Pastor Seminar in July

When you invite Mark Adams to do a seminar you know you are going to have a good time! This is the guy my mom doesn't like dad being with because he is a bad influence on HIM! Pretty bad huh?! But we had a great time and so did all the pastors! The seminar was on July 5-7. There were 14 pastors this time and one of them was a first time pastor. Mark taught on "The Calling of a Pastor." This was a very personal and intimate topic. Many pastors shared personal stories and experiences of hard times and testings in their calling and their service as pastor. It was very interesting to hear their recounts of when they were called to be pastors. One of them had a dream while off working that two men came to his house and when he came home they told him they had to talk to him. Then they started telling him that God sent them to tell them He was calling him to preach. Then when he got home he saw the exact same two men that were in his dream waiting for him at his house. He told them that he already had seen them and knew why they were there. The men were confused and asked how that could be because they had never seen him before. He told them about the dream and they confirmed the calling with the word that God sent them to tell him. That's really awesome!! Another told a story about the difficulties of being a pastor where there is no means of financial support in the villages. At one time in their lives they had absolutely nothing to eat and were getting worried, but they kept their eyes on God and knew He was faithful. That night after not eating and crying from worry they woke up the next morning to find a huge pile of corn in the corner of their house. There are some really large ants here in Guatemala that had moved into their house that night and carried over 50 lbs of corn to the house. They were able to cook the corn and eat for a while. Wow!
Mark also shared with them about the responsibilities of being a pastor. Many of them were very attentive and making comments during this session. From what I could see and observe, the pastors were very pleased and encouraged throughout the seminar! There were many comments and expressions of thanks to Mark for coming and teaching them and refocusing them in their calling and responsibilities. Praise the Lord, we did not have any stand up and say that now they know they had not been called by God and were going to stop serving in the church as pastor. Hahaha. I actually had that in the back of my mind! But after hearing their testimonies of how they were called, it was very obvious that God has His hand and calling on them. Thank you for your prayers for the seminar! Please continue to pray for them as they grow and understand more about their calling and responsibilities.
Mark also was able to go to the church on the rock in Salfate and preach at the Sunday night service. Pastor Carlos invited Mark to deliver the message that night. Mark taught on the love we as Christians should show to all the people we come in contact with, even when it is the hardest person to love. He went through many examples of how it is difficult to love some folks and how we miss out on the opportunity to show God's love to others. Many had that look of conviction on their face and were very determined to be that church of love for the community at the close of the service.
Brandi, Nancy, and Ashley cooked the food this time for the pastors at the seminar!! That took a lot of work and time! I was very impressed at how awesome everything tasted and it was all on time! Brandi said they made almost 600 tortillas for the pastors!!! That is a ton of tortillas! And they were still wanting more tortillas! Hahaha But for many of the pastors, this is the only time they get really good food that has, for example, meat with it and vegetables. Normally they eat tortillas and beans and, if they have a little more money, rice. So praise God that they ate good and were very pleased with the girls cooking.

Praise God for His working in the lives of these pastors!! I have already seen and heard a difference in their lives and churches since they started coming and learning more from the seminars! God is soo good and faithful!! And thank you to the pastors who come and teach and the churches that send them! It would be very, very difficult without them!! And thank you to those who support us to make these seminars possible for the pastors!! God bless!!!  Daniel