Pastor Seminar with Chris Weldon

Well after Chris spent two days beating on the police officers here in Chiquimula and training them on many other things (haha), he came to our house and lead the pastors through a study on the Psalms. God used him in a great way! I know Chris had to be exhausted...I was! The pastors loved the seminar! I loved the seminar! It opened our eyes to see the Psalms at a different level and come to understand them more! I was a little worried about the education level for some of us, but the pastors were so attentive and alert and asked a lot of questions! And there were times where they had to explain and answer a lot of questions...praise the Lord they seemed to be right on with the teachings and material being taught. We had 22 pastors able to come and participate in the day and a half seminar. Many had to sleep in tents and outside on sleeping bags, but they really enjoyed the fellowship and the Food!! Brandi and Nancy always do a great job cooking and providing us and the pastors with some of the best tasting food!! For many of the pastors, it is the only meal out of the whole month where they will be able to eat meat...and a lot of it! Praise the Lord!! Thank y'all for your support and prayers for these seminars!! It really means so much to the pastors and more to us that y'all remember, pray and provide for these seminars! Chris had several folks from his church help pay the costs of this seminar, and he was able to buy a book on "How to Preach in the Spirit" for each pastor that was here. He left the English copy for me and let me tell you that it is a awesome book!!! So thank you to Chris and his church for their love and pouring into the lives of the pastors as well as our lives! God is so good!

Police Training!!

Boom Baby!! Back in action!!! Dan Dan the Po Po Man! Haha! I know...really weird...but funny! I had the greatest time working with Josh Byrd and his ministry training the police officers here in Chiquimula! And with one of my old partners I use to work with at Florence Police Department, Lee Smith. We worked on the same shift together for almost 4 years. And Chris Weldon also came, who is a Florence Police Officer; but during my time at the PD, Chris was my pastor at the church where I was serving as youth pastor. Good stuff huh? We trained the police here for two days. There were about 75 officers that passed through the training. They were so excited and grateful! I was excited for them! What a blessing. Some of the supervisors shared with us that they hadn't received any new training for more than 15 years now, and others had only practiced firing with their firearms 2 times during those 15 years! But they received firearms training and were able to go to the firing range and shoot! It felt great to be back doing a little bit of that work again! I didn't know if I would remember the training with the cuffs and ground fighting, but it all came back to me after a few minutes. I have seen some of the officers since the training, and they were still friendly and talked to me...so I guess I'm still good here. Thanks Josh for letting me be a part of your ministering to the police and to Lee and Chris for letting me participate with them in the training! Good stuff!

Kids' Graduation at the Church on the Rock

Last year we met a guy named TJ who ministers in Central America by giving out Spanish material to different missions and people to distribute to the communities. He gave us enough material to give to all our pastors for each member in their churches! WOW! I really didn't know how they would receive the material or if they would even know how to use it...but they Loved It!!! And we received another load from TJ again this year with some different material and more of the same for our new pastors.
Well...our pastor/friend from the church on the rock has two leaders in the church who taught the little kids the Sunday School material. The kids studied the whole book so they did a graduation ceremony for the kids. They had clowns, songs, pinatas and diplomas for the kids! All the kids walked in carrying a little candle to symbolize being the light of the world by learning and using God's Word! It was great! They even had a diploma and gift for our kids...just to include and love them b/c they didn't study with the church. We were so impressed and thankful for the love and time the church is pouring into the kids in this village! And we are thankful to TJ for providing the material for the churches. We have several of the pastors telling us that the members are very excited and are loving the material! So praise God and glory to Him for His awesome work and moving in Guatemala!! God is Good!! There you go...

Awesome Youth Seminar!

Praise the Lord for blessing the youth seminar and showing up and filling hearts and minds with His Truth and Power! This was our first youth seminar for 2014, and it was the biggest we've had yet!

There were 29 kids between 14 and 20 years old...16 girls and 13 boys. Many of the youth had already assisted several of our seminars but there were quite a few of them that were fresh for the picking...picking on them of course! The others are like much of our friends and family members...they are already use to me and it takes more to get a reaction out of them. Does this sound like my dad or what!? Scary! But the new ones are way too easy! And it's so funny seeing their faces and watching them laugh as I go around talking to all of them with the microphone, but then when they realize that I'm getting closer to them or that they are next...their expressions change to appear nervous or anxious for what is about to happen to them. So hilarious!! And exactly what I look for! It gets them interacting really fast having to rely on complete strangers b/c the crazy guy with the mic is coming our way.

I also cleaned the pool and had it ready so they could swim a little...many of them have never been swimming and were very nervous, but were trying to drown each other by the end of the seminar while laughing! It was great! Haha Our ministry house only has 13 beds! 13! And a little more room for maybe 4 inflatable beds, giving us 17 beds inside to sleep. So we were trying to think of where these youth were going to sleep and how to keep them separated. But some of our dear friends and neighbors helped us out by loaning us there tent for the guys to sleep in outside in the yard. The guys loved it! It was a huge tent and then another two person size tent. So between the two all the guys were able to sleep under something and not get eat up by bugs or bothered by our dog. And the girls all doubled up on the twin size bunk beds while two had to come into our house and sleep on the couch and another inflatable bed. I heard some noise around 4:15 AM!! mind you and went to the living room to see what was happening. The two girls in our house were sitting up talking and ready to start their day. I told them that they are staying with the Gringos (North Americans) so they were out of their mind to be functioning at that hour in the morning and needed to go to sleep like all other normal people. Ha! Joking...but I did ask if they were ok and they looked at me like I was weird for wondering and still sleeping! Good stuff!

And because we had so many this time, Brandi and Nancy could not help me with the lessons and teaching. They were very busy cooking the entire time and did a wonderful job too! The food was the best! (Nacho Libre for those that have seen the movie) But I had to do all the teaching this time by myself. We have 6, 1 1/2 hour sessions each seminar with the youth. I was already getting exhausted by the end of the afternoon sessions. But one of our friends, Joel, from our church came by to see how he could help and offered to teach one of the sessions in the morning...I was very thankful for his offer and help! He did a great job teaching about our identity in Christ and the Bible as our guide. And praise the Lord our kids did great while Brandi and Nancy were very busy cooking. And the last day for lunch, our friends Diego and Raquel came over and helped grill the meat for the youth, and another friend, Elder, came to participate and help with the kids on Sunday. Huge help for us all!

We also took the kids to our church for the youth service Saturday night. There is a great service with music, dramas, games, and a message at our church ever Sat. for the youth. We have always took the youth to this service, and they love it!! And it is a huge difference for them coming from the villages in the mountains to the churches in the cities. Different people, clothes, music, and way of worshiping. It would be like a contemporary service taking their loud music, games, and casual clothes to the traditional service...WHAT!!? That wouldn't work! Haha! The youth love it and eventually start worshiping and interacting with the others. Yes! It does work b/c it is ONE body. But that's all I'll say for now. All 32 of us had to load up in the beast (my F350) to go to the church service. WOW! Talk about nervous! There were 10 of us on the inside and 22 in the back. We made it there and back safely! They were use to it and thought nothing about it. That was how most of them came down the mountain to our house. But I'm not use to it!! Praise the Lord nothing happened and all are safe.

We taught the youth about Faith in action, Getting out of a Spiritual Rut, Anointing and Presence, Listening and Obeying, Rejoicing at all Times, and Identity in Christ. We had several heavy worship and prayer moments were the Spirit was able to minister and reveal Himself to many of the youth. That is what it is all about, and what we all need! Without His presence and ministering, we are just using empty words and making empty noises. We pushed for the youth to participate in the praying and worshiping as much as they would. Many joined in and were very attentive. They had notebooks and pens for note taking. Most of these youth are leaders and studying to be pastors. We hope and pray that they will study the notes and the Bible lessons to go and teach and use them in their services and in their communities. This is our prayer and reason for the seminars!

I want to thank all of our supporters and prayer warriors! Y'all are a part of everything I mentioned here with the seminar and the lives of each youth that came. It is incredible how God ordered and uses His church, the body of Christ, to accomplish so much all over the world. God has used you to teach and encourage these youth. Thank you! I pray that you can receive that as the blessing that it really is! And may God continue to bless each of you for your faithfulness and love for His church and people!

Praise the Lord!

We praise our Lord and God who sees and loves us at all times no matter what we are going through in this life. God has been so faithful to us throughout these past 5 years here in Guatemala and not only to us, as a family, but to the ministry and to all the other many many families that we work with and come in contact with while ministering. And I'd like to give God the glory for what He has done for two of our pastor/friends. The pastor from the church on the rock has finished his house and is living it now! He called me the other day and asked if we could be a part of the thanksgiving celebration and dedication of his house. He and his wife are so excited and thankful, along with all the members in his church who have seen them working so hard in the construction and ministry. They are all going to get together this Thursday and celebrate together and pray blessings over the house and the pastor and his wife. And the view from the front porch...wow! It looks out at the mountains that have huge rock faces and are covered with green pine trees! Beautiful! And all this came from God's working and providing! We had two families that God used to provide the money for the house. Pray with us that God will bless those two families for their faithfulness and love for God and His people.

And God also heard the cry and plea from our pastor/friend in Camotan and his congregation for finishing the construction of their church walls and roof before the rain arrived. They live at the end of the highest mountain peak in Camotan...hahaha. The village is one of the most poorest villages of the area, but you can't notice that when you visit the church and talk with the people. They are so excited and lively! They don't think in limitations because they live as sons and daughters of the King!! And man do they give and give. It reminds me of when Jesus pointed out the widow that gave two pennies, all that she had, while all the others gave bags full of money out of their plenty. And Jesus praised the widow above the others. These folks in the village may not be able to give all that is needed, but they give all that they have and then go even further to work hard with their hands and put so much time into helping with the construction. And God also provided for the construction so that they will be able to finish before the rains come and not end up in debt. Praise the Lord!! He is so good and faithful! And His timing is perfect and miraculous so that no one else can receive the glory or credit...only God!

I will post some pictures next week of the pastor's house that is finished and the church in Camotan that finished the walls and roof. Keep praying for these villages and families! And praise our God and give Him thanks with us for His wonderful works and love for His people!! God bless!!

Training the Fire Fighters!

We had Mr. Nick Harper, from St. Louis, Missouri, come again and train the fire fighters. We are very thankful that God used Nick last year and has since then provided equipment to the departments here in Chiquimula. This time Nick came with more equipment! He was able to round up and donate five 12 lead heart monitors and bring them with him to teach the fire fighters how to use them and read the results. This monitor looks at the heart from many different angles and views and prints out the EKG chart showing where the problems are, and then they can determine how to fix the problems. The machines also read oxygen and CO2 levels. You can also shock the patients with the defibrillator on it. It takes the patients blood pressure and prints all this out on the paper for the patient. So when they get to the hospital they can hand the paper over to the doctors to see what is happening with the patient before they even look at them! And seeing how I am such the expert on the monitors...I'm sure they do even more than what I mentioned. These monitors do not exist here in Chiquimula! And now four different fire/EMS departments have them and know how to use them!
How cool is that! There were fire fighter/ems from Chiquimula, Zacapa, Cabanas, and Puerto Barrios. All these locations are on the Eastern side on Guatemala. There were around 20 or more guys and girls attending the classes and learning how to use the monitors. Some of them were in the process of becoming paramedics and it was easy to tell who they were based on their knowledge they already had on how the heart functions and how to read the charts. And there were others, like myself, who were starting from the beginning and figuring it all out in four days! But they did it! Me?? Not so much!
Nick first taught them how the heart functions. I learned so much in those two days. He taught in one day what he said they learned in four!! My head was hurting and I really didn't need to know all that information like they did. But praise the Lord, some light bulbs were going off and they started to answer the questions and even think ahead and ask some great questions! And praise the Lord for Marlos! He is also a Chiquimula fire fighter/paramedic that knows a good bit of English. He translated during the classes for Nick. I didn't have a clue how to translate some of...well any of the medical terms into Spanish. But b/c of Marlos' education and paramedic back ground, he was able to translate so that everyone could understand and learn. He had to step out a few time b/c of his other job and left me to translate...bless their hearts! We made it, but twice as slow and with the help of the other paramedics saying the names in Spanish. So thank you Marlos for your help! Nick then taught them how to read the EKG chart printout. And what good hearts looked like and how to know what is going on with abnormal printouts. He gave them homework the second night, and then the third night one of the girls asked for more homework so they could tell if they really understood it or not. Weirdo!! Nick gave them a lot more homework and everyone was yelling and talking smack to her! It was pretty funny! Even her face changed when Nick gave them the homework.
The third day Nick actually got a volunteer and showed the class where to put the patches and wires and how to use the machine. The fourth day, they practiced on each other the whole mid-morning. Nick actually started crying and said that he had been praying for a long time about that moment and it was really nice to see them doing it right and understanding what they were seeing. Praise the Lord!! So we gave each location a monitor to take home with them and use with their patients on calls! They have to pass their paramedic classes in order to be able to use the monitors with the government approval and especially the defibrillators! So don't freak out or worry! It's under observation...somewhat. Ha!
The fire department treated Nick like a king!! They had him a really fancy hotel here in Chiquimula that only the government employees can use. I had never seen it before...beautiful!! A huge pool and nice bungalows(?). Everything was green and manicured! Then they took him out to eat every meal or fed him at the fire station. Nick said he felt stuffed the whole time he was here! They took him to the volcano in Ipala to fish and to the Mayan ruins in Honduras...he had it made!!! Haha They wanted to treat him as good as the fire fighters that went to the State this past year were treated there. It was really nice and meant a lot to us and Nick! They even took my family and me out with Nick to eat one time! So I am just amazed by their giving and gratitude for what God is doing for them...through Nick and all the other folks back in St. Louis. Praise the Lord for his faithfulness and goodness! Keep these guys in your prayers! We are actually praying for a fire pump truck that we could get donated to the station! If you know anything please write us! There you go...

Another pastor's story

I got to go visit a pastor I just met this year from Camotan. He is from Honduras but has moved to Guatemala to pastor a church. When he got there, the church only had 19 members. He has been there 2 1/2 years and now the church has 100 members! That's awesome!! He has 8 kids and his wife works along side of him ministering to the village.

He has started working on closing in the church with adobe walls so the rain won't enter the church. He has started building depending totally on God. He had no money to start and has no money to finish but they are now over half way finished! They lack a little more wall and rafters and a little more tin for the roof. They are praying and trying to finish before the end of April with the rain comes hard! The walls need to be finished and covered in concrete stucco so the rain won't wash them away. You can see all of this in the pictures below. The members of the church are all pitching in and doing everything they can to finish the construction. There is a picture of the guys that are working hard. They have one guy who is the "contractor," who knows what he is doing, and he tells the other guys what to do and makes sure it is level and plumbed straight.
So I see how God speaks and fulfills His Words and promises to His people. They have asked us for help and we are praying for God's provision to flow to them, however He wants to do that.

 Right now we do not have the funds to give to the construction but are praying for God's leading. He is not limited by money or man! Amen! So please keep these guys in your prayers, as well as the pastor's family. They are very inspiring and loving people. When we showed up to visit and pray with them, he fed us chicken and rice...their food! And it was wonderful!! I pray for the same grace and generosity to fall on them as they serve God and the people in this village.