Back to Guatemala City

Well, we just said goodbye to our translators and are getting ready to hop on the vans to head back to Guatemala City.  We've spent the last three days going into homes and into the schools sharing the gospel and trying to build relationship through the church here.  My group was the one that got to go into the schools.  We were able to share the story of Christ with 200-300 kids and did our best to encourage them to get involved with a local evangelical church.  It is a hard balance.  On the one hand you would love to see everyone make professions of faith right there.  On the other hand, both here and in the U.S., you see the effects of irresponsibly distributing half truths apart from the biblical guidance of a local church and how many people think they are right with God because someone had them recite a prayer.  In an effort to avoid confusion and "easy believeism" we tried in everything we did to point people back to the local church for discipleship and counseling. 

The rest of the groups spent their time visiting door to door.  Through these effort they were able to see people come to faith in Christ.  Please continue to pray of Bethany Baptist Church in Chacalte as the continue to minster in this area. 

Worship (pt. 2)

Worship (pt. 1)

Yesterday evening we were able to worship along with the brothers and sisters of Just got back from worship with the brothers and sisters of Iglesia Evangélica Bautista Bethania.

 

 

Avestruz

These are a few friends we made yesterday when we stopped at a local gas station.

Day Two

So we have made it to our final destination after a day of fine Guatemalan cuisine (McDonald's, Burger King, and Pizza Hut). Tonight we were able to worship with the members of Iglesia Evangélica Bautista Bethania. Bro. John preached, Dan and Julie shared testimonies, and I shared a song. We're excited about tomorrow. We will be doing prayer walking through the area in which we're ministering, inviting God to work through us this week. I'm reminded of Jesus' injunction at the end of Matthew 9. We he was surrounded by so many needy, helpless, destitute people, he didn't say "get to work!" Instead he said "pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest." Please join with us tomorrow as we pray for God to do his will.

Have a blessed evening. I'll do my best to have pictures tomorrow.

Grace and peace.

Day One

We have made it to the Arkansas House where we'll be staying the evening. Tomorrow morning we'll be make the 3 1/2 drive to Cuyotenango where we will be staying through Thursday. After talking to the missionaries, I found out that we will be doing things a little different this time around. Usually we try to saturate the area, hitting as many houses as we can while spending a meaningful amout of time with each person. This year the pastor we are working with really wants us to develop relationships. That means spending time in the homes, getting involved with the families, trying to get them involved in bible studies through the church. I am pretty excited. I'll do my best to update again soon.

Pray for me. I've got to play and sing in Spanish tomorrow. Scratch that. Pray for my Spanish-speaking audience. Grace and peace

Go Guatemala 2010

In just a few days I'll be heading to Colonia Chacalte, Guatemala with 14 others from Enon Baptist Church to work with the local church there to share Christ in this community. Those that will be traveling with us are Bro John, Vickie Anderson, Daniel Arant, Melissa Archer, Debbie Barnwell (my mother), Julie Barnwell (my new bride), Michael Brooks, Summer Brooks, Linda Creel, John Gospodareck, Kathy McKinnon Langham, Steffani Mydland, Randy Skinner and MacKenzie Wood. We will be leaving out this coming Saturday, March 20th and will returning the following Saturday, March 27th.

If you are curious about where we will be working, Colonia Chacalte is a small village in Cuyotenango and in the same region as Mazatenaygo, a somewhat lager city. We will be about 30 minute drive from the coast in the southwestern corner of the country. Temperature should be in the 90s. That's pretty much all I know.

Please pray that we would faithful share the good news of Christ and that God would be glorified in all that we do. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:17, "Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel". As we work with the indigenous churches of the area, it is our genuine prayer that the we would see new brothers and sisters come to faith in Christ this week. But if we are faithful in representing Christ as best we can, we know God will find glory.

Please pray for us and for the citizens of Guatemala (specifically of Colonia Chacalte) as we set our the share the love of Christ in new territory.

Grace and peace,

Doug


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ANY POSTS BEYOND THIS POINT ARE FROM PREVIOUS TRIPS TO GUATEMALA. FEEL FREE TO TAKE A PEEK BUT KEEP CHECKING BACK FOR UPDATES FROM OUR 2010 GO GUATEMALA MISSION TRIP.

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