February 13

This “final” entry is one day late.  Plans were to post it on Friday morning, 2/12, after hearing that everyone had gotten home safely.  You know the old saying about “rats & people and their best plans?”  Well, that applied here too.  We were without internet from late Thursday night until Friday morning.  Yes, I have been home all day today but just simply have not taken the time to post.  My apologies.

This team built twenty houses which included doing the concrete work in seventeen of those houses.  Our plans were to do concrete in all twenty but the locals beat us to the punch on three of them.  Twenty houses built is not amazing but when one considers that our building team topped out at nineteen folks then it is not bad either.

I am told that our medical team saw over eleven hundred folks and the dental team saw another six hundred folks.  (These are guesstimates and not intended to be hard and fast numbers)  I do know that they made a huge difference in many lives.  By the way, our medical team encounter no Zika virus at all.

The absolute best part of this trip was seeing nine folks pray to receive Jesus as their personal Savior with four of those being team members.  What an incredible move of God last Sunday in that worship service.  To Him be the glory!

One of our female team members mentioned during our final share time that there was no drama on this team.  I concur.  What a great group with even greater attitudes.  I do not know if it could have been any better.

Thank you to each person who prayed, gave financially, made blankets, quilts, et cetera.  This team was made up of a whole lot more than the forty three folks who were actually in Guatemala.  God is good!

Wednesday, 2/10

A really good final day of ministry for this team.  The medical team drove an hour or so away and had a busy day.  Dr. Derek told me that the dental side stayed busy and the medical side was very busy.  Those folks have had such wonderful attitudes all week long!

The construction folks finished the last of the twenty houses and dedicated all of them.  (Have to be honest in saying that the locals actually did the concrete work in three of the houses)  These folks also had awesome attitudes all week and worked really hard.

Jan K had supper ready early so the team ate at 5:30PM and then had a share time from 7:00PM until around 8:30PM.  Good time of reflecting on what God did during these days.

Thirty six of the team members will leave the mission house at 3:00AM heading to the airport.  Those folks fly out at 7:00AM, 8:30AM and 9:09AM.  Why leave the mission house so early?  One word – traffic!

Once everyone has gotten home safely there will be one more entry to summarize the blessings this team received this week.  God is good!  Pray this team home!  Thank you!

A good Tuesday.  Usual start with musical worship and message from the Word.  The medical crew then headed to the other side of Guatemala City where they had a full day.  The medical side was busier than the dental side but it was a good day.

The eighteen member building team went West and continued to build in Poaquil.  Sixteen houses are completely finished.  One more could not be finished i.e. door/window because the concrete was wet.  Two more are basically finished to the point of being ready for the concrete and the final one needs the sides & roof put on before being ready for the concrete.  All will be finished by noon tomorrow, Lord willing.

Tonight, everyone met at a local restaurant in San Lucas for a great meal and even greater fellowship.  The folks really enjoyed the variety of food offered.  It seemed that everyone ordered something different.

Several of the men met with an architect tonight regarding the medical clinic.  This architect is a son of Mike Clark from Casa Alleluya.  I appreciate him taking the time to meet with these guys.

Tomorrow, the medical team heads East while the construction crew goes West to finish and dedicate.  Pray for us!

Thank you for reading this update.

BTW, the volcano, Fuego, is showing out tonight!  Pretty awesome!

Monday, 2/8

Pretty much a normal day in the life of one of our mission teams.  Praise and worship followed by a time in the Word led by Evangelist Michael Mason.

The medical team headed West today.  It was not a very busy day for them.  Not sure how many folks they saw but the numbers were not staggering.

The building team went back West again and had a pretty productive day as five and a half houses were built, four of those receive concrete and the first ten were completely finished i.e. doors, windows, et cetera.  So, the construction crew needs to build four and a half houses tomorrow, put concrete in six of them, and then hang doors and windows in the final ten.  They will be working on a short day so we will see if it all can be done.  If so, great.  If not, great.  We should have Wednesday to finish whatever needs to be done.

Keep praying.  The medical team is supposed to have a real busy day tomorrow and Wednesday.  Thanks for taking the time to read these entries.  Blessings!

Sunday, 2/7

Wow, what a blessed day!  Our Sunday began with a message from the Word delivered by Dr. Michael Mason and that was followed by a time of musical praise and worship.  Good time!

The team then headed to Antigua to shop, sightsee, drink coffee, et cetera.  We all met at Las Antorchas for a delightful meal.  Everyone then headed to Pastores to buy and/or order boots.

We were blessed to attend the worship service at the GRACE Community Church.  God moved in a special way as we saw five folks from Guatemala come forward to receive Jesus as their personal Savior and three members of the mission team did likewise!  Hallelujah!  We came back to the mission house and had a brief meeting and another team member plainly spoke up and said, “I need to be saved” and was on the spot!  Double hallelujah!  Folks, it was one of those “you had to be there” to really understand and appreciate what happened.  All I know is that God showed up and He showed out!  Bless His holy name!

Supper was pupusas and pizza.  It was all good.

We are gearing up for a strong finish.   Keep praying!  Your prayers are being heard!

Saturday, 2/6

The team had their usual time of worship to begin the day.  Dr. Michael Mason did a really nice job of delivering the Word after Carla and crew had led the musical praise.

The medical team stayed local and saw tons of people.  The dental team was especially busy.

The building team did well also despite only having a crew of seven folks for the majority of the afternoon.  They built four more houses and started a fifth one.  Six more houses received concrete which means that nine houses have now been completed with the exception of the doors and windows being put in place.  The tenth one only needs to have two sheets of metal put on the front – why was this not done yesterday?  Dumb leader!

Our building team was cut short numerically as they had to leave the village early in order to get back in time for a food distribution.  I am told that went really well too.

A group of eleven or twelve left at 9:00PM to hike a volcano and will be on the top when the sun rises on Sunday.

Thank you for praying.  Thanks for checking on this team.  It is a really good team.

Friday, February 5 – our day began with the morning worship/Bible study time.  Carla Mast, Laura Nyitray & Juan Marcos Ruiz led the musical praise.  Good job!  Evangelist Michael Mason brought us a word from the Word.  Good stuff.

The doctors left early heading to their two appointments.  They said both meetings were productive.  I personally appreciate Dr. Mike Clark taking the time to meet with them.  What a gracious man!

While I do not have the exact numbers, I am told that the medical team had a good day of doing ministry at the feeding center.  They were planning to build a medical file for each of the seventy five children in the center.  The feeding center is such a valuable part of GRACE Ministries.  The members of this team know they can spend as much time as they like at the center.  It trumps the medical clinics and the construction.  Important!

A small building team drove the one hour and forty five minutes or so to a village.  What a great crew!  They completely finished (minus doors & windows) four houses which means the concrete was poured too.  Two other houses were completely finished up to the point of being ready to receive concrete.  This team did not even get started until almost noon and yet they got a lot done.  God thing!

Supper was followed by fellowship.  Looking forward to tomorrow.  Thanks for praying.  Thanks for reading.  Blessings!

Yesterday/last night marked the arrival of thirty seven new folks joining the six of us already here to make up the second half of GRACE Ministries team #1A.  Those thirty seven arrived in three waves – 1:30PM, 8:30PM & 10:30PM.  I met the afternoon group, Derek Draft & David Scholz met the first evening group and Nick Davis met the last group.  I appreciate Derek, David & Nick going “above & beyond” to help with this vital part of the trip.

So, our day begins with our morning worship time at 7:00AM.  Evangelist Michael is our team pastor while Carla Mast will be leading our musical worship.  John Gissal will be our guest soloist for the day!

We have one group of medical folks that will be in two meetings which will basically consume their day.  Another group of medical folks led by Lisa Bomers & Laura Nyitray (ok, so we had no one else to lead!) will host a medical clinic.  The rest of the team will head West and begin building houses.  Those folks will be led by Rick Bradley, Dean Kapenga, Paul Schab and Freddie Turrentine.  (Actually, Samuel Acan and I will be leading this team but it makes those four feel good to see their name in lights!)  Tony Gettig will be capturing everything on camera.  Jan Kapenga will be cooking supper.  All set!

Pray for us.  Hopefully we can recap the day in another report tonight.