More Cement, and off to Membrillal

Greeting from Guatemala, to God be the Glory!!

Once again we came here to serve and bless, and we are the ones who get served and blessed. Awhile back I told Kevin, I love being put in the position, were I whole heartedly have to depend on Christ. Well I’m there now. A lot of illness has hit here and hit me hard. Today the woman went with Jennifer and I to membrillal, Jen and I taught the class we teach at our church to approx 20 pastor’s. I feel it went very well and the pastors seemed to really enjoy, hopefully we gave them some tools to start this classes, for the people suffering emotion instability and addiction issues.

The women were able to play with the kids and serve them lunch. It was made very clear to me that we serve a very big God and he is everywhere.

Construction continued on today, at a slower pace then previous days which was a relief to all, as mentioned earlier stomach issues are hitting us and I feel this team is under spiritual attack, but I have read the end of the book and know God wins.

We so appreciate your prayers, please continue them.

Tomorrow is VBS day at the school which is always fun, watching the kids be kid’s. I am amazed each trip that the people here and how happy they are and their love for god. I have learned to appreciate what we have it is truly a blessing to be here.

and again we came to serve and bless and were the ones being served and blessed to God be the glory.

Scott

Hola! This is the place where my soul comes alive! We have had continued blessings today. Praise God that he blessed us with His peace as Scott and I delivered the message of freedom from the bondage of addictions, emotional issues and destructive thinking behaviors to the churches surrounding Membrillal. I was meet with the reality of the magnitude of the alcohol problem here in this country again. Children in grade school have the freedom to purchase and abuse alcohol. The Transformation Program will be able to offer hope to mothers as well as the church leaders here with their congregations. God’s word heals and saves! I pray that those that are back home will feel the relationships that we have built with God’s church here in Guatemala. We are all one body where God’s message of hope and love can be felt.

We were then taken to the Oasis girls home where the organization Kids Alive International operates the most amazing ministry of helping sexually abused girls here in Guatemala as well as all over the world. We were able to see the orphan needs here in Guatemala and how the Oasis is meeting the needs of the girls for an advocate in the justice system, a safe place for girls that are in crisis situations and the importance of re-integrating children back into family situations. We were encouraged by Gods greatness in this ministry.

Praise God for the team’s unity on the construction site! Today the team hit 78.5 tons of concrete poured…absolutely amazing!

In Gods love and grace,

Jen Brown

A very full day

Tuesday, June 4

Matthew 19:26:  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Today our team participated in several activities:
1. Pastors Jared and Sean lead a Pastors’ Conference on Worship
2. Mary and Jenn lead a similar conference on worship for the Pastors’ wives
3. In the morning the remainder of the team continued with the concrete work on the church
4. In the afternoon, the ladies returned to Naomi’s house to play with the children she cares for and the men carried on with the concrete work.

The turnout for the conferences was amazing!  There were 135 attendees including pastors, wives, and worship leaders.  The attendees came from distances as far as a 4 hour drive to attend the conference.  The presentations were well received and all present were blessed.

The work we did on the church was beyond our imagination.  The Scripture above describes how I felt during the day, since what we accomplished was more than we ever dreamed.  We placed 127 bags of concrete (recipe:  1 bag concrete, 1 bucket water, 3 1/2 buckets sand, and 4 buckets rock).  It was only by God’s strength that we were able to accomplish all of this.  Needless to say, we were all very tired at the end of the day, but we knew that we came to serve and that our service is not based on our strength, but on the power of the Holy Spirt at work in us.

We definitely missed the ladies in the afternoon - they really worked hard on the church and were a key reason we accomplished so much today.  They shoveled dirt to cover up some of the concrete we placed yesterday, carried water for the concrete, and filled buckets with sand and rock.  To put it it simply:  “they rocked!”  See Mary’s blog below for details of their afternoon.

I feel so blessed to be part of this team, since I don’t live in Salt Lake City, but am welcomed by the team each time I join them.  Every time I return to Guatemala and work with the people of Iglesia Galilea and the team from Risen Life Church I feel like I take away much more than I am able to give.

Gerry

Four women manned the shovels and buckets on the church construction site today.  Filling in a trench with dirt, shoveling gravel and dirt into buckets and hauling them to the cement mixer, carrying buckets of water from one water tank to another we weaved in and out of the men who were pushing wheel barrels and mixing cement.  I had the opportunity to try the wheel barrel a few times, hauling wet cement to an open trench and pouring blind over the edge.  Corby kept a close watch and gave orders, “Back up, back up! “  So none of us were pulled over the edge of the trench by the wheel barrel, though Christina had a close call.   It felt good to have sore muscles by lunch.  

In the afternoon the women went to Naomi’s other house where the low functioning girls live. Naomi had brought the other four over as well, so we had opportunity to play with all of them.   I was surprised by how happy the girls were. They love to play DJ for their mom.  She plays their song requests on her phone and the girls dance quite dramatically.  We also jumped on the trampoline with some of the girls or just held others that couldn’t do much besides be cuddled. Naomi was free to talk about the challenges of being a single mom to so many disabled children and she also shared more of what God has done to heal some of the children.  

A song that has been going through my head today is “Word of God speak, won’t you fall down like rain, washing our eyes to see your majesty, to be still and know that you’re in this place, please let me stay and rest in your holiness.”   Though the country of Guatemala has so many problems God is displaying His majesty in the work being done here.   One of Naomi’s girls named Lopita was born with her heart on the wrong side.  The hospital did x-rays and scans and determined that her blood was flowing the wrong direction.  I don’t remember all of the details but the surgeons were negligent during the surgery, opened her up on the left side (despite the xrays showing the heart on the other side), and then closed her back up.  They told Naomi that Lopita would die. However, God is not boxed in by the limits or science or man’s capabilities and a week later she was healed.  Though no new scans have been done to determine what has changed, Lopita is now a joyful, outgoing, active girl. 

The work begins!

6/3/19

Today we made two teams. The ladies went and helped paint a house. The guys stayed and worked on the work site. We poured 65 bags of concert and bucketed a lot of water. God is just really showing me that as a body we can function but alone we can do nothing, that really showed today. The verse that God has laid on my hart this week is John 15:5.  Because it tells us we can do anything when god is with us but apart from him we can do nothing.  (Dios es amor)

Carter

            Well today we started to work up at the construction site pouring the cement bases for the support beams for the balcony. It took us till lunch to get one of the 6 done. After we ate a delicious lunch we got some cloud cover and started to go to town on those pillars. Today we finished 3 out of the 6 bases that we planned to do. Today has been an awesome day by getting to know the people here and the town that god has called us to serve. Today the verse that god called out to me is Revelation 1:7, Look he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him even those who pierced him and all peoples on earth will mourn because of him so shall it be amen.

Kooper

What a blessing to be back here in Guatemala with our brothers and sisters in Christ! Coming out of a restful weekend our team hit the ground running today, the guys working hard on the construction site and us ladies going to serve at Naomi’s home. Naomi goes to Iglesia Galilea and has a home where she has taken in 9 girls with special needs. Our team hasn’t been involved in her ministry before, so it was a great privilege and blessing to get to know Naomi and see her love and care for these sweet girls. She was very gracious and willing to share about her ministry. Her love for the girls was evident through the tears shed as she shared about them and their stories, which are filled with God’s goodness and miracles from His hand. There was not a dry eye among the ladies on our team as she showed us videos and slideshows of the girls and how far they have come since coming to the home. She has two houses, one with 4 girls (where Naomi also lives) who are a little more independent and high functioning than the 5 girls who live in the house few streets away. There are four full-time nannies who assist with the girls as well. We spent the day painting the two bedrooms purple for the 4 girls in Naomi’s house- much to their delight when they came home from school. The girls were eager to help us paint their walls, which they did with huge smiles on their faces. They may not be very verbal, but they understand what you say to them and they were very expressive in their eyes and gestures. It was a joy to meet them and we look forward to spending more time with them this week!

Kenzie

Worship with Galilea

Here we go again!

We have had a great first couple days with the quickest travel to San Lucas, Guatemala ever. We have been eating great Marie Jose food, had a great team building day shopping in Antigua, and 3 very powerful Worship and Preaching Sessions today.

As a great weekend has ended a very busy week lies ahead of us. The church members have come together and purchased 370 bags of concrete that this team is prepared to get as much of it done as we possible can.

Returning for my second time I was very excited to see people that I have had the privilege to have met in the past. Even though a year has gone by, we are so excited to see each other again.

Reading in Philippians 2:4, Everyone should look out not <only>for his own interest’s, but also for the interest of others.

Being in Guatemala is such a blessing, this is part of his kingdom. I’m super stoked that He as sent me to help in anyway that I can so that others will come to him.

Please continue to pray for this team, and thank you for the prayers already prayed, we have been strengthened and encouraged by them.

God Bless!

TROY BROWN OUT!

Day Two

We started this Sunday morning focusing on the power and call to prayer and the glories news of the gospel we are called to share. A verse of encouragement in 1 Timothy 2:1 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.” We were blessed to share in a day of worship with Iglesia Galilea in San Lucas and Membrillal. Jared worked hard preaching three sermons today and Sean joined the worship team. Some were able to reunite with familiar faces and we all had the opportunity to engage and be embraced by the congregation. Our hearts rejoiced as we sang along with and stood with our eyes closed and hearts lifted crying out in praise and worship in one voice with the Guatemalan people to the one true God. We were able to join in prayer and receive prayer from a few of the members.

We enjoyed a delicious meal over laughs and conversations with the Iglesia team. After lunch we headed to Membrillal and experienced driving through and navigating a local parade. For many it was the first time seeing the completed church. I want to share the love we received from Brenda, Esdras’s wife, the pastor in Membrillal, for all the prayers and support from Risen Life. Thank you for your faithfulness over the years you are making a difference in your obedience!

Tomorrow the ladies will be heading to Naomi’s house to paint, men will start construction, and continued preparation for the pastors conference will start in the morning. Please continue to lift this team up and these people in prayer.

Christina   

We're here!

Saturday June 1

Well we made it yet again to Guatemala and super excited for what God has in store for us. Thank you all for supporting this team.

Today was a relaxing day, we went to Antigua for some shopping and site seeing.  We saw from way cool old buildings. 
After we had some great time relaxing in prep for the week.

Please continue to pray for our team and stay tuned for more posts.

But one thing that God has put on my heart was, he has been pushing me to calm down and just relax,  He has placed Duet. 31:8 for the Lord goes before you and has prepared your way (para phrased) and this has been encouraging has help out a lot.    He is in control and I have to be ok with that.  And know what happens is for His glory.  GOD IS GOOD.

Corby

Thank you for all your prayers and support that have brought us to this point.  We are sitting here in Guatemala after a day of re-connecting with our friends of Iglesia Galilea. 

We spent the day in Antigua enjoying our time with our family here. 

This week there will be plenty of work and ministry taking place.  Tomorrow Pastor Jared will preach at Iglesia Galilea and Pastor Sean will join the worship team.  We will then head to Membrillal and participate in the church service there in the afternoon. 

The week ahead is going to be very busy and full of opportunities to serve.  Construction starts on Monday.  We will begin work placing forms and pouring concrete for the new church in San Lucas.  We have found that there are 130 signed up for the Pastor’s conference on Tuesday.  Please pray for Jared and I as we teach. 

Coming to Guatemala is like returning to family.  Thank you Risen Life Church for sending us, and helping us to get here year after year.  These people are near and dear to my heart. 




Make sure to check back here this week to get updates on what the team is doing.  Each team member will be writing a post.  Please also leave comments as we will read them to the team each night as we de-brief.  We would love to hear from you!

Sean

It's that time again

May 31, 2019...Risen Life Church will be sending its ninth team to San Lucas Guatemala to re-unite with our dear friends of Iglesia Galilea.  We have always said we want to go and join in with the work that is already being done, and the same is true this year.

On the schedule this year is to continue construction work on the new Iglesia Galilea church building in San Lucas, to host a pastor's conference on the topic of worship, to engage people in the the city of San Lucas in a worship night, to re-connect with the children at the school in Membrillal, host VBS, and so much more.

The senior pastor at Iglesia Galilea has been away for over a year dealing with health issues.  After surgery and multiple chemotherapy treatments and dealing with a laundry list of side affects, Pastor Merari is coming back to Guatemala with a clean bill of health. We will be there when he returns. 

Pastor Tono, who has led the church while Merari has been gone has done a stellar job.  In the past year they have finished construction on a church building in Membrillal, have been able to hire more staff, trained and helped a new worship leader step into that role, and if that wasn't enough, host teams, and somehow fit family life into all of it.  It has been an honor to walk in step and in friendship with Pastor Tono.  From the Risen Life family we can say "Awesome job!" 

During the next week you can check back here to find posts from our team members, see pictures, and get daily updates as to what the team is doing.  Thank you for sending us!  We are looking forward to being part of what God is doing in Guatemala!