Wednesday, July 2

We all got up EARLY (4:30 or 4:45 AM) to get to the Lobby with all our luggage to make the 5:30 AM shuttle to the airport. Our flight was not until 8 AM but we had to arrive by 6 AM. We had a nice time of Bible Study/Devotion as we waited for our flight. A few of us had tummy grumbles but nothing like in the past...we were all very careful of what we had to eat and drink!
We truly had a blessed Mission Trip and we could not have done it without the financial support and prayers of many!

Mike and Lisa would like to personally thank those who supported their trip financially:

Becky Bohlmann
Calvary Church-Irving, Texas
Pastor Bob and Martha Degner
Mike and Jensy Gregory
Bob and Sharon Gross
Mark and Tammy Hill
Nell Anne Hunt
Randy and Melanie Miller
Dean and Marge Mortland
Carl and Marietta Soukup
Shawn Terry
Doc and Dolores Underwood
Nick Vuong

We want to thank Doctor Christopher Shelton for donating over 50 lbs of medication as well as FIVE Glucometers. The Castillo Fuerte Ministry will use this supplies as they have 13 rotating doctors who visit throughout the year!

Thank you to Linda Glaubitz from ORLC who donated much needed medical supplies from CVS.

Also, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church-Irving, Texas donated 6 puppets (2 to Safe Passage, 2 to Compassion International and 2 to Lutheran Hour Ministry-Guatemala)
ORLC also made a $200 donation to Lutheran Hour Ministry-Guatemala, a $50 donation to Safe Passage and a $50 donation to Servant Heart Ministries.

Many thanks for everyone's help and may God continue to change the lives of those who were able to be a part of the presentation we took to Guatemala.
May He help feed and protect the children of Guatemala and give them faith, hope and above all, love!

'...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matt. 25:40

Tuesday, July 1

We left Antigua early and headed toward Guatemala City.

We said our very sad goodbyes to Rebeca, who is like family. We picked up our helpers for the day and headed to the first Project Joel School, which is an all-girls school. We presented to 2 combined classes of about sixty 5th-6th grade girls.

They had a blast and we did too. Maria helped translate and many girls seemed very touched by the message of Jesus Christ.

As we concluded our presentation, the police who guard the school asked if they too could receive the free gift of the Super Hero Crosses.

They thanked us for being there and we had an awesome time of prayer!

We then stopped by Pollo Campero for our last lunch in Guatemala. We had a great time of fellowship and Christian loved playing in the tubes!

We then travelled to the second Project Joel School, an all-boys school across town and we were greeted like kings. The Boys School is one of the oldest in the city and it is in great shape! They had already cleared out the room and were covering the windows with black tarps to darken the room.

We again presented to 2 or 3 combined classes of 5th-6th grade boys. They were so enthusiastic! They really got into the Super Hero Theme!

We had a blast and the conclusion of the presentation was so moving as they all bowed their heads and received Christ and the free Super Hero Cross. They worshiped on the song Dame like no other group! A great ending for our mission trip! We sensed that maybe the Principal was a little unhappy we were so evangelistic, but instead she thanked us for taking the time and going to such lengths to share Christ with the boys! The teachers also thanked us.

The Boys Praying...

When we got into the van to drive away…we all clapped and thanked God for an amazing presentation and mission trip!

We returned to the Holiday Inn and said our goodbyes to Maria, Don Filipe, Renalto and Francisco. We also said goodbye to three of our puppets that we left for Lutheran Hour Ministries to use. We ended our evening with dinner and a shared Bible Study time in Roger and Judy’s Room. We packed and headed to bed for our 5:30 AM Shuttle to the Guatemala City Airport.

God blessed us with an amazing trip and your prayers helped us and especially the children and adults of Guatemala. We will miss our Guatemalan Family and Friends! Until our next trip…may God move others to join in us!

Monday, June 30th

On Monday, we got up early to be at another ministry that is located about an hour away at the village of Lake Amatitlan. Servant’s Heart Ministry has begun a kid’s club program there and even though their was a National Holiday, we were still scheduled for our presentation. They were expecting about 80-10 children, but we actually saw about 140 children and about 25 adults. It was another amazing presentation and just getting ready for it was like the circus coming to town! This community has a lot of child abuse and adult drinking problems. Following the presentation, we stayed after for about 30 minutes and prayed with several children and adults. This was a very sad and emotional ending to our time there. Maybe we brought some joy to them and I pray God has and will continue to use the message to change lives. It is always amazing to leave a location and as we drive away see children wearing the Super Hero Crosses we are giving away!

More photos will be added tomorrow…

It is late and we have a VERY early departure for Tuesday morning. We will visit 2 different public schools on Tuesday and we have to drop off Rebeca and pick up Ranolto and Francisco and be at out first school in Guatemala City before 9AM…so we leave Antigua at 7 AM…YIKES!
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Presenting to 2 public schools is AWESOME…but Satan is always working hard to keep the GOOD NEWS from reaching those who are lost!

Sunday, June 29

We began our day by leaving Lisa behind at the Holiday Inn and going to present at Cristo Rey (Christ the King) Lutheran Church just about 15 minutes away. Lisa was fighting a little sickness…
We arrived and quickly set-up with help of Neome and Ossani as well as Daniel Reyes, all friends who live in Guatemala but who have become new members of our mission team. It was a blessing to have them help setup, present and help take everything down. On top of that, the two girls were awesome with Christian. He quickly bonded with the girls! We finished our program, which runs about an hour and ½, about the same time the worship service was concluding. Because it was the last Sunday of the month, they had cake and punch for the June birthdays! What a cool idea! We were able to stay for about 45 minutes and socialize. It was cool to visit and talk with Victor (also known as the Guatemalan Matt Morrison-from our 2002 and 2003 Mission Trips)



Christian, showing the boys and girls how Jesus died on the cross and died for our sins.

Christian giving his cross to one of those at the presentation!


We then stopped by to pick up Lisa and went to Vesuvios Pizza just about 10minutes from the hotel. It was a blessing to be able to eat with Rebeca’s family as well as Neome and Daniel. Eating at Vesuvios was an experience! Spain and Germany were in the final 30 minutes of the European Soccer Finals…Alberto was a crazy nut…rooting for Spain…thank goodness Spain won (there was an eruption of screams and cheers from everyone-no lava)







After lunch we drove to the Artisan Park for about 15 minutes and then drove to Zone 6 for our evening Presentation. The Church in Zone 6 has been a favorite stop for our mission team each year (2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003) For such a small church, the people have such a huge heart for the Lord. It was amazing seeing some of our favorite children we have seen on past mission trip...all grown up. We knew right away the familiar faces when we saw Stefani and Kevin…They are now 16 and 13 years old…wow! Again,we had our team as well as Ossani, Neome and Daniel helping! Again, Christian did a great job as the role of Jesus and we had an amazing time of prayer. Again, as in the past, people from the streets came in to see and hear what was going on! We left the church in Zone 6 and headed for Antigua for our 2 night stay at a little hotel call the Hotel el Carmen.

More Images from Saturday, June 28

Saturday, June 28

Today we drove for about 2 ½ hours to Lake Amatitlan where Castillo Fuerte has been sponsoring a Children’s Camp for the local children. We arrived at about 1:30 and set up in a small room (see pictures) and we began about 2 PM and ended about 3:30. This is a very poor area and the children lack a great deal in physical and spiritual needs. It is a blessing that a home on the lake has been donated for ministry!

We stayed and visited for about 30 minutes and then had to pack up and head off back to the city. We were to present all the medicines that Doctor Shelton had donated for the Mission at Castillo Fuerte. They have 13 doctors who rotate in through out the year to the mission to provide medical and dental care for the children of Lake Amatitlan. We presented the items at the end of the Saturday evening Worship. It was a long service as they had to say good byes to an American Missionary Family as well as celebrate 2 birthdays…one 18 year old and one 90 year old…The most exciting part of the day (for Mike) was getting to see and visit with OSCAR…a young man now who was just a little boy when we first visited Castillo Feurte back in 2000. He is now 16 years old and helps his father, who is now an ordained pastor an serves Castillo Fuerte. Oscar looks pretty much the came, his English is excellent and he remembers our group well. That is amazing. He even remembers our presentation the times we visited in 2000, 2002 and 2003.

We were able to visit with many who are still a part of the church there and who are now leaders. We had dinner with them and then headed back to the hotel around 10 PM.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers for our health… Sunday finds us back at Cristo Rey in the morning and then at the church in Zona 6 (the rooftop church) for an evening presentation. We will then drive into Antigua late Sunday night. So…if I do not BLOG Sunday evening….please forgive me and check back Monday or Tuesday…

In Christ!

Sorry we have not been able to BLOG the last two days. We had a little trouble getting the hotel wireless to work on our laptop.

But we are on now on-line and we are able to share with you our wonderful mission trip.

TUESDAY, JUNE 24th

We took off late and landed during a heavy rain storm in Guatemala City two hours late. The passengers burst into applause when we plane landed and began to slow down. We knew it was going to be a special trip from the moment we landed. It was exciting to meet a good family friend, David, at the DFW airport. He actually helped us on our FIRST mission trip to Guatemala in 2000. He was going to visit with family for 3 weeks. We got to our hotel without any problems and headed to bed.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25th

Our Wednesday schedule was changed a few days before our travels and the schools we were going to visit got moved to Tuesday, the day before we fly out. So most were able to sleep in a little bit, followed by a light breakfast and great Bible Study on Jesus Christ, our most awesome Super Hero. The Bible Study reminded us of the great news…we get to be His side kick…(every super hero has a side kick and also an enemy).
Mike got up to visit with Daniel Reyes at 6:30 (YIKES). His aunt, Lilly, lives in Irving and teaches Christian Hill music and Spanish at the Sloan School. She at one point was thinking about going with us on the mission trip. Daniel is interested in Mission Work and will be joining our team late Saturday and also Sunday!
Then at 9 AM, Rebeca de Franco showed up and we were so happy to see her again. She is the coordinator for Lutheran Hour Ministries here in Guatemala and has helped organize all of our mission trips as well as this one. At about 10 AM we were able to visit and re-connect with Marta, Christian Hill’s foster mother for the first 7 months of his life. She was overwhelmed with joy, even though it took a little while for Christian to warm up to her. She was presented gifts and we were able to talk with her, thanks with the help of Rebeca. We also were able to visit with Oscar, the attorney who worked the adoption case for Christian. He shared with us that Christian’s birth mother still asks about Christian and that his older brother who is about 10 years old is primarily living on the streets involved in drugs and gangs. This made us all sad. It was a very blessed time to be able to visit with Marta and she made plans to see the presentation in Tecpan, where the Compassion International School is located which is close to her home (about 2 hours from Guatemala City)

We then went to the bank and then a large store (the Guatemalan Wal-Mart) to purchase sand bags and a few other props for our presentation. We also purchased gift items (a laundry basket, detergent, soap, towels and some food items) for both our Compassion International children and their families. Lunch was at the famous Pollo Campero.
We returned to our hotel to run through our presentation a couple times and then separate all the items we would need for our first morning visit, Safe Passage. We finished the evening with a late dinner and Tammy led our Bible Study.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26th

On Thursday, we got an early start and made our way across the City to be at Safe Passage for our presentation. We arrived there at 8:20 AM. We set up…and then took it all down…wrong room!!! We packed up and drove to the other school for younger children (3, 4 and 5 year olds) YIKES…we thought we would be presenting to the 3rd 4th and 5th graders…hmmmm…
Well, God showed up and the presentation was awesome. The children laughed and danced and sang and SO DID THE TEACHERS! They were blessed as well. Two teachers came up and asked us to please come to their church and present to their Youth Groups! Cool…but our schedule was set and there was not room to add events on Saturday or Sunday! We gave them a CD of the music we used and presented Safe Passage with two of the Puppets we use. We were also able to bless them with a check from the Mission Team from ORLC as well as 2T and 3T infant items (Christian’s lightly used clothes and shoes)
Now maybe you are asking…”What is Safe Passage?”Well, Mike discovered Safe Passage while channel surfing. A program on the Spanish HBO was showing Recycled Life. This was a short documentary on the lives of those who live and work in the active city Dump in Guatemala City. Hundreds, if not thousands of children live and work there ever day. Safe Passage was created to help get children in a safe school where they could learn and grow and have hope to escape the life of the dump. There is a great deal of information at their website: www.safepassage.com

We did not get a sense that the organization is Christian or if there is any profession of faith. It is strictly an organization to help the children of the dump. Because it is strictly a non-profit organization to help feed and educate children in the dump, large corporation has partnered with them. The school, classrooms and playgrounds are amazing!
We left happy for those who experienced the presentation (especially the teachers) but we were sad that maybe Safe Passage is missing an opportunity to help meet the spiritual needs of the children and families they work with as well.
After we presented we were given a very thorough tour and were able to see the active dump from the roof top.
The dump continues to move down a valley between two small mountains. The Servant’s Heart Ministry we connected with in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 is several blocks away. We will connect with them later in the trip.
Please keep Safe Passage in your prayers. We were blessed by God that they allowed us to present.

We got back to the hotel and unpacked and got organized for our next day. We spent about 3 hours working on our Cross Necklaces we are giving away at each place we visit. They have the words: Super Hero on the front of the cross and we are adding a small rope to them. They have already been a HUGE hit with everyone! They help reinforce our Presentation theme. Jesus is the BEST Super Hero of ALL. We had our time of devotion, led by Judy with a special focus on Christian. He is playing the part of Jesu Cristo during our short drama if Jesus Going to the cross for us, dying and then rising again to defeat Satan!
He has done a great job of that so far! Imagine a Super Ninja Jesus!
We had another late dinner, this time with our close friend (like Family!) Alberto and his mother Rebeca!
They have been such a blessing to us in the past on all of our Mission Trips
We had a great visit and did not get back to the hotel until about 10 PM.

FRIDAY, JUNE 27th

On Friday, we began our day with a 8:30 AM breakfast and then we headed to Tecpan around 10 AM. Today we headed to present at the Compassion International School and visit with Edyn and Erick our two sponsored children from Compassion International.

Check out http://www.compassion.com/ for more information.

The drive seemed long…up through the mountains and it rained the entire drive there. We stopped for lunch and then continued on. We arrived there about 1:30 PM and set up. As we set up the children began to come into the school. They seemed so happy and so excited. Then…MIKE saw Erick first…How could that smile be forgotten? He was so excited to see us…It was hard to believe! And then…Edyn came in later…about 2:15 (school starts at 2:30) and he was with his mother and little sister. Our Mission Team was blessed to get to visit with him and his family back in 2003. Back then he was only 6 years old...now he is 11 years old...just like Erick!
He had grown up…but he had that same great smile. FINALLY! Most of the photos we had received from Comp. Int. had him looking sad…no smiles…but today…he was ALL Smiles! We talked a little…and finished setting up.

We began the program about 2:40 PM and it went on and on and on…almost 2 hours. YIKES! But everyone was having fun and they all seemed to really enjoy the presentation. About 5 children came down to receive a special prayer as they expressed that they wanted to receive Jesus and they had for the first time felt the Holy Spirit working on their heart. That was awesome. Check out the Photos!

We then took down the presentation props and equipment and went to the director's office to spend some time with Edyn (Eddie) and Erick and their families. Again, that time was such a blessing to them as well as us! Their families were so appreciative of the work Comp. Int. is doing for the boys because of our sponsorship. We took A LOT of Photos and prayed with the families. We pray God would bring us back together again some day soon and that God would continue to watch over them. Maybe another Guatemala Mission Trip in 2009 or 2010 would allow us to see them again!
We began the long drive home in the rain and terrible Guatemala City Traffic! We made to our dinner restaurant finally…Chuck E. Cheese. Christian was so excited! The rest of us…not so much and very tired. We made it back to the hotel for a Bible Study time led by Roger and then to bed…late again!

We finally worked out our Internet and here is our first LATE post.
Check back tomorrow for more pictures and information!