A Slow but Productive Week!

This week had been a great week of loving on others and slowing down a bit. Next week we will be doing a VBS with Calvary Baptist Shreveport. We will have close to 1800 kids and will be feeding about half of them. So this week we focused on getting our ministry ready for the big race.

I started out the week with some crazy girls from Tennessee. Amy Jones has been here for a few weeks and this is her last week with us. She is non-stop. I tried to tell her that this week we would be slowing down but she would have no part of that. So we took the ladies to the feeding center to do a different ministry. We boxed up a bunch of clothes, shoes, and other items of need and set up a store in the center. We gave 29 families fake money and priced all of the items just like a real store. The people in the center loved it. They were able to shop and pick out things they need and did not feel like they just had to take a hand out. We are planning on doing this at least once a quarter and giving money for volunteer work and different things.

While they were working at the feeding center Carla and myself were on a nature hike. We took our boys with us but we had no idea we would be hiking. We went up the country a little ways to visit some friends that have some property they are offering to sale to us for a camp. After them sharing a fresh glass of Black berry juice with us we started walking through their farm. They took us to the property for the camp. I have to tell you if I was looking for the perfect piece of property that would be the one. It was amazing the way the land laid out for us to build cabins, a natural amphitheater, plenty of room for a dinning room, and room for kids to just run and play. The really cool part is the folks offering the property only want it to be used for God. So we are now trying to raise the money to buy the property. The total cost for it is $30,000. Once we have the property secured we will start to clear it. Our goal is to have camp there next October. So please pray that God will provide the funds quickly so we can start to build.

On Tuesday the guys went to the feeding center and helped feed the kids and to serve. It was a lot of fun as normal. We had scheduled to go build a house in the afternoon but that got moved to today.

Today we went to San Miguel to build a house for a man that was in need of a house. A week or so ago I shared a story about a man that had no shoes and was blind. Ell today we got to bless him by building him a new house. I want to thank Brother Teddie and Grace Ministries for coming out and providing the knowledge and the materials for us to build this house. For those that do not know Grace, they are a ministry based out of Grand Bay, Alabama that comes to Guatemala many times a year and builds hundreds of houses, medical clinics, and just loving on people.  We have been so blessed this summer to partner with them in Block parties and ministry. They are a great bunch of folks that love the Lord and want to see this country changed for Christ. This summer is just the start of working with this bunch of Elephant lovers from Bama!

Finally while I have had time this week I have been building a brand new website. We hope to go live on August 1st. It will have a whole new look. We will have many pages to explain our ministry and how you can get involved with our ministry. Please pray for us as we are growing so fast. God has so much planned for us here in Guatemala and we are hoping to raise the support needed to build and do the projects God has laid on our hearts. I close tonight by sharing a meeting with you. Today I bumped into a ministry I have not talked to in months. They work mainly in the city with public schools. I shared with them our thoughts about our new camp and they immediately shared how cool it would be for their kids to go to camp out in the country. I truly feel that this camp will be a life changing camp for years and years. I remember my days at Camp Buck Toms in Rockwood, Tennessee. I would not trade those memories for anything. Our dream is a simple one. We want to help kids build memories of a happy childhood. Here in Guatemala that can be a hard thing to do. But with God’s help, your support and prayers, I truly feel like we can do it. So please join us now in praying that the funds will come fast to start building Clubhouse Compero!!!

His Servant,
Mike

Rest can be Fun!

This week has been very different for us. We have been hosting a team in the mission house from Cincinnati, Ohio. The are working with a really cool ministry here in Guatemala city that is called La Limonada. They have been working all day while we have been trying to catch up on a lot of things. I want to first apologize for not getting our newsletter out yet. It is my hope to finish it this weekend. To be honest we have just been trying to catch our breath from the rush of summer. One thing I would like to share as a major praise is we have seen over 600 salvations since May! We praise God so much for the teams that have made such an impact this summer. The most exciting part is we still have a month to go of VBS’s and the sky is the limit.

I must tell you the Wednesday was a day I will not forget for a while. We took the day off and went to a mall in the city. It is a mall that would marvel most American malls. At this mall they had a Spa. I have ever walked into a Sa except to find Carla. She wanted to get her hair done so I went with her. You must understand that this is a very big step for her. It is another step in getting comfortable here. While she was getting her hair done she talked me into getting a massage. Ok let me just tell you that I would never spend money for a massage at home so I sure wan not going to do it here. When we got there they told me it would be $20 for a full hour massage. Carla made me do it. It was the best thing she could have ever gotten me. When I walked out of there I was a new person. I was so relaxed I thought I would go to sleep while walking. It was so cool just to get out and enjoy some family time.

Pray for us this weekend and next week. I have some good friends that we are partnering with to do a block party on Saturday morning. They are working this week all around the feeding center building houses for many of the families that we serve there. Then the little old man that I shared about last week, we will visit him on Monday to start to build him a house. So next week we will be building a house for them and we can not wait. We also got their sizes to day so we will be blessing them with clothes, shoes, and some food. God is so awesome and gives us such fun opportunities to serve Him.

Please pray for us in a few areas. First pray for salvations. We are hoping to see many more come to know Christ before summer is over. Also pray for us financially. Next week we will be rolling out a new drive to help our ministry grow financially so we can continue to move forward with the plan God has given. Pray also for a meeting we have on Monday to discuss property for our camp. Pray that God will give me the wisdom to know what to do and how to proceed. Finally pray for our vehicle situation. We are praying that we can raise about $2500 to get our Toyota on the road. If you or your church would like to help with this need please email me at . Thank you so much for your prayers and your support of our ministry. We could not do any of the things you read about without your help. You make the clubhouse!!!!
His Servant,
Mike

Finishing an Incredible Week

July 17- Today caps another incredible week of ministry. We worked all week in San Miguel. We worked in the morning doing a VBS at both of their schools. We had over 400 kids total in the morning. In the afternoon part of the team repainted the entire middle school. We also had a construction team that worked all day everyday building the school a new kitchen. The kitchen had 2 complete walls and the other 2 walls were made of flake board that had more holes than solid pieces. Inside the cook used blocks as a stove. It was very sad sight. So this week we were able to complete a new kitchen with a brand new gas stove. It was amazing to see the kids at the school and the excitement they had for a stove.

Today we finished the week with a block party. It was great. We had at least 600 people there and the entire street was packed. I will warn you the next part of this story requires a Kleenex. We had a little old man that was walking through the crowd with a rick of wood on his back. He had a leather strap on his head to help him carry this 70-80 pounds of wood. As he walked through Amy Jones our intern noticed that he had no shoes. The way Amy noticed him was every time he took a step he left a trail of blood because his feet were worn out. This little man was about 80 years old and as Amy started to talk to him she found out this man had not had a pair of shoes since he was 4 years old. I was blown away when they told me this. So Amy, Carla and Hilmar went to the man’s house to give him a pair of shoes. As they got to the house they saw it was made of just Bamboo walls and a tin roof. They had a small table, 2chairs, and a bed. When they got there they explained to the man that they wanted to not only give him a pair of shoes but that they also wanted to wash his feet as Jesus did for the disciples. One thing to share with you about Amy is she does not like feet of any kind. When she got up this morning she said God had already let her know that she would be washing feet today. As they started to wash the mans feet Carla shared that it was much like the foot of an Elephant. His feet were very rough, his nails had rotted off, and he had dirt that had grown to his feet. They washed his feet for about 20 minutes. I was so proud of Amy and the way she worked through her fear to serve God. Carla shared that he had walked barefoot so long that his feet were totally flat and so wide the shoe would barely fit. As they finished washing his feet they shared about Jesus and Amy then prayed for him. I must tell you that when we moved in March we had no idea what our ministry was going to look like. I feel that today we finally know what our ministry is. It is a package deal. It is to minister to the children to have a chance to reach the entire family. As I sit here tonight I tear up just thinking about how awesome God is to allow us to go into a house and give a man shoes that has not had them for over 70 years. This is not the end of the story though. I am not sure how many of you remember me writing about Carla wanting to start the shoe ministry. We had seen a lady in San Lucas that needed shoes. Carla tried to get me to stop the truck so she could give this lady her shoes. I of course did not stop and I told her I would stop next time around the town square. We drove around again but I did not stop because of parking. We then made a 3rd trip and by then the lady was gone. This has haunted both of us for months. Well today at the party guess who was there? You guest it the lady we saw in San Lucas. It was so awesome. Carla was able to take her on to the bus and put a pair of shoes on her feet. Today was a day we will not forget. God showed up this week in a big way. We saw so many needs met for shoes and saw over 130 people come to know Christ.

Tomorrow we will be taking the team for Mt. Pisgah and Magna View Baptist to Lake Atitlan. We will spend the day enjoying the views of God’s creation. It is one of the most beautiful places in all of the Americas. I will be posting pictures from the past few weeks this weekend so please check back to look at our pictures.  I want to ask that you pray for us. Right after we came back to Guatemala in the spring we bought a vehicle. We bought this not knowing that it had some major problems. We are now looking at about $2500 to get it drivable and tags on it. We were hoping to already be using this car for ministry because our Suburban is on life support. God has blessed us with the Suburban and the fact it is still going but we really need to get the Toyota running. If you would like to help with this need please email me at . We are hoping to get some parts from the states to save some money so please pray that this will happen and we can get this vehicle on the road.

We appreciate your prayers and your support so much. As you know when God is working so is satan. Please help us pray for protection for our ministry, our family, and our friends. We are so excited about the doors God continues to open and we are ready to run through them. Finally pray for us as we will meet next week about some property for our camp. This is just a meeting to find out cost so we can set our goals for 2010 and beyond but please pray that God will provide what we need to move forward in building His kingdom.

His Servant,
Mike