Thursday- Happy Feet!

Hello Everyone Danielle here!

This will probably be our shortest blog. We gave away the shoes we brought today and it was an incredible experience. We have a shopping day tomorrow. Pray that God would continue to lead us. We´ve had some very cool experiences here today. We send our love!!!

Hi! It´s Rebecca. This mission trip so far has been seriously incredible and I can´t wait to come home and tell ya´ll all about it! I just got my second hot chocolate and I feel a sugar rush comin on.... Anyways, I love and miss you guys! Tell Riley and Bryan I say ¨goo goo¨.

Taylor Smith here, I just wanted to share a quick story about our Happy Feet production today at the church in the village of San Pedro. There I met a boy on Tuesday during VBS who stole my heart. His name is Francisco and he is about 2 years old. He is deaf along with his two sisters and is unable to speak. But the way God smiles through him just captures my soul. Today he came in and sat in the chair, waiting for someone to give him some shoes. I went to find him his size but all of the boys shoes were gone. I tried to give him a pair of girl shoes but they were too small. Proabably since I was biased, I especially wanted Francisco to walk away with some new shoes. I went back to the chaos of the shoe piles, and I prayed to God that Francisco would have some shoes that fit him. Only two seconds later I came across two flip flops with backs on them for boys. They fit perfectly. I was praising Jesus! I saw him take his shoes, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him use the shoes for a pillow as he laid down on the floor. I accidentally saw him quickly kiss his shoes and lay his head back on them. God´s grace was screaming to me in that moment, and it almost brought me to tears. Their appreciation for a new pair of used shoes has inspired me and I thank God for every blessing He provides for me. We take so much for granted and it´s amazing how one moment can change your life so much. ¡Jesuscristo te amas!

mucha lluvia (stephen and katie´s team)

Hey everyone back home, It´s Garrett here givin you the scoop on whats going on in Guatemala. First, this has got to be the most beautiful place I have Been in my entire life. But what sets it apart for me is the children. On the first day here Josh called me a ¨chica¨ and ever since that point everytime I get off the bus in San Juan the kids greet me with hugs and by shouting ¨chica!!!¨ These kids are so full of love and are always so happy to see us and their smiles make my day everytime I see them. Thats all for me...It´s pouring down rain here and I have limited time so I will yeild the computer to another person who has things they want to tell you. Adios!!

Hola! Its Zack. I have been in santa clara doing VBS for kids. Its the middle of raining season here so it is pouring. I cant wait to see you guys when i get back. adios

P.S. I bought some Guatamalen Ground coffee beans to bring back home.

Hola todos! Katie here. It has been a wonderful week here in guatemala. The people here are so beautiful and the impacto staff has taken such good care of us.

Today our team went to Santa Clara for the second time today where we hosted vbs for a round 150 kids. today we acted our the story of daniel in the lions den and had the kids make lion masks to participate as ´los leones´ in our skit. they seemed to really enjoy it. parents i want to take a moment to let you know you should be SO proud of your students. they have worked v very hard to reach out to understand and minister to a culture not their own. they have pressed through language barriers and many many plan changes while maintaining a positive attitude and a willingness to serve however asked. please keep us in your prayers over these next few days. tomorrow we are giving out shoes to our villages. please pray that needs will be met and jesus be glorified. we love you and will be seeing you soon. it has rained mucho mucho mucho here every day and it is curently raining a cantaros (cats and dogs) here which is why the whole team is not blogging tonight. stay tuned. remember we will not be blogging friday night bc we will be traveling back to the city. love! kmo

Life Under The Volcanos

This is Sandra and we are all going to write a little blog. Hey from Guatemala. This is the fourth day in Guatemala and we are all loving this country. The people of Guatemala truly embody God ´s love. Their love is contagious and its great. I miss mi familia y mis amigos. Adios. :)

Kayla here. I don´t think any of us could have anticipated how early these kids would completely captivate our hearts, and I don´t think any words could do justice the way those warm, chocolate brown eyes look when they´re begging you for another piggy back ride--it is sweetness in it´s most raw, beautiful form. There are already several little ones that I am plotting to obtain and return home with. The fuhreh is saying that I have already rambled too much, what can I say. Continue sending your prayers to this beautiful, rainy country--God´s presence is as thick as the fog that sits atop the volcanoes, little miracles are happening right under our noses.

Jmo,

Keeping it short. This place is amazing and so much more than I expected. I love the kids and I love the area. Learning things about myself I never knew about. We are all alive, well, and thriving. Mucho amor por mi mama y papa.

Travis,

... I really don´t know what to say so yeah.

Hey it´s Matt!!!!!!!!!

hey mom i´m alive hope you arent too worried! btw we got lost in the Guatemalan Ghetto and it was awesome!! loving speaking spanish with all these people. everyone is so nicee! Bye!

Hey parents, it´s Jon(athan),

Still alive, no tapeworm thus far (that I know of). Looking forward to telling you more about the trip once I am home.. still didn´t check my email or facebook :) Bye for now!

It´s Mary, this country is so beautiful it would be extremely difficult to deny God´s amazing power and omniciance while being surrounded by these volcanos and these beautiful, caring people. Love to all my hermanos y hermanas in christos.

hey! this is meridee!!!

it has been such a joy having your kids on my team and seeing them grow over the last few days. we have been so blessed in our travels so far so thank you for your prayers. more soon =)

A Whole New World

Hey. We can not access the blog tonight, but hopefully tomorrow we´ll be able to use it.

So here is the ¨blog¨. Taylor Smith here! We are all enjoying the culture and enjoying the views along with the beautiful souls that Guatemala holds. Everyone is doing well, no emergencies so parents, no worries. God is moving in amazing ways and it is only Monday! We ask for prayers from everyone that our hearts are filled with the love of the Father so we can all overflow the hearts of the Guatemalan children at our Vacation Bible School programs.

Hello everyone! Taylor Elwood writing to you from Guatemala! This trip has been amazing so far, we had our first VBS which went perfect, praise God! We went and prayed over a construction site that another missions team was working at. Keep praying for us! God bless!

Hey guys its little Danielle here, this trip has been UNREAL! It´s such a great experience, the people are so nice and the area is so pretty! God has been great. He has flowed his love through each and everyone of us and we all are being moved in such amazing ways! Pray for us! God bless you all!

Greetings Friends and family, this is Jacob Durbin Raines writing to you from Guatemala!!!i! this is the third day so far and it is AMAZING how much GOD has obviously moved with us and through us. The people here are extremely friendly in contrast to the people in the U.S. many specific prayers have been answered and by GOD´s grace he has revealed to me many things about mine and HIS heart. The kids here are awesome and well behaved, and for all you parents out their I am totally surprised in how safe we are, the culture of the people makes it that way. GOD is great and I LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!!

hey guys, its Alex brewer. his culture here is so different. like in America, you walk up to some one and just randomly start talking, chances are they're gonna think your crazy. here, you walk up to any random person and they want the have a huge conversation with you. the people here are so nice to every one, yet this whole country is just so poor. most people live in shacks here. if any one in the States lived in a shack. they would flip. and the kids. they are so sweet that you just want to just stuff them in your suite case and take them home. lol and it just brakes your heart just knowing a lot of these kids have struggles that we my never have, and at a young age.all i can say is these kids are a blessing from the lord God all mighty. i love you so much mom, dad, mandi and linzi

RECAP

Although my name was found at the bottom of each post this week, most of the writing has been done by others. I know that each of us who attempted to capture the week in writing will look back at this blog and only half remember putting together these sentences. We were rushed, so our words are incomplete and there will be spelling errors. That being said, there’s still a lot going on in my head that I haven’t written… As some of our team still works out the details of getting home, those of us back in the States are still processing the details of a long week in our minds and our hearts. There are moments that all of us will remember that cannot be described. We can attempt to describe the landscape, the beautiful mountains that surrounded us, but the true impact will not be words in a blog but in the lives of the people affected. I can tell you about the look on a friends face after saying goodbye, I can describe the look on hundreds of childrens’ faces as they sang songs of praise, I can tell you about the moments I watched as spiritual gifts emerged from my friends and teammates for the first time, or I can describe the emotion in friends’ voices as they poured out the truths that God was teaching them. Unfortunately, those will only be descriptions. I know that you will hear descriptions of events from the people you know who made this trip, but you will only be able to truly understand the depths of what has happened as you watch the changes become a reality in all of us. It could be very easy for the team as well as our friends and family at home to concentrate on the sickness that interrupted the trip, and for some, has delayed their return home, but I am certain that our hindsight will prove that we were firmly held in God’s protecting hands at all times. I am continually learning this lesson. So many times I see my circumstances and wonder where God is, yet each time I look back at my life I see his hand at work to guide me and to protect me. This is the same God who gave his hands to healing, to washing feet, and to be pierced by nails. He has not promised to level our path, but he has promised to go with us. This is a truth that God continued to blossom in my mind that is easy to write about from my comfortable home, but was not as easy to apply in the middle of my own trials. I was sick and had so little strength, and I was offered the chance to excuse myself… my mind told me to rest in bed, but God asked me to rest in his strength. Like he has proven to me over and over, he was enough. It may be that this is just another inadequate description, but I hope that my life can be a testament that this is true of our God. He is our strength. He is our redeemer. He is all powerful and all loving. Please continue to keep the team in your prayers. We still have some that are yet to return. Pray for safe travels and continued healing. And for all of us, pray that God continues to keep us mindful of the lessons and the truths that he has revealed to us so that we may grow up in our salvation. Continue to pray for Guatemala. We have left a piece of our hearts with the people of Guatemala. There are people who spent the week faithfully serving us despite divided hearts. Please keep Tony in your prayers as his father is in need of heart surgery. Lift up Freddy as well, praying for his young son who is sick. Although they may only be names to you, these men and the rest of the Impacto team were unbelievable servants. They are doing great things to lift up the name of Jesus. Pray that God continues to work on behalf of the great ministries that are already thriving in Guatemala, and ask that God continues to build up leaders who will lead that nation closer to the heart of God. Again, thanks for all the support, Richie

Jimenez-Bryant Post 5

Humanity will search the world for love. It is the daily goal for most people. They walk out their door every day looking for something to make life worth it. A man will travel the world – in vain – looking for someone worthy of his love. But Christ has made life so much simpler. When you walk out your door, love your neighbor. The first person you see, love your neighbor. When someone is in need, love your neighbor.

It makes our work easier when we understand who our neighbor is. The people we've been coming in contact with each day may not have much in common with us, but it has become our joy to show them the love of Christ. Today was another day and another opportunity to be a blessing to the people of Guatemala. Like the last few days, we spent part of the day playing with the kids and part of the day trying our best to teach them about who Christ is. Our vacation Bible schools have all concentrated on the question of "who is God?" We have talked about God as our Creator, Provider, Protector, and today's theme, our Savior. As the week has progressed, so has the unity and organization of our team. Even with last minute changes each day, God has always provided solutions to the issues we run into. We are so blessed to serve a God that works on our behalf. He has shown up over and over this week, and any success that comes from this trip must be attributed to our Gracious God.

So now we have just a small amount of time left to enjoy Guatemala. Tomorrow we will be traveling across the lake to a city called Panajachel. We will have the opportunity to enjoy a little touristy distraction from an otherwise very stressful, very demanding, but very rewarding week. We would greatly appreciate your continued prayers as our trip comes closer to it's end. Due to dehydration and exhaustion we've had some minor health issues throughout the week. Although some have already emerged, another wave of sickness has overcome a few others. Please pray for a special touch from the Healer and a boost of energy from our true source of strength for the duration of our time here.

Impacto (our host ministry in Guatemala) is in the process of building up the local church in order to no longer be reliant on missionaries. In the past, much of the ministry taking place, especially with children, has been done by missionaries during the summer months. With this new initiative, there will be new leaders trained and brought up who will be able to continue the work that is already taking place. The churches of Guatemala will no longer be bound, but will be able to thrive year round. We have grown to love these people and we are praying that this new ministry will be a huge boost to the spiritual health of this nation. I have been blessed by my conversations with the leaders of Impacto and know that there are great leaders here. But more are needed to spread the love of Christ. Please join us in praying for more leaders to step up and be built up for service here in Guatemala.

Thank you for continuing to support us. Your partnership in this trip has been the driving force for everything that has been accomplished. God's love is being poured out and recieved. The glory is all His.

Richie

Mighty Morphin Flippin Flamingos Post 4

Hola amigos y familia,

Today was not the greatest day as far as health goes. Garin, Gaby, and Jolisa all stayed at the hotel for most of the day with what we think is a stomach bug. We started off the day with another great breakfast with Pastor Luis and his church. Eggs, fruit, tortillas and black beans. Yum! After breakfast, team Vinke joined us for our sports camp at the school down the street from the church in San Juan. We had a great time, and really got to enjoy loving on the kids. Before we left, the principal thanked us for being able to spend time with the kids this week and expressed her gratitude for always having smiles on our faces and leaving the kids with smiles on theirs. It was truly a God moment. After she finished thanking us, we felt led to leave the soccer balls and volleyballs with the children. It was cool to be able to leave them with something to remember us by, other than the memories they would have of us playing with them.

We left the school and walked back to the church for lunch and found Garin on one of the benches asleep. Tony´s wife took him and Stacy back to the hotel for the rest of the day. (Because he was not feeling well, I was forced to take over the blog writing for the night.. =P Although he is sitting next to me right now.) After a lunch of tuna sandwiches and peanut butter sandwiches, we hopped on the bus to San Pedro. We went to the same church that we did the VBS at on Tuesday. We started off singing ¨En mi corazon¨and then sang ¨Gloria a dios¨with the kids. It gives me so much joy every time because they get so into the songs! It´s so cute! Garrick and Gabe told the story of Jesus healing the paralytic as our bible story and did a fantastic job relating how Christ is our Savior. After we played with them for a little while, we gathered them back in a group and explained to them about Jesus washing his disciples feet and how much love He showed in doing so. We then asked them if we could wash theirs and to stand in line if they wanted us to do that for them. It was such a humbling act and most of the children asked questions about why we were doing it, but all of them were extremely grateful. All of them were smiling. It was very hard to say bye this time because we knew we weren´t coming back, at least not on this trip (wink wink)!

Dinner was fantastico! We had rice and beef tips with vegetables along with pineapple and mangos. Garin felt well enough to join us for dinner, but Gaby and Jolisa (and a few people from the other teams) stayed at the hotel. We had a very eventful day and besides half the team being sick, God had His hands over us and we were able to push through. Very grateful for that.

Tomorrow we are going shopping! It´s going to be tons of fun! We love you guys, and we are asking for healing over our team.. Gracias and we will see you soon!

-Shawna

Team Vinke: From My Mind To My Heart

The day to day mission work has begun to look the same in concept, but there always seems to be vastly different teachings from each day. The day starts with the team sharing their favorite bible verses over breakfast. This time sets the pace for the rest of the day as we set out to do work in the name of Jesus. We then go to different schools to provide a sports camp or sorts for the children here. This time is very precious for the children, and they love to hang out with us as we throw around objects of all sorts. We have grown to love the children here.

After a couple hours of sports camp, the team comes back for a quick lunch followed by providing a vacation bible school to some of the local churches. This time has been a challenge, but a rewarding one. The church we traveled to today was unique in the sense of elevation. The church is so high on the mountains that the clouds literally touch you as they come by. We had around 200 children pile into the church, and I had the opportunity to teach them that God is our protection. While I prepared to teach this to them, I couldn't help but ask myself, "What is the point of this teaching?" It is good to know that God is our protection, but how does that change my life or anyone elses on a day to day basis?

Truth is a funny thing. We are free to believe or deny it, and our actions can believe or deny it as well. We learn things in churches, from people, or even on mission trips and our lives continue to be stagnant. There isn't any transformation taking place, although we are learning transformational things. This concept was present in Jesus' time as well. Although there had been many people who knew the law of God, there was no transormation that was taking place. The problem was that the truth they knew was dwelling solely in their mind and never in their heart. We often operate the same way. We know that God is faithful, yet we refuse to act out on faith. We know that God is protector, but we feel the need to protect ourselves.

We needed to do more than relay information to children. We needed to teach them how to live lives that honor God. Today, we taught the kids to act out as God told Joshua to as he prepared to lead an entire nation of people to an unknown promised land. God's message to Joshua in his anxiety and fear was "Be strong and courageous." I feel that's what God wanted to say to all of us today.

Mission work can feel really random at times, but in retrospect it has been plain to see God's hand on our time here. He has been leading the team on a journey to not settle for solely knowing the truth, but also experiencing the bold crossing of taking truth from the mind to the heart. This trip continues to be an amazing endevor for everyone on Team Vinke, and God will continue to bless our efforts, so long as we continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
-Michael

Velez/Kiningham update 2

5/30/11

Today we held a sports camp for a school and then went to a nearby church for VBS. After the sports camp, I was fighting exhaustion. We went to the church and started preparing for the kids to come. I said a prayer in my head because I needed a reboost so badly. We got through the songs, the craft, and the story. It was taking all of my strength just to stand. As crafts were wrapping up , a little girl came up to me and said, "jugar?" This meant she wanted me to go outside and play with her. She reached for my hand and led me outside. We were shortly joined by all the rest of the children. That little girl was sent straight from God. I felt like it was him saying, "Come on Carlie, wake up and be with me." The rest of the afternoon with the kids was great . They braided my hair, sat in my lap, and what do all girls do? Giggle.

5/31/11

We were able to go to the same location today. It was nice being able to see the same kids. Every mission trip I have gone on, God always shows himself. Our lesson for VBS was God is our provider. We thought we weren't going to have enough supplies because so many kids showed up. As always, God provdided and everyone had a craft. Funny how that works right?

6/1/11
My heart was stolen today and it was without warning. First, there was Brenda . She was seven years old and she was sick. I wanted to love her all the more knowing that she wasn't feeling well. I painted her nails and held her. That was all that was needed. I then met another little girl that shared the same name as me. Once we met, we didn't seperate. She is an angel. When it was time to say goodbye, we were hugging and kissing each other. I was hoping I would see Carolina later on. My wish came true. After dinner I stepped out onto the road to look for her. I looked and she was running towards me with her arms wide open. Her face was beaming as I scooped her up in my arms. I didn't let her go until we had to leave. She kept pointing out flowers and telling me the colors of each one. The second time saying goodbye to her was even harder than the first. On the bus ride back to the hotel, Carolina was all I could think about. That little girl has my heart and | am dreading the last goodbye. Today was wonderful, but emotional.

Mighty Morphin Flippin Flamingos post #3

Hey guys! Today has truely been a ´delicious´day for everyone on this team. We are deeply learning about trusting in the Lord for strength these past few days. Today especially being one of those days. God rests on our hearts and we rest on His love. Again we devoured another delicious breakfast and went back to the school in San Pedro and just loved on the children who attended. We played another hardcore game of soccer, kickball, sang songs and above all just poured out love into the little ones. They are amazing kids who have very strong hearts and are just aching for love, and we so grateful to be the ones to pour out Christ´s love to them! We were all very tired today, many of us were sick as well and there was a haze of ´bleh´in the air. I honestly thought that some of us were just going to pass out with exhaustion. I think that we were all alittle disheartened to about some of the kids we were going to see today, them being a very roudy group and all. But God taught us a whole different lesson today as we did VBS. The children were so amazing! They were very easy to get along with and were so obedient in the class we were teaching. All of them interacted very well as Hogan did a very passionate skit on how God protects us. It has been a deep and beautiful day to say the least my friends!
Here are some words from the members on my team, they all wrote down significant things that they would like to share about their time here so far.

Today, after sports camp, I spoke to the kids about God´s most important commandment (Matt 22.37-39). That verse pretty much sums this trip up for me. God has broke me and is building me back up in His image. Life changing journey. - (Chris Lovett)

Today was awesome and unexpecting. So everybody knows that I dont speak a lick of spanish, but i taught a spanish class today! They were learning english, I know its awesome right!? LOL. So i helped the students write sentences in english. It was honestly amazing! - (Jolisa)

Today was an extremely good day for me. I was pushed out of my comfort zone by the team, and i was terrified of going up infront of everyone and translating. Nicole prayed over me and i felt the spirit of God right there by my side telling me ,¨You can do this.¨It was amazing and the whole team cheered me on! - (Gabby)

Smiles, That´s how we are greeted every day. The Guatemalans are such a happy people and i feel so blessed to be a part of God´s purpose in this country. I cannot describe how amazing this trip has been in a few short sentances. But i will tell you grateful i am. Grateful for you monetary donations to get me here and your prayers while i´ve been here. I´m also grateful for such wonderful teammates who are so full of God´s love. We have gotten so close in such a short time but there is an abundance of God´s love pouring from each of us and we are abñle to share that with the children here. Its an awesome feeling, so thank you! We love you guys so much and cant wait to share everything when we get back! - (Shawna)


LOVE YOU ALL!
-Garin H.

Team Jimenez/Bryant Day 4

God's blessings demand our responsiblity. Each day that we are here is another day that the relationships with the children we serve grows more and more. Even before we arrived at the church for breakfast the children were already waiting to greet us. This wasn't because we had gifts or candy, but because they knew we were coming to play with them or to just be with them. They have to walk a few blocks just to get to the church and we usually arrive at 7:30am for breakfast. During our morning devotion we talked about remaing in Christ. One of the verses that was brought up was about remaining in the vine, Christ, to recieve nourishment and strength. This was a beautiful reminder of how dependent we are on God for everything we do.

Things weren't much different as we arrived at the school. We barely walked into the school courtyard before the children started pouring out of the classrooms, running up to us and nearly dragging us down with hugs. We love spending time with them. We play soccer, jumprope, drew pictures, watched them in their music class, did relay races, spun kids, frisbee,... you name it. Some kids, they didn't need all that. All they wanted to do was be right next to you and be able to just rest their hands on you. Just to know that you're near. Nearness. It builds relationships. I'm really starting to grow very fond of the children. We first started just with high fives but now we're hugging. When we left, I started hugging the children. As I was walking to the door, one of the girls ran up to me. I kneeled down and hugged her and she kissed me on the cheek. Words cannot express the feeling that came over me.

After we left the school, we had a great lunch back at the church and headed up to the high mountainous city of Panyebar. It is so high up that its usually cloudy and you feel literally on the summit of the mountain. The children there were amazing. We had the church packed full of children for the VBS. At VBS we learned that God was our protector. We sang songs in spanish, taught about the armor of Christ, and then built sheilds with the kids that they were able to decorate. Afterwords they all played soccer down the hill and I stayed up at the church with the pastor. We got into a discussion about the church itself. Its been there for 2 years and has a total of 70 members excluding the children. I told them I would pray for them and the pastor continued to thank us for coming out. It was in that moment when he asked me if he could pray with me. So right there, at the threshold of the church, the pastor prayed for our team, our mission, our travels, and all those that were there.

We finished the day having dinner at the church, sharing our experiences from that day. After dinner, some of the children came down again and we played soccer in an alley behind the church grounds.

Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray for one of Impacto's leaders father, Antonio. Antonio needs triple bypass surgery to open up the clots in his heart and the family doesn't have the money yet. Please keep him and the family in your prayers.
2. Please pray for the teams health as soom of them have gotten sick lately and the days are starting to settle on some of us.
3. Please pray for the church in Panyebar that God's favor falls over it in an unusual way. Also, keep the children that we serve in your prayers. That walls of barriers come crashing to the ground and we are impacting their lives.

Prayers resonate much farther then our hands can reach.

Thank You
Emy Iacob

Team Jimenez - Bryant post 3

Today we started the day at breakfast sharing scripture and preparing for another day of serving in Guatemala. After breakfast we headed up the the mountains along with Julia and Juandi's team to Santa Clara. The ride up there, the view was completely amazing. The mountains and the lakes are completely picturesque. It doesn't even feel real that we are actually in Guatemala and surrounded by such beauty. As we arrived in Santa Clara, we had to get off the bus and cram into a van to to to the school in Santa Clara. As we drove up the hill to the school, the children ran out of the school in such excitement to see us. We conducted a field day, played soccer, painted nails, and taught the children Red Rover. It was such a blessing to see how happy the children were with just the presence of us. After we left the school, we headed to a church in Santa Clara to prepare for VBS. As the children began to arrive you could hear them at the doors of the church awaiting in anticipation to come in. As the children began to pile in one by one the church began to fill up and children were outside listening through the windows to the songs and message that was spoke. The message that we taught was on God the Provider and how He provides for our every need. When we started to pass out the paper bags for them to decorate and make their own for the craft, we began to realize that we didn't have enough bags for each kid to decorate. We then collected all of the construction paper that we could find and started folding them into bags in an attempt to make a bag for each kid. Which was proof that GOD does provide even in the most unexpected circumstances.

What continues to amaze me in how simple the life is in Guatemala. They are not consumed with facebook, cellphones, tv's, or blogs and their lives are still filled with so much joy. God is seriously changing my heart and teaching me to put things into perspective. I honestly just feel so small in comparison to the size of this whole world that God has created. As I'm sitting here feeling the wind as the thunderstorms begin to roll in, I am so thankful to be apart of this mission trip, which I was very nervous about. But once again God provides and shows me that He is in control. I serve such an amazing Father and I am a grateful, loved, happy, and overwhelmed child. My heart is truly full.

Even after all the exhaustion of the day our team is truly blessed and overwhelmed with the people of Guatemala and have fallen in love with the hearts of each of these children. Please continue to pray for each of us and pray that we be the hands and feet of Christ in all that we do. Please pray that we shower these kids with the love of Christ so that they may know Him even more.

Team Vinke Post 2

There has been a lot happening in this wonderful trip. The wonderful stories that have been written and the changes that have been happening within us are tremendously inspiring to me. I wanted to tell you about my team mates in this post.

Jonathan is one of our two leaders, and he has beem a calm leader to all of us, inspiring us to move forward in our faith. His fluency in Spanish has surely been an aid to us as we struggle to communicate, but my favorite part of Jonathan is that he simply cares deeply about the well being of those he is leading. I'm tremendously thankful to have him on the team.

Our other leader is Jonathan's wife, Aubrey. She has resolved to be driven in this trip, owning the spiritual growth of the team. The first night we met as a team, she introduced a simple system of helping each other grow. The system is telling eachother one challenge accompanied by one encouragement. It isn't complicated, but rather it is simply intentional in helping eachother reach the goals God has given us for this trip. She has been a blessing.

Gerrick is hilarious. His sense of humor is a constant breath of fresh air, not to mention his trtansparent humility. His transperency has been a catalyst for deep discussions to happen.

Anna is one of the more quiet and calm members of the team, especially when compared to Gerrick, but she has been a wonderful team member. She has the gift of kindness and hospitality, which has been a great ministry tool on this trip.

Matthew is a character. Our arrival to any village is met by a bunch of joyful children screaming Matteo! The children simply love Matthew, and his love for them has done much to inspire me to push further in our mission here. He is also a very talented guitar player and singer.

Gena has been a wonderful friend. It has been great to watch her become more acquianted with the city and its inhabitants. Her joyful attitude has been fueling the rest of the team as we spend many exhausting days working with the local churches.

Katie is always fun to be around. Her finely/tuned practical approach to this mission trip has been a means to reach the children here. Her heart for the peopel here has inspired me to try to get to know everyone a little better, although we come into contact with hundreds each day.

If you don't know these people well, you should change that. I am immensely blessed to be part of this team.

Mighty Morphin Flippin Flamingos!

So, I just realized that I may have given the team´s name incorrectly on my last post. In saying that, take note, we are the Mighty Morphin Flipping Flamingos. Dont ask why, because I dont know either, other than that the name sounds epic indeed. lol.
I am not entirely sure where I left off so Ill just jump into the amazing events of yesterday and today. Yesterday we went up into the mountains in San Pedro and did a VBS for the children in the village. Although it was chaos, I think we have all agreed that God shows us beauty in chaos. The children were very happy to hang out with us and we loved loving on them. We ended the day with an awesome game of soccer(fútbal)with them. The crazy thing was that we were so high up into the mountains that we were actually playing the game in the mountain clouds. Amazing to say the least.
Today started out with a great breakfast and a great devotion time with Pastor Carlos where we discussed being a living sacrifice in Christ Jesus. We then took a short hike up the road from the church and set up sports camp with the local school. Soccer is quickly becoming an awesome sport in my eyes. During our game, the music class of the school came out into the courtyard to practice drum beats. This so happened to be at the exact moment of an intense soccer shootout. Quite epic I must say. Some of the little girls found it hilarious to paint all the guys fingernails, so i am currently typing with electric purple cuticles. Needless to say the energy of the day was filled with love, and it was a beautiful thing.
So as far as personal things from our team, we have a couple great stories. Chris on the first day here decided to go play with some children on one of the broken down walls outside of the church. The wall collapsed on him pinning him down to the ground and giving him some wicked scrapes. He is perfectly fine and i think he´s wearing the ufc fighter look quite well. Jonathan stayed back in San Juan with a couple other leaders to help equip some of the local adults with skills for VBS classes. There has been alot of great stories shared and great people who are coming with open hearts yearning to be poured into. Gods presence is very evident in this town! We all agree that the Lord is pushing us and stretching us in our faith´s and its an amazing time of growth in each one of our spiritual journies. Also the food is flippin awesome! Shout out to the cooks for sure!

Prayer requests for this trip...
For Tony(from impacto missions) His father is going through surgery. I dont know the details but please pray that he is safe.

For Manuel(bus driver) He was sick and out of work for about a month, so he is afraid that his children might not be able to stay in school because of the costs. Please pray that the Lord will just bless him and his family and that his trials will strengthen his faith in Christ.

For our team, that God would keep showing us new things on this endeavor and that his love will be evident in us and through our actions.

LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU!!

-Garin H.

Our apologies to all for keeping you in suspense. Although our day of travel on Saturday and our time in Guatemala City through Sunday was all smooth and enjoyable, we only now have gotten access to the internet cafe. We kept telling ourselves that our friends and family back home needed to hear from us, and we kept hoping that, for you, no news is good news, but we are very excited to now have the chance to provide updates.
I hope the recent flood of posts doesn´t discourage you from keeping in touch with our journey. Each team is enjoying different experiences and so each team will provide some variety to this blog. Thank you for continuing to support us through your prayers, and expect to see new posts at the end of each day.
Signing off until tomorrow,
Richie

Team Jimenez- Bryant 2 -

Guatemala in the First 48 Hrs.

the first 48 hrs of this trip have seemed like a lifetime. I don´t think i have ever been more nervous to do anything in my whole life. Still to this moment I have to keep reminding myself ¨I AM IN GUATEMALA!!¨

We arrived in Guatemala City after a 4 hr flight and I was pleasently surprised to find out that we were going to stay at a compind instead of taking a bus 3 more hours to our actualy destination. WE met out fealess evangelistic leader Pastor Louis, who welcomed 40 somthing American missionaries into his humble home. He and his family have graciously cooked us breakfast, lunch and dinner. OH and did I mention, the food here... Amazing. We spent most of the day relaxing and bonding as a team and doing random activities together. I spent most of the time watching a serious 4 square tornument and playing soccer with the fellas. By the end of the day i honestly think i could have fallen asleep standing up, the altitude and jet lag are something serious. We ended the day with a small group meeting and devotional. All 5 of the girls in our room were zonked in 5 min.

Day 2 was as equally long. I feel like maybe the minuates are longer here, or maybe the hustle of my crazy life has been removed and i can actually enjoy time instead of checking another day off the calender. We started ouyr day by having a quiet time, then an all team devotional with breakfast. This consisted of a few of us sharing our favorite verses and sharing what they mean to us. i shared Psalms 62 1-2. shortly afterwards we went to an all spanish church. Then hoped on out buses and headed for San Juan. San Juan is a beautiful small town full of life. It is so crazy to think this life has been completly unknown to me until now. As we rode along a tiny twisting one way road through the mountains i could feel my heart shifting. The simplicity of everything here is mind blowing. People everywhere. Men, women, children,and wild dogs all living a life so forgein to me.

We we able to spend a little time interacting with children today...YIKES. If any of you know me this is WAY out of my comfort zone. The best i have to offer these children is a smile and game of soccer.

Last night I sat on a rooftop that overlooks the whole city, a lake and a few volcanos. There was a slight storm working its way over the mountain tops brining in a welcomed cool breeze as well as the most breath taking light show i have ever seen. The lightening was lighting up the sky behind the clouds. As i sat there writing and reflecting i can hear a church service echoing off the mountains. People are praising our big and wonderful God using only their voices. It has been one of the most beautiful moments of my life. everything from my world has been striped away. Everything except My God and a hand full of faithful brothers and sisters. Two days down and its been an experience i will never forget.

¨¨The Flying Flippin Flamingo´s Blog¨¨

What´s up friends and family!? This is Garin here just letting you all know that we arrived on time and safe as ever. These past few days here have truly been amazing to say the least. The people are wonderful, the scenery is breathtaking and most of all God´s love is very evident!
So, allow me to get all you up to date on the events taken place thus far. First and foremost, our team had a great time hanging out and growing as friends and as well as family in our meetings preceeding the take off of this trip. Gabby and Jollisa have certainly grown close as prayer partners and I would certainly dub them the instigators of humor so far! Anyways, the flight went very smoothly and we arrived on time. After we gathered the luggage we immediately met up with Senòr Tony from Impacto, he helped us get what we needed on the bus and took us to the neighborhood we stayed at in Guatemala city. And let me say, Tony is a great guy! He has an amazing heart and personality and it´s very hard not to like the guy. We met up with Pastor Luis who graciously welcomed all the teams into his home were we ate, sang praises and engaged eachother in great community. Pastor Luis gave us the lowdown on all we are planning to do and from his neighborhood we traveled 4 hours up and through beautiful mountains. Now at the time you could not see anything 50ft. in front of you due to extreme fog, but we´ve been driving up and down the mountains for the past few days and its truly awesome to see God´s creations in this aspect.
On Sunday we were blessed to attend the church Pastor Luis leads. We listened to him preach a great lesson about Jesus´sermon on the mount, and played with the children of the congregation. The way these children appreciate things is so different from the way the ones at home do. Yesterday on the bus ride up here i saw a little boy digging through a pile of trash, so i waved at him and immediately he jumped up with a huge smile on his face and waved back. This boy was just in pure delight to say hello, ¨as most of the children here are¨, its soo amazing and convicting to see how they have so little and yet are happier and more content than most children ive seen around gwinnett. God has big things planned for us on this trip, and we´re quickly finding this out. I would love to share more at the moment but sadly i cannot. Just know that everything is going well and that God is wrecking every one of our lives and its a great feeling.

Psalm34:4-7, I sought the Lpord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant. And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them:

Love you guys!
Garin H.

Day One: The Journey

5AM came a little early for the team. We met at a Quick Trip to carpool and pray for the journey ahead of us. As we drove to the airport, we shared pleasant conversation of our present interests and the trip ahead of us. Tiredness had sapped any external excitement we had for Guatemala as we jumped through the many hoops of fire at the airport commonly known as security, but internally we were all anticipating great things to come. While the security gates were tremendously inconvenient, most of them were passed through relatively smoothly, save a rather awkward encounter Matthew had with our host. Let´s just say that they were on a first name basis after their encounter.

The plane ride itself was much less troublesome. It served us as an opportunity to get to know one another. As we began our descent into Guatemala City, I could not help but notice the wondrous beauty of the land beneath us. There was much to be learned in the landscape of Guatemala. The picture painted below us called for my attention. I laid my book aside, directing my eyes toward the picture below me as I struggled to find the words to describe the childlike excitement I felt. I simply could not communicate the wonder of my experience to my team mates sitting beside me.

There was a profound lesson for me to learn as I was a spectator of creation. In the physical realm we dwell in, we can often elevate our attention to the created rather than the creator, or the provided rather than the provider. As human beings, it is natural that we gravitate toward the tangible. The bible has a different plea however. Psalm 97:5 tells us that "The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth." The verse provokes a question: if these mountains are wondrous, how much more wondrous must the sculptor of them be? These awe-inspiring masses of land melt in the presence of their creator. The full beauty of creation is found in the pursuit of the creator. It requires a certain attention to the things of God. Today, where is your attention? The only reaction we could produce from ours was worship.

-Michael

Guatemala Bound!

5-28-11
Today felt like the longest day. Once we actually arrived in Guatemala, it felt like we had been here for days. Two buses picked us up at the airport to take us to the compound. The compound is guarded and surrounded by gates. Within these walls was a community and we were able to walk around in small groups without worry. Not long after we unpacked our things, we met Pastor Luiz and his family. We also met some other members of the Impacto staff.
The last time I was in a foreign country, people did not greet each other with a hug and kiss. In India, the most that was acceptable was a handshake. Greeting one another with a hug and kiss on the cheek is part of the Latin culture. After lunch we had free time. Right down the street from where we stayed, there was a little park with a basketball court(complete with soccer goals on each end), a zipline and places to sit and talk with one another. Today has been very relaxed. I can´t wait to see what the rest of the week has instore.


5-29-11

At breakfast this morning our leader picked a few people to share their favorite verses and then explain why that verse was their favorite. I found this a very refreshing way to start the day. There are a few verses that I love but one has been in my heart lately. 2nd Corinthians 12:9-10 ¨But he said to me, ¨ My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.¨ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ´s power may rest on me. That is why for Christs sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.¨ I can go back to very specific times in my life where this verse showed me so much truth about God. It is in those times of weakness that God is growing and stretching you. He never fails to show up.
After breakfast, we headed to church. I got to connect with a 20-year old girl named Maria. There were moments when nothing was said, but we just sat in silence. Every now and then we would strike conversation and it was nice to understand a little. I really enjoyed being able to connect with her.
After church, we headed to Lake Atitlan. We drove 4 hours in the mountains. As we were driving through, for a long period of time we were in a cloud. I was sitting by the window and could see the edge of the road. But that was it. I knew we were up very high, but there was nothing to see but cloud. There was an eerie feeling inside of me. I was reminded of the third lord of the rings: the return of the king. The part when Aragorn had no choice but to go through the mountain to seek the dead spirits for help. Anyone who tried to pass through, never made it back alive. You can see where my imagination took ahold of me and ran. I also thought of Jurassic Park. Mountains, forest, eerie cloud fog...I was certain I was going to see a raptor dart in and out of the trees.
We made it to the hotel safe and sound. I founda beast with wings in our bathroom( AKA the largest moth I´ve ever seen) and happily killed it with my sparkly purple flip flops. I named it Thor. Not because the movie just came out, thats just the name it deserved.

Introducing team Jimenez/Bryant

If I were to find myself seeing people as they are seen by God... that's just too great a burden. The responsibility is suddenly overwhelming. It’s inconvenient. It takes so much time out of my day. It is an easy thing to go through life with only one’s own interests at heart. It is simple and clean. People are like objects, like pawns that are either tools for me to get what I want or else obstacles in the way of getting what I want. Every man for himself, right?

But we are commanded otherwise. And this is why we do what we do.

We will not excuse ourselves from what we are commanded. We will not bypass the question, “What can I do?” Should we expect to change the world? I don’t know, but we can be obedient. We can do our part.

We are a group who has been called together to serve, and so we follow the call to Guatemala. Our part is to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a broken world, to follow the example of loving others without expectation of anything returned, to bring the Kingdom. We represent countless family and friends who are partnering with us. We hope that you will join us on this journey. We hope that as God works in us and through us, you will be encouraged. We serve a God that is alive and active. He loves us and pursues us. Please be blessed by the news we share, and please keep us in your prayers. Join us in praying for safety, for needs to be met financially, and for the people in Guatemala to be blessed by our presence as we will, undoubtedly, be blessed by our experience.

Richie Brannon

Video

Guatemala - The Flood from Samuel Laubscher on Vimeo.

An edited version with shorter run-time and subtitles.