Survivor Week

11 Missionaries - 1 week - no showers...can we survive?

This week came as a suprise to all of us because we were told that the rest of the time here would consist of finishing classes and then closing down the school. They decided, like they do every year, to have us play Survivor!

So Sunday morning we were told we had four hours to get everything we would need packed (not including food) and that at noon we would leave for a villiage. They said we would be dropped off there and have to survive the week. We had to buy all of our food there but thankfully we were aloud to bring gas travel stoves and we were able to sleep in a church. When we got there on Sunday all we did was set up camp, cook, and go to sleep.

Monday we started our first ministry out reach. We choose to go door to door and share the Gospel. That day we were able to lead 6 people to the Lord (2 adults and 4 children) One lady that we lead to the Lord was extremley poor her house was one bedroom made out of dirt bricks and a dirt floor. She had a little fire in the middle and was cooking coffee and what looked like leaves from outside for dinner, we did not even see a bed. One thing that we, as Americans, never realize is how grateful we are. You never seem to realize that until you see someone who has basically absolutly nothing.

On Tuesday we choose to do childrens ministry. We worshiped with the kids, told them the story of Adam and Eve, had an altar call, and then played some games with them. There were around 15 kids that gave their lives to Christ this day!!
In the evening the church we were staying at had a service that we participated in.

Again on Wednesday we went door to door. This time there were five people that came to Christ.

On Thursday we did childrens ministry again! The story we shared this time was of the prodical son. I had the privlage of doing the altar call this day. I was able to lead around 7-10 kids to the Lord. After that we had a coloring contest with them and whoever colored the nicest got a big package of craylons (they all got little ones to take home with them).

So to answer the question at the begining can we survive? The answer is yes with some bug bites to top it off! This week was a lot of fun Im not going to lie I was a little nervous at first because we were told that we might have to kill a chicken or a pig so we could eat but thankfully we found tiendas (little market stores) that sold chicken and meats already killed, plucked, gutted, and cut! Also, it rained alot while we were there and on Thursday night as we were trying to go to bed it rained so hard that the water was coming in under the tin roof threw the sides hitting off the ceiling and on to us getting us wet so we had to move our cots into the middle of the church and pick up all of our bags and put them on chairs.

I can not believe that in about one week I will be on a plane home.

Guatemala Final Weeks

The last couple of weeks we have been learning about Church History. We started off talking about the 400 silent years and went all the way to the 1100's the first week and this week we learned about the 1200's to the 2000's.
One thing that I thought was interesting for the first half was all the Christians that got persecuted during this time. They got eatin alive or burned at the stake and many other different ways. They got killed because when the emperor wanted them to bow to him and confess him as god they would not. They believed Jesus Christ was and is the only true God. One guy that was interesting was a guy named Polycarp. When the soldiers came to his house to take him to be killed he prayed for one hour while his wife cooked the soldiers a meal. When they took him out to the lions he would not denounce Christ so they let the lions out to kill him. Well, the lions just came and sat beside him and did not eat him. So, they brought out new lions and they would not kill him. Then, they tried to burn him and two times they were unsuccessful and the wood just burnt all the way, not even burning his clothes. The whole time he was praying and when they lit the third fire he died instantly. It is very interesting to learn about how the church today started. This week we talked alot about all the different Christian Religions that were started. Like how Martin Luther stood up to the Catholic Church because he did not agree with what they were doing and what their doctrine said. Next week we will be learning about Missions history and then our final week, thats crazy to say, we will be shutting down the school painting and cleaning everything preparing it for next years students!

Today we went to the feeding center to feed the children lunch. We cooked the food - frijoles, soup, tortillas, and hard boiled eggs. after they got done eating we did worship with them and then had a clown come and do a short service/activity with them. they really enjoyed it!