As I write this entry, it is 5:35AM on Friday morning.  Both the Grand Rapids and the Mobile teams made it to their respective airports last night without a glitch.  We thank God for another great day of travel as their were no delays or problems.  That was true going and coming so I have to give Delta credit for a job well done on this trip. 

The final report shows that we built and dedicated fifteen houses, hosted a three day VBS at Rios de Agua Viva, made major strides (electrical & tile) in getting the parsonage at RAV ready for Pastor Walter and his family to move in, had some quality visits with Amor del Nino to open the door for a partnership with a Christian school in Michigan, did some work at GMO (Bernard Cohen) in Panimaquin, distributed food & clothes to one hundred families, continued to build our relationship with the boys from Vencedores (Casa Aleluya) as well as the one with President Tico Vargas from the seminary, and had great fellowship among our team members.  Of course we also saw the engagement of Kira Ellens & Daryn Kuipers which was a first for any of our GRACE teams.  Who knows?  This could be trend setting – can you say Jwayne & Lindsey?  By the way, we also planned the December ’07 wedding of Jennifer Wetterer & Jordon Zirlott – it is going to be awesome with a chimney, reindeer, bridesmaids in gift boxes, etc – it is going to be awesome and you are invited! 

Derrick & Jodie Wilkerson are literally days away (8/19) from coming home after their eighteen months as our interim resident missionaries.  I have seen a growth in their lives and thank them for another good week of ministry as they were a big help to this team.  Pray for Derrick & Jodie as he resumes/completes his seminary studies in New Orleans over these next nine months and as they reapply with the IMB of the SBC for appointment as international missionaries. 

Thank you for your prayers.  Thank you to those who gave financially to make the ministry portion of this trip possible.  Thank you for helping us take the Gospel to the precious people of Guatemala.  Pray that we will be faithful to share that same Gospel with our family, neighbors, co-workers, and friends as we work in and through our respective church families.  God is good and we give Him the glory for all He did these past eight days through the GRACE ’07 IV trip.   

The Lord blessed us with a good final day as we dedicated all fifteen houses that this team built this week.  We dedicated houses in loving memory of Jimmy Arnold, George Brown, Mary Ann Glover, & Stan Strickler.  This was a special time for all of us. 

We basically finished the work in the parsonage at Rios de Agua Viva.  Pastor Walter and family are now simply waiting for the door and windows to be installed which was supposed to happen today but now is supposed to be tomorrow – welcome to Guatemala. 

Our team members mowed the lawn at the mission house, washed the vehicles, sorted clothes, and organized the tool boxes in order for them to be ready for the next team. 

Tonight after supper, most to the team hurriedly loaded into the vans and headed toward Antigua to get a close up view of the volcano named Fuego.  That volcano was really spewing tonight and we got a good look from the mission house too. 

We are leaving the mission house early in the morning so this will be my last post until I do a final recap tomorrow night or Friday.  Or, if the mother of the bride insists it could be Monday – it is wedding week!  Pray for us to have safety in travel all day long.  Thanks for keeping up with us via this means! 

Yesterday was a good day as we did a variety of things in bringing the work portion of this trip to a close.  Allen Glover & Ryan Miersma went back to the parsonage at Rios de Agua Viva and completed the electrical work – praise the Lord!  Daryn Kuipers & Rachel DeYoung spent the day there finishing the tile work and doing the last of the grouting.  So, we basically have to do some clean up and Ross Genzink is going to install the kitchen sink and shower head and it should be ready to move in.  The windows and doors are supposed to be installed this afternoon. 

To be honest, I didn’t get a report on yesterday’s VBS but assume things went well.  Those ladies have done a nice job in preparing for, and leading, this ministry opportunity. We will have one more day of VBS this afternoon.   

Derrick Wilkerson did a nice job of leading our ministry to the fifty boys and four jefes (bosses) from Vencedores.  Wayne DeYoung and Troy Brock did a lot of driving yesterday to allow our folks to visit Casa Aleluya and then transporting the boys back and forth.  Special thanks to Dr. Mike Clark for allowing our team to visit and Tico Vargas for allowing the boys to visit the seminary to play soccer.  The boys had a great time and finished off twenty-four pizzas as though they were nothing and followed that with ice cream. 

Tyler Compagner & Rob Miersma went to Panimaquin (the place where wedding engagements happen) and finished some work on the house for the missionary scheduled to arrive in a few days.   

We had a small group go to La Canoa and completely finish the houses.  All fifteen houses have received the cement, have the fronts on, and are good to go.  We will dedicate those houses today. 

Jill Ellens and Margie Engle basically came on this trip to gather information about Amor del Nino as their Christian school will adopt this ministry for the upcoming school year.  Derrick took them back to visit with Steve & Shyrel yesterday to gather more information.  Ironically, in the course of their conversation, Steve & Margie found out that they attended the same high school in Philadelphia.  It is a small, small world!

Today we will do the house dedications and ready for our trip home.  We will leave the mission house around 5:00AM as our flight departs at 9:25AM.  The Grand Rapids group is scheduled to arrive home at 8:19PM and the Mobile group at 7:16PM.  Pray that today will be blessed as we remember some special people in the lives of our team members, host another day of VBS, finish the work in the parsonage, and ready the mission house for our departure.   We have had a good trip thus far and are thankful to God for His many blessings.  God is good!   

Good morning and thank you for taking the time to check up on our GRACE team.  We will begin our day in about an hour with our morning devotion.  Plans then call for some folks to go back to the parsonage to hopefully finish the electrical installation, finish the grout in the hallway, and do a little more tile work around the glass blocks, the walls, and replace a broken tile or two.  We will also have a group going to La Canoa to finish the cement work and putting the fronts on the remaining few houses.  A group will be going to Amor del Nino to visit with Steve & Shyrel Osborn and another group to Casa Aleluya to take the tour. 

This afternoon we will host the boys from Vencedores.  There will be around fifty boys, ages 9 – 12 years old, and they literally love to come to the casa blanco.  They will run around these hills, play soccer, and enjoy a ton of pizza.  We began doing this when Danny & Angie LeBlanc were their dorm parents and we have just continued the tradition.  It is always fun to host this energetic group of boys! 

I pray that you will have a good day.  Please continue to pray for us.  Also, would you pray for Amuy Monroy as she is in the hospital and has been having contractions regularly.  She is in her 28th week of pregnancy and the doctors want her to get to her 34th week.  Her baby weighs around three pounds now but the doctors are concerned that his lungs are not developed enough to enter this world.  So, she will remain in the hospital for another day or two and then will be on complete bed rest.  Pray for Amuy, Mario, and their daughter, Katherina.  Thanks!

She said YES!  It is late here (10:30PM) and this is my first attempt at a post today.  The reason?  Daryn Kuipers proposed to Kira Ellens Sunday afternoon in Panimaquin and I couldn’t share the news until they had the opportunity to call some of their folks/friends in Michigan.  The timing of the engagement was a complete surprise to Kira and was made possible thanks to a huge assist from Rita Arriola and the cooperative spirit of Bernard Cohen.  They left Panimaquin and drove to El Sereno restaurant in Antigua for a romantic evening meal.  They got back to the mission house around 9:00PM and it was joy, joy, joy from that moment on! 

We had a great Sunday with a service at Rios de Agua Viva in the morning, lunch at Las Antorchas, and an evening service in the seminary chapel. 

Today has been a busy day and a small group of us literally just walked in the door as we have been grouting the tile in the parsonage.  Here is a brief recap of today:  Derrick & Jodie Wilkerson took five others to Amor del Nino.  Ross & Allen led a team to the parsonage.  Allen & Ryan Miersma got temporary power on which allowed us to work tonight.  Jill Ellens & Margie Engle led an afternoon VBS at Rios de Agua Viva which was attended by approximately 50 children.  Daryn Kuipers led a team to La Canoa where they built the final one of the fifteen houses.  Another team poured concrete in two and a half more houses leaving two and a half to be done.  Wayne DeYoung led a team to Panimaquin where they worked on a house for a new staff member who is scheduled to arrive later this month.  Everyone seemed to have a good day and the attitudes have remained super!  We thank God for a good day. 

Thank you for praying for us. 

I appreciate Lindsey writing a post last night to share what has been happening in her life thus far this week.  I was going to do a follow up but the computer was used by a number of other folks and it just never happened. 

Here is a brief recap of yesterday:  Ross Genzink led a team which grouted most of the floor in the Rios de Agua Viva Church parsonage; Allen Glover with an assist from Audra Holst (translator) made huge strides in getting the electrical work done in the parsonage; Wayne DeYoung, Tyler Compagner, & Daryn Kuipers all led building teams while Derrick Wilkerson led a cement crew and we had one other cement crew too.  As it stands this morning, fourteen houses have been built with nine of those being completely finished.  Obviously, God has blessed and we have had a good first two days of ministry.

This morning we are meeting at 9:00AM for a brief time of worship and then we will go to the service at Rios de Agua Viva followed by our trip to Antigua.  Tonight we will go to the seminary for a service and then come back to the mission house for supper. 

I spoke to June Strickler via the phone this morning as today marks the anniversary of Stan Strickler’s homegoing.  I miss Stan and his involvement in GRACE Ministries.  Please pray for June and the entire Strickler family today. 

I also want to give a shout out to my cousin, Tony Gettig, in Michigan as he celebrates his 38th birthday today!  Hope you have a great one Tony! 

Pray for us and know that we are praying for you.  I will make no further promises on when the next post will come as I haven’t done so well in keeping those promises! 

What a blessing it has been to be able to serve God in such a fun and exciting way by joining college and carreer students from Alabama, Michigan and Wisconsin. Throughout the year some of us college and career keep in contact through Facebook. We look foward to reuniting here in Guatemala each August. We understand that our purpose here is to show through our actions the love of Christ to the Guatemalans, but we also enjoy having Christian fellowship with each other. It is so neat to me that even though we come from different states, churches, etc. that when we combine you can’t tell who came from where (that is until we talk). I know that so much prayer has gone in our preparation and it has been effective, for I have seen His hand in many situations already this week! Thank you for your prayers. From the moment we arrived here, I have not been able to stop thinking about how incredibly blessed I am. I have met such loving, hospitable people here-people who are so appreciative of the small amount of time we spend with them.The love of the children is so profound yet is minimal to the love that Christ showed on the cross for us. My eyes and heart have been opened and softened to see and understand a little bit more of God’s love for me and the world. Even though we cant speak each others language, we communicate through smiles and hugs, prayers and actions. Comming here to Guatemala definately changes my perspectives on life. I can’t stop pondering on how we serve such an amazing God! Our cultures may be different but our needs are the same. Our hearts are as one with God in the center.

I know, I know, I know that there wasn’t a second post yesterday.  Internet service down?  No!  We just had a long day as our team members got back to the mission house between 7:00PM and 7:30PM.  Caroline Ford & Kathy Genzink had prepared a great meal for the team.  I had kitchen duty but actually spent very little time in the kitchen as I had a local pastor waiting to see me about an important matter in his life.  Next news you know it was already 9:30PM here and the second update just didn’t happen.  Sorry about that! 

Here is a recap of our day:  the praise and worship was very good as Kristen DeYoung and Brian Cochran (I gave Leah Compagner her props yesterday but she threw me under the bus!) led us in three or four songs.  Several of the team members shared about why they were here and about their expectations for the week.  We spent some time in the Word looking at Luke 19:1 – 10 and then got our assignments for the day.

We had four building teams and they totally completed two houses, have one with the concrete poured but needing the front side put on, have six others ready for the concrete, and one more framed up.  So, it was the strong first day we needed! 

Today, we will go back to the village and continue building houses.  Also, Allen Glover will begin the process of determining the electrical needs of the parsonage at Rios de Agua Viva while Ross Genzink will take a few folks there to begin the process of placing the grout in the floor tile which was laid by our July team.  It is a little after 5:00AM as I am writing this and it has begun to rain in the last few minutes.  Obviously, that could affect our efforts today but we will work adjust and adapt to whatever we need to do.  “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape!”

The team members have been great thus far with super attitudes.  Pray that today will be another good day.  We are very quick to realize that God has graciously blessed us thus far and we give Him thanks for watching over us.  Thank you for your continued prayer support.  Pray without ceasing!

It is the beginning of day two and the only folks stirrring right now are the ones cooking breakfast.  Our day will begin in earnest at 7:00AM as we have our initial worship and time in the Word.  Kristen DeYoung, Leah Compagner, and Brian Cochran will lead our musical worship and I really appreciate these folks and their willingness to serve Jesus in this way. 

Lord willing, we will spend a long day building houses.  We hope to build a minimum of fifteen houses this week, grout the floor tile at Rios de Agua Viva, wire and finish the electrical in the parsonage, help ready a house for a missionary in Panimaquin, paint the exterior of the gymnasium at the seminary, spend some time at Casa Aleluya and Amor del Nino, and anything else God leads us to do.  So, we have our plates full!  That’s why we need to have a strong first day.

My plans call for another update after supper tonight and that will include a guest blogger.  The only known thing that will prevent that from happening is if our internet service is down due to weather, et cetera. 

My request is that the folks reading this entry would take a few minutes right now and pray for this team.  Pray for safety, for good health, for good attitudes, for us to see where God is working and then to join Him in that work.  Don’t just pray now but pray without ceasing throughout the day and this trip.  I believe in prayer!   

We love you folks in the Lord and thank you for being a part of this team!  More to come so check back! 

This post is coming really late for the folks in Michigan as it is 12:30AM there and I apologize.  Everyone has basically called home so I knew that folks knew we had arrived safe and sound.  Thank God for Callis Communications in Mobile!

I just want to thank God for a good day of travel.  He blessed us with no delays and safe travels in the air and on land.  Daryn Kuipers did a good job of getting the group from MI to Atlanta and the Mobile team had zero problems.  We arrived in Guatemala on time and were at the mission house by 2:00PM.  A couple of meetings later and we were in the mall area by 4:30PM for some shopping and supper. 

Allen Glover, our electrician on this trip, inspected the parsonage at the Rios de Agua Viva Church and will begin that work on Saturday. 

You can tell this is a younger group as they have been going strong tonight playing spoons, cards, and rehearsing for the musical worship for this week.  It is going to be great! 

Keep us in your prayers and thanks to all of those who have supported us in any way to make this trip possible.