Guatemala Day Six – This Was the Long One Folks

You would think that going back to the same place and working on the pews again would mean, well, “same-old, same-old”. Far from the truth friends…It was a day of many blessings, completed projects and worship. Dale said that it is days like this that create the memories of the trip, and that is very true.
Today was a very long day for our medical team that returned to the same town as yesterday and the word must have gotten out of all the great work they did there. There was a much larger crowd today and the team had to put in overtime. We’ll get to that in a minute …The pew team had a monumental day completing not only the pews but also made a communion table and cross for the church. Check out the pictures below. Today was really a finishing day. Most of us were sanding pews either by hand or with power sanders. With the extra time we had a few of us took the time to pray for those who would be using the pews as we sanded each one.
The pew team also had a great opportunity to meet with Elizabeth as she came to see our work. Elizabeth is Tom’s wife and a huge part of this ministry. She shared with the team about their ministry and how it is so dependent on others. The Allan family have so many stories of how God has provided…they just had to have faith.
The medical team had a full day today. It really does not bear repeating in detail what the medical clinic was like since, for the most part, it was a carbon copy of the day before – only much longer with many more patients. We’ll touch on a few highlights.
The newest ministry this year has been praying for each patient and their family as they leave the clinic. We thought we were doing a pretty good job of this until we had a guest translator today named Carlos. Carlos is actually an ordained minister and works for a very large church in Mixto, Guatemala. Carlos showed us how to learn more from the patients on where they happen to be in their walk with Christ. Surprisingly we found that some of the folks were not believers at all.
One particular lady who only found out today that she had severe type 2 diabetes, ultimately, through a discussion with Carlos decided that she would accept Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. The prayer that was said over her after that resulted in many tears flowing and a grand awakening that she truly is loved by Jesus and with His help she can tackle this newfound problem.
The hair salon continued operating on all cylinders. With a couple of new helpers they saw even more customers and did some even greater creative styling. I think we may even be ready for feet washing. Maybe you will read something about that tomorrow?!
As the teams reconnected we shared a wonderful meal and then headed to Embaulada for the Wednesday worship service. Not only did we have a wonderful Children’s church time with Stuart and Derek as the stars of the show, but we also had a great number of students get up and sing for the congregation. Asa and Joe provided the acoustic music and then Jessica, Alex C. and Libbi sang first. Next up was Ashley and Jenn and then to finish our time Morgan did a wonderful rendition of “Amazing Grace”
Tomorrow we will have a medical clinic here at the mission house and the pew team will be transferring the pews to the church!
Keep the prayers coming!
The Guatemala Mission Team…
Here’s a birthday wish from Alex Chambers: HAPPY BIRTHDAY mama. I love you and miss you.