Guatemala Mission Trip 2013
I was so excited to have the opportunity to travel to Guatemala and be one of the speakers for an evangelistic effort that was happening in the town of Petén. Upon our arrival, we saw that the need was great. The church building was half built. There were no doors, windows, or lights. The mud and rock at the entrance to the church made it difficult to enter the church property. It was a tripping hazard and the mud ended up all over the church floor. The drainage ditch by the road side was spilling over when the heavy rains came. It rained almost every other evening as we were at the church holding evangelistic seminars. Praise the Lord that the rain didn’t keep the people from coming out each night to learn the precious truths of the Bible. We were blessed to have our evangelistic meetings accompanied with songs of praise and a 15 minute health presentation. We wanted to let the people know that we cared for their physical and spiritual health alike. We discussed the validity of the Bible and how the Bible is relevant for us today.
God in His wisdom and perfect timing, had been working in this small town even before the new church building was built. I came across one older man who was riding his bike to our seminars every evening. As I introduced myself, he asked me what kind of a church we were building. I told him that it was going to be a Seventh-Day Adventist Church. His eyes got real big and he asked me, “Did you say an Adventist church?” He began to tell me how he has been searching for an Adventist church for the last 11 years. Since moving to Petén he has not been able to find an Adventist church. My heart was filled with joy. I knew that with God’s help we were going to build a beautiful church in Petén for God’s children to have a place of worship.
Every day we witnessed the progression and the hard work of each volunteer as the new church building was being constructed. The medical team was working hard to reach out to all who came and were seeking medical care. We were excited to see how the Lord was working in the hearts of men and women who came and were able to receive free medical care. We were building new friendships for the kingdom of God. People came from many different villages to take part in our free medical clinic and as a result we were able to introduce them to the Gospel and tell them about the second coming of our Savoir Jesus Christ.
As I look back on this mission project, I see how God was taking care of all the details to allow us to step out in faith and witness to others of His great mercy and love. God moved on the hearts of the people of Petén and they responded and over 70 people gave their lives to the Lord through the waters of baptism. To God be the Glory for what He is doing in the lives of men and women who are open to His calling and hear His still small voice. Maranatha!