Our morning started with team devotions and Pastor John going through Colossians 3:16.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Colossians 3:16
We focused on that the verse starts with ‘let’. Meaning it’s a choice- you can or cannot have the word of Christ dwell in you . This is an option; It’s up to us. We can’t make anyone love God’s word. We can only encourage and show how beautiful, and compelling it is- so that it will grow their heart to see its riches.
We reflected on when was the last time God’s word has truly thrilled each one of us. The team shared many examples. Susan explained that being here and in the presence of the Lord has been a humbling time when reading the word. Kathy shared that during her reading this morning she read ‘as a deer pants for water my soul waits for you’- which being here in Guatemala truly shows how the world is our stagnant water and God is our living water. A real picture for what we are experiencing here on this trip. Then Jane explained how God amazes her. He shows up, He is kind, empowering. Constantly amazed at that
We were challenged with the idea that our own time in the word impacts others relationships with God. That our hearts need to be full of thankfulness.
Many shared ways of thankfulness this week. Abby shared that she was thankful to get to know new people; Pastor Lane was thankful to work with Emmaus church- how our team coming was never about us but rather to encourage them. Katie shared that she was thankful that God can use each one of us even when we feel useless.
We ended with the challenge of verse 17.
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
We focused on whatever task we have been assigned to, we have the opportunity to do in the name of the Lord. This is a way to give thanks to God.
After team devotions we had breakfast and headed out for a very long day. We left the hotel at 8:15am and didn’t plan to be back until 10:30pm at night.
The children were so excited to see us when we arrived at the school and all the team members got bombarded by hugs and more hugs. We jumped right into VBS, and were able to see the real joy and excitement on each persons face.
During VBS today- there were two teams who were able to do home visits. During one of the home visits, Dennis was able to lead a man to the Lord!
Today was a special day after VBS - as we were able to serve every child and teacher a hot lunch. After, their parents came for a closing ceremony which they were presented with the gospel. It was a fun time to wrap up our time with these children we have created relationships with. We were able to give food bags to all the families.
While we waited for our evening church service- we were able to have a little bit of time to experience the Pacific Ocean. It took two ‘boats’ to get our team across the bay, for us to then walk to the ocean. Many team members decided to take advantage of being at the ocean and going for a swim, despite being in the church clothes. It was a lot of fun for the team to experience together.
Once back at the church, we were able to have an amazing church service with the Emmaus Church. We had a time of worship followed by many testimonies from both the church members and our team. Many stories were shared about the impact our team had on the kids and the teachers at the school and the excitement the kids had everyday. Many from our team shared thankfulness to the Guatemalans for opening up their church, homes, and hearts to us Americans.
One testimony in particular was from one of our translators- who explained that when he was translating for Abel’s sermon - that he felt the Lord and that he needed Him. He cried tears of joy that His life has been changed by the Lord. Praise God, as I know many team members have felt burdened to pray for this translator that we have grown to love.
The Pastor ended the service reminding everyone that this is not goodbye, this is just see you later. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we will see each other again.
We had dinner with the church family, which included a special birthday cake and singing for Jeff!! We then ended the night by having a time of prayer over Pastor and his wife. It was a wonderful time to encourage these servants of the Lord and the way they are letting God use them.
Tomorrow we have a morning of ministry and then we start the drive back to Guatemala City
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