Grace Missions Blog

This will be short & sweet as it is almost 10:30PM and morning is going to come quickly.  Normal Sunday for one of our teams in Guatemala.  The musical worship was a blessing and then BJ Parson (aka Clint Landry) brought us a good word from the Word.  He had us conclude by praying with one another.  Good stuff.

We did church at the seminary, lunch in Antigua, some shopping, and then just spent time in fellowship.  Good day!

Tomorrow will see us continue building houses, do VBS, and go show a team from Tennessee how we build houses.  My hope is that we can at least teach them what a hammer is by noon.  LOL!

Pray for us.  Thanks for checking in!  Blessings!

We had another wonderful day.  It began with another awesome time of worship led by Bill Lee.  We had no power but that did not prevent them from using the guitars to lead us to the throne in musical praise.  Pastor Doug Chappelle then brought a challenging word from the Word.  I so appreciate Pastor Doug.

We built houses all day.  I think that 13 are now up with 10 of those having received the concrete.  Three more are almost ready for the concrete.  Soy, Callie, & Austin finished a few houses but I do not know the exact number.

As 5:00PM rolled around the rain began to come heavily.  We got drenched!  I mean drenched!  My cell phone was a victim of drowning in that storm as it no longer works.  I got back to the mission house and decided to jump online to post this entry to find that my laptop has died too.  (Unless Dr. Doug can fix it but he does not give me much hope!)  O well, God knows!

The good news is that we did get the electricity back on this morning.  The hot shower after being soaked was a blessing.  Supper was great and the fellowship even better!

Thanks for checking on us.  Keep praying!

P.S. – I am using Soy’s laptop to post this entry but he does not know it.

It is almost 10:30PM as I type this entry in the dark.  We lost electricity somewhere around 5:00PM or and it is still out on the mountain.  The valley has electricity.  We are told that it could be tomorrow before we get it restored but we are hoping for tonight at some point mainly due to the fact that we need to charge batteries.

The team has handled this “bump in the road” with a great attitude.  Dr. Tico graciously allowed us to come to the seminary to get showers.  Caroline & Deidra had a great supper ready for us so we enjoyed a candlelight/flashlight meal – very romantic!  (I sat by Soy!)

Our day went well.  We got 8 houses up with four of those receiving concrete.  We have a lot of first timers on this team and they did great!

Of course, our day got off to a great start as Bill Lee, BJ Parson, Callie Chappelle, and Michael Taylor did a great job of leading us in musical worship.  Awesome stuff!  The preaching was weak but the musical worship more than compensated for it!

Everyone was in bed early last night and the same holds true tonight because there is basically nothing else to do.  Thanks for checking on us and keep praying that we will be obedient to God!

Clint, BJ says “hey!”

Our first day has come to a close even though it is only 8:20PM.  I think everyone is pretty tired from a long day of traveling.  The folks from Thelma Baptist met at the church this morning at 1:00AM.  I passed through the mission house about 7:50PM and it seemed everything was quiet except for one room.

We thank God for a safe day of traveling.  All is well.  Nothing out of the ordinary took place.  The rains came hard today and the forecast calls for more tomorrow.  It could be a challenge but God is in control.  We trust Him!

Plans call for an entry tomorrow evening after we have finished our first day of building.  Thanks for checking on us.  Pray for us!

We had eleven folks stay an extra day in Guatemala which means they traveled home yesterday.  I received an e-mail from Dean & Jan Kapenga telling me that everyone had gotten home safely with no glitches in the flights.  Praise the Lord!

The Lord blessed and we had a great week with six salvation decisions, 2,125 folks attended to by our medical folks, 28 houses built, 125 families receiving food/clothes, and 53 folks bonding through the love of Jesus.  Our staff/friends in Guatemala did a fantastic job!  We are blessed!

We have already begun signing folks up for next year’s medical trip.  We are giving members of the Friendship family, this year’s team members and medical folks the first opportunity to sign up.  The dates will be Saturday, January 28, through Saturday, February 4, 2012.

Please pray for GRACE Ministries.  We appreciate your prayers and your support.  Blessings!

It is 4:30AM and 39 of the team members just left headed for the airport as they will depart for Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, & Miami to make connections to Mobile, Chicago, & Atlanta.  The Mobile three will be closest to home with the Chicago & Atlanta passengers having to drive a couple/three hours to their respective homes.

Lisa, Caroline Ford, & I will leave the mission house around 10:00AM while the other 11 folks will leave here around 5:00AM tomorrow morning.  Pray that everyone will have safety in travel.

Blessed week!  The best news is that at least 6 folks prayed to received Jesus as their personal Savior during the house dedications!  That is why we do what we do!  Praise the Lord!

The medical team saw 620 folks yesterday which brought their total to 2,125 (I think).  Great job!  The dental team was busy, busy, and then busy!  Those doctors, nurses, EMT’s, et cetera did an awesome job and I appreciate their time and efforts.

The building team constructed 28 houses (24 in El Rejon and 4 in El Tejar).  The houses were very well built!  This team did exceptional in the area of building quantity as well as quality.

I may do one more entry to wrap things up tomorrow or Monday.  Thanks for following us on this blog.  It blessed me to read Derrick Wilkerson’s comments on yesterday’s post.  Derrick, did you ever pay for that dent?  LOL!

Pray for us as we travel today and tomorrow.

Same routine – early morning post because we had no internet connection last night.  Our Thursday was a good day.  Everyone went to El Rejon to do a block party, medical, and build.  We had a small team come back to El Tejar to work on some houses not too far from the mission house.

The block party was a blast with hundreds of children enjoying the games and candy.  You would think the county fair had rolled into town.  I appreciate Mike Parker and his folks for being willing to help us.

The medical team had seen 226 patients by 1:00PM but I did not get a final count – simply forgot to ask.  Sorry about that!  I do know they worked in shifts as they also helped build & dedicate houses.

The building team now has constructed 28 houses.  Three need cement and a few more need hinges, locks, et cetera but all of that will be taken care of today.  The remaining dedications will take place once every house has been completed.  This team is good at building!

Today will see the medical team head somewhere about ninety minutes away.  The rest of the team will be involved in the dedications.  Keep praying as we begin to cast an eye toward home with most of the team members leaving tomorrow and the rest on Sunday.  We appreciate you taking the time to keep up with us.

Once again, this entry is being posted a bit late.  It is 6:00AM and we simply could not stay online long enough to update last night.  Sorry about that and thanks for being “flexible!”

Our Wednesday was good.  Our devotional time was Paul Leytham sharing his personal testimony and the history of GRACE Ministries’ beginnings.  The medical team then went west where they saw 250 or so patients.  The building team went east where they built 8 more houses with six more receiving concrete.  The total now is 20 houses up with 14 being completely finished.

The building team joined the medical team in the late afternoon and hosted a food/clothes distribution.  We ministered to 125 families which was several hundred folks.

Today, the entire team will be together for a block party, medical clinic, and more building.  Should be fun.  Thanks for reading this brief entry and please keep praying.

This entry is being typed at 6:00AM on Wednesday morning as we simply could not get online long enough last night to post.  We would get a connection for a very brief period and then it would disappear.  Yes, we have called Al!

Tuesday was another blessed day.  Here is where we are at this point:  the medical team has of 781 patients in two days (306 & 476 respectively).  They were dragging a bit yesterday afternoon when they finally got back to the mission house.

The building team has completely finished 9 houses, have cement in 3 others, and two others ready for the cement.  Actually, the called it quits early yesterday or that total would be a little higher.  They are building in some tough places i.e. very high and difficult to get to but they are doing so without complaint (they do not have enough air left to complain!).  We even let the “Zoo Crew” build two houses yesterday!  (That would be the 7 folks on the trip from K’zoo)

Day two of the excavation work on the feeding center went well too.  An architect has been consulted and another meeting will take place on Friday.  God is good!

Only one “slacker” shirt has been given up to this point but the committee has informed me that is about to change!

Today we are beginning our day fifteen minutes earlier.  The medical team is going west while the building team is going back to the same aldea.  Tonight we will distribute food and clothes in the same aldea where the medical folks are ministering.

Thanks for checking on us and please keep praying!