This has been an awesome experience and one that I thought I would not be equipped for. I have done street evangelism but I knew nothing
- Pam – working at the clinic
about soccer. What was I getting myself into? I’m not even a very sporty person, as my family knows! So when we had our meeting before we left for the mission, I would listen and watch the best I could so I didn’t look dumb. Even falling down and breaking my watch and hurting for a while, I just kept going on, asking God to help me do what I could. Finally, we arrived in Guatemala and the clinic began. I was with Jared who is so patient with me and the kids. I learned a lot about soccer and even participated in some of the games the kids played before the scrimmages. But I kept thinking, “I’m not doing that much and don’t even know if I am of any real help to Jared.” Then I remember in God’s word he tells us in Romans 12:1-4 that we are not to think highly of ourselves and we have many members in one body. We are one body in Christ and we all work together for God’s glory. I was not the only one on the team that was not “sporty” but together we had an awesome outcome. It shows us that together with God’s blessing and in His will, we can do whatever we need.
I also learned to listen to what God is saying. One day before street evangelism, Rick prayed for God to lead us to the people who were searching for the Lord. Stephanie and I were with Rodrigo (Curly) and I started witnessing to two women. The answer I got to La Gran Pregunta was there is no Hell. Well, I looked to Curly and said “Help”. I had no scripture in my mind to answer her with. Curly talked to her for a while and she would talk to him, all the while I was racking my brain for scripture. When the conversation ended and the women walked away, Curly told me what they said. When Jesus comes, then there will be Hell and there is no one in Heaven right now except God and Jesus. Dead people are just in the grave and when Jesus comes, God will decide who goes to Heaven or Hell. Then I remembered certain scripture like the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, 1 Thessalonians 4. Talking with other team members we came up with other scripture also. What I learned is the reason no scripture came to me was these women were “time wasters” and the Holy Spirit didn’t give me answers because they were not going to accept the gospel. But now I have the scriptures I need if I need them in the future. Randy and Rick both told us there are people out there that will argue with us and waste time that we could be witnessing to people who are searching for what they need but don’t know what it is. I thank God for the opportunity to come down here to Guatemala to help build God’s church. Praise be to God!
I have dreamed about going on my first mission trip for a long time… this year it finally came true. I’ve heard of all the stories that everyone
- Jared – street Evangelism
shares, and the amazing experiences that changes people’s lives. Well, I’m here to say that my first mission trip exceeded my expectations and was nothing short of amazing! Now to top that off, the trip combined a life changing experience with the sport I love the most and have played all my life….soccer.
What better way to serve the Lord than teaching the most popular sport in the world. Now the minute we arrived in Guatemala the first thing that you are faced with is the language barrier. I haven’t practiced my Spanish since high school so it made communicating difficult. The translators were amazing and that made talking to individuals much easier. However, once I started talking about soccer the barriers disappeared. No matter where you live the passion for a sport speaks the same language. Once that ball hit the field I was like a kid on Christmas! I got to plant the seed of salvation and share my love for Jesus in many boys and girls lives. What hit me the hardest was one young twelve year old boy asked for my e-mail address so he could send me the score of the last match, USA- 0 and Guatemala- 1, (they are very competitive in Guatemala and loved to rub it in). Within 90 minutes of giving him my name and e-mail address I had a friend request on Facebook. We know that God’s Word will not return void and the few days of the soccer clinic allowed me to establish a relationship with a young boy.
The children asked me why we came down here to host this soccer clinic and I told them because I love Jesus and want to share the gospel. God allowed me and my family this opportunity and this experience will forever change my life!
Thank you to all the families that sacrificed while their loved ones were away. Thank you to all of my brothers and sisters on the team for all the support!
What a group! Ready for World Cup!Sharing Gospel to Kids & ParentsSharing Gospel to Kids & Parents
Sharing Gospel on Street
Where to start? I always like to take the opportunity to write the final blog and let you know how the week went. INCREDIBLE! Not sure if there is any other word to describe how the week went. This TEAM just absolutely jelled and pulled together so incredibly. Let me give you just a quick run down of how our days would go throughout the week.
There was a little problem with the VBS that was going every morning, so we stepped up and supplied VBS with 4 people everyday. Every team member took at least a day and worked in the VBS, even though that was not our focus. The team did a great job with that. Flexibility is always the key to a mission and they did an exceptional job. The rest of us would go out to a nearby square and share the Gospel with people on the streets. We made a lot of great contacts, saw a number of people pray to receive Christ. Probably the best part was that we could look up and point to the East and say, “And that is where the church meets every Sunday at 10″. We also invited people to the rest of the week’s VBS and soccer clinic.
Every afternoon at about 3:00 we would load into the vans and bus and head over to the “Futeca” (4 miniture fields) where we hold the Futball (Soccer) clinic. We started the week with a lot of unknowns, and looking back it is incredible that God pulled the thing off. We had anywhere from 122-130 kids everyday. The greatest surprise was the fact that a good number of the parents would stay throughout the entire clinic watching their kids learn and play. We would go everyday from 4-5:20 teaching drills and playing games that put the skills in action. 5:20-5:50 would be Bible half time. 5:50-6:40 would be games on the fields and then at the end, when all the parents were there, we would have a final short message from one of the guys on our team to wrap the whole thing up and preach to the kids and parents. There were several parents who prayed to receive Christ during the week, but just as important, Nelson Rivas, the pastor here, and other church members were able to build some relationships and invite many lost people to church. One such man was “Ronny”, who had ridiculed a friend of his for coming to this church that was “brain washing” him. This man was distant at the beginning of the week, but after seeing the love of people for his children, asking nothing in return, he embraced Nelson, thanking him for the clinic. This man is an Athiest who became very intrigued with this Christ that was talked about. There are so many stories to share. I would encourage you to come to the service on Wednesday, November 30th at 7:00 to hear more and see pictures. Nelson was so impressed that he was already asking for us to come back next year and hold the clinic in a more affluent area with about three times the size of this Futeca.
Our theme throughout the planning for this week and then throughout the week was the God, not any individual, not Goran, Damon or Jared, be lifted up. The Bible says in John 12:32 ”And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw allmenunto me.” That was our prayer and desire, to lift up Jesus Christ, and we tried to do that in all that we did. I believe for that reason, we saw the results that we did, all for the glory of God.
Last thing, I would like to say a big thank you to all of those here at home. I know my wife and the other family members were praying fervently for us, and we could sense it. Thank you to all those who sacrificed in giving to those who were going on the trip and for buying all those breakfast buritos at soccer. Can’t wait until t-ball to sell them again. Thanks again, we love you all so much!
