What an awesome day. Guatemala City and the surrounding area are beautiful. Mountain and volcano tips peaking though the sky are proof of God’s majesty and creativity. We were welcomed with an awesome bright orange sunset last night and woke to beautiful orange hue over the mountains. The morning air was cool but by mid-day it was very warm but nothing compared to the warmth of God’s love and God’s people miles away from our home town in Brownsburg Indiana.
Today was Sunday and we had a very different kind of church. In Acts 1:8 it God instructs us that “You will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere- in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, In Samaria and to the ends of the earth”. Every Sunday, Pastor Alfedo asks his church to “tell people” the good news. His church, the people, meet in the church building but then go out and do exactly what Christ instructed us to do, to be His “witnesses”. What a paradigm shift. We did not go to the church building to worship but took the “church” to the community. We had the privilege of being part of God’s global church today. It was an amazing day. We knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were in the presence of the Holy Spirit and God’s people in Guatemala. We could not understand many of the words exchanged in Spanish but we all recognized the love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. We talked about what a powerful experience we had all had and at the end of the day learned that while we were a walking church in Los Verdes, Guatemala, our home church had been praying for us. Thank-you!
We walked through two communities and an enthusiastic parade of kids and adults followed us to several houses to talk, fellowship and pray with our new friends in Guatemala. They welcomed us into their homes. Homes that in the US would fall far below the lowest level of poverty, yet we were warmly welcomed. We asked if we could pray with them and all gladly accepted. What an amazing experience that our new friends would trust us and our God with personal concerns and deep hurts. Please continue to pray with us for our friends here. There were several prayer requests for their children, for health and for provision. Provision – that is a powerful word when we learned that the unemployment rate is 60%. How these parents will provide the basics is a daily challenge and prayer. There were requests for good decisions for adult children and fathers when unplanned pregnancy and excess drinking are common. After fellowship and prayer, we invited all of them to church later in the week. Alfedo’s church meets to have a more traditional type of worship on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, WOW, I know many of us struggle to get there on Sunday morning!
We ended our day back at The Lodge and studied Acts 2:42 “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals and to prayer”. This was the early church of the New Testament and we got to experience it as Luke described it. I know all of us are so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to have these experiences to better get to know our Lord and Savior and His people around the globe. We are excited about what tomorrow will bring.
Read about your experience. Praise GOD! We will be praying daily for you. Be Blessed Gib and Sue