Guatemala Day Seven – Pews to the Church

Today was not just an ordinary day…but what day in Guatemala is?
Today we held a medical clinic in the mission house. This was a first last year and quite the success. We did not have the turnout like we did last year but some wonderful things were accomplished through the medical team, the dentistry, the hair washing crew, and the prayer team.
One of the new ministries begun today was the foot washing team. Asa, Alex, Bubba and Jordyn stepped up a washed the feet of those who had come through the clinic. As one was washing the feet of the person another was praying for them. You can see the joy in their eyes as others washed their feet. Some said they were not worthy, much like the disciples when Jesus washed their feet. I was able to witness one exchange between a student and a little boy while having his feet washed. Something I am sure he will remember for a long time.
While the medical team and other ministries were hard at work, the pew builders took about the full day to transport the pews to the church. We were able to convince Tom (with Elizabeth’s help) that it would be a good idea to go ahead and use the pews in the church unpainted. The wood will dry out faster and it will help to protect them. We had a pick-up truck to make the deliveries. We were only able to take four at a time so it took seven trips to get it all to the church. Once the pews and the communion table were in place it was such a wonderful transformation. People from the community came by to see the work we had done.
To close out the day we transported the whole group to the church and had our evening devotion in the church with the new pews. We had Morgan sing Amazing Grace again to start us off. Then we all circled around the pews and prayed over the pews “Guatemalan Style”, which is all praying at once. After the prayer we had a devotion from Alex, Ashley and Libbi. I wanted to share with you one of the closing comments Ashley made that I thought was a wonderful example of our purpose here on earth. “A steward might not own a ship that they work on, but they must care for it and its passengers as they do. Christ gives us our time, wealth and health; what we do with those is important because we don’t own them. These are given to us here on earth. A big part of how we use those is in service. Service echoes a Christian lifestyle. Christ taught this in Matthew 25.”
Tomorrow we will be heading into Guatemala City to worship with and feed the homeless at the Mary Magdalene house. We will then hold a clinic in the city before coming back to the mission house to get ready for the return trip home. It is sad to say that tomorrow is our last full day, but we are anxiously anticipating our return home to see our family and friends!
Thanks for all the prayers!
The Guatemalan Mission Team…
A birthday message from Jennifer Klann- HAPPY BIRTHDAY Steve-o! I love you and miss you! Come home safe! Love J-Bug