Day 5

Morning sunrise from base camp with some of the team members enjoying the view, as it comes over the mountains.

The team loves sharing the songs with the children in Escuintla.

Over 60 children enjoyed our team sharing songs, stories, crafts, puppet show, bead bracelets and getting a hot meal.

Pastor Carlos from the church in Escuintla shares a few words of gratitude for the team in supporting his church with our time and love for his children.

Several students were baptized in the ocean to share their desire to follow Christ.

Many of the team members enjoying the surf, black sand and 86+ degree water on the beach of Port of San Jose.  Our global partner Davis is being lifted up in the picture.

 

Day 4

 

Day 3

 

Day 2

Our team member Mark enjoyed working with the 5th and 6th graders at the school.  One of the highlights included a game that he played in teaching the children to avoid being tempted by sin.  Brief explanation and examples of sins were named and set on the floor. Navigating the temptations needed the guidance of the Holy Spirit and having trusted friends holding us accountable.

Many of the children live in this community.  The school was built 2-3 years ago and it is very nice compared to the old school that was last pictured in the 2019 blogs.

The students enjoyed making their art projects.

Teaching and learning the English was enjoyed after the gospel message,

Day 1

 

We were guests at the church.  Pastor Derek prepared and delivered his sermon in Spanish.  The Mime team from San Marcos Guatemala joined us with their ministry.  Also, our children's team worked with the children during their Sunday school time.

After lunch we gathered for a baseball game with the teens that Davis (our global partner). It was a fun filled afternoon.  We then had them join us for pizza at our "base camp".

After dinner, we closed out our day in singing worship songs with our San Marcos family that double as musicians and Mime.  It was a memorable and special experience.

Travel Day

 The day was long and we worked through a few challenges at the airports, but in the end, we all made it to Guatemala.  One of the team members had to catch a later flight out of Minneapolis and the rest of us moved on to Dallas. We did get some dinner and then we got to keep watching the monitor as our flight changed gates before we finally got yo board the plane.  We arrived in Guatemala before midnight local time and were greeted by the Mime team and many of the teenagers that Davis ministers to in San Jose Pinula.

They helped us get settled and we were able to get some rest sometime around 3am. 

Guatemala City Ministry Trip 2023

 Send Off Service 21 JULY 23

We met tonight at Wooddale Church at the Edina Campus for our ministries sendoff service.  Its a time to tell our families and supporters about what we are going to be doing while we are in Guatemala.

Just a quick overview, we will be spending an hour in each of the 52 classrooms, around 2,000 students that we visit from Monday through Wednesday sharing the prodigal son story, message of salvation and teaching a little English.  The high school will have an added program in identity which teens often struggle with in any country.  The team will be joined my a mime team from San Marcos Guatemala at where 2 churches will converge to watch their program, hear our Pastor Derek deliver a message on, "Being on Mission" and our children's team sharing a story and a craft.  Our team will also be joined by our Global Partners teens that will challenge us to a baseball game and we will team up together to take on the high school in a soccer game.  Many more things are planned, but we will have a busy schedule.

We have been blessed by having the largest team ever and we are asking for much prayer to be effective in delivering the gospel, team health, unity, grow in our own faith, share the love of Christ and serve these communities.

Antigua R&R

                          

     

The team has worked hard all week and we are in Antigua relaxing before we return home. Stopped at an overlook in Antigua before lunch.

Service Day #4

Today we traveled over 2 hours to Escuintla and presented a small VBS. The service team made a bench and we did and we helped the teens learn some English. We stopped at the beach after our ministry.  In Escuintla the temperature was more than 10 degrees warmer. The church had much love to offer and really enjoyed our team's stay.  We are planning to make this a place next year to share the gospel again.

86 year old man

The pastor and many children share spaghetti

Danielle and Miguel cook nuggets

The pastor's family with Davis

We served a meal for all the children and adults before we started the VBS.

Playing cat and mouse with the parachute

Singing action songs before lunch

Jaime telling the children a story

The pastor in front of the church

The Mime team shares a gift with each of us

Joe having fun

The team hanging out at the beach for a while