A rare tornado…

in the mountains of western North Carolina struck in the midst of the region our team from Missionary Alliance Bible Fellowship is from.  It hit Monday evening.  They left here Tuesday morning.  It appears they will get NO rest.

You have read in past posts and seen the photos of the playground project for DAR orphanage in Rehu.  We received news this week that the process for licensing is proceeding, but may take another 4 months.  Please pray for those who stand in the way and keep this project from “bearing fruit.”  They stand in a dangerous position for God says He Himself will care for widows and orphans and remove those opposed to Him (Exodus 22:22-24).  The need for compassionate care of children orphaned, abandoned and abused is huge in Guatemala.

We moved to the second phase of the project doing a gutter on a second story roof of a public school in Guatemala City.  For those of you who thought “PUBLIC School?” stick with the story for a couple of minutes.

One of the themes this week was fatherless children.  God cares for the fatherless because He knows they become fodder for the one who seeks “whom he may devour.”  Two local members of our team this week, Ignacio and Fredy are born again and former gang members.  Their wives also have similar history.  While some of their testimonies are different, they are all violent histories… the common thread is that they are fatherless at a time in their lives when God designed that they be raised by a FATHER and MOTHER knitted together in bounds of love.  Gangs stepped in and fed them, clothed them, “loved” them and then demanded unspeakable things in return.

Now Ignacio is a pastor and a friend of Vine International here in Guatemala.   He is in process of adopting Dulce who the judicial system  has taken away from an unspeakable situation.   This public school is what Ignacio and his wife can afford to send their now three children.  It is on the edge of gang territory.  Public funds are very limited due to their location and the community they serve.  During the rainy season water splashes into the class rooms and drips down the back wall.  500 kids under a principle that leads each class in pray and Bible reading each morning in defiance to public law… I so wish she had been in the USA in 1963 when our teachers should have risen up and defied the Supreme Court.  God bless her.  She had tears in her eyes when she thanked us for this simple gutter.

El Barrios for Christ, Ignacio’s ministry will paint the back wall making it more water proof.  Russell and his son Windham (the scorpion king -see last post) flashed and guttered that wall on their own.  El Barrios for Christ will also do a dental outreach with Smiles of Love in a couple of weeks and plans are in the works to do a conference for dads in the community.  These will be used as points of one on one evangelism.

So a gutter project by a Christian church team in a public school, you betcha!  Three men in the community have contacted El Barrios and want to join and help the ministry because they saw and heard those gringos on that roof.  The branch that abides in the Vine WILL bear fruit wherever that branch wanders.  Abide in Him and get out there in the world friends.

Photos are linked here.  In past posts I have linked with text in the body of each post that has an album attached.  if you see red letters there is a link, either to a photo album or a ministry web site.  This album is a little lengthy, some photos from the whole week and the last half covering the gutter project.  There is a slide show option and you can select to view any photo in larger formats.

This team was a blessing.  Their humor kept the team humming along.  They are a hard working group and we look forward to a hoped for return event.

In Christ

Dennis and Cindy