Victories on the Banks of Lake Itzá

Last month we had a special baptismal service down on the banks of Lake Itzá. It has taken me so long to post about it because that day was pretty difficult and I didn't even want to go back and look at photos. There was lots going on afterwards, so Jimmy and I didn't even get a chance to process the day's events together. The service was a huge victory, so that is what I am trying to remember in my mind and block out all of the other junk that Satan sent our way. 

Once Jimmy and I did sit down and talk we realized that the last baptismal service was a personally discouraging day for us too. I honestly believe that Satan tries to rob us of the joy of experiencing the blessing and significance of these special days where people we have worked with for so long want to boldly declare their faith in Christ. There is so much spiritual warfare that takes place it is exhausting! 

I won't share all the ickiness of the events just because I truly don't want to relive them in my mind, but what got everything going in a negative direction was the bus situation. This was the only thing that effected anyone other than Jimmy and I, so for that I am thankful. We rented a school bus from the man we usually rent micros from to pick people up for church. (We have been sending a school bus each week to SR instead of a micro because so many people are coming... blessing!) 

{This was taken when just SR was on the bus and the tense situation was happening outside}

He went to SR first. Jimmy had already communicated with the church that there wasn't going to be a lot of room on the bus, so this day was for our church family only and personal family members of those being baptized. In other words it wasn't an outreach event that they were to invite visitors too... there just wasn't space. Plus Jimmy was going to buy pizza for everyone afterwards. Juan went with the bus to SR and like Jimmy had asked him to, he made sure only our church people got on the bus. The problem is that once people found out that there was a free ride to the "beach", people in the community who are vocally against our church started getting on the bus. Juan did his best and was very polite, but some people refused to get off. So by the time it got to San Pancho to pick up the SP people and the NH people, it was already standing room only. 

What do you do? Unfortunately it was awkward, but we couldn't leave our faithful people behind because of destructive freeloaders. (These aren't visitors, they weren't going to be a part of our service, they actively tried to destroy our Bible study in SR.) Jimmy asked them to get off the bus and then we waited and waited for people to start moving. Well eventually they did and then after making a bunch of threats to us, one got back on and made a big speech about how horrible Jimmy was and wanted everyone on the bus to leave with her... nobody did! There was one casualty though. While this tense situation was happening, one lady who had been once before left quietly without us realizing, I think because she thought we were asking her to leave since she wasn't a regular, but we weren't. Anyway, I'm not sure where she lives, but if you could pray that I find her so I can invite her back. The whole situation did probably make our people feel more united and identified as our church, but that is not how we wanted to do it. Ugggh! Ok, I never want to think on this incident again! 

We sang all the way to the lake and once we got there it was a beautiful day by the water!

 We had a time of worship and prayer. We prayed for those being baptized that day specifically. 

 Saturnino wanted to be baptized that day too! Jimmy helped him into the water.

 There are so many stories here in this group! T and his daughter K were baptized that day! Jimmy led them to the Lord a couple weeks ago at the institute. I am so thankful for them. I want to share more of this family's testimony later. I just love being around them! His wife, Y, is one of the nicest, most hilarious people you could ever meet. She always make me smile! 

Do you see the rainbow God gave us?! He was with us!

 This is O, Marcos' son.

 Lico's kids were baptized that day too, L and P. There are several kids now that live in a communist communities where they have tried to keep God out. Well now there are many kids from those communities whose testimony will be, "I grew up in church." What a different world view they will have! They have Hope! 

 8 people were baptized that day: S, A, P, L, T, K, O, and Saturnino. We are so thankful for all of them and what God is doing in their lives. Please pray for them!

 The victories are what I want to take with me from this day! 

Fabio...I mean, Santurnino

If you've been to Santa Rita you would recognize the name Fabio as a little old man with a limp and a bad eye. If you spend any time there you would hear him tell his stories about bullet wounds, machete scars and the several times vehicles and cars have hit him and left him for dead. Today I got the whole story chronologically because Fabio is a Christian and wants to be Baptized!

Born in 1935 in Petén he married young and he and his new wife opened up a little store in their town. He also had a little land to farm and put some animals on it. However, he wasn't a very nice man and had a big drinking problem (his wife called him her poisonous thorn). That was the way he lived until he was around 25. He had a few kids by this point and one night decided he was going to go on vacation to visit his family by himself. He was heading out and one of his boys told him he had better take his little, old, dull machete with him to beat off dogs just in case. He hadn't gotten too far down the road when he was surrounded by young men with large machetes. Then commenced a fight where he killed one, seriously injured another before he blocked a machete blow with his shoulder instead of it hitting the back of his neck and was left immobilized in one arm. He was covered in blood by this point but then a flashlight was coming down the path and the other guys left.

It happened that it was one of his friends who got him to the hospital in San Benito. He was there for 23 days with IVs before he was allowed to go home. Shortly after he arrived another man with his same first and last name also was brought to the hospital but died overnight. His village heard that Santurino (his legal name) had been killed and he said his wife was relieved! After leaving the hospital he found that his wife had already been cheating on him before he was attacked, and she took his death as an opportunity for the other guy to move in to her house. So when he was released and got home, nobody was happy that he wasn't dead after all!

He wanted to kill them both but decided they weren't worth it so he told his wife she could just have the store and the animals and the house and he would move on. He moved in with his parents and having hit rock bottom he visited a new church in town and accepted Christ. He was studying his Bible earnestly, but then found out that somebody had given his name to the military and they were looking to kill him. He ran and took his kids with him as he joined the guerrilla movement in Guatemala, but after a few months of his kids being hungry and being eaten by mosquitoes in the jungle, he took them back and left them in the village.

During the war he had nothing but problems, but God spared his life many times. A few years into the war, he was with his guerrilla unit riding in a big truck, but instead of being in the back he was hanging on the outside. The truck went off the road and crashed. He woke up and saw another man looking down at him. The man told him that they were the only two that survived, the other 20 people were dead. A few minutes later that man started screaming that he was peeing blood and he soon died as well leaving Fabio as the only survivor. In various battles he was shot three different times.

During this time he desired to learn more about God, but he was not permitted to have a Bible as the guerrillas were and still are very anti-God. After the war he moved with his unit into the newly formed community of Santa Rita. Even though the war was over, they still would not permit anybody to learn of God and outlawed churches. During the next 12 years he would be hit by a car and a motorcycle while riding his bike in the dark, both times left for dead in the ditch.

This last time he felt the hit but didn't know what happened to him. All of a sudden he was walking alone on a path and he didn't know where he was going but he just kept walking. On the path he came across two men dressed in white and they asked him where he was going.

"Down this path", he said.

"You can't go down this path yet," they told him. "You still have work to do."

He turned around and started going back the other way and that is when he woke up on the ditch, covered in blood with a broken arm, a useless eye and blood pouring out of one ear.

A week after this happened he came to our Bible Study in Santa Rita where he had already been attending for a couple years. He had already told me that he was so happy he could finally learn about God again, after waiting for almost 50 years to continue what he had started. In this meeting he told me he felt God was leading him to give us half of his lot so that we could build a church building on it.

Up to this point we were borrowing a house in Santa Rita where the outside area was already filled to capacity and the lady wanted her house back. Once she took possession we would have had no place to hold our meetings.

{Ready for our Easter Drama}

A few weeks ago Fabio told me he didn't want to be called Fabio anymore. That was his guerrilla name and he doesn't want to be known by that any more, so we are to call him by his given name of Santurnino. He also said that he wants to be baptized. That was something he really wanted to do before the war and now, over 50 years later he finally in October will be able to take that step of obedience.

Santurnino once told me, several years ago, "Life is a rancid sore, but we have hope in Christ." I can't imagine the pain and suffering he has been through. It would have been merciful for God to have let him die in those painful situations, but I can't help but wonder if in God's plan for Santa Rita, he needed Fabio to survive so that he could have a church built in that village. I don't know the mind of God in this situation, but it sure looks like Santurnino suffered so much so that the people of Santa Rita would be saved. That puts, Oscar, Maria, Blanca, Claudia, Jesús, Armando, and all the others in Santa Rita who have also accepted Christ on Fabio's account simply because he desired a relationship with God and was sensitive to His working in his life.

It's the stories like this one that as a missionary give me encouragement when I am feeling down and make whatever sacrifices I think I'm making seem really insignificant.

In Due Season

We still aren't allowed into SR to visit, but Marcos does it for us. He was the one Christian in there when we arrived and he had been praying for a church. He goes around to all the Kekchi families visiting them and inviting them to our church in San Pancho. He has made the town leaders so upset that they keep spreading lies about him. They even have called the police a couple times saying he is chopping down trees and illegally hunting. He has had to appear before a judge several times. He just tells the truth and they let him go. Please pray for him and the other Christians that are being persecuted in there. There is an entire community of believers now! 

Poor guys, I made them look into the sun for this photo!

Just within the last 2 weeks a man that Jimmy had been witnessing to for years came to know the Lord as a result of Marcos' burden for him. Francisco came to our adult Bible studies in SR and even would sit outside the kids' time listening to the stories. We loved his kids. I am SO thankful their dad now has a relationship with God! Heaven is Rejoicing!

When God Changes Your Future

We made one last trip to the capital this week for paperwork that I will share more about later. While we were there this time we got to meet up with an old friend. 

She was a teen that came to our Bible study very faithfully when we worked in NH, our first ex-guerrilla community. At the time we were kicked out she still had not accepted Christ. We knew she was in a very bad home situation but there was nothing we could do to help her until she turned 18. About a year and a half ago she called Jimmy and asked if there was some place she could go if she left home. Jimmy immediately got her on a bus and in contact with a wonderful Christian women and children's shelter in Guatemala City. 

A while back she messaged us that she had accepted Christ. This day was the first time we had seen her since the day she left Petén. Just looking at her I knew she was different. There was so much joy and peace. She was one of us, a sister in Christ. What a change! She spoke of a discipleship class she had just completed at her church and how she goes on visitation to share Christ with others. It just blew my mind. NH was such a dark place. I cannot believe she was able to come out of that. She said that she thought it would take leaving there for someone to be able to believe the truth. She doesn't even like visiting there anymore because she can sense Satan's stronghold on that place. 

This is a testimony of God's work in someone's life. The time we had with her was such a blessing to us. I loved seeing the hope that God had given her. She was so happy and had purpose. She also has a big burden for her mom. Please pray for her and her mom.  She is sending a Bible back for her. It is not safe for us to go back inside NH, but her mom will be coming over to our house to pick it up.

I hope you are rejoicing with us over the new life God has given her. We knew what her future was going to be, and to see what her life is now, makes you want to shout! It is because of stories like this that we love our life here. We seriously have the best seats in the house!

Her Story

I wanted to share the story of the teenage girl that accepted Christ the last night of the campaña. I won't share a photo of her or her name, so I think it's ok. You can still pray for her and God will know who you are talking about!

I shared a little of this story in our monthly newsletter, but many of you do not receive that and I wanted to share more of the story here as well.

We met a teenage girl on our first day of visitation for the new church plant. She and her sisters live with her mom; their dad left years ago. They get odd jobs here and there to survive, among those jobs being prostitution. She was the only one home when we went by. She lives in a little wood house with a dirt floor at the very end of town, close to our house. I remember her because she was surprisingly articulate for a teen and very kind to us.

A couple weeks ago we found out that she had become very ill. Witch doctors are a big part of Kekchi culture. If you are sick you would consult a witch doctor before ever going to a medical doctor. You see everything as spiritual, therefore you are sick for a spiritual reason. Either you made a god upset and he put a curse on you or another person did. If someone gets bad news from a witch doctor they often never see a medical doctor; one, because they don't have the money for medicine; and two, they truly believe the witch doctor.

Well, a witch doctor went by her house. He gave her some weeds to chew on to relieve the pain. His prognosis was that she was going to die and there was nothing that could be done. Her ailment was that someone had put a curse on her. Then the witch doctor told this story: A man came by and propositioned her, and she must have refused and that is why he put a curse on her. He then stated that this man must be found and killed.

Well she went with this story and actually gave this man a name... she accused one of our friends. He is a Christian who HAD been by there, but it was to take food to their family since he knew they were struggling. We were very saddened to hear this, especially because Jimmy was the one who had to tell our friend about the lies that were being spread about him since his life may be in danger.

Jimmy immediately got in contact with a private hospital telling them he would cover all her bills if they would take her. Tutor #4 drove her and her mom there. She was in the hospital for 2 days and after a series of antibiotics, she completely recovered… so much for the witch doctor’s claims.

Helping this girl was honestly a struggle for me as we were helping someone whose lies were hurting our friend. That might sound cold, but that is how I felt. Yet, God was clearly directing Jimmy to help. I just sat back and watched. I wanted to see how the story would end. I knew it would help me understand more about His grace... He knows I am a visual learner!

She ended up attending all 3 of our weekend services and on the last night she accepted Christ! Her mom thanked us and said that no one has ever helped them like that before. Please pray for this girl and her family, that they will ALL come to know Him and that they will grow in their relationship with the Heavenly Father!

God loves even those who hurt his own.

Alleluias Rose From the Banks

If you don't know Lico's story, it is here. Since New Horizon would not allow baptisms or for us to be called a church, not to mention kicking us out, we weren't sure how Lico would ever be baptized. He has been meeting with Jimmy every Saturday for months now for their discipleship class.

He has a strong desire for his new relationship with God to grow. We mentioned that when we got back from furlough we found out that he and his family had been walking 45 minutes to a church in the next town down from New Horizon. There aren't many churches around here with the truth, but we really liked this one. A couple weeks ago the pastor of that church contacted us and said that Lico wanted to be baptized and wanted Jimmy to be the one to do it. So he invited us to attend the baptismal service this past Sunday.

{Jimmy & Lico with his pastor}

So early Sunday morning we met them for a worship service on the banks of a river. We had been out late the night before in a Kekchi village, so our boys were exhausted!

This is the group who had put their faith in Christ and were desiring to take this first step of obedience.

Jimmy prayed with Lico first before he baptized him.

Here is a video too if you want to watch. I was standing on the edge of a 3 foot drop off into the river, holding one boy, trying to keep the other one from falling in the river, and taking photos and video. Everyone was asking me for photos. And we're keeping it real because half way through Jonah starts to cry. Poor little missionary boys, we had worn them out.

This is Lico with his wife Elda, daughter Paula, and son Luis.

Please pray for Lico as he continues to grow in Christ and lead his family. We are so thankful for this opportunity. God opened a path for obedience. He made a way! We are so thankful for this day and everything it means to Lico and our family! It was Jimmy's first baptism in Guatemala and it just so happened to be our first convert from over 3 years ago.

The Story's Not Over Yet...

Coming back from furlough I was a little discouraged. I felt like we might as well be going to a different field. We were almost starting from the same place as when we arrived 5 years ago... learning a new language, starting a new work, knowing hardly anyone. We had already invested into 2 communities only to be rejected in the end. Now we would be working with the Kekchi exclusively. That meant that until I finished learning the language I wouldn't be able to have what I thought of as hands on ministry, so what good was I. Jimmy at least had the pastors' training, but I had nothing but an out of date Kekchi grammar book who no one could help me understand. Plus all of my national friends were in a village I was no longer allowed to enter and the two missionary families we were friends with would be leaving Petén soon. So that was my mind's talk, not from the Lord or even true, but still in there none the less.

Jimmy and Lico had to run an errand together the other day which provided them with lots of time to talk. We knew Lico had been going to church somewhere while we were gone because last week he called from the hospital where he was visiting someone from his "church".

{The church in Santa Ana Vieja}

This church he mentioned is located in Santa Ana Vieja, about a 40 minute walk from New Horizon. We found out that now there are 5 families attending this church from New Horizon, all families from our Bible Study! Alquilino is one of the men who takes his family. The first time we met him he was wearing a hat because he didn't want Jimmy to sneak up on him and put 666 on his forehead and after the Bible Study was over he asked Jimmy to prove to him that he wasn't the Anti-Christ. Didn't have a course on that in Bible College! Walking his family 40 minutes one way on the highway to church is a long way from that day and we are so thankful.

Jimmy also found out that Lico is taking classes so that he can be baptized next month (something we were not allowed to do in NH)! Then he casually said, "I don't know exactly why, but I just have this feeling that I should be a pastor," and he asked Jimmy to teach him how! So now they will have weekly lessons at our forever house to give more foundational doctrines.

Then we found out that since these families are coming to the church Lico is attending, the church felt led to try and reach out to the rest of New Horizon. Churches and even Bible studies now are illegal, BUT... the farm next door has recently become available to buy in small pieces and the church got a piece. Brilliant! Remember, we had tried to get a piece of the farmland across the street from NH and were turned down.

It's about a 15 minute walk from the houses, but still much closer. On his days off Lico has been helping put up a covered area on that spot so that soon they can start holding outreaches just for New Horizon.

This is so unbelievable to me. I honestly thought God was done with New Horizon. I thought that they all had rejected God for the last time. I had no desire to go back into that dark place, so I figured God didn't either. Why does God let me be a missionary?... because God is as long-suffering with me as He is with those in NH!

Because of all this Jimmy stopped by with Lico to meet the pastor. He immediately knew who Jimmy was and our story with New Horizon. (Is it good to be known as the ones crazy enough to work in NH... haha!) He is even going to let Jimmy baptize Lico next month, so that is very special to us. We offered to help in any way we can with the church's outreaches to New Horizon. Be looking for more posts about this endeavor in the months to come. We are excited that God isn't finished with this story and has brought somebody else alongside to reach out to these very hard-hearted people. We are also excited about Lico's tremendous growth and his future in ministry. (You can read more about Lico's story here.)

CUTE ITEM OF THE DAY: Ever since Jonah and Silas were little when we ride in the car they like for me to be touching them.

When they were younger I would hold the sides of their heads and then they could fall asleep.

Now I guess they are "big boys" so they just reach over and grab my hand instead. Wherever we go I usually have a hand in each of mine. I know this will end one day, so I absolutely cherish it now.

An Exciting Day in Our Ministry

We have been thinking about Santa Rita a lot since we have been gone. Jimmy casually claims we will start up again in there when we get back. Honestly, I am nervous to go back in. We just did a quick drive through right before we left, but I did not get out of the micro. We both want the Bible study to continue.

I was behind on the blog before we left, so I never posted about one of the most important events that has happened in our ministry. It was back at the end of January. Jesús, who has been attending Jimmy's discipleship class each week (he put his faith in Christ soon after we arrived in Santa Rita), taught one of the Bible studies. He sounded nervous to talk to him beforehand, but during the Bible study he seemed at home sharing the Bible with his peers.

{Jesús (21 years old)}

He planned a devo sheet for everyone during the week, came up with questions to ask during the Bible study which Jimmy put on the projector, and even asked Jimmy, "You think it would be ok if I challenged them to go ahead and accept Christ for themselves at the end of it?" So exciting! I loved seeing his passion as he spoke. He spoke on II Corinthians 5, that is the book they had been studying recently in the adult Bible study. It has been very relevant for what is going on in there right now.

Please pray for Jesús, he has been working a job in the capital while we have been gone. Please pray that God does not move him out of Santa Rita just yet. He is the only one in his family who has accepted Christ yet. He may even be the one that God has to take over the Bible study in there if we are not able to get back in. We love these people. They are our friends. Some are Christians now, some not yet.

They Kicked Us Out

I was trying to wait and post this until I wasn't as sad and we had some type of plan, but I still am and we don't.

The town meeting on Saturday was supposed to be a chance for Jimmy to share and then let everyone vote again. Since there was going to be a new vote we didn't even address the fact that the last meeting was done in secret, based on complete lies and that several of the signatures appear to have been forged.

The lady from the town council in charge of the meeting was one of the 8 that spoke out against us. One of the other 8 was the one choosing who got to speak. After the first several people allowed to speak were found out to be against us, the lady in charge was still saying we were going to vote again.

Then those for us started speaking up. Several people from the community improvement committee spoke up about how we had helped out the village in several ways. They said that they were embarrassed about how we were being treated now. Some spoke out about land rights and how if they were now truly the owners of their property then Fabio has the right to build a Bible study on his. Others spoke up about those who wanted us kicked out and the lies that they were telling. Others pointed out that they don't kick out criminals yet want us to leave and how unjust that was.

Fabio was the only one who mentioned God though. He spoke up boldly. There are many new believers, some who couldn't be there that day, some who spoke up trying to share arguments that would appeal to those against us, some who were too afraid to speak up at all, but more than for anyone else in SR we want to fight this out for Fabio's sake. This 70+ year old man has learned about God and has given all. We saw him being mocked during the meeting and it broke our hearts. We cannot leave him there alone.

When the lady from the town council saw that there were not enough people against us to get a majority (when someone's watching the legitimacy of the signatures) she changed her story and said that the original "act" stands. She refused to hold another vote.

José's wife, the matriarch of the Kekchi, who was against us in the past had a change of heart. We have tried to reach out to her family several times because we really love them. She must have seen that. She let our opposition have it! That was surprising.

Those who actually spoke out against us specifically said all kinds of elaborate lies. Lorena, who we knew was only nice to our face from the beginning, with intentions of hurting our cause ended up describing it beautifully. She said, "Fabio, you speak so much of God now. They (meaning us) don't know how you used to talk before they got here." He has changed. He is a new creature in Christ. That fact right there makes ALL of this worth it.

So tonight was our first Monday night not being in SR. The act only said "Jimmy", so Jimmy tried to get me to go by myself tonight. I'm not 100% sure he was kidding.

What they did is against the laws of Guatemala, but that doesn't mean it would be the best decision right now to continue on like nothing happened. Please pray that God gives us wisdom. When Jesús gets back he could even keep the services going possibly. (He is in Guate working right now.) Jimmy is still talking with our lawyer. The people in SR are very upset about this for many reasons. It is a violation of property rights, so those who don't even care about God are effected by this decision. They might take care of the fight for us.

So we don't know anything other than that we are still in the middle of the story. It feels like Satan has been victorious. We feel like years of work have gone up in smoke. We feel lower right now than at any other time in our ministry, but the Truth is more powerful than our feelings. Our faith is strong and our God is real.

No matter what, people who wouldn't have heard did, many are now new creatures in Christ. We are gone, but the Holy Spirit is still at work in their hearts.

Please keep praying for Santa Rita.

Update on José Xol

We received support from a lot of different places for José and for the entire amount that he needed! Tuesday I was able to take the money that people had sent and visit him personally. When I arrived at his house, he gave me a big bear hug and through tears he said, "Brother, I'm so sad." After a long time he let go and we sat and talked. I explained where the money came from and all the people that had given and were still praying for him. He was very grateful that so many would want to help him in this time of need.

He already sold his truck because he could no longer stand the thoughts and memories it brought back up. He also mentioned the death threats he has been receiving even now. Monday they signed another agreement with the family in front of the Ministerio Público of that area. Legally he is responsible to pay the money, so this agreement and paying the Q50,000 frees him of any future responsibilities or extortion attempts. Even during the process they were still verbally abusive. Several times now different vehicles have made slow trips in front of his house while staring. While that could be any number of things, in this situation you can't be too quick to brush things off as coincidence.

With everything going on, José has been counseled to move, if only for a few years. His wife doesn't want to, but understands the risks to her and her daughters if they stay. They are seriously considering buying land in San Pancho, close to us. Since we are building we have had several people talk to our mason about land for sale and the prices are cheaper than most places.

This would put José the same distance from the church's headquarters, but 2.5 hours closer to the villages where he works each week. It will cut down considerably on his costs and travel time. Please pray for wisdom and opportunity for him to do this.

Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying and especially to those who gave and sacrificed to help our friend. You know the difference you made in his life and that of his family's but you may never know the number Kekchi people who will accept Christ because José is still around to minister to them.

Sometimes we look back at our ministry and see those times we've been able to encourage another national pastor or missionary, or make a small difference in the life of somebody here when there wasn't anybody else around who could help. While we would like to think and believe that God has even bigger plans for our ministry, sometimes we wonder if maybe we were here just for those moments, where we could keep somebody going so that they can do abundantly more than we can. One thing is for sure, God had us in the place He wanted us to be and through no effort of our own met José's need when he was looking at the impossible.

White Fields Day Three

This is from the last team. I am just a little late posting it.

Village #1: Santa Cruz Compuerto: 200 families, Campo Blanco.

There was a tropical storm going through on this day. When the team arrived in this first village it was pouring down rain.

The village was on the side of a hill, so you could see the people realize what was going on, come out of their houses, and walk down the mountain to come and watch.

Playing in the rain!

Wondering where everyone will fit... the team was too!

Squeezed in, no problem!

Will sharing his testimony!

Village #2: Nacimiento: 70 families, 1 poorly attended evangelical church. 1 family saved.

This is the one church in the village we were trying to help.

They made the team tamales and home made tostadas.

The rain let up just long enough to do the puppets and testimonies, but started again in time for the teens to do their skit and get all wet.

On the way to village #3 the team went through Tan Hoc. This was a village José and Domingo wanted to go to, but the request was rejected. The mayor and the people said that they do not want anything to do with God or the Bible in their village. Luis stopped the bus in the middle of the village and the team prayed for them before continuing on down the road.

Village #3: Esquipulas: 40 families, Campo Blanco.

The night before, José told Jimmy that he had cancelled the plans to go to this third village. He explained that a man had called him asking about receiving Christ after listening to the radio. After several attempts, José couldn't get a hold of him again, so he decided it was too far for the whole team to drive to when we weren't sure somebody even wanted us. Jimmy assured him that no matter the drive, if somebody was interested in salvation, we should go. The teenagers wholeheartedly agreed when we told them our plans.

Luis wasn't as positive... especially as he hit the bad part of the road.

He even got stuck one time. Everyone got out and Jimmy got in the mud to pry loose a boulder (it's a boulder now since this is the 3rd time I've told the story) stuck under the axle.

As they were driving around and through each obstacle (including two very shady looking bridges), he kept asking Domingo "Do other buses come through here every day?" Domingo replied that a bus just like Luis' comes through with no problem. When the team arrived at the village, they informed us that they were shocked to see us because a bus hasn't ever come through on that road before!

Jimmy recognized the village right away as one that the two of us along with Andy went to in July 2008 to do a medical clinic. You can read about that trip here.

During the movie, they found the guy that wanted to accept Christ. (He is in between José and Domingo in the photo below.) The Kekchi don't rush into any decision, so he said that if we would come back, he would accept Christ then. He said that he, his wife and two daughters will be ready to accept all at once.

Domingo and José were quick to set a date, so we are going back July 13th. The plan is to have a big service with music, preaching and tamales! They will be inviting the whole town to watch the family accept Christ. When they accept Christ, everybody will know about it! When told about the date that the family will be accepting Christ and the plans, two other families came forward saying that they too are interested in accepting Christ and are seriously thinking about it. After their statements, two additional families said that they weren't sure, but might possibly accept Christ too.

It is so exciting to have been here long enough to see "the rest of the story." The seeds that were started with a medical clinic two years ago, were helped along with both the involvement of the radio (the signal didn't reach here until Andy's church, Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, bought a new tube that increased its coverage range) and this youth team, and will finally come to fruition on July 13th.