the Dalraida team in the airport.  I spoke to Jim Peters, met Dr. Cox, and saw Amy Dempsey whom I had not seen in several years since we were on a GRACE trip together.  We also saw Pastor Rodney Coleman and his wife, Rhonda, and their team.  (As usual, Pastor Rodney was trying to borrow money from Kevin Vice and me claiming he needed it to get home!  A man doing advertising like Pastor Rodney doesn’t need my money!)  Thank the Lord for this added blessing of being encouraged by those who have just finished very successful weeks of doing ministry here.   

The vans and the luggage truck were waiting on us and we arrived at the L.G. Camp, Jr. mission house around 2:00PM.  After a brief meeting, we hung out for a couple of hours before heading down the hill for supper.  Good food and greater fellowship! 

It is now 8:30PM and many folks have already called it a day.  It has rained considerably all afternoon.  Pray that the rains will come in such a way as to allow us to work between the showers (the 1st Lacombe team says “whatever”)  The rains have already played a part in one of the vans receiving damage.  Thank God Larry Whitehurst wasn’t the driver as today is his birthday – either 85 or 58!  I just say the the driver involved is a NASCAR driver at heart! 

We have breakfast at 6:00AM tomorrow followed by our morning worship time at 7:00AM.  Pastor Max and Juan Marcos will join us in our work efforts tomorrow.  Everyone is well.  Keep us in your prayers. 

Jim Peters and the team from Dalraida arrived safely in Guatemala on Thursday night, 6/19.  They were to be joined by two churches from Ohio on Saturday, 6/21.  The heavy rains continue so pray that this team can get their work done in spite of the rain. 

Jim is blogging at www.dalraidaguatemala2008.blogspot.com for those interested in following their trip. 

Don Tibbett and the folks from Foothills Fellowship Bible Church are staying in the L.G. Camp, Jr. mission house this week while doing ministry in Guatemala.  Pray for them!

This recap is a couple of days late but I did want to briefly share the end results of what this team did during their time in Guatemala.  First, we thank God for getting us home safely.  The bubbas & bubbaettes had no problems but our Yankee friends met some challenges along the way.  However, all is well that ends well and we all arrived home safe and sound! 

This team conducted three medical clinics which allowed them to see in excess of 700 folks.  They distributed “tons” of medicine and did one surgery.  One of the ladies from Santo Domingo Xenacoj will be taken to the hospital either tomorrow or Wednesday to find out what is going on with her heart.  Thanks to Eugene and Louise for doing the follow up on this situation.  John & Laurie King did an excellent job of getting the medical clinic sites ready. 

This team also had one member help with a dental clinic on Thursday.  They saw a number of patients and had a good day of ministry at the Palabra Viva Church. 

This team built and dedicated fifteen houses to the glory of God!  There were some sites that were challenging to get to but they did well.  Fifteen families have had their lives improved a bit as they have moved from corn stalk huts to tin houses.  Thanks to the churches and individuals who helped make these houses a reality! 

This team painted the inside of a house and office at the seminary in Chimaltenango.  They faced some challenges but got the job done without any problems. 

This team mixed and poured the equivalent of fifteen houses of cement in two days at the Rios de Agua Viva Church.   Our recent teams have really helped improve the buildings and grounds of that church and the church membership is happy! 

This team enjoyed some great fellowship and time in God’s Word.  As usual, Carla Mast did a wonderful job of leading our musical worship. 

Our next trip with openings is scheduled for November 18 – 25, 2008.  We will do another medical trip in February of next year.  Contact me if you have an interest in being a part of either of these trips. 

Thank you for your prayer support.  We had a blessed trip!  God is awesome!

We had a very good and productive last day of scheduled ministry on this trip yesterday.  It was a long day with our teams arriving back at the mission house between 5:30PM and 7:00PM.  Folks seemed tired but rejoicing in a good day of ministering as unto the Lord!

Our medical team went to the village where we have been building all week and had a good day as they saw around 300 folks.  One of the doctors even performed surgery as he removed an object that had been lodged in a man’s arm for ten years!  Carolyn Ciak from Casa Aleluya joined those folks and was a huge blessing with her medical skills and translation abilities. 

Another team finished the three houses which involved mixing and pouring cement and putting the final side on after the cement had been poured.  This same team also dedicated the 15 houses that were built giving each family a basket of gifts and explaining why we do what we do – His name is Jesus!  Pastor Max helped them with the dedications.  The medical folks joined them for the final three dedications. 

Gail Broekema was a dental assitant for many years and she was a team of one yesterday as she helped Dr. Manuel host at dental clinic at Palabra Viva Church.  They had a great day of ministry and Dr. Manuel along with his daughter joined us for supper last night. 

A team of six went back to the seminary where the finished painting the house and office.  They did a nice job of completing this task and the lady living in the house was very excited to see her “new” living quarters. 

The cement crew went back to Rios de Agua Viva Church and finished the cement work in front of the church building.  In two days, they mixed and poured the equivalent of 15 houses.  Those folks worked hard and Pastor Walter Aju was very happy to see the end result.  He and one of their deacons, Jose, were a huge help in the process.  That church property has really been improved over the last year and many thanks to all who have been involved in that process. 

Of course our final team stayed at the mission house and prepared supper.  Jan Koeman has led this portion of the ministry all week and has done a wonderful job.  Thanks to each of the ladies who have helped in any way to keep our hunger pains at a minimum! 

In about three hours we will meet for our final Bible study share time on this trip.  Eight of us flying Continental will leave the mission house between 9:30 – 10:00AM as our flight leaves at 1:25PM.  The remaining thirty-five team members will leave around noon as their flight leaves at 3:25PM.  Pray for us as we say our good-byes and then travel home.  The Grand Bay folks are scheduled to arrive home tonight while the Michigan folks will spend the night in Chicago before driving home tomorrow. 

It has been a blessed week and I will recap it all tomorrow at some point!  Thanks for your prayers and support! 

Wow, yesterday was an interesting day.  It proved to be very productive although it was very long too!  Flexibility was a key word and our team members did well! 

The building team got three more houses up and they now need cement in order to be complete.  That will finish the house building with 15 being built this week.  We have to get the remainder of the sand and stones to that village and that will be a bit of a challenge but it can be done. 

We had a team paint at the seminary and it was a slow go.  They had to move furniture, take things off the walls, and wait on the paint to arrive.  However, they believe enough progress was made to finish it today. 

The team pouring cement at the church had to wait until almost noon to get started too.  However, they were able to get about half of that job done and hope to finish today. 

The team did village ministry last night ministering to over 100 families in same village where the houses are being built.  I wasn’t there but they said it went well. 

So, today is going to be a busy and long final day as we complete the houses, finish the painting at the seminary, finish the cement at the church, and host a medical clinic.  Pray for us!  Everyone is well!  God is good!