Up, up, and away…no…not so fast!  DELAYED again in Houston.  We made it fairly well through Guatemala City and the airport as well as customs.  There are always a few new things like everyone must now go and buy their own tax stamp instead of one person buying all of them and passing them out.  Then there was the waiting room packed with people and no electricity and no air conditioning and no seats and you get the drift!  This also meant no lights in the bathrooms!  So some folks shared in the process by holding the door open slightly with their foot, then the next person would do the same.  Finally, Bro. Kerry can to the rescue and had a flashlight.  Do I hear $5.00…$10.00…going for $100.00?  Somehow, we managed to get the flashlight back!

We were so happy to arrive back in the good ole USA where things like no electricity are a rarity.  Yap!  You guessed it.  We went to get on the train in the airport to our destination and the train was broke down!  Does anyone know how many steps it takes to get all the way around the Houston airport?  We do!

We must stop here and give God the glory for everything accomplished this week!  Here is one example as to how God provided for us.  When we were told that we must walk to our next gate, some of us were packing a load of stuff, and others had no energy left to go.  We looked ahead and there before us was a man with an extended golf cart.  We rushed over to him and asked (begged) him if he could give us a ride.  He said the battery was dead!  We must have looked really pitiful and begged rather well because he said “Get on and we’ll see what we can do.”  Off we went, first passing the Canadians, then some of our fellow Friendship companions.  The cart died just as we got to where a temporary shuttle bus was located.  Praise God for the waters from the rock!  God is good all the time!

We finally arrived at the gate and the plane had been delayed again.  What else do you do but go and eat!  Off we all went and had a good time of fellowship, watching all the people walk past us and wondering where they were from and if they knew Jesus as Savior.  Back to the gate to sit.  We left around 10:00 p.m. and finally got into our house by 12:30 a.m. 

We must thank so many people for their help in making this trip possible.  For fear of missing someone, we will not try to mention all your names other than we want to thank all those who were apart of our week’s ministry.   We thank Derrick and Jodie for a job well done.  We thank our pastor and Friendship family for their continual support of this mission effort.  We thank all those who support GRACE and give that houses and other areas of this ministry can continue.  Above all, we thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the strength to continue to go and for His mighty hand at work.   God bless till the next trip…

Serving Jesus Together,

Bro. Jerry

We let the folks sleep in just a little longer today.  This morning we attended Bro. Walter’s church, Rios De Agua Viva, and they were celebrating their 9th anniversary!  Wow!  This was a dinner on the grounds with all the area churches bringing special music.  A very special day for them. They sang and sang and sang!  It was great but we had to leave before the pastor even preached.  This was an all day affair (and the chicken they were cooking outside looked delicious too.)  If I had been by myself, I might have stayed the whole day (even though I don’t understand much Spanish, the Spirit within was speaking to my heart. 

We went and ate at our usual restaurant, Las Antorchas, and then went shopping.  After that, we stopped by Casa, the ophanage to let one of our members, Suellen, visit with Lorena 2 who she sponsors.  Suellen was able to visit on Saturday for several hours with Lorena and took her shopping in Antiqua.  We so appreciate Bro. Mike Clark and the Ciaks for allowing special visitiing rights to Suellen.  Casa was having their annual VBS, which we understand is a BIG ministry that goes on during this week.  Usually, the kids are not allowed to leave but we are very grateful for the exception.  Bro. Mike and the Ciaks were gracious enough to make this happen.  Our deepest thanks to them!

We had an evening service in which I shared a challenge with the folks to let their “lights” shine brighter now than before they came and also to challenge them to find the right “road” to walk down…don’t walk down the road of complaining, do walk down the road of victory, determination, sacrifice, ect.  We also appreciate all the special music during the week including Sarah Burnham, who did a wonderful job during our Sunday night service.

Afterwards, we began preparations to leave including cleaning out the vans, washing them, cleaning up our little messy areas, sorting out the tools, and other necessary things. Some played games; afterwards, others like me went to bed!

I’m done!