Grace Missions Blog

It is around 9:45PM and there are still a good number of folks up spending time in fellowship, playing cards, et cetera.  We have had a good day.  It began with Carla & Bob leading us in musical worship.  Pastor Bob then brought the morning message.  It was one of the best messages I have ever heard on Boaz.  All is well!  Thanks for praying!  Here are comments from Jenny Machiela & Pastor Bob.

We had a great day doing the medical part. We saw 306 patients today. The pastor who was in charge of gathering the people to his church for our medical clinic was very nice. He has been  praying for people to come and do a medical  clinic for his people. Most of the patients we saw had back, neck aches and arthiritis.   We  were blessed to have an oral surgeon  along. He saw 59 people and took out many teeth out.  We also made time to play with the kids, and make some new friends. The people were very thankful for us and we were very thankful to bless them too.  (Jenny Machiela)

Pastor Bob here to comment on the construction part of our first day.  In summary we had a great day.  We travelled about 45 minutes (much of it UP to get to the Village we were to build in.  Once we arrived in the Village and unloaded the supplies we travelled UP some more, this time carrying supplies.  Teddie had divided us into 4 construction teams.  One of the teams became the “Concrete Crew” after their first house.  The building went really well.  No one sent to the Hospital.  I believe we built a total of 8 houses the first day, with about 4-6 of them already ‘concreted’.  We came home tired, but a good tired.  Blessings

It is approaching 11:00PM and I think everyone except Rhonda Clark, Becky Hatcher, & Betty Clair Hatcher have called it a day.  We had a good day with our morning devotion at 8:00AM followed by the church service at the seminary at 9:30AM.  We then did the usual with lunch at Las Antorchas  and some shopping.

When the team returned from Antigua we had a brief informational meeting, ate supper, and then had a baby shower for Genesis Raquel Acan.  Wow, these team members gave that child a “ton” of stuff!  What a blessing!  Lisa organized and decorated for the shower.  She did a great job!

The medical folks and others then began to sort pills and get things ready for tomorrow’s ministry opportunities.

All of the suitcases except one arrived today.  Hopefully, we can “find” the missing one tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a big day in that the groundbreaking for the feeding center will take place.  Not a groundbreaking with newspapers, et cetera but in the fact the dozer begins moving dirt in the morning.  Praise the Lord!

Again, thanks for checking on the team and praying for us.  Lord willing, we will post another entry tomorrow night.

Just a quick entry to let everyone know that all of the team members arrived safe and sound  with the largest number (41) coming in around 11:00PM last night.  They arrived missing either 14 or 15 suitcases but who needs clothes, toothpaste, et cetera?  We praise God for His providing us with safe travels.  He is good!

If the internet service is available, we will post again tonight to recap our day which will include church, Antigua, and a baby shower.  Thanks for checking on us and for your prayers.  Please keep praying!

Mark Mast and the sixteen folks who joined him on this trip are headed home today.  They face some challenges but prayerfully will arrive home safe and sound.  Pray for them.

Why do we do GRACE Ministries trips?  I could suggest several things but two are prominent – to see folks saved and to make disciples.  We saw at least four salvations last Saturday as the twenty houses were dedicated to the glory of God.  Praise the Lord!

Mark Mast led the most successful, numerically speaking, VBS GRACE Ministries has ever hosted.  However, the greater news is that a number of children prayed to receive Jesus as their personal Savior – awesome!  Praise the Lord!

Pastor, do they really get saved?  Good question.  As Louise Mason & I were driving back to the mission house this past Sunday afternoon, we saw Andreas going into the gate leading to his house which is a double wide built by a GRACE team years ago.  I do not remember all who worked on it but I do remember Tyrone Crawley was the chief architect and lead builder.  I also remember that Clara Broadus and Bethany Hatcher invested a lot of time into the children in the family with Lydia being the oldest child.

I pulled the vehicle over to speak to Andreas and he was dressed in a sports coat and slacks and was holding a Bible.  I asked if he had been to church and he answered “yes” and told us where.  He then told us that he had preached that morning!  Amazing!

In the process of building the house for Andreas’ family and ministering to his children, he prayed to accept Jesus as his personal Savior.  He is now involved in church and preaching the Gospel.  Hallelujah!  That is why we do what we do!

Thank God for the houses built, the food/clothes distribution, the medical clinics, et cetera but praise His holy name for those who receive the gift of salvation.

We serve an awesome God!

It is approaching 11:00AM and I just spoke to Tom Compagner via the phone.  All of the Michiganders arrived in Grand Rapids safe and sound so I can only assume they all arrived home i.e. Grand Rapids, Holland, Zeeland, Kalamazoo, et cetera safely.  Praise the Lord!

I appreciate Steve Compagner driving the Michigan team members to Detroit for the outbound flight and then being at the Grand Rapids airport to pick them up last night.  Steve is not worth much but he proved to be valuable in this instance!  LOL!

Mark Mast and sixteen others remain in Guatemala until tomorrow.  They did ministry with the Potter’s House in the city and in Panimaquin yesterday.  Mark said it was a blessed day.  They travel home tomorrow and their neck of the woods has seen considerable snow fall in the past couple of days.  That could be challenging as they drive six hours or so getting home.  A bigger challenge may be in the “protests” that are supposed to take place at the major airports in the States tomorrow.  Prayerfully, neither of these things will hinder their travel plans.

Samuel & Reina’s baby remains hospitalized.  She is no longer on oxygen.  Keep praying.

Thanks for being a part of GRACE Ministries.

Why no Saturday or Sunday entries?  Absolutely no success in getting online and staying online.  Sorry about that!  I have tried but to no avail.

It is now 5:00AM and the first five folks have headed to the airport.  The remaining 21 folks leaving today will leave the mission house around 9:30AM.  Mark Mast and the fine folks from Canada will spend the next two days doing ministry and enjoying some time of relaxation.

Saturday was spent dedicating the 20 houses and visiting Casa Aleluya.  A very uneventful day.  Yesterday saw us go to church.  Some folks attended Communion & Faith where Mark Mast preached while the others went to Central Bible New Life (I think that is the name).  The afternoon was the usual lunch at Las Antorchas and shopping.

Last night’s share time was special.  What a sweet time!  Again, one of those “you had to be there” type services.

Samuel’s wife, Reina, came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon.  The baby remains hospitalized.  She does have Down Syndrome.  Pray for this family.

I really appreciate those who have read this blog this week in order to keep up with this team.  Obviously, we very much appreciate those who have prayed for us.  Pray that we will have uneventful trips home today.

Tough day!  Word came just before our morning devotional that Samuel’s wife, Reina, had been taken to the national hospital with some complications related to her pregnancy.  We later found out that her water had broken and they were taking the baby via c-section.   The baby is about four weeks premature.  She was born around 9:00AM.  Samuel still has not seen the baby and he only saw Reina for five minutes and that was six hours after the baby was born.  It was not until then that he even knew the baby was a girl.  Tico, Rita, & Juan Marcos provided great help in getting information for us.  The baby is in ICU and has problems.  Samuel is scheduled to meet with the doctor for the first time tomorrow morning at 8:30AM.  Pray!

All twenty houses are completed!  The tile work is done!  VBS went over the 400 mark today!  A team painted at the seminary and built some cabinets too.  Great day of work!

Lots of folks for supper tonight (70+) and a great time of fellowship.  Thanks for checking on us and keep on praying!

I have not been able to get online at night and I apologize as it hinders the updates.  Our Thursday was a really blessed day.  It began with Rex Looney leading us in worship and then Dr. Mike Clark from Casa Aleluya brought a great message from the Word.  It was one of those “you had to be there” moments when God showed up.  Praise the Lord!

The tile team basically finished getting the tile laid and it is now ready for the grout – black grout!  VBS was a huge success with 350 children and 150 mothers present.  Mark Mast has done an awesome job of leading that ministry.  The building teams did well with 15 houses now completely finished and four more basically ready for the cement.  Micha Gerber led a group of young adults in the building of a couple of those houses and they did a nice job.

It was pizza night and I think there were 1,000 plus folks in the mission house.  Crazy night but a ton of fun!

Thanks for checking on us.  Everyone is well.  Keep praying!

Sorry for no entry last night but we did not have internet service.  All is well.  The team built an additional 7 houses yesterday, put cement in 7 houses, and I think 6 or so are completely finished.  Tony Hacker led a team that laid probably 950 square feet of tile in a church yesterday.  Great fellowship with a lot of guests at supper last night.  It’s all good!  Hopefully, a more complete update will be available on Thursday night – depends on the internet service.  Thanks for praying and checking on this team!

Good first day of ministry.  We had four teams building houses and eight were built up to the point of being ready for the concrete and five of those received the concrete.  I think three are completely finished but I could be wrong on that one.

Supper was good and the evening was spent with folks reading, playing cards, talking, et cetera.  I guess the highlight of the evening was Luke Esselink (Canada) smashing soft drink cans on his forehead.  What’s up with that?

Tomorrow promises to be another great day with building, VBS, laying tile, et cetera.  Thanks for checking on us and keep praying.  I am going to try and get someone else to enter a post tomorrow night.