Half Way

I just checked our accounts and we are officially half way to paying for our trip!! However, it feels like the second half is the harder half to raise. It will come. I know it will. I'm a worrier by nature. In my heart I know that God will provide on HIS time, but my head is telling me that numbers aren't adding up the way they need to.

Thank you for our supporters. Keep praying that God will provide for us in this time of financial hardship for so many. Pray that God will give the team peace as we are preparing our hearts and minds for the things we will encounter.

Dios, Sabemos que Ud. es mas poderosos que cualquier cosas en el mundo. Por favor bendiga a las personas de Guatemala. Gracias Senor. Amen.

(God, We know that you are more powerful than anything in the world. Please bless the people of Guatmala. Thank you, Lord. Amen.)

~Brenna

Jim

I have been a believer since 1969 and have been involved in many aspects of Christian Ministry ever since. Throughout the years my wife and I have contributed financially to home and foreign missions. This is the first time that I will actually be going to a foreign country for the purpose of fulfilling a missionary experience. I am confident that God has asked me to be part of this upcoming mission trip and I am excited! I am fortunate that I will be part of a team that has been to Guatemala on past mission trips and have shared their heartfelt desire to make a difference to the people we will be ministering to. I am also fortunate to have so many who are supporting me financially, and prayerfully, making it possible for me to go. While there are many purposes of this mission trip, I pray that the lives of many people will be changed, not only the lives of the Guatemala people, but also the lives of all of us who are obeying God's direction to "go". And. . . . I am going to have the opportunity to meet the little fellow that my wife and I sponsor! I can hardly wait!!!

Mission work

I went on my first mission trip to Guatemala last January (2007) and was so moved by my experience that I'm planning on a return trip with Team Guatemala of Soul Discovery Church. I was very touched by the people of that country. Their spirit despite their conditions is inspiring and humbling. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to go there and serve in God's name. It is an opportunity for personal growth and gives a new perspective to all we have and take for granted here in the USA. Please support this important mission and I'm happy to share any information I can about what God is doing in Guatemala and in my life as well.
Blessings,
Terry

---from an essay for English---I have decided that I would like to become a missionary to countries and people bereft of food and shelter when I finish school. The event that began this idea was when my father returned from a Guatemala mission trip. In January of 2007 my dad went with a team to build an addition to Hope of Life orphanage. While he was there he helped feed a poor village that lived by an unkempt trash dump. He also worked at a food warehouse where he met many local families. In the evenings he spent time playing with the orphans. One orphan named Erika was always close by his side in the pictures he brought home.
After he returned home he told many stories. Through our church we were able to become sponsors for Erika and her sister. Our church has a partnership with Hope of Life mission in Guatemala. The mission has an orphanage, a nutrition center, a home for the elderly, a school, and a tilapia farm. Wow!
The next year in February of 2008 my older brother, Zach, was able to go. My dad wasn’t able to go with him because of his health. My brother went to help build a school/church building for the poor village of El Modela. He got to hang out with lots of orphans and make friends with them, and meet Erika and Marilis, the two sisters we sponsor.
These experiences of my family members have made me want to go too. I hope to help the people there, and meet and make new friends. I have been taking Spanish to help me communicate with the Guatemalan people. My brother, dad, and I are all going together along with a team from my church. We will deploy in January of 2009, and we are planning to build three or more houses in the village of El Modelo near the trash dump. The dour homes they are living in now are scraps of trash and cardboard put together. I hope to be helpful and make a good impact in the lives of others. Hopefully this will be the first of many mission trips to come.---Cody

Journal Bits - Monday January 21st 2008

(taken from bits of my journal)…I thought yesterday was an eye opener of sorts but today was even more so. The village we went into to work today, El Modelo, was basically a desert with various shacks modeled as homes. It was filthy. From the moment we entered the village there was trash and debris everywhere. The homes, if you could call them such, were built with trash bags and other plastics to keep the sand/dust out. Some had built some of the walls out of mud. Trash was everywhere. The kids swarmed us almost immediately and played around us as we did construction throughout the day. These kids had desperation on many of their faces. Some looked as though they had been in the same clothes for many days. Some of the younger children wore only a shirt. The dirt was caked to the faces of many and you could tell there was no such thing as bathing. Though these kids had nothing at all they still had many characteristics of any child. They still played, laughed, bullied and communicated as most children. I could see they were happy to have the contact we brought into the village. Many of the kids ran around with no shoes and what lay on the ground was rock, glass, metal and many dangerous things we would never allow our kids to play around even with shoes on…

-Danny

As we prepare...

We are down to just under 3 months until our next trip to Guatemala. Our team is formed and we are excitedly preparing to embark on another journey hosted by God. We have 13 team members this go around ranging in age from high school to....well, maybe I won't give that information away :-) I am very excited and blessed to be co-leading this team of amazing people. We are already bonding and laughing. I just can't wait to see what all God will do in our lives throughout this experience. God is working on team members right now; He isn't waiting until we step off the plane down there or until we hold the orphans or until we listen to the elderly. He is working on us right now! We are dealing with faith in the fund-raising process primarily at this point.

As you begin to pray for our team, please pray that God would provide financially and for our hearts to be open as we prepare to do His work in a third world country.

Dios Bedinga (God bless you)
~ Brenna