Gordo UMC Trip!

I am not calling this group fat! That is the name of their church close to Tuscaloosa, AL. This is Bart's church he is serving right now. After Bart finished the seminar with the pastors and with Stan and Tristen, we dropped Stan and Tristen off at the hotel and picked up the group for another week of ministering in Guatemala! We had to stay the night in a hotel in the capital b/c the group arrived very late on top of their flight being delayed. But all arrived in Guatemala...some very pale and sick looking, others tired and asleep...and others ( Liz) very talkative. lol But everybody was good to go and ready to get to Chiquimula. The next day we get to Chiquimula and get settled down and in the rooms. They put on a roof the following down and walked around the village praying and ministering to the families at their houses. We had to carry the wood through creeks and up mountains to get it to the house! Everybody surprised me and managed to make it to the house without passing out or falling in the creek. It was a lot of wood and some pieces were 3x4 16 foot long pieces! Not that light! Then we split up in teams, some to work on the roof and others to go visiting. The house was horribly squared making it very difficult to cut pieces and line everything up just right. And b/c of that it took extra long to get things going and finish the roof! Plus the language barrier b/t the Guatemalans working and the group all trying to communicate and tell the other what they were wanting or doing...but everyone worked together so well and got it done! The ladies were escorted around by the guy's daughter who owned the house we were putting the roof on. They walked all over the side of that mountain...up and down...visiting houses and praying for people. They stayed gone the entire morning visiting and praying and came back around 1:30 to eat lunch. The owner's of the house fixed a lunch for all of us!! That is huge for these people to share that much food with us!! It was very touching and humbling to receive the food that was really a sacrifice for them. But they gave it to us with a smile and were very happy to see everyone enjoying the food and eating it all!! Then we got back to work on the roof and didn't finish until around 7 pm!! Not normal but b/c it was so out of wack, it took a little longer than usual. But it was a great first day!
The next day, we went with the pastor from the same village as the first day, up the mountain a good ways and met with another pastor under his care to minister in his church and in his community. We played with the kids, did a Bible lesson with them and handed out candy to them. We did the skit about the good Samaritan again and the group acted out the parts. The kids loved it and listened very well! Then we went to three different families to hand out food and pray for them! The pastor had picked out the families who needed the most help. I think everyone could see how content these families were living so simple and humble and how excited they were to receive food from the group! Our baby, Uriah, woke up that day vomiting and with the runs so Brandi had to stay home when we got back to go to the hospital that afternoon. The group went and prayed for the babies in the ICU and the other kids in the recovery rooms. They brought toys and candy to hand out as they prayed for each family that was there. We had a mom receive Jesus into her heart that day!! Good stuff! Then we took the rest of that afternoon and noght off to get ready for the next day of construction.
The third day we went to the Church on the Rock to put another tin roof on a house for a very poor family and at the same time Liz taught the ladies in the church a two day seminar. Before we got started with the roof, we had another opportunity to play with the kids in that area and do the same Bible study with them. After the Bible study, some stayed to play with the kids while the others went to work on the roof. This house was a little more squared off than the other and we had help from some of the guys in Carlos' church so it went a lot smoother! And once again...this family fixed a chicken soup for all of us who were working on the house. Some of the guys said they didn't know that all of it was chicken in the soup and after we found the shell of an armadillo we were sure that it wasn't all chicken. Haha! Joking! But we did find a shell of an armadillo but Louis said that they had eaten that a long time ago. So what was it??? It was good and gone whatever it was! And what a blessing and sacrifice for them to share with us the little that they had! Good lesson on sharing! The seminar with Liz went very well that day. Some ladies and kids from the group helped take care of the ladies' babies that were participating in the seminar. Huge help! She taught on Effective Prayer. I wasn't there but I heard some of the ladies sharing afterwards about how they had been encouraged and refreshed on the importance and power of prayer and the steps they were taking to get back into their prayer life. Good stuff!!
Then on Saturday we went back to Salfate for Liz to finish teaching the ladies and the rest of the group that wasn't helping take care of the babies at the church walked around the village visiting and praying with different families. They also bought two more baskets of food to hand out to the families that the pastor had chosen that needed help. We had a great time in that village and are very thankful for the group sharing and ministering there with us!
Then we went back to Chiquimula to visit down town and see the central market where the meat was hanging to buy and the vegetables laid out to choose. Some of them bought some hammocks to take home and relax under the tree and others just looked around and were thankful for Wal-Mart (for Peggy haha) or for the grocery stores in the States! But we had a good time seeing all of that and also visiting with the local volunteer fir department.
Sunday morning and afternoon they went to the Copan Ruins in Honduras. Then they went back to the church on the rock and participated in the church service. Then they left for the airport on Monday morning! We were so blessed and happy to have this group with us! They were wonderful to carry around...they quickly came to understand how wonderful and pleasant the McIntyre charm is! Hahaha! I was their tour guide all day Sunday!! Good stuff!! The things I can come up with scare even me! But we want to thank y'all for coming and hope to see y'all again soon!!

God bless!!!