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1-2009 PBS B PBS PBS y His grace and mercy, God has provided for a brand new school for the children of Puente Blanco. Some of you may recall, we have been building a school in the village of Puente Blanco (PB). PBS PBS PBS PBS PBS PBS The local school board has been to the village to visit and review the school building and was amazed. They could hardly believe that God would put it in the hearts of people to bless such an impoverish and represses community such as PB. Their hearts have also been touched and they want to get onboard by sending more teachers to help educate these children that by most people’s standards have nothing. God has used this to awaken in them a compassion for this rejected, discarded and all but forgotten portion of society. But as we know, “the least of these” matter to God. The children are thrilled with their new school and the teachers are thrilled with their new working conditions and environment. From the word go, they began to decorate and become much more faithful with their attendance. With a small satellite school such as the one in PB, there is very little oversight. Many of the teachers in the past have taken advantage of this and have had very sketchy attendance. With the lack of consistency on the teacher’s part and the low priority education has held in these dreads of society, you can imagine the quality of the education these children have been receiving. Bless God it looks like all that is changing now.

Putting Out O Fires SHA would be happy to hear that local communities of Zacapa and surrounding villages are now Fireproof. Often we walk a fine line between our culture, the culture we live in and presenting God’s principles for life. We actually had the couples play the Newlywed Game. It was a blast! The game opened up a lot of dialogue, not to mention laughter! We then moved onto a nice dinner, the Fireproof movie followed by a light discussion on God’s plan for our relationships. In March, we had the opportunity to enjoy the culmination of the three. Seventy two people from local communities met the arduous challenge of fireproofing their relationship when we had a Fireproof workshop at the PDLC (Pie-de-la-Cuesta) church. Once the movie was over, we had a time of forgiveness and then, “The Love Dare” challenge. Many things that evening were not what the couples expected. Half way through the evening, we turned the table on their culture. We asked the Men DO NOT serve food EVER! The night started off with hors d'oeuvres, fellowship and games. men to take a turn at serving their wives. A little background men DO NOT serve food – EVER! You should have seen the bewildered looks on many faces as the gentlemen reluctantly tried to figure out how to do the simple task of putting food on a plate and bringing it to the table. You should have seen it. The men weren’t sure how to portion the food, if the food should be touching or stacked in heaps. If only you could have seen the gentlemen trembling with the plates as they brought them to the table. We were surprised more of the food did not wind up on the floor. You would have thought we’d asked them to do a juggling act at a local circus. It was hilarious! All we could hear were the giddy women giggling as they watch their men struggle with the simple task of delivering a plate of food. But, the women weren’t the only ones laughing. The men also laughed and chatted among themselves as they put their heads together at the buffet table to figure out how to

accomplish this seemingly tricky maneuver. As mentioned, after dinner we watch the Fireproof movie (dubbed in Spanish). Many of the couples were both surprised and relieved to know that the strife they encounter in their relationship is common and not only found in their home, but in their neighbor’s home and even around the world. Many were relieved to know there is an answer to the dissension they encounter in their marriages. After the movie, we were able to share God’s plan for our relationships. We had a time of asking your mate for forgiveness and then we equipped each couple with a tool (The Love Dare book) to enhance their marriages. We’re already seeing some of the fruit: men coming to Christ, marriages being mended, folks who were living together for years are finally getting married, etc. We’re looking forward to the follow-up get together we will have in May to discuss the workshop and the affects the workshop and The Love Dare book have had on their marriages. Let the Children Come to Me V BS (Vacation Bible School) is usually held sometime between the middle of October to the end of December. This happens to be when the school here has its “summer vacation”. In December we had the joy of having 133 kids from different villages for VBS. We were able to rent buses to bring the children from PB to PDLC. Other children from nearby surround villages were able to walk and the children from the village of El Chilar joyfully walked with anticipation and excitement two hours each way, each day to be part of the festivities (as you may know, there is no road to El Chilar). We were blessed to see the children learning so much through Bible stories, memory verses, arts & crafts, games, and song & dance. The objective of the VBS was to show the children how God works in our lives. It’s difficult to put into words the exuberance and the excitement of what we and the children experienced. The atmosphere was charged with electricity, and children would show up an hour before the VBS began in anticipation of the day’s activities. The satisfaction of knowing that we have made a tangible difference in the lives of these young children is indescribable.

met with the help of a friend, hence the team events. Others were solo challenges that we face alone with God’s help. Touching Heaven Changing A Some of the older children are now beginning to help with other mission activities. One such children’s activity we recently had over Easter break was the Olympic Games. This time, the children from PDLC Usually, in local churches, the children are overlooked and even dismissed as non-people. Very few the children from the village of El Chilar joyfully walked with anticipation and excitement two hours each way, each day were bused to meet up with the children from PB. In keeping with the Olympic theme, we named the different games after life’s different obstacles or challenges. Obstacles and challenges were given names such as, rebellion, lies, disobedience, etc. The children learned that we must strive to overcome life’s obstacles and reach for the prize that God has for us. Some of these obstacles are better invest in children because children do not generate revenue for the church and also the discipleship process many times goes on for too many years before seeing significant results. But, we cannot dismiss the words of our Lord; “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Earth s people, we long for something genuine. We’re hardwired that way. God is willing to offer us something that fills that void if we would only seek Him for it. We have seen that through prayer, God has been breathing life into the outreaches as we follow His guidance. This is not to pat ourselves on the back, but to ring the praises to Whom they are due. An evidence of this has been the attendance of men in the services at church. Generally speaking, village churches may have a ration of 1 or 2 men to every 10 women. Lately we’ve been witnessing an interesting trend. Since the morning prayer has been instituted, the church has exploded in population and the men to women ratio is surprisingly even. In villages, if the men are a little bit curious about the church’s activities, they will sit off in the shadows, out of the reach of the church. Yet, close enough to hear what’s going on. We have seen many of them come closer. They venture into the courtyard of the church and have witnessed how God has used the courtyard as an intermediate step to bring them in the door. Most of them, soon after that, have accepted Christ into their hearts and become active participants. Not just in the church services, but with other activities the mission does as

well. As the statistics show, this goes against local culture and customs. But then again, as you read the Bible you see how Christ turned upside down As the statistic show, this goes against local culture and customs foods and walk through the market without fearing the whispers and seeing the fingers pointing at her out of the corner of her eye. One day we happened to be at the hospital dealing with another case when the social worker asked if we would consider helping someone else as well. The social worker mentioned that a medical team was visiting the country and wanted to take out Matilde’s tumor. But, Matilde could not afford the required pre-op lab work to remove the tumor. Matilde had already been dismissed, lost hope, and went home. But, God had other plans!!! Upon hearing about Matilde’s case, our hearts melted and we knew We are still astounded when we think of Matilde. In God’s mercies we were at the hospital on a unplanned visit. We stumbled upon Matilde’s situation and she was able to get her lab work and surgery in the “11th hour”. We marvel at God’s grace, mercy and kindness toward us. He allowed us to be a small factor in a life changing event that demonstrates His love and compassion toward Matilde. We would love to extend to you the challenge of keeping your eyes peeled for the Matilde(s) in your world. Your Matilde story may not seem so drastic to you, but it will be for your Matilde. the culture and customs of His day. In light of what He did then, you can imagine what He is doing now. We can’t wait to see what’s next! Divine Appointment H ave you ever felt as if you just don’t fit in? Imagine being able to fit an orange, or a softball, in your cheek. Now imagine carrying that orange, or softball, in your cheek for fifty years without being able to take it out, nor the hope that one day people would stop staring. This was the plight of Matilde. Matilde had a tumor in her right cheek for approximately 50 years. She was a very young girl when she got the tumor. She is now 55 and for the first time in approximately 50 years, she’s able to smile, eat normal Fulfilling we couldn’t just stand by and allow nothing to be done for her. We found Matilde and brought her back to the hospital to get the required lab work done just in time for her early morning surgery. The day of her surgery was the medical team’s last day. Matilde had already been dismissed, lost hope, and went home. the Great Comission W e would like to make special mention of three young men that have been working with us; Gerson, Jiovanni and Alex. Part of our mission’s goals and vision is to equip leaders to serve in their communities and Lord wiling even send out missionaries from here. These three young men will be taking another