Grace Missions Blog

Greetings in the precious name of Jesus.  As you noticed, we had a couple of guest bloggers yesterday preceded by a guest blogger on Saturday.  I hope to include others in this process as the week progresses. 

In a couple of hours we will meet for our devotion time with Carla Mast leading the worship, Tony Getting assisting on the guitar, and Michael Mason bringing the message.  After that, a team of 18 will depart for Joya Grande to do a medical clinic, a team of 4 will leave for Panimaquin to lay blocks in building a house, and the rest of us will go back to El Rejon to continue building houses.  Pray that we will have a blessed and productive day.

Hopefully, some pictures will be uploaded today as we have sent some to Ben Vickers via e-mail.  I encourage you to send comments to any of these entries as those are shared with the team.  Thanks to Coach Nate Blaylock and the folks at Callis Communications in Mobile, Alabama, we now have our phone service up and going so the mission house has a Mobile, Alabama telephone number.  Wow! 

Pray for us often and keep in touch! 

We’ve had a a great couple of days.  Yesterday we had the privilege of serving God through building houses.  Today while observing the Lord’s Day we were blessed by some beautiful singing and some very powerful preaching.  I’m trying to work out a deal that would involve leaving Pastor Teddie here permanently in exchane for a local minister but I do not believe that the locals are as excited about this proposition as I am.  Tommorrow some of us plan to begin the medical phase of the trip.  I’m thrilled that I’ve got a couple of really seasoned docs to watch after me.  The nurses here are often mean spirited towards me, but I glad to be surronded by so many that are not only outstanding caregivers but also have a heart for serving God and all his people.  Please pray for God to guide us and for physical and spiritual healing in this land.

Adam Hensley

What a wonderful experience so far here in El Tejar, Guatemala.  After surviving the humiliation of realizing Pastor Teddie had lied to me about several matters…I have regrouped to experience some great blessings.  On Saturday afternoon I was invited to preach to a small church, Palabra Viva, somewhat Pentecostal in their beliefs, and was received better than I could have imagined.  Out of the woods and weeds came at least 150, mostly women and children, to enjoy the service.  I was blessed.

On Sunday I gave the morning devotional for the group.  I spoke from Acts 16:22-34 asking, “What did the Roman jailer see in Paul and Silas that made him ask the question, “What must I do to be saved?'”  Later that morning I preached at the Rivers of Living Water Church in Chimaltenango.  I was priviliged to preach with an interpreter, Bro. Eugene Dighero who works with the GRACE Ministries here.  Bro. Eugene also interpreted for me on Saturday.  At Rivers of Living Water we had a great attendance.  Again, I was blessed to have been given the opportunity.

Here it is Sunday night.  We have just returned from a great service of singing, testimonies, and singing.  I have prepared for what I will speak on in the morning at our devotional time.  I will be speaking about Stephen’s Last Hour from Acts 7:55-60.

I have been reading this week a book about crucial moments in the life of D.L. Moody.  I have been praying that this week would prove to be a crucial time in my life as a believer and as a minister.  I hope to look back on these few days in Guatemala as a turning point in my life.  God is speaking to me through ordinary events.  He is teaching me to trust him more, and worry less.

Thats it for now.  Pray for me and for the entire team.  Michael

This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!  We are starting a bit later today as the service at Rios de Agua Viva Church doesn’t begin until 10:00AM.  So, our devotion time will begin at 8:00AM with Evangelist Michael Mason leading us during that time and then Michael will be preaching at Rios de Agua Viva.

We will then follow our normal Sunday routine here of going to Las Antorchas restaurant for a meal and then spending the afternoon in Antigua.  We will have a worship service here tonight. 

Check back tonight for another entry and we also plan on uploading some pictures either tonight or in the morning.  Keep praying! 

As Pastor Teddie would start, greetings in the precious name of Jesus!

Hi everyone! This is not Pastor Teddie blogging tonight. I am Tony Gettig, your guest blogger. I also happen to be Teddie’s cousin, hence my connection to this trip.

What an amazing day! If you have been here before, then this is nothing new to you, other than a newbie’s impressions in this blog post!

As Pastor Teddie said in his previous post, we have an amazing mix of people here. There are diverse backgrounds represented here, but we are united in purpose and through the Lord.

On this second day in Guatemala, we got an early start with breakfast at 6:15 AM and devotions at 7:00 AM. Pancakes (an incredible recipe…what was in those?), bacon, scrambled eggs, and fresh coffee. Mmmm! Kudos to our fine cooks. One thing that I was wondering about prior to coming was how would I do with diverse food. (I am somewhat of a picky eater. 🙂 There is nothing to fear at all! Though we’re in the middle of Central America, the food here in the mission house is a tasty slice of home.

After a time of worship led by Carla, Pastor Teddie shared an awesome devotion. It was from John 6:1-14, where Jesus fed the five thousand. The biggest thing I took from it was the fact that Jesus would reach and teach, but He would always touch. That really penetrated my heart, as evidenced by the fact that I was thinking about it all day as we were working.

There is a medical team here, but today was “family day”. Everyone was involved in building a house or two. As for me, I got the sunburn of my life. But then again, I am one of those “yankees” and burn easily. 🙂 While we were building, there were plenty of children to give candy to and just love on. My daddy instincts were fully engaged as the beautiful, brown eyed children of the area came from all directions. I would say half the kids had shoes, the other half did not. There was one little fella who we figured out was 4 years old. I don’t think we ever got his name, but what a cutey. Late in the day, I gave him the second half of my soda and he drank it while sitting on my lap. I gave him tons of hugs, tickled him, and just had a really nice time with him. That was 10 minutes of my life that I will never, ever forget. I am nearly tearful as I type this! Even with a language difference, the language of the Lord’s love is universally understood.
We completely completed two houses, poured cement in four, and I think everyone is feeling it right about now. Between sunburn and sore muscles, I suspect everyone is going to sleep good tonight. We all appreciate our family and friends back home and definitely feel your prayers. Please know that they make a difference!

Tomorrow, it’s breakfast, devotions, church, then a time in the city. The building resumes Monday, and the medical team will start doing their thing Monday as well. Please continue to pray for all aspects of this trip. Pray that the building gets done timely, for the continued safety of everyone, for the medical team and their upcoming adventures in the days ahead, and especially for the people of Guatemala that we will be interacting with. We are all excited to be reaching, teaching, and especially touching…being the hands and feet of Jesus as we fulfill this great mission. We couldn’t do it without you! Blessings!

Greetings in the precious name of Jesus.  Well, it is late and we have been without internet service tonight as the seminary is switching routers.  However, Juan Marcos has given me a process whereby I am online although it is very slow.  I just wanted you to know that all 43 of us have arrived safely even though it took us two hours and twenty minutes to come from the airport due to the road construction. 

We have folks from Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, and Tennessee on this team and we look forward to God’s blessings as the week progresses.  Pray for us and we have plans to blog again tomorrow night as our internet service should be up and running by then. 

Blessings,

Pastor Teddie