A Week of Amazing Encounters

I know it has been a few days since my last update and I want to say sorry. It has been very busy here in Guatemala. Last week was an amazing week with Riverdale Baptist and as soon as I dropped them off at the airport we were picking up our current team from Central Baptist Church of Bearden. These guys have been working so hard this week. It has been a week of non-stop puppet shows and some fun time traveling to the Northwest Highlands of Guatemala. I also had a couple of amazing meetings last week as I bumped into total strangers so please make sure to read the entire update.

First I have to tell you about my meeting last Sunday with Captain Salvation! I along with the team from Riverdale was sitting in Las Palmas restaurant in Antigua hen this guy walks up and ask what we were doing. I introduced the family and he started to share why he was in Guatemala. He recently sold his company and has started a new ministry. He is creating a comic book called Captain Salvation. He was sharing with us that he was really looking for a place to get them into kids hands in Guatemala. He is wanting to get a lot printed In Spanish along with a coloring page and some other things in a package to hand out. I shared with him about our ministry and we were both amazed at how God put us together. Not only are we going to be handing out these really cool comics but I am also going to write a VBS to go with it. He wants to call it “The Captains Clubhouse”. I am so excited about the opportunity to be involved in a project that will reach so many kids.

My second meeting happened in the US Embassy. I had to go there to take a team member of Riverdale that had lost their passport. While we were waiting on the embassy to print the passport I wondered over to the adoption window. I was talking with a man that was finishing up his adoption after 4 and a half years. He was so happy to be finished. After a few minutes of comparing battle wounds he started to share that he now had a foundation to help children’s ministries here in Guatemala. So I then shared with him about our ministry and he was amazed at how much we lined up with their foundation. Today I received an email from him telling me that they want to help us with computers for kids that we want to teach English to. The goal is to not only improve the life of these kids but it is also to train interpreters to help with our teams. Right now we have 3 that we are ready to send to school. After we got back to the mission house I got a call that the Passport had been found in the village we were working in. I have no doubt that Embassy trip was a divine appointment. It is amazing how much God is pouring into our ministry right now.

The puppet team got off to a great start on Friday. We went to 3 different villages and saw many people come to know Jesus and got to see a lot of smiles and laughs from the kids. On Saturday we went to Tecpan and worked with one of our good friends at a church. It was a great time. We told the kids to be there at 10Am and the place was filling up at 9:30. After the puppets were finished we made are way to a new favorite place to eat. It is a restaurant named Paulino’s. the food was amazing and the place was so neat to see. We then traveled to Panachel to spend the night and ride a boat over to a art village. It was a great time and a time that I got to see my wife dance for the first time in 19 years. There was a good reason she has not danced. We ate dinner at Solomon’s Porch. This is a great ministry that builds houses all around the lake area and minister’s to the people. While we were eating we had the chance to feed a family that was in need. It was so great to see all of the puppet kids dance and have a good time and still have the opportunity to minister. After a short nights rest and an early boat ride we headed to the market in Chichi. We had a great day watching the team shop and just soaking up the true Guatemala culture. It was also depressing because there was a ton of people there begging for money and food. The economy has made it tough for folks here and they are desperate for anything. We had 3 ladies that followed us the entire time we were there. It made it a tough day because we know how hard things are right now. So please pray for the people of Guatemala. Pray for us that we can use these situations as a way to share Jesus with others.

Finally I want to ask that you pray for our family. This summer is awesome filled with teams, and work projects. Pray that we can find the right balance of ministry and family time. It is tough to find time to be a family while we are so busy. We are really having a great time and we are seeing so many people come to know Christ. We have a very busy rest of the week so please pray for our team. Tomorrow I will share a story about our team and they way they stepped up in a big way today. Well it is time for bed 5:30 is early!
His Servant,
Mike

VBS and More!!

June 23 – We are having a great week in St. Lucia. We have been working in the main town square doing a vacation bible school. On Monday things started out a little slow but within 20 minutes of turning on the music we had about 200 kids. These kids were so amazing. We have played a ton of games, had a great bible time, music, and lots of rec. The kids have been so open to the gospel this week. One thing that was amazing was how many adults have stayed and watched and laughed at the program with the kids. It has give us the opportunity to really show the community how much we love and care for them. We will finish our VBS Wednesday with a block party and tons of face paint, candy and many other things.  Please pray that we will be able to share with a lot of adults during the party.

During the week we also got the opportunity to share with the Serving Souls part of our ministry.  Monday there were a few kids that came that were not wearing shoes. This morning some of the team packed shoes and when we got to the site the team sought out the kids from the day before. After they found the kids they took them to the van. They sat the kids into the back of our van and began to wash the kids feet and love on them. One of the kids took the dirty wet wipes and started to clean the rest of his legs. It made me think has this kid ever seen a wet wipe before? After thinking about it I figure they probably never have. It was so cool. This one little boy got his new shoes and went over beside the van where he thought no one could see him. He looked down at his shoes then he jumped up onto the sidewalk. Then he smiled and felt his shoes. He then jumped on and off the curb about 5 or 6 times to test them out. It was so cool. I guess today I started to see what God is doing with us here!

God just continues to blow us away with new doors being opened and people wanting to get involved with our ministry. We started a drive on Facebook last week to get 1,000 prayer partners for our ministry. We are at 458 right now. We would love to have you and your friends to join us. Please get online and invite all of your friends. Please pray for us as Riverdale will be leaving on Thursday morning and the Sonlight puppets will be here Thursday afternoon. We are so excited. These guys will perform all next week and we will see over 2,000 kids in 6 days.  Please pray for energy for us and for the teams. God is giving us a lot of opportunities and we want to be fresh and ready each and every day.

I hope you are having a great week. Please do not forget to go online and invite your friends to join our prayer group and also check out the pictures on our website.
Mike

A Happy Father’s Day

When I woke up this morning I knew it was father’s day. My mom called me to wish me a great day. After I hung up the phone I realized that for Carla this was not going to be a very happy day. This is the first Father’s Day without her dad. I did not say anything because I did not want to upset her. We went to Antigua with the team from Riverdale to help them enjoy their day off. As we were walking through the market Zach came to me and gave me a Fathers Day gift. He bought me a Guatemala soccer Jersey that fit me. We have looked for 3 years and finally he found one. Then Katie came up and gave me 2 book marks that were handmade. Then I turned to Julian and ask him what he got me. He looked at me and said “nothing but my love dad”. You talk about stabbing someone deep man that one really got me. I then thought about God and how He is always left out on Father’s Day. So as I walked I told God how much I loved Him and thanked Him for always blessing me. I then put my arm around Carla and told her how sorry I was and how much I loved her. It was bitter sweet time for us. As I think through today I realize just how much God has really blessed me as a father. I have a bus load of kids, an awesome wife, a great dad, and a God that loves me so much that He sacrificed His Son for me.

Please pray for us tomorrow as we will start our VBS in St. Lucia. I hope that everyone had a great father’s day. It is amazing how much has changed since my last father’s day.

God is so good!!!

Mike