Last Day of Ministry

Good Morning.

We spent the morning back at the Precious Moments School in Zona 13. We saw primarily 3rd and 4th grade students today. There was a total of 50 seen today and we were able to donate the rest of the dental kits to the dentists, Priscila and Andrea.  The dentists volunteered their time to work at this clinic and they worked with approximately 170 patients over the 2 day period.  Many of the students had to have tooth extractions and in one case, a student needed up to 10 teeth extracted.  They were only able to extract 5, as the dentists fingers were getting sore from the patient biting them during the extraction process.

The needs were many with these students, as many of their parents don't participate much in the childs life. The students are children from parents that are involved with drugs or alcoholism, unemployed, unskilled and may not be able to read or write themselves.  Many of the students would have ended up on the street in gangs, if they did not have a place to go and a chance to get an education. The school has helped in the community by providing these children a "free" education through donations made to the school, so it can pay its administrators, teachers, supplies and rent for teaching their 180 students.  Some of the students never had birth records, as they were born at home and the parents didn't seek out the paperwork and paying the government to register the birth of their child. As the child grows up, they have a disadvantage, as they can't get accepted into a higher level of learning nor can they get a real good paying job, as they have no identity with the country.  The Precious Moments School has part of their program that when a student gets through their school. (Appx. 6th grade) they have not only earned some education, but are given citizenship to their country.  The school takes care of formalizing their students citizenship paperwork, so they can have a chance at advancing their education and bettering their families position.  The school is Christian based and the students are taught Christianity along with their normal reading, writing and arithmetic. The team has supported this school through a medical clinic last year and hopes to remain an encourager and can have a sustained ministry to help this school.  When we send a team to them, we share the love of Christ with them and get a chance to interact with the children and they can see Christians from the US in a different light, than they may be perceived on television. "It is more blessed to give than to receive". (Acts 20:35)

After leaving the school, we had a little break in the afternoon to visit a National Park in Guatemala City. The park had a topographical map of the country that detailed Guatemala's landscape and showed the elevations of every landmark of the country. It also included the boarders of neighboring countries to give a perspective of where everything was located in this part of Central America.

In the evening, we were invited back to Zona 6 to a 15 year old girls celebration and for me to share a testimonial with the street people that come to church each Thursday night to receive a free meal. The requirement for the street people is that they must be sober.  There were 2 different groupings in which the street people came for dinner and I was able to share the testimony.  The mans life in which I shared was well received, as they intently listened, as the story of this man fit their life style. He was arrested and given the choice of jail or drug treatment center for his drug and physical abusive behavior. Through this Christian based treatment center, he replaced his drug/alcohol addiction with a love for Christ and serving people. The man not only start getting his life back together through having a relationship with his daughter again, but he had the Word of Christ in his life and forgiveness for his past transgressions.

The 15 year old girl had a celebration that marked her special time in her life when she makes the transition from childhood to womanhood. Emiliso was the girl's name and the church made this event special for her, as she no longer had a home of her own and was brought into the church family to stay. The team was able to find a Bible for her as a gift and we underlined some of our favorite verses to help her with her spiritual maturity as well.

In a picture below the founder of the school has made a special gift for Paul Schmidt from Wooddale Church who has been gracious in supporting them. It was totally unexpected, but they wanted to give something to Paul.

It was a long day and a great ministry this year in Guatemala City.

Dios Bendiga
Terry

Third Day of Ministry

Danielle approved of the breakfast this morning with the pancakes with whip cream and chocolate syrup, orange juice and fruit.

We traveled to Zona 13 today, which is located near the airport to set up a dental clinic for the children at Precious Moments School.  The dentists performed more tooth extractions than fluoride treatments today, especially on the older children.  We had around 120 children and adults that came to the clinic today.  As the children waited for their exam, they played with the parachute or colored pictures.  As the children were leaving to go back to class they were given a dental kit and a balloon animal for their trip to the dentist.  One of the older children named Carlos was very interactive and animated, he was also extremely happy that he only received a fluoride treatment and not a tooth extraction.  One of the children that was around 7 years old needed 7 teeth extracted, as they were all infected and was causing him a lot of pain. 

Lunch consisted of Pollo Comparro, an equivalent of KFC in the states, but always a treat to get at least once on the ministry trips.

The afternoon was warm inside the clinic, so the doors needed to be opened to get some cool off.  Danielle was able to reconnect with one of her friends from last year.  The teachers and administrators had some dental work done as well.  The dental clinic helped the small children to learn to take care of their teeth and prevent any problems with their permanent teeth.

 

Donna and Brad brought many school supplies and donated them to the school.  Marta that main school administrator was grateful for the supplies and will put them to good use.

Second Day of Ministry

The morning started out with scrambled eggs, refried beans, fruit and coffee for breakfast.

We went to the church in Zona 6 and met with the pastor and his wife. We walked down to the open market and purchased the food that we needed to feed around 200 people.  Watermelons, potatoes, chicken and cucumbers were on the menu for the meal today. After we purchased the food, we went back to the church and we helped prepare and cook for 2 separate meal servings.  The children that went to school in the afternoon were the first ones to eat and then about an hour later the morning schools were released and we then fed the rest of them.

After the second meal, we needed to go to the school and talk to some 4^th and 5^th graders about staying drug free.  The children knew about some of the types of drugs already and enjoyed unwrapping the suckers with gloves and our blurry goggles. The children could relate to the testimony, as a few of their parents are alcoholics. The testimonial concluded with the young man that was an addict to drugs came to know the Lord and replaced his drug addiction for a love for Christ.

There was one last blessing we were able to provide for the family. The team blessed the family that got the new roof with 2 new full size beds. The pastor’s wife came and talked with the family and they were grateful for the new beds and for God. The mother in this household has a very rough past of being sold to a drug dealer by her father. She had 2 kids from that arrangement and lived in a very hostile environment. She did escape this environment without the children, only to find out that the house that took her in was for prostitution.  She managed to get away from this environment through someone that had pity on her and distracted the keepers, so she could run away.  She now is married and has 2 children. The children started going to the church for meals after school and that’s when she decided to learn more about Christ.  She accepted Jesus into her life and for the past 2 years, she spends as much time, everyday, at volunteering at the church to help with the meals. The family is very poor, but through this church, the children get at least one large meal a day.

Our day concluded at the Renuevo Church for a prayer service, Guatemalan style. It was a unique experience to listen to all the music in Spanish and occasionally a song that had a recognizable tune, we could sing in English. There was an interpreter present that was able to tell us what the pastor was saying in Spanish. We met some interesting people in the congregation that spoke very good English.

Thanks again for your prayers today.

Dios Bendiga!

First Day of Ministry

The day started out with a pancake breakfast topped off with a little whip cream and chocolate. Fresh fruit was prepared as well along with juice and coffee.

Our ministry started out in Zona 6 where we picked up some building supplies for a roof for one of the families that attend the church. It consisted of large sheets of corrugated metal and 2' X 2' X 8' wooden boards.  One of the challenges was getting the supplies loaded on top of the van and the second challenge was getting them to their house.  The house was located on a hill in which we had to walk down several flights of uneven stairs that winded through their congested neighborhood. Once we got the supplies to their house, we began removing the existing roof, making new rafters and placing the new roof into place.  We were able to get half of their new roof completed by noon.  The family got some help from their neighbor who started helping and wanted to work with the family to complete the roof in the afternoon.

We broke for lunch at the church and were treated to a delicious green beans, spaghetti and meat sauce with tortilla's and toast. Luis and Emmanuel (Guatemalan clown team) joined us at the church for lunch.

The afternoon was spent at a school that was very close to the church.  The clown team took part of our team with them to put on a short program and shared a story of David and Goliath with the children. The clown team also shared the bead bracelets with the children and told them the story behind the color of the beads. (Black, Red, White, Green and Yellow). Myself, Davis and Brad visited the older kids and spent time sharing a testimony of a former drug addict that came to know Christ through his Teen Challenge. Many children could relate to his story. We followed up the testimony with a hands on activity with blurry goggles, gloves and dum dum suckers. The activity got the children thinking about the effects of some drugs and how simple tasks became very difficult to do.

The day concluded with Brad and Donna Olson getting a chance to visit with their student that they were sponsoring through Compassion International.  A young man that is attending college and hopes to earn a degree in marketing. He and his interpreter joined us for an amazing pork chop and mashed potato meal. The young man has been in a choir for years and agreed to sing us a song after our meal, which he did an extraordinary job singing acapella.

We have a few pictures from the ministry today.  Please keep us in your prayers for our continued ministry trip.

Dios Bendiga,

Terry

Arrived in Guatemala 3/9

We had a smooth trip into Atlanta and we got some time to relax at the airport as we waited for our flight in the evening.  We arrived in Guatemala City under the cover of darkness, but it was a balmy 68 degrees and not a snowball insight.  We were greeted at the airport by Davis who brought us to the Hostel

At the Hostel, we had a warm greeting and got settled in our rooms.  They had some meatballs, rice and vegetables ready for us to have dinner.  We had some time to work on the details of our schedule for our first work day with Davis. We hope to be sharing about the roof work on a home and working with the teenagers at the school tomorrow.

We were able to share a team picture here in Guatemala and it has been a very good start to our ministry trip.  Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Dios Bendiga!
Terry

Packing Dental Kits followed by our Send Off Service

Our team and our brother Randy Cross joined us to pack 200 dental kits for the ministry at the Precious Moments School in Guatemala City this afternoon. We were able to get our bags weighed and organized, so we are packed and ready to go in the morning. Our departure from Minneapolis is 10:15AM.

We had some family and friends come to share some time with us for the Send Off service this evening. We were able to share our schedule, service plans and prayer requests for those in attendance.  The prayer time consisted of the pastor, Richard Payne asking everyone to lay their hands on the team. Individuals prayed for our needs and then Richard closed in prayer.

We were able to get some pictures of the team and our friends and family to share. Please pray for us through this week, as we are involved in a small roofing project, chlidrens ministry, working with teenagers in drug awareness and character development, dental clinics and sharing the love of Christ in all that we do. Pray that we can impact our global partners, so that we may be an encouragement to them and bring more people to Christ.

Dios Bendiga!
Terry

Guatemala City Ministry 2014 (Less than 1 week)

Good Evening,

The GCM 2014 team is planning the send-off service this Saturday at 6:15PM in room 285.  We'll be joined by Richard Payne for a time of prayer and an overview of our ministry this year.

Our ministry trip officially begins on Sunday, 9 March, as we depart our beloved frozen tundra.  We plan on arriving at 7:30PM to a much warmer Guatemala City and get ourselves rested for our ministry.

We'll be trying to update the blog each night with pictures and some highlights of the days activities.  We are looking forward in seeing how God is going to use our team this year.

The major ministries this year is working with school kids in telling them about the use of drugs and a testimonial.  We have activities for them to help them understand the effects of drugs using special goggles and gloves that affect their gross and fine motor skills.  The challenge will be for them to unwrap a candy sucker with these gloves on and with the goggles that distort their vision.  We'll have other activities for them too. We have some great Bible verses to share with these children too.

The big ministry this year will be working with the Precious Moments School and 180 students that need dental care.  We are teaming up with dentists in Guatemala City that will be seeing these children, as we perform administrative duties, keeping the children occupied and playing games with them. We'll be sharing the love of Christ with them, as they wait their turn to see the dentist.

One of the days, we'll be more focused on a work activity and we may get a chance to take a break and play with children with a parachute, side walk chalk and doing a couple of songs. (El Sapo).

Please pray for our safety, a continued servants heart, opportunities to share the gospel and for people to come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Dios Bendiga!
Terry