We arrived home (in Flint) safely at one minute past midnight Saturday morning.  We have been truly blessed.  Our trip far exceeded our expectations.  The ladies returned from their Wednesday night meeting enthused about it.  They had a bonfire.  There were about 40 women in attendance.  Lily and Marleney provided child care.  Each of the women gave their testimony.  Lisbeth preached.  On Thursday, we went to Antigua.  This is a quaint old city just a few miles from the capital city of Guatemala City. It has cobblestone streets and old buildings.  It oozes with history.  We went to the market to shop and then walked around town.  We also took a horse drawn carriage ride.  Antigua is very "touristy" but is well worth the visit.  We will undoubtedly go there again when we can spend a little more time (and probably dollars!).  We left Antigua after dark and headed to our hotel in Guatemala City. We stayed in a very nice Biltmore Express.  We went out for Tacos for our supper.  It was our last night together and we did a lot of laughing and having fun.  After the complimentary breakfast the next morning, we took the shuttle to the airport.  There were no problems getting checked in.  We had some to do some shopping before we boarded the plane to Atlanta.  After a three hour layover in Atlanta, we were on our way to Flint.  There is so much more we could say and hopefully we will have the opportunity to tell you.  It was definitely one of the greatest trips that any of us has been on.  We look forward to returning again next year and hope many of you will be able to go with us.  Pastor Otto sent an e-amil message stating that the Governor attended their church Sunday and "gave his testimony and spoke very nice. The Director of Education who is not a Christian after speaking to the audience for about 5 minutes starting crying. The Holy Spirit touched him in such a way that he had to quit speaking and left the microphone. We prayed for him and were very thankful for the invitation we made to him. Everybody was surprised about this because he seems to have a hard heart. We really had a great meeting and also the Director of Education promised me that will support me to continue with the Kid Mayor program next year. After our meeting ,we went to the basket-ball court and we all gave thanks to God for all of you and for the support given to the school by painting the bastet-ball court. We are still recovering our strength and Lisbeth is feeling better." 

To see some of the pictures of our trip, go to our Facebook page, Reachout Ministries.

This blog is a work in progress.  It is getting written in bits and pieces. I feel that I need to keep apologizing.  We have been so busy, that we have not had time to post.  I wrote a post earlier today, after breakfast.  When I was proofreading it, I lost it all after working for almost an hour.  I have had to start over.  Oh well.  There is now more to tell.

Monday started by taking the kids to the mall.  They were so excited.  They rode up and down on the escalator.  Some of them were afraid at first, but they soon got over their fears.  They went up and down dozens of times.  I took lots of pictures.  We attracted the attention of the mall security.  They didn´t say anything but I am sure they wondered about us.   After the escalator rides, we let them ride on the elevator.  Again, they were excited.  These are activities that these children have never had the opportunity to do.  Otto had called three television stations to inform them of what we were doing.  A man with one of the local stations came.  He took some video footage and interviewed Otto.  Otto had the opportunity to explain the program to him.  He takes every chance he gets to talk about what we are doing.  We then took the kids to the video arcade in the mall.  It is quite a large area and just like what we have at home.  Again, the kids were over the top.  They were so excited.  It was fun to watch them.  We gave them all tokens to play the games.  Like in the US, they got tickets according to their scores on the games which they cashed in for " valuable" (to a kid) "junk".  Sorry, that is my opinion of the trinkets etc.  I am sure you know what I am talking about.  It is precious to them, however. While we were at the arcade, another man and his wife working for a national television companty arrived.  They had the BIG camera!  He interviewed Otto on camera and then asked me a few questions.  Although we did not see it because we were returning from El Salvador, we were told that it was on national TV last night.  Otto said to me, "You have been seen on TV all over Guatemala."

 We then went to McDonalds.  WOW.  They have a playland.  The decibel level of the sound was somewere near deafening!.  They were laughing and screaming.  All of the kids got happy meals - and they were happy.  The "bigger kids" like Ruth and I, Jenny, Connie, Katy, Otto, Lisbeth, and Lily had quarter pounders and Big Macs.  McDonalds is McDonalds the world over.  We took the kids back to the church and then headed off to meet the governor.  He is the governor of the Department (state)of Chiquimula.  Sort of the equivalent of Jennifer Granholm (for those in Michigan).  He is a wonderful man.  He is very humble.  He told us how he became governor which was definitely the work of God.  I can share more about this when we get home.  He is a believer.  We prayed for him and he for us.  We were amazed that he took time from his very busy schedule to spend time with us.  Otto invited him to church Sunday and he said he would be there.  He also gave us an interview that we video taped.  We then met with the Director of Education.  He was also very gracious.  He gave us an interview as well.  Both of these men thanked us for the work we are doing on behalf of the children and families of Chiquimula.  We also video taped him.

After that we bought paint and went to the school to paint the basketball court.  We painted until after dark.  Fortunately, we were able to have some light.  We quit when we ran out of red paint.  Otto had tried to arrange for us to meet with the mayor.  He was  able to arrange to see the mayor at his home in the evening.  We quickly changed our clothes and took to the mayor´s home.  He is a very kind and gracious man.  He began by telling us that he and Otto are brothers in the faith.  He has a very difficult job.  We noticed that he has lost weight from when we were here before.  He is a more of integrity and refuses to play the political games or sell out for the favor of individuals.  One of his assistants was shot and killed within the last year.  We worked very closely with him last year.  We were shocked when we heard this.  Otto said it has been very hard on the mayor.  We sensed a heaviness in his spirit.  We loves his people and is dedicated to serving his community.  He is a gentle man of maturity, wisdom, and integrity.  But he also lays his life on the line every day.  We need to remember to pray for him regularly.  After a time of prayer for him and another video taped interview where he expressed his appreciation to us for our work in his community, we went back to Otto´s house exhausted and had supper at 10:00.

Yesterday, we went to El Salvador.  Otto took us to the center of San Salvador, the capital city.  We visted the Palacio National (National Palace) which has been the seat of government like the capital building.  It is no longer in use.  It is now a museum.  We toured the building.  We also saw the national church which is a huge church in the center of the city.  San Salvador is about 4 hours from Chiquimula.  It was a long day but well worth the trip.  We saw a lot of country.  El Salvador appears to be more prosperous than Guatemala. We stopped at a mall opn the way back.  You would have thought we were in the United States.  By the way, the cheese bread at Pizza Hut in San Salvador was better than at home.  And it came with the pizza order.  El Salvador uses US dollars as their unit of of currency.  That was very interesting.  No converting.  They all speak Spanish and take US dollars.  It´s like living in South Texas or Miami!  Another late night again.

Today, we met the kids for tutoring at 9:00.  Lily had prepared some questions for us to ask them and they to ask us in English, like where do you live, what is your favorite color, etc.  She said this was their exam.  When they were, finished they sang for us in English.  They sang Open The Eyes Of My Heart, Lord.  WOW!!!!  After a brief trip back to the paint sore to buy more red paint, we had lunch with Luis and his family.  Luis is a very sweet little boy.  His father was a heavy drinker and used to beat Luis.  Otto said that people in the street have seen him beat Luis.  Luis was struggling emotionally and academically.  He loved his father but  his father was hurting him.  His mother is a Christian and now his father is a Christian too.  His father told us that he has not had a drink in 5 months.  Praise God!!  They are a happy family and Luis is very happy.  Lily showed me his report card. His grades are all 90% and above.  He has become one of the best students in his class.  We worked with the second group of children in the afternoon.  It was similar to the morning except we had a smaller group.  It was fun working with them on their pronounciation.  They also sang for us.  I have some great video tape.  After that, we bought more red paint and went back to the school to finish painting the basketball court.  Now, the ladies are at the womens meeting.  Like Women of CEPC, they are Women of Iglesia Dios De Pactos (God of Covenants Church).  So, everyone is gone and I finally have time to post and check our e-mail.  Tomorrow, we will be going to Antigua as tourists.  It is near Guatemala City and is popular with tourists.  We will be Guatemala City tomorrow night and return home Friday.  The week has gone by very quickly.  Everyone was saying that they can´t believe that the week is nearly over.  Although it will be nice to be home, no one really wants to leave.  It is hard to leave our friends.  But God willing we will be back next year and hopefully some of you will come with us.

We are amazed at what God has done.  He is alive and well here.  The people are receptive to the Gospel.  We are truly seeing hearts touched and lives changed.  One of those men whose life has been changed is Mario.  He lives across the street with his wife, Lila, daughter Marleny, and son Mariolito (little Mario).  He too has been a drinker.  Lila is a strong Christian and is active in the church.  We have known her since we began coming here.  It was asked in the youth group, what would be an almost impossible thing to happen.  Marleny answered, for her, it would be for her father to become saved.  She thought it was impossible.  Good news !! He is saved!!  The family is doing well.  He is a painter and helped us paint.  Really, he took charge.  Please pray for the four men who went forward on Sunday that they will grow in their faith.  Pray for Shirley.  We noticed yesterday that she seems sad.  We have known her since we first came here.  Her father was an American.  He was married to her mother.  He became very ill and returned to the States where he later died.  Although he had some money, his family disowned Shirley and her mother so that she received nothing and has no contact with his family.  Her mother recently became involved with another man and became pregnant.  Shirley now has a little brother who is just a few months old.  As you can imagine, her relationship with the church has been strained.  Otto and Lisbeth have been counseling with her and hopefully she will be fully restored.  Also pray for Pastor Otto and his family.  They work hard.  They are working with the poorest of the poor here.  When you say, "poor as dirt" it is true here.  Many of the families live in house that have dirt floors.  It is hard to give a verbal picture of their houses and of the things we have seen.  But they are happy.  They are our brothers and sisters.  They will say, "Dios te bendiga, mi hermano." (God bless you, my brother).  I have been reading Randy Brown´s book about poverty.  Although he speaks about Detroit, so much of it applies here too.  We have been blessed.  More to come later.  Dios te bendiga!

Yesterday was really busy!  I´m sorry we did not write yesterday, but we were so tired last night that we went back to our hotel and went to bed about 9:00.  After breakfast. we went to  the school where the church meets.  We had a meeting with the families that are in the scholarship program.  After singing, Otto spoke introducing us and saying a few thiings about the program.  He also emphasized the importance of the fathers in the families.  He gave a call and four of öur¨fathers responded.  I (Fred) had the opportujnity to talk with one of them later in the day.  He said that his salvation is real.  He is eager to grow in his new faith.  By the things he was saying. I really believe it is genuine.. One of the men is the father of Luis, who has been very abusive to Luis.  He was also a heavy drinker.  He actually accepted Christ earlier.  God has already made significant changes in his life.  I spoke about the vision that we have for Reachout Ministries.  I said that our first priority is the salvation of individuals.  The second is the healing and restoration of families and marriages.  The third is the scholarship program, providing educational opportunities for the children.  Several of the parents thanked us with tears in their eyes for what is being done.  It became rather emotional and tears were shed by many of us.  At that point, we handed out the Bibles to the children and gave them their gifts.  After a WONDERFUL meal at Otto´s house (Lisbeth and Carmelita can really cook!!!), we went shopping for two more piñatas, little surprises, and small bags.  The party for the children began promptly between 3:00 and 4:00.  This was also during the church service, so parents were in one area singing, worshipping and receiving the teaching from Pastor Otto.  We were with ¨¨ junior church¨¨.  Lily led the children´s worship.  Those kids were so cute!  They sang and sang.  Most of the songs were with motions.  Lily encouraged them with small messages between songs.  After that we played musical chairs.  Hey, John.  Patrick almost won.  He was second.  The boys kept getting faster and faster going around those chairs.  Just like in the US, there are always two kids in one chair.  Then the piñatas came out.  The energy level of the kids jumped several hundred points.  We had four piñatas.  Lily said that it was time to quit when it got dark.  So much fun!!!!  Kids are kids all over the world.  Today, we tke them to the mall to play arcade games and have lunch at McDonalds.  We are also meeting with the governor.  More to come later.

We have arrived in Guatemala safely.  Our trip was uneventful (which we like!)  Going through Atlanta was a good decision - no problems with customs.  Except they couldn´t figure out why we had a bag with 28 boxes of crayons, 28 calculators, and 5 pounds of candy.  The woman running the x-ray machine laughed when she saw all the boxes of crayons. When we got to Chiquimula, the people in the church had a party for us.  The fireworks went off when we drove up.  All the lights were off.  Otto opened the door and everyone said " surprise".  There was lots of hugging all around.  We sang and praised God.  Then a number of the people spoke, thanking God for our being there.  After the music and testimony time, Lisbeth brought out a beautiful cake with the inscription welcome brother and sisters (in Spanish, of course).   This morning, after breakfast, we went to the bank to exchange our money.  That is where we really felt good.  For every $100, we got over 800 Quetzeles.  What a wad of money!!!!!  After we left the bank, we went to the Christian bookstore to buy BIbles for the children.  We bought 30 children´s NIV translation Bibles.  They are really great, hard cover with lots of pictures for children.  THANK YOU everyone who helped make this possible!  Ruth, Connie, and Katy are  now sorting out clothes for the children.  We are meeting with the families in the scholarship program tomorrow and will giving away the clothing.  More later.

Start blogging by creating a new post. You can edit or delete me by clicking under the comments. You can also customize your sidebar by dragging in elements from the top bar.