Grace Missions Blog

Quick update – everyone (Bubbas & Yankees) arrived safe and sound with luggage and all.  Will update later tonight of today’s activities – pray for us!

Obviously, I did not post again yesterday.  Kelley Pugh is the one to blame!

The Friday trip to the zoo with the children from Amor del Nino was an “experience” for our team members.  They could not leave the village as early as they wanted due to the sand/rocks for the final six houses blocking them in.  The traffic in GC was horrendous so they were a little late getting to Amor del Nino.

They had a great time in the zoo even though much of the area was dark and it was very, very crowded.  However, the children had a blast.  It was a night worth remembering for those children.  The team got slow service (very unusual here) in a fast food restaurant on the way home and finally arrived between 11:00 – 11:30PM.  Tired puppies!

Meanwhile, the sand and stone for the cement was very late arriving to the village.  However, the Lord blessed and we were able to get three houses cemented.  God is in control!

Yesterday was great!  We completely finished all 26 houses.  Each home was dedicated and each family received a gift bag which included a copy of the New Testament.  Mark Mast said they were the most meaningful dedications he has ever been a part of in Guatemala.

We are about to go into a church service here with Pastor Josue Chavez preaching and Danny Rossi translating.  Dr. Rex and Kacia Veldhuisen will be leading our worship today with Micha Gerber being the video guru.  Then it will be shopping and lunch in Antigua and then our closing share time early this evening.

Thanks for reading this entry.  I apologize on behalf of Kelley Pugh for it being so late!

Yesterday was a crazy day.  The group that went to Amor del Nino got back to the mission house really late so I need to speak to them before giving an accurate update.  I will do that at some point this afternoon/evening.

Everyone/everything is great.  Thanks for praying.  Check back later today for the details!

Sorry for no post last night.  You can blame Emily Esselink and Carina Mack!

Yesterday was another good day as the team almost finished all twenty houses.  The concrete is in all twenty, the fronts are on all but three, and over half have been completely finished.

VBS went well again with 250 in attendance.  Mark Mast and Laurie Vargas are doing a great job along with an assist from other team members.

Flexible?  This afternoon our team will leave the work site and go to Amor del Nino to take 18 children to the zoo tonight!  That means a change in work schedules and supper will have to be eaten on the road.

The catch is that we had decided to build six more houses and need to have those complete by the end of tomorrow.  Lord willing, it will get done.  Pray for us to continue to be flexible as He works in and through us.

Thanks for praying and thanks for keeping up with us.

We had a good day as a team.  We had to deal with some rain but it was not so bad as to stop us from working.  Fifteen houses have been built and a sixteenth one is basically ready for the tin.  Eleven houses have received concrete.  Some have been finished completely but I do not have that total tonight.

Mark Mast led a VBS which was attended by 200 children.  Mark is really, really good at reaching/teaching children.  They will have a larger crowd tomorrow.  You should see the bounty of stuff that the Canadians brought down to give away – impressive!

Everyone is well.  There are some tired puppies tonight but not too tired to play pulse and some card games.

Again, thanks for checking on us.  Keep praying!

Blessings,

Pastor Teddie

This is our sixth and final GRACE Ministries trip of 2011.  Obviously, many other churches/ministries have used the mission house during 2011 but this is the sixth one led by a staff member from Friendship Baptist.

If you are outside the Friendship family then I apologize for not posting prior to tonight.  I was delayed by one day getting here as I was preaching a funeral service for one of our greatest GRACE Ministries supporters, Miss Louise Morris.

Fifteen of the team members arrived in Guatemala on Saturday and the remaining twenty-seven came in yesterday.  I came today and am accompanied by three Guatemalans which brings our team total to forty six.

The team built houses in San Juan Alotenango today and had a good day.  I think I heard correctly that they have tin on seven of the houses, an eighth one framed, and three have received concrete already.  Good day!

I am told that Rex Looney and Mark Mast did an excellent job of leading worship and sharing the Word this morning.  We had a crowd for supper tonight with probably twenty five to thirty guests.  Good fellowship.

Plans call for us to update daily.  Pray for us.  Thank you for taking the time to keep up with us via this blog.

This entry is being written on Thursday morning as we are sitting in the airport at Gate 5B waiting to board our plane.  It was simply too late last night to post an entry.  Sorry about that – blame Jordan Lowell!

Our final day of ministry was awesome.  God had some things in store for us that we did not have in our agenda.  First, we sent a small team to work with Mike Parker and build a house for a lady living under a piece of plastic.  They did an awesome job!

Second, we had a team do an “extreme make over” for a house in El Tejar.  It was a major job but they got it done after about eight hard hours of work.

Third, a team went back to the seminary to paint another building.  Mission accomplished!  They painted one house and two office buildings – awesome!

Fourth, Nic Gray popped the question and Annie said “yes!”  It was good as Annie was totally surprised!  The proposal came in the gazebo behind Paul & Cristy’s house.   They are excited and we are excited for them!

We have enjoyed a good week.  The Yankees, the Catholics, the Pentecostals, and everyone else did great!  Great attitudes, great flexibility, great work ethic, et cetera.

Thanks for keeping up with us and praying for us.  Jordan says “hey!”

Good day!  The team dedicated all 20 houses which included giving baskets of food, a Bible, and other things to the families.  They then went to the seminary where another building was painted, work was done on the new building, and two more basketball clinics took place.

Everyone is well.  The team does not know it but we will be doing things differently tomorrow.  It is of necessity and I will explain in tomorrow night’s post.

Thank you for praying for us.  God is good and we give Him the glory!

Finished!  Done!  Complete!  Those words can be used to describe the 20 houses this team came to build.  All 20 are up, have the cement, and have been closed up.  Actually, I have had to throttle this team or there is no telling what they would do.  Today, they built four new houses, cemented 9 more, and put the fronts, et cetera on all 20.  Wow!  God is good!

Plus, today saw a team go to the seminary and completely paint the exterior of Josue Chavez’ house.  Plus, Coach Mickey Cochran & Coach Brian Cochran hosted two basketball clinics.  Wow!  God is good!

So, tomorrow will be dedication day plus working at the seminary on the new construction and doing more painting.

All is well and everyone is too!  We give God thanks!  Thank you for checking on us.  Pray for us!

Basically a normal Sunday for a GRACE team with a couple of slight twists.  We met for our worship service this morning with the musical worship led by Carlos Villatoro and the message delivered by Tico Vargas.  Afterwards, the team headed to Antigua to shop, then meet at the restaurant for lunch, and then shop some more.

Pastor Bob Harvey led the ministry of giving away clothes and food in a local village which is located close to the mission house.  That went well and everyone, villagers and team members, was blessed.

Tomorrow we resume the working part of the trip and will also incorporate a basketball clinic which will be led by coaches Mickey & Brian Cochran.

Thanks for checking on us and thank you for the prayer support.