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!