Lindsay Lane Baptist with Us!!

We worked with Lindsay Lane Baptist Church for the first time this July! It was awesome!! A couple pastors came to teach at a church in a village about 1 hour from our town. Eric and Susan Pugh taught along with Glen Harrison about the family and home life, prayer, and the spiritual gifts. There were about 40 people there at the church. The pastor there has been coming to our seminars for more than two years now, but this was our first time to teach in his church. I didn't know what to expect, but the Lord took care of everything and we had a great time!! These were much needed topics in this area where there are a lot of broken and abandoned families and little education. They are very smart people and were very attentive and some were even taking notes. Much of the material was taught for the first time to many of the people. I saw some fanny faces while talking about the husband and wife and kids. The culture there is not very expressive so it was different talking about being affectionate to your spouse and kids. But they were very open, and based on some of their comments, were understanding the Biblical importance of each person in the family and how it all worked together. And it was helpful having Eric and Susan there to teach from both the man and the woman's perspective. Then Glen taught on prayer! The church had just finished a all-night prayer service the night before! So it was great being able to teach on prayer and see the growth in their prayer life as they saw new ideas and teachings from the scripture. But the teaching on Spiritual gifts and how they can edify the church was really great! They had never been taught on this and didn't know how the body functioned together as one with these gifts. It was nice hearing them talk about what they thought their gift was and how it could be used to edify the church. And some were asking questions and arriving at a new understanding on the Spiritual Gifts and how to use them. A couple of weeks later, the pastor there told me that the church was so excited and already waiting for the next teaching seminar for the church! How awesome is that! We are also trying to translate the lessons that go into more detail but that are in English for the church to have and be able to study more!
The next day, Pastor Eric and Susan did a short but wonderful marriage retreat for us in Josh Byrd's living room! Josh and Jessica Byrd are our missionary friends also working in Chiquimula and with Lindsay Lane Baptist. This was both fun and refreshing for Brandi and me! We had a lot of laughs and learned a lot too. It was nice to be taught and to receive from this godly couple and from their experiences. Brandi and I are already doing things differently and feeling the difference! God is good!!
And that night Pastor Glen came to our Bible study that we have in our house each week. He shared his testimony and how God is still revealing Himself to him and changing his life! What an encouragement for us all! One of the couples at the Bible study was dealing with some of the same issues that he had dealt with, and they were very excited to hear how God had helped him and got him through the similar circumstances. I think Glen was feeling uneasy about teaching with a translator and if it would relate to the people, but when God takes His servants and uses them...awesome things happen...more than you thought could come of it and everyone leaves praising God! That is our God and The God we serve...amen!
The next day, some teachers from the Athens, Limestone County area in Alabama came to Chiquimula and taught at the school in San Juan where we teach and visit the kids. There were three teachers in this group, and they came to give a workshop or conference to the teachers here in Guatemala. The school's principle was very excited to have them come and teach. There were other people in the group that came to help take care of the kids in the school while the teachers received their classes. This was way harder than I thought it was going to be! The first two and a half hours went great! But after that it got a little difficult to keep them together and teach them. But the group did a really good job! They played games and soccer with the kids! They also brought some arts and crafts and used them to teach the kids about salvation and how we receive it in our hearts. There was also a guy who sat for an hour drawing things for the kids like boats, planes, flowers, princesses...He saved me from having to hog-tie all the kids and stuff socks in their mouths! You say, "Oh how bad, Daniel!!" But you weren't there! Don't judge! The teachers just laughed at me and told me to come back the next day to be the 5th grade teacher! HA! I regretfully had to decline!
So we had more doors opened through the group and their ministering in Chiquimula with us! What a blessing to work with these wonderful people and serve the Lord together! We look forward to having them come back!! Praise God! There you go....

Killen UMC Youth Group

Well we had a wonderful time with the Killen youth group! They have come here every year since we came to be missionaries in Guatemala! We always look forward to having them come and act crazy with us! Eddie Grissom is now the youth pastor at Killen UMC, and he got the trip together and brought a great group down to serve the Lord and the people in Chiquimula! I love hanging out with this group. Just about all of them grew up in Luke's and my youth group! Bless their hearts....right? But they are some of the most awesomest people! They came to work hard and minister as well. They put on a roof in a place called Maraxco. We have never worked in this area but learned of it through some of our friends in our church. It is another poor area with a lot of violence and need for the love of the Lord. We found a family, through the same friends in our church, that needed a roof on their house. The man that live there can only see out of one eye and is losing his site in that one good eye. His wife is completely blind and his son is also losing his eye site. The group bought all the material and spent two days putting up the wood and tin for the new roof. While working on the roof, we met some new guys and were able to talk and minister to some of them. The family was very thankful and at the end of the project, they were praising God and exalting the church or the body of Christ that had worked together to help and strengthen itself! Wow! Good stuff! I pray that this opportunity that God provided to work in this community opened more doors for our friends that live there and the Word to impact and change more lives! We also saw a momma pig with her new babies when we arrived the second day. She had her babies right where we were working! Momma pigs can get mean!!
The group also went to two schools and taught the kids and played with them. I am discovering that these kids love it when people from the States come and play with them. One of the kids asked me just the other day when we came to teach and play with them, "Where are the other people that came to play with us?" We told him, "It is just us this time." Then we said, "Oh man!" and made a sad face. I quickly grabbed him and took care of that sad face, but they love playing with the groups! At one of the schools, the group played soccer with the kids. Let me tell you we showed off our soccer skills! HAHA! We had all the kids and teachers laughing and asking us if we were doing karate moves or trying to kick the ball...it was that bad! But again, the kids loved it and so did we! Jackson, aka Marv, actually mad a goal from the other end of the field!
The group also went to the hospital and prayed for the kids and other patients. Most of the people in the group had been there before and prayed for the people but some of them experienced this for the first time. Very impacting and changes the way you think about a lot of things. But we are very thankful that the groups go and lift up the people in prayer and love on the people! This changes lives and impacts many there in the hospital!
They also put a concrete floor down for a family in El Morral with Pastor Esau. We had to cross a small creek and carry the concrete bags and water from the creek to the house about a 100 yards away. It was very hard work, but they worked together taking turns carrying water and making assembly lines to get the buckets of concrete inside the house to pour out. They finished the floor inside the house and the porch area outside in one day. The family that lives in this house is very poor and couldn't afford to get the concrete for the floor, but they bought food to feed the group lunch. Sonia, Esau's wife, cooked the food for the family. We ate the food in Esau's house. This was huge for the family to buy everybody food, and the food was delicious!!
The group went to Rio Dulce about three hours from Chiquimula towards the east coast. There is a touristic spot on the river where we saw the old fort built in 1595 by San Felipe. I was their tour guide and filled their heads full of knowledge about each room and rooftop we saw. There are a lot of interesting facts and inventions in that fort. I convinced some of them that the first electric plug was invented there in 1595...and the rave parties and gym spa was very popular there as well. Good stuff. We also ate on the river and took a boat ride around the area. The guy in the boat told us there was a bird island...well what a flop! We start out and see a few floating trees and wood that got hung up on some actual live trees with a bunch of the same type of birds....and thaaat was "Bird Island"!! Good stuff! But that trip was fun and I think that was when it became official...Levi likes on of the girls from Killen, Whitney. Marv...Whitney's actual boyfriend...didn't seem to feel threatened by Levi, but Levi was putting out the vibe! He asked her to play some cards outside and when she showed up to take her seat there was a flower in her spot...placed by the all romantic Levi! Better get yourself in gear there Marv! Haha The last day some of them played a couple of worship songs at the Church on the Rock. Ashley sang while Eddie, Marv, and Brandi played the music. They sang one song in Spanish and the other in English. The Spirit really moved and touched the place through the worship.
We really had a great time with them and praise the Lord for their hearts and attitudes that we saw while they served the Lord and others here in Chiquimula!

Seminar with Mark and Preston

The day we dropped off the group from Killen UMC, we picked up Mark Adams and Preston Headrick from Alabama. We always have the best time with Mark. He was my...well all of our leader at the youth camp we grew up in. He even was there for the youth that were in my youth group! OLD!! haha But my kids love him...we love him...and the girls here with us love him. It is always an experience with Mark. My mom actually accused him of being a bad influence on MY dad! Wow! Pretty rough! And I was actually accused of being a bad influence on Mark here in Chiquimula by some of our friends. Really bad!! But that was quickly brought to light the longer those folks were around us and got to know Mark! Love it! And this was Preston's first time to visit us in Guatemala! He was the minister at one of the camps where we were the worship band. That was one year that we still talk about. The presence and anointing was tangible that year during the night services. Preston is truly a servant God has poured out His anointing on and uses him to minster to His people. So we were honored and blessed to have Preston come and teach the pastors with Mark this year.
We weren't able to go see a lot with the guys b/c we were still getting everything clean and ready for the seminar for that Thursday through Saturday afternoon. But they did go pray at the hospital with the girls and Brandi. There was actually some rain the first couple of days they were here so they didn't get to go out much.
We had an amazing seminar! The pastors really love and appreciate Mark. They feel very close to him and have really accepted him here into their "group." That is one of Mark's talents, to be real and befriend people very easily. And Mark actually remembers their names and who they are and the past experiences with each one of them! That alone is ministering and encouraging to the pastors. They taught the pastors on the Presence and the Anointing in the church and prayer. And glory to God the Presence and Anointing were heavy during the teaching sessions! Mark taught on getting the focus back on having God's presence in the church and what that really means. He also taught on how easy it is for us to get focused on the numbers and events we set up in our churches. We must learn as Mary did to see our time sitting and listening at the feet of Jesus as more important and better than programs and events to grow and look better. Bro. Preston taught on the anointing in the churches and how to minster and stay in that anointing. It gets too easy to start doing things relying on our strength and knowledge, but true ministering and making disciples can only flow from God's anointing and power! He also encouraged and refreshed the pastors on prayer. We went through a time of putting it all into practice by spending time in prayer that covered all areas of ourselves, families, and ministries. What a wonderful time!!
Bro. Preston also was able to go and teach at one of our pastor/friend's church about 20 minutes from our house Sunday morning. The glory and presence of the Lord were there and ministered to many people in the church. Mark was sick on Sunday morning and was not able to teach or preach that day. He normally preaches at one of the churches in the villages when he comes but was not able to do so this time...He was sad. But we all went to the church on the rock and Bro. Preston taught on the anointing in the church and prayed for that anointing to fill that church and the lives of each member! At the end of the service we celebrated the pastor's granddaughter's birthday with the church and friends. That was a new experience but was great to be a part of that church family and the pastor's family.
Praise the Lord for using His servants to fill His pastors with more power, presence, and anointing! We pray that each one of them take the lessons and what they learned and teach their communities and be the example of all they learned! Good stuff!