Grace Missions Blog

We visited some of the homes of the children who are involved in the feeding center.  Cindy’s mom was very gracious to show us her house and express her appreciation.  Last November, one of the groups built their family a modest tin house with concrete floors.  This is the home of Cindy’s mom, dad, and four siblings.  Later Cindy’s mom expressed how grateful they were for the concrete floors!  They currently have two beds   with two adults and five children to sleep in a small room.  Although three of the children continue to sleep on the floor, they no longer have to deal with the mud from the rain.  Thank you to each person who has prayed, given, and worked to impact their lives!

Some of the youth from GRACE’s daughter church spent the day playing games and teaching a Bible story to the kids.  Of course, they ended the day with a pinata!

This cute girl has the privilege of wearing a Clemson Tigers outfit!  Thanks to Bro. Terry Rainey and Bro. Eddie Burdette!

Kimberly has been attending the feeding center since February.  On a weekly basis, her mom rides the “chicken van” to volunteer at the feeding center.  She works the entire time to serve food, clean dishes, and clean floors.  Although Kimberly’s mom has been a Christian for about six years, her dad was not a follower of Christ.  Through the feeding center, Glendy and Lazaro were able to build a relationship with the family.  A couple of months ago, Glendy had the privilege of leading Kimberly’s father to Christ.  The family is currently involved in a local church.  Please continue to pray for spiritual growth and discipleship in their lives.

This link is a short video about the feeding center.

Bro. Terry Rainey’s group spent the day helping and ministering to the kids at the feeding center.  The kids had lots of fun as they were able to play with a pinata and eat chocolate cake.  They also played with play-doh and watercolors for the very first time!  After playing with the play-doh and watercolor for over an hour, we had to make them clean up for dismissal.  The kids also experienced using an electric pencil sharpener for the very first time!  Imagine about 12 kids gather around a small pencil sharpener waiting their turn to sharpen a pencil.  We could not see the sharpener from all of the kids, however, it was very entertaining to them.  We may need more pencils!  Needless to say, they had a very successful day!

After having the privilege of working with the children from the feeding center, there is no doubt the impact that this ministry is going to have in each individual life.  We have visited several of the homes and the families have expressed their gratitude for the program.  One of the highlights this past week was watching them use their Bibles to learn Psalm 23.  They were thrilled to be able to have their own illustrated Bible.  Definitely a reaction that we did not expect!  The kids are on school break this week, however, they are not taking a break from lunch, crafts, music, and recess!  Although they do not have to wear school uniforms this week, they continue to wear their new shoes!

The final day of planned ministry for this team went very well.  Pastor Keith Martin brought a challenging message from the Word to begin our day.

The two houses needing concrete were finished and all twenty houses were dedicated.  The Word was shared but, as far as I know, all twenty homeowners professed knowing Jesus as their personal Savior.

Several folks stayed back and worked at the JBMC.  A number of our folks were seen playing soccer with the children in the afternoon.

We had our share time followed by supper and then it was simply wait until 3:00AM arrives in order to load the luggage truck and head to the airport.

It has been a good week.  To God be the glory!  Thank you for praying for us.

Our Tuesday began with Andrew leading our musical worship and Jeff Holifield bringing the message from the Word!  Good stuff!

The team did in fact get the remaining four houses built yesterday.  The weather was, once again, perfect!  The only problem we encountered was that two of the house sites were so muddy that we could not mix/pour the concrete.  So, that will have to take place this morning.

The food and clothes distribution went well.

Our day ended with a meal in a local restaurant.

One of our team members departs early today headed for home.  This was pre-planned due to a scheduling conflict.  It is all good.

Today is dedication day.  Pray that we will be able to clearly present the Gospel to these twenty families.

Thank you for checking on us.  Keep praying!

Happy Father’s Day!  Wait, Father’s Day was this past Sunday – not in Guatemala.  Father’s Day is always June 17 regardless of the day of the week.  It is the “when in Rome” thing.

The Lord blessed us with a good day yesterday.  The weather was picture perfect and the team worked extremely hard.  They built nine more houses brining the total for the two days to sixteen.  Of those, fourteen have already received the concrete and eleven are completely finished.

We had our devotional time at 8:00PM and Lazaro Suruy brought us a good message from the Word.

Today, Lord willing, we will build the remaining four houses and completely finish all twenty.  This afternoon we will do a food/clothes distribution in the same village.

The ladies doing the cooking this week prepared lunch for the forty children at the Jennie Blaukamp Ministry Center.  Glendy told me that it was well received by the children.

We could face some challenges today as it is 4:30AM and it has been raining literally all night.  It has not been a hard rain but any rain will be a challenge because of the terrain.

Thank you for checking on us through this blog.  Pray for us!

Our team enjoyed a regular Sunday with Tico Vargas bringing us a message from the Word in the upper room.  We then made our way to the seminary church where Pastor Keith Martin brought the message.  After that, it was a day of relaxation.

We are leaving the mission house an hour early today in hopes of having a long day building.  At least two of our ladies will remain on the mountain in order to minister at the JBMC.  We will have our devotional time tonight after supper.

Thanks for checking on us.  All is well.  Pray for us.

Our Saturday was totally different than any day we have ever experienced on a GRACE Ministries trip.  It was definitely a blessed day! To God be the glory!

Our morning worship time had Andrew leading us in musical praise and then Jim Chinners bringing us a word from the Word.  Aaron Chinners gave a word of testimony too.  It was all good.

We then headed down the hill to prepare for a block party for about 200 of the children/parents from the surrounding area.  Clubhouse Guatemala’s team of Fernando, Oso (not special agent), and Alejandro did a great job of hosting the BP for us.  We had the jump house, cotton candy, face painting, face stickers, finger nail polishing, bracelets being made, sno cones, balloons, candy, hot dogs, drinks, et cetera.  The children and parents really enjoyed themselves as did the members of this team.  Lots of smiles and laughter!

This team then went into action getting the building ready and decorated for the dedication service.  As promised, Kirk Lightfield got it set up for the entire service to be streamed online.  I know that we had folks from Birmingham, Danville, AL, Memphis, and China watch the service.

The dedication service was special as we dedicated the building to the glory of God and officially named it the Jennie Blaukamp Ministry Center.  I said that Aunt Jennie (Ken Assink’s aunt) was a godly woman, a giving woman, and a woman who left a good name.  This building/ministry will allow Aunt Jennie to touch numerous lives for years to come in her name and to the glory of God!

We also named the kitchen in the JBMC in memory of Susan Blackmon Quinn.  What a joy to have Susan’s mother with us on this trip.  I said that Susan was a compassionate young woman and she was most content when she was helping others.  Her company honored her memory with a financial gift after her passing and her mother wanted it to be used in the construction of this ministry center.  Susan would be proud of what is taking place inside the four walls of this building.

Each of the forty children was presented with a backpack, school supplies, and a new pair of shoes.  They presented a skit called “He’s Alive” and sang a couple of songs.  Two of the mothers gave testimony about the impact the ministry center has had on the lives of their children.  God has blessed us with a wonderful group of forty children!  We are thankful!

Likewise, we are thankful to each person who prays and gives to this new ministry of feeding the children.  You are a blessing!

Back to the team – several of our guys also built the doors and windows for the twenty houses we are building on this trip.  They did that in between the BP and the dedication service.

In closing, if you ever need someone to collect the trash at a function, do not ask Andrew Watkins or Conrad Meekhof to do the honors unless you want a bunch of dogs – enough said!

Thanks for checking on us.  Thanks for praying!

P.S. – The dedication service is available online.  If interested, contact me for the link.  Thanks!