Today has been a very good day for our team.  They have been flexible and have maintained great attitudes all trip.  What a blessing!

We divided into three teams and went into the two villages to dedicate the five houses.  I have not talked to the other two teams but we saw five folks pray to receive Jesus as their personal Savior today.  Glory to God!

Ross Genzink, Jeff DeJonge, Tyler Compagner, Tim Vandertoorn and Pastor Max Lara did some serious ground leveling work this afternoon in order to build a shelter/storage building for our gardner, Juan.  They then built it with an assist from John Murphy Akins.  Queen Genzink & Deb Van Heck built the door and window.  Anna Akins helped get all the tools back to the tool room.  Juan has this huge smile on his face!

Soy and a cast of thousands have been busy washing vehicles.  Caroline has been preparing supper.  We will meet at 6:00PM for our final devotional/share time and then enjoy supper.  After that, it will be getting ready to leave as we all have the early flights.  The good news is that we are scheduled to arrive home around 3:00PM (Alabama folks) and 5:15PM (Michigan folks).

Parath is going to need to work on the books of the Bible.  It took her forever to find Hezekiah 4:12 this morning during our devotional time.  She did win a slacker shirt for her lack of effort this week!

This trip has been sickness free thus far.  Only one significant injury and that happened when one of our girls hit her thumb with the hammer.  It may be broken.  She is a trooper.  Who is it, you ask?  Here is a hint – at least she was awake this time.

We really appreciate those who have followed us on this blog.  We definitely appreciate the prayers.  Pray for us as we travel home tomorrow.  God is good and we give Him the glory!

A light Tuesday.  Most of the team went to another village to build four new houses.  They built them from the ground up, poured the cement, and then finished them.

Six others went to the original village to pour cement in the three houses that were built yesterday.  They also finished those houses.

So, now all 27 houses have been built and completely finished i.e. concrete poured by our team members.  We give God the praise for allowing us to get this work finished.

This afternoon the team went to a local village to distribute food and clothes.  That went well.

Tomorrow will see us, Lord willing, go to the two villages to dedicate the houses.  We will have three teams dedicating.  Samuel Acan, Pastor Max Lara and I will lead those teams.  Pray as this is the time when we share the Gospel.

Steve, Deb may be a good baby shower host but her door building skills are lacking.  She led Chelsea Cummings down the wrong path in cutting the boards for the door.  LOL!

Megan Vanderhulst has been constantly bragging about UM and their game against Bama on 9/1.  However, she will not agree to wear a Bama shirt should UM lose – what’s up with that if she is so confident?

Thanks for checking on us.  Keep praying!

We had a productive Monday.  We faced a couple of challenges in some rain and some steep terrain.  The team finished three houses from Saturday and then built nine more with six of those being completely finished i.e. concrete, handles, latches,  et cetera.  The total now stands at 18 houses completely finished, 2 needing only the front tin, and the other three ready for concrete.

Tomorrow will see us build four more houses, hopefully dedicate all of the houses, and go a food/clothes distribution as well.

Everyone is doing well.  No problems up to this point.  We give God the praise!

Thanks for checking on us.  Keep praying for us!

A normal Sunday for any GRACE team being led by me.  Our morning devotional did not begin until 8:15AM and we then left for the church service where we worshipped with our daughter church on the seminary campus.  Pastor Josue Chavez had one of the Saturday students, Marvin Munoz, preach and he did a nice job.  Carlos Villatoro did a very nice job leading the musical worship.  (Hope, Kortni, and Katie were mesmerized!)

It was then off to Antigua for a meal and shopping for all but four members of the team.  Soy and I drove to San Jacinto in order to give some things to a young boy who helped me tremendously on our June ’12 trip.

It is 5:30PM and everyone just returned back to the mission house.  Supper will be served and we will then go back to the seminary for an evening service.  We will cap the day with an ice cream sundae fellowship for the seminary students and others.  Should be fun!

Speaking of fun, the baby shower last night for Danny & Evy was great!  Queen & Deb Van Heck did a really nice job of decorating and hosting the shower.  The team gave them tons of gifts!  Good stuff!

Ryan Smith is now a cheerleader.  (I am seriously worried about him!)  Aaron Creps is not doing so well on the gluten free diet!  Caleb Stanford & Hope Roberts went Pentecostal on us last night!  It’s all good!

Thanks for stopping by to check on us.  Keep praying as tomorrow we plan, Lord willing, to hit the ground running!

Good Saturday!  The team went back to the village and built six more houses while putting concrete in seven.  We are dealing with some hills and two of our teams building side by side today had major issues with rocks.  Tyler Compagner has been here many times and is a really good builder.  He said this was the toughest build he has ever encountered in Guatemala.

The amazing thing about getting concrete in the seven houses is that I had Josh Schlehuber on one of the teams which is about like losing three good men!  Finally talked Jeff DeJonge into letting Josh work on his building team!

We are hosting a baby shower tonight for Danny & Evy Rossi.  I am not much on baby showers but hopefully this will be a blessing to them.  Special thanks to Miss Polly’s granddaughter, Leslie, for all the clothes she provided.  Also, special thanks to the couple from the Friendship family who gave the finances necessary for Evy to have the baby in a private hospital.  What a blessing!

Everyone is well.  Thanks for checking on us and we ask that you pray for us.  We will pray for the services in our respective churches (chapel for Tim & Megan) tomorrow.

P.S. – Brianne, Levi says flirting while on mission trips does not count against a person.  I’m just sayin’!

Disclaimer – this post is actually being written at 5:00AM on Saturday, 7/21.  Sorry for the delay!

Our first day of ministry was good.  It was slower than expected but a good day overall.  It began with the usual for us with our morning devotional in the upper room.  That was a blessed time.  We then loaded the vans for what would end up being a lot of driving before the day was over.

Our first stop was in a village to help another ministry build houses.  Their team had asked for some help as time had become an issue for them.  Due to a number of circumstances, it was actually 11:15AM when we arrived on the building sites.  The GRACE team built and completely finished i.e. concrete, doors, hardware, et cetera three houses in that village.

We loaded up in the vans and drove for over an hour to get to our village for the week.  This is our first time to be in this village.  The townspeople were glad to see us.  We completed two more houses up to the point of being ready for concrete and two more just need to have the tin finished and they too will be ready for the concrete.  Good day.

Supper was wonderful and we did not have to rock anyone to sleep last night!

We do not know who or when but someone i.e. a member of one of the teams climbed into the water heater room and stepped on the main pipe going into the water heater.  That erupted yesterday shortly after noon which meant we had no water.  Thankfully, Ross Genzink is with us so he had to leave the worksite and come do the major repairs.  I guess all is well that ends well but I do wish whoever did that would not have climbed through that window.

Thanks for praying for us and keeping up with us via this blog.  Keep praying!

Today was “travel day” for the team with folks flying from Mobile and Grand Rapids.  I am posting this around 10:15PM Guatemala and we are waiting for the Michiganders plus one to arrive as they had the late flight.  They have landed and are in the rental vans headed west!  The Michiganders arrived at the mission house around 11:00PM.  No one has seen Lamar!  We will look for him tomorrow!

The rest of the team arrived in Chimaltenango safe and sound around 2:30PM or so.  They were delayed at the Guatemala City airport because of bacon!  All is well that ends well!  The afternoon was spent getting everything ready for tomorrow.

We get to go help another ministry with the construction of four houses first thing tomorrow.  After that, we will head to a village that has never been visited by GRACE Ministries before so that is exciting.

Pray for us and check this blog daily for updates.  If the internet is up and running then we will be posting updates.  Thanks!

Mixed emotions filled our hearts, as we gathered on the upper floor of the mission house, for our last morning meeting, and what a meeting it was!   The devotional was brought by Bro. Travis Northcutt from Habakkuk 1:5, and he put into words those mixed emotions mentioned above, and God used him to cause us to pin them down and understand their meaning, not only in our lives, but in the lives of the people we have touched here.   Our understanding of what God has done in bringing us here was expanded, and we were challenged to carry the burden God has given us for these precious people home with us.  We were challenged to pray, give, and act upon this burden.

A burdened, but joyful-hearted group left to dedicate the fifteen homes built this week.  This experience is like  no other down here, so they were looking forward to it.

Yesterday’s activities were red-letter memory makers.  The group who went to the volcano were awed by a piece of God’s creation they had not seen before.  Some toured the Seminary, and were delighted to meet Tico.  We all loaded up and went to a church in a village to disperse food and clothing.  Bro. John gave us a brief history of  how God built this church in five days.  In preparation for our visit, when John commissioned the Pastor to first find the widows in the village, he visited from door to door, and found 50 of all ages in life, many with young children.  These were given tickets to admit them to the church to receive needed food and clothing.  In all, 80 families came through, tagging family members, totaling well over 200 folks served.  After we had cleared out everything, we sang with the pastor and his family and some of the members–they in Spanish and us in English.  Then Bro. Jerry prayed for the pastor, his burden for the people, and the church.  It was a holy time!

Supper was pizza, so Miss Sharon and Miss Kittie had concentrated on a batch of cookies that turned out to be flat disks (Miss Sharon had changed her recipe slightly), but they must have been good because they disappeared without leaving a crumb.  Sharon also fixed a batch of spaghetti to round out our supper.

Going back to this morning,we were given explicit directions as we shut down our week at the mission house, and leave it in good shape to receive Bro. Teddie’s group on Thursday afternoon.   3:00AM is our good-bye to the mission house time, as we head to the airport and home.  Pray for us.

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This Tuesday morning, it is quiet in the mission house for a change!  We had a great breakfast, then one group left with Bro. John for a tour of the volcano.  The other group met for worship in the “upper room.”  Bro. Kerry and Tena led us, setting the stage for just the Word we needed brought by a young Texan named Crayton.   Then groups dispersed, with just a few at the mission house–therefore the “quiet” I mentioned above.

Saturday afternoon Wes got to preach at Paul and Christy’s church.  The people who went with him were amazed at the packed house on a Saturday afternoon, and people continuing to come to the windows and doors.  Wes shared the podium with a dog, but the Lord moved anyway–one young boy was saved!

Sunday and Monday were awesome in their specific ways.  Sunday School time was a worship time with the devotional led by Miss Kittie.  We went to the same church as last year and was able to sing along in English with some of the songs.  The Pastor was so sincere and intense that we could follow a little by his voice inflection and gestures.  There was a word Wes didn’t understand, so he looked it up later, and basically it meant “gossip,” so the message may have been on the tongue.  God’s Spirit was present and felt by us all.  This church has recently begun a children’s ministry, which is a wonderful thing.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal at our usual place in Antigua (the drivers were careful how they parked, remembering your bad experience, Bro. Teddie).  Then most folks went to the marketplace and shopped until they dropped!  Back at the mission house, supper was wonderful leftovers.  Then Wes preached at our evening service, from Psalm130.  Thank you, Lord, for that message!  What Wes did not know, because she died before he was born, that Psalm 130 was the favorite Psalm of his great-grandmother.

Monday’s devotional was led by Bro.Kenny, and again, God gave us exactly what we needed.  Work teams were dispersed, and Miss Sharon got busy preparing one of our best meals yet.   When groups returned from the work sites, ten houses were complete–two others nearly so, and three awaiting concrete.  Some of the ladies had shopped (with funds given by the churches in North Carolina), and Monday afternoon they put together 15 amazing baskets filled with with all kinds of household needs, including quilts, blankets, and dolls made by the “Blanket Circle” from Bro. Travis’ church in North Carolina.  The ladies there work all year fixing them, and will begin in August for next year’s trip.  The baskets are overflowing and ready for our house dedications on Wednesday.

Another group got everything organized for our trip to a village on Tuesday afternoon.

Another energetic group led by Bro.Kerry did repairs on all 40 chairs in the assembly room, replacing broken plywood bottoms.  They were short of needed tools at first, so it was amazing that they completed the task.

Today, Tuesday is the village day–we will leave to minister in a village (I can’t spell the name) at 4:00.  This is always a wonderful time to interact with the people, and they hear the Gospel.

Thank you, who read this blog, and share these wonderful experiences.  Thank you, most of all for praying for us this week–we have been so aware of God’s protection and direction.

Submitted for Bro. Jerry by Kittie.

Greetings!  We are having a great week so far as we continue our mission week.  The folks have all been extremely wonderful to work  together in cooperation.  Great attitudes, great work ethics, great flexibility.   Today is Sunday so the day started early with one van-full going to the lake for the day.  They were to have a worship service there.  We are expecting them back at any time.  The others went to Aqua Viva for church and then spent the day in Antigua.   Some heavy duty shopping occurred today!  Tonight, we are going to gather for another worship service upstairs with Bro. Wes Bates preaching with, I’m told, some special music.  I am looking forward to the evening service.  Tomorrow, we will continue to work on the houses.  Everyone is well.  Continue to remember us in your prayers.