Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A beautiful Wednesday in Guatemala



Hello everyone!

Well, we've come to the final day of our 2010 Guatemala mission trip. Wednesday started much like the others – with the sun rising behind us and shining ahead, first on the upper peaks of the volcanoes in the distance and then slowly bathing the lower hills and valleys with brilliant light, revealing a beautiful panoramic view that I can hardly begin to describe.

This was a day of dedication and a day of reflection.... We've travelled great distances throughout our week here – nearly 2 hours each way to the village. We've seen sights and vistas on the way to the remote village of Paraj Bey (mayan words meaning “walkway”) that have to be seen to be believed. We've experienced a variety of personal moments and encounters that have caused us to grow in our faith and in how we look at the world around us. We've met and interacted with incredible people who give as much (or more) love back as we give to them. We've worked in a seminary where the Word is alive and well. We've held beautiful children in Amor del Nino orphanage. We've also seen poverty and neglect. We've seen those same beautiful vistas in the distance yield to garbage and grime up close. We've interacted in a world with no safety net for the disadvantaged.....And, we built 15 houses.

What does it mean that we built 15 houses? What did we accomplish? These are not easy questions to answer, and will mean different things to each member of our team. Read on to see what it meant to me.

In the process of building 15 wood and aluminum houses, we've learned how to be a conduit of God's love to those who need it most. We came here to give, but we have also received. I came with an idea that we were going to 'help'. We do help, but it is far more than building 15 houses – which is a mere drop in the bucket. We are building relationships with the 99 family members who received the 15 houses. We're interacting with people who are teaching us what love truly is and what selfless giving is. We worked side by side with villagers and family members in building the houses. We learned about them, and they learned about who we are. They saw selfless giving, we saw selfless giving. They gained 40 team members praying for them by name plus 15 families in Michigan who donated the funds who will also be praying for them when we get back. We gained nearly 100 people who will remember us and continue to pray for us as well. We grew as a team as we allowed ourselves to be pushed beyond our comfortable box. Friendships were made. Lives were committed to Christ. Building 15 houses transformed numerous lives.

Today we dedicated those 15 houses. In this village, it turned into a mini-party with firecrackers at nearly every site. We split into two teams, one led by Max (an evangelist in Guatemala city who speaks only spanish) and one led by Mario (a pastor who will be leaving for a 15 year commitment in spain within a few months). Before we left in the morning, we committed to spend as much time as needed with each family at each building site to share with them our story, to hear their story, and to give them the housewarming gifts that we brought.

I understand a fair amount of Spanish and can communicate a little bit, so I stuck with Max so I could roughly translate what was going on to the others. He shared with the families the fact that we were here to show God's love to them and the house was not from us but a gift through God. He shared I John 4:9 with them as a theme about the importance of being saved through Christ, and laid out the idea of the Bible as a great road map for life. He then prayed for strength and safety for the families, and that they might be blessed. We gave the families handmade crocheted prayer shawls that were made by members of the churches in Moline and Fremont along with other gifts. As the families spoke to us, I was deeply moved by the fact that they really do not have anything. One father broke down as he thanked us, saying that “I have nothing to give you. The only gift I can give you is God's love. Thank you for all you have done...we may not meet again here but will again in heaven”. That really got to me. There were numerous hugs and plenty of tears of joy.

After dedications we handed out food in another village due to a drought in the region. We were able to help 200 families with basic needs and were able to interact with them in the limited time we were there.

It struck me today how much is involved in coming down for this trip and putting 15 houses together. The generosity of those who support those who come is overwhelming. As is the willingness of families to sponsor houses for people they do not know and will probably never meet this side of heaven. THANK YOU!

Now, gonna get a couple hours of sleep. Up at 3 am for our trip back. Please pray for safe travels as we travel throughout Thursday, targeting 9 pm to be back in moline.

Dios te bendiga!

Ryan Bennink

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Terrific Tuesday





















Hi to friends and spiritual family of Moline CRC,






God filled this day with many more blessings, as He has since we've been in Guatemala. I'm reporting for the group that went to Guatemala Bible Seminary. We were involved with many work projects around the campus in the dorms, cafeteria, and classroom building. Also, we had the opportunity to mingle with the students who started a new semester just today. I had the opportunity to attend chapel and hear testimonies from many students. Did I understand the language? Not much, but I understood the passion and love for Jesus that came from their hearts. I also had the opportunity to teach a class to the new students. They had a deep commitment to knowing their Bibles and asking tough questions about following their Savior, Jesus Christ. We are really growing in our partnership with this Bible school. We have great relationships with many faculty members. I hope to share more about this part of the Guatemala ministry, especially in our support to the students and faculty through prayer and financial commitments. May God bless us together as we seek to serve Him. Pastor John

Half the group went to Love the Child orphanage. The needs there were great with the many children that need attention. There are sixteen babies from 1month to 1year. Many toddlers and older children who all wanted our attention. We believe there are 50 total children living there at this time. Judy, Helen, Shannon, Melanie, Tonya, ,Debbie, and Curt all had there arms full holding the little ones.The others played with the toddlers, and older children coloring, playdoh,games, blowing bubbles, and pushing the kids on the swings.
The smiles of these beautiful children just melt your hearts and you could not help but to smile back. The staff is dealing with sick children at this time. There was a need to paint the dining room so Brad, Rob, Randy, Dave and Dellen all stepped up to the plate to paint. Most of it made it on the walls. Jose and Hannah were there waiting to greet us and Hannah lit up when she saw Nate!!!! Jordan Ritsema had quite the group of girls hanging on him by the end of the day. The girls enjoyed pushing some of the children in the hammocks.
It was a blessed and joyous day. May God continue to bless Steve and Cheryls mission!
Kim and Debbie

Monday, January 18, 2010

Earth shaking Monday


Some of you have probably heard the news that there was an earthquake in Guatemala today that measured 6.0 on the Richter Scale. Good news is we are all safe. Most of us were in the village finishing up the houses. We did not feel the earthquake in the village as it is a 2 hour drive from the mission house. Those who were at the mission house said the house shook for about a minute, ceiling fans were swaying and the only damage is 1 crack in the wall.

Working in the village we are torn between the beauty of the surrounding landscape and the poverty of the village. We have completed 12 houses with 3 left to finish. Our trip back to the mission house surprised us with a not so normal trafic jam. However we were welcomed home by a delicious chicken dinner. It is a quiet night in the mission house. We are missing the visitors whose fellowship we have enjoyed the last several nights.

Tommorrow is an early wakeup with breakfast at 6am and trips to the orphange and seminary in Chimaltanago.

Adios amigos.

Pastor Les VanDyke and Curt Crandell

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Sunday Evening

What a day. Not really a day of rest. I think everyone will sleep well tonight not because we worked because it was one of those emotionally draining days. We started out with devotions this morning led by Pastor John talking about Luke 7:36-50. He gave us a challenge on loving Christ like the woman who washed Jesus feet with her tears and her hair. This was despite the fact that both she and Christ were being criticized by the Pharisees.

Then at church Pastor Danny preached out of III John and how God wanted to bless us and make us prosper. This is in our spirituallife as well as our physical life. He challenged us to use wisdom on how we treated our bodies, how we dealt with our finances, and how we dealt with our spiritual life. Talk to God often, pray often, even continuously, and be fruitful in our spiritual life and prosper. It was a great challenge to all of us.

We the went into Antiqua and had dinner and went shopping. When we returned many took the opportunity to get a tour of the grounds with Paul and Christie.

Tonight we had the priveledge of spending the evening with Dannys church at the mission house. We shared dinner with them and had an awesome time of singing together. As Rol Jager said last year, "We saw a slice of Heaven tonight." God is so good. The music was beautiful as we sang songs together in one language or the other. Sometimes both. What an awesome day.

Randy Ellens

Saturday Jan.16

We apologize for the delay of posting, out internet was not working....
yesterday we began our day with a devotion by Randy Ellens
We then were on our way to the village, we all went to the village on Saturday also. We built 6 houses again and did Bible school with the kids. Stacy, Abby, and Kendra also made ballon animals to hand out to the kids. They really loved them! They were so happy that they could have just one ballon. So we have finished a total of 12 houses and 8 of them have cement in them. Samuel has helped all the families put the cement in the homes, and the men of the village are willing to help do the cement. After we were finished building we did food and clothing distribution to 130 families. They were all very thankful for everything that they received. When we got back to the mission house, we had Max's family including Estuardo and Ruth as well as a few other friends that we have gotten to know, came over for dinner.

From,
Kendra and Stacy

Friday, January 15, 2010

Friday Evening




Blessings everyone from Guatemala!


Today we went to the village which is located on the other side of the mountain from the mission house. The drive took us two hours with the most spectactular view given to us by our loving God. We got six houses built and Helen got to share with the children during VBS about the Good Shephard and the Lost Sheep. We got to share with them how much Jesus loves them, just like the Good Shephard loves his sheep.The children made hand puppets that acted out the story. We also got to watch one of the women make clay pots. She was amazing. Shannon got to experience building houses for the first time. Some of the houses that we saw were made from mud bricks. It is funny how back home in the States we take advantage of the little things, and here the little things are these people's way of life. We thought not being fluent in spanish would be a challenge communicating, but we found that most of the adults in the village speak a Mayan dialect and don't understand Spanish.We are having an amazing time and are looking forward to tomorrow!!


Yours in Christ


Helen and Shannon

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Thursday night

We arrived safely in Guatemala. All travels went very smoothly. Thank you to all who were praying for our travels and for the customs process in Guatemala. You prayed us right through customs. We did not have one bag searched or x-rayed coming into Guatemala. That truly was an answer to prayer. The weather is somewhat cool. About 64 degrees for the high today. The sun is shining and it looks like we are in for a beautiful sunset. I'm sure it won't be long after sundown that everyone will be in bed with lights out. We are all exhausted but happy to be here and ready to begin working tomorrow.

Everyone just got to see the volcano let off some steam. The wonders of God's creation never cease to amaze me and this country is so beautiful in it's own very unique way.

Please continue to pray for this entire team throughout the week. It is through the prayers of many and God's wondrous grace that these trips even happen and go so smoothly. We are looking forward to all He has in store for us this week.


Blessings to all of you.


Donna

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Guatemala 2010

Once again we are back on the blog. Here is where you will get daily updates for our upcoming trip. We depart from our church parking lot at 12:30 AM on Thursday, January 14. Feel free to come to church that evening to see us off. We will begin gathering at 11:30 pm of Wednesday night. We will travel by bus to Detroit Metro travel through Houston and arrive in Guatemala shortly after 12:00 noon. We have a group of 40 people again this year and each one of us covets your prayers throughout the week that we will be gone. Please pray for safety, good health, relationships that are built, effectiveness in meeting the needs of Guatemalans that we will minister to but most importantly that we will be able to share the love of Christ to them as well.

Thank you for all your support of this trip and hopefully we will be able to keep you updated on a daily basis.

Blessings

Donna