As I write this update, Ray Gurney, my partner for 10 days here in Guatemala, is traveling back to Kansas City. For me, I still have a week left to be with Cesar and Elba and a few more of our friends. As you might imagine, with this being our first trip to Guatemala since the pandemic, we were wondering how everything was going to work.
Cesar with his spray bottles that he used for all of this trip. Here at Cesar’s home in Amberes, Guatemala, he is ready to spray anyone who comes close to him! This alcohol-based solution was used to spray our hands or even our whole bodies before and after being with people or touching susceptible surfaces. From my experience I would say Cesar had the quickest draw!
When Ray and I got off the plane and met Cesar outside of the airport terminal, we got our first shot of Cesar’s spray solution! And immediately he told us that after Easter, the Covid-19 cases had increased dramatically and that the president of Guatemala had declared that starting Monday, April 12th, (the day we arrived), meetings of more than 10 people were prohibited. Specifically mentioned in his orders were that churches should not meet. So right off the plane we had a huge question mark presented to us as to what we would be able to do and where we could go.
The Devotion that Gave Us Direction
The following morning, Ray shared a devotion from Psalm 46 that he had received from his brother Bob that morning. Here are a few of the key phrases from that passage:
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging… Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; The God of Jacob is our fortress… He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields with fire. He says, "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth." The Lord Almighty is with us…Psalm 46
The message Ray got from this passage was that with all our uncertainty about whether we were going to be able to travel and if the president of Guatemala was going to shut down or restrict travel, God had called us, and if He had called us here at this time, He would move mountains, open up roads, and pave the way for us to go everywhere He wants us to go. We needed to proceed with plan A with no fear and let God do what He wants to do. If we needed to adjust the plan, we would.
Ray also mentioned that in Mark 6:7-8 when Jesus sent the disciples out 2 by 2, God prepared the way for them and provided for them. They had to go in faith, and it was evident that we must as well.
Our Commitment
We all agreed that we would take precautions, but that we would go everywhere we had planned until it was obvious that we couldn’t. I made a commitment from that passage that I would be still and rest with no fear or worries about our plans. As you know, I was super tired from the weeks prior to the trip with Nola’s mom’s illness and passing.
We took one day to rest and one day to visit with friends close to Cesar’s place in Amberes before proceeding with our travels and a heavier schedule.
On one of our first days, we spent the morning visiting with Humberto Solares, a friend who has started several groups and is interested in using “Bambino,” the horse pictured above, in equine therapy for children.
The Day God Paved the Way
On Thursday, April 15th, we got up before the crack of dawn to drive two hours to Jutiapa for a meeting with Luis Gabriel Rosales, the mayor. The last time I was in Guatemala, I had attended his inauguration on January 15th of 2020.
Luis, a veterinarian by trade, has worked with us on several different projects through the years. About 7 or 8 years ago, he partnered with Tom Huffman, of Burwel, Nebraska, on an artificial insemination training.
In January of 2014, in an artificial insemination training, Luis holds the mike for a participant who is learning how to use the probe. Not pictured is Tom Huffman. Unfortunately, every time Tom spoke, I was translating and didn’t get a picture of Tom in action!
Flashbacks
I will never forget that day. At the training, Cesar led over 50 people to pray to receive Christ after Tom shared his testimony! And out of that group we received invitations to go to other places. Doors opened up to work with other cattlemen’s associations, a women’s leadership group, and several youth groups. And speaking of youth, we worked with Luis on a project getting scholarships for Guatemalan students to attend the National University of Agriculture in Catacamas, Honduras, where our friends there trusted our recommendations.
Never in our wildest dreams would we have thought that Luis would be the mayor of over 162,000 people in this department of Guatemala! Last year he had said that it was God that called him and I believe that in this situation, only God could have orchestrated for a political outsider not connected with the moneyed-up group to win.
Our Doubts
As we drove, we had our doubts that Luis would be able to meet with us. This year he got elected to be the president of the mayors association for the country. So we figured he’d have to change his plans with the president’s declaration. But Luis was in his office and received us with open arms. When we were walking past his secretary, two reporters were about to leave, and then Luis said to them, “Wait! I want you to meet these men. You need to do a story on them.”
Ray took this picture of me with Luis as the reporters were hooking up a lapel mike on me and testing the sound. As you can see from my face, I was going to have to think quickly!
Fortunately, they asked questions that Cesar and I have answered hundreds of times through the years. And Luis made it even easier, because he vouched for us at several key points.
During that visit, Luis offered us access any time to the city municipal building and grounds at the sale barn area. He would put up sound equipment and chairs or anything we needed. This is a huge offer that we feel we should follow up on in some way.
From there, Luis invited us to attend a meeting with him on helping families with basic needs to build vegetable gardens. I rode with Luis in his car with a couple of bodyguards and another friend. Another bodyguard rode with Cesar to direct him to our next location across town.
Luis stops to encourage some volunteer artists painting a mural at the city building we were about to enter.
Here Luis and his team are getting ready for their meeting to discuss a program for helping the poor to plant gardens. As a farmer and rancher himself, Luis was in his element as he and others were discussing how the program has worked so far. We stayed only a short while and then had to leave for our next meeting.
Friends From Caminos—The Department of Transportation
From the mayor meeting, we hustled over to meet Juventino Najera, a friend who works in the Jutiapa department of transportation called Caminos (meaning roads). He wanted us to come meet some of his co-workers and leaders. “Tino”, as we call him, has been a part of a lot of our events in the past few years with the Jutiapa Cattlemen’s Association.
Tino introduces us to his friends and co-workers at our Jutiapa DOT meeting.
At that meeting was Rodrigo, Tino´s boss, and about 10 others. The discussion went even better than we expected, and we got word later that all enjoyed the meeting. We believe they will continue to meet like this at least once a month. Fortunately, with Zoom, we can touch base with several of them.
After a socially distanced lunch with our friends, we headed out to let them get back to work. As we drove off, we felt like our Psalm 46 message was coming true. Everything we had hoped we could do had happened so far. And truth be told, it was even better than any of us expected.
Chiquimula, a Covid Hotspot
From Jutiapa, we drove a couple hours further to Chiquimula. Because of a big soccer game during Easter week, where many did not social distance, Covid cases had skyrocketed, and the president had mentioned that he might limit travel to certain areas of the country like Chiquimula. Our fear was that we might have to cancel this part of our trip.
Our assignment was to meet with Luis Cuellar (yes, another Luis!), a horse enthusiast, entrepreneur, and rancher who Cesar met back in February when Cesar was traveling through Chiquimula on his way to the jungle. When Cesar saw the restaurant called “La Ranchería,” he decided to stop. “This would make a great place to have a Rancheros Cristianos group,” Cesar said out loud to his wife Elba.
Here is a pic of Luis the first time I met him on a Zoom call with Cesar. Luis was telling us about how this horse of his had great potential but needed a good trainer. Later he said, “I think I have a lot in common with this horse! I want to be better trained for God to use me.”
Soon he met Luis, the owner, and when he talked about Rancheros Cristianos, Luis stopped everything and sat down with Cesar. He was immediately captured by the idea of reaching cowboys and ranchers who don’t go to any church. Having come to Christ while he was in Houston, Texas, a decade ago, he admitted he was not attending church like his wife, but said that he felt like he needed to help his friends find Jesus. On the spot, they decided to meet again when Cesar came back out of the jungle a few days later. That time, Cesar Zoomed me to introduce me to Luis, and we had a great first meeting.
A Man of Peace
After we checked into our hotel, we headed over to Luis´ restaurant. Luis rolled out the red carpet, and we ate and watched as he had his assistant bring horses over for us to see.
Here Luis shares more of his story as his assistant shows us his prized paint horse.
It didn’t take long for Luis to talk about how he wanted us to meet many of his friends, but because of Covid, he was nervous about it. We reassured him that two or three guys would be fine. We agreed to meet again the next morning to talk more. Driving back to the hotel, we were all exhausted but convinced that God was up to something.
Here Ray prays a prayer of blessing over Luis and his wife Grecia (which means Greece in Spanish). Luis is also a bicycle enthusiast, and this morning he rode his bike to our breakfast.
The next morning, we heard that the president was not going to shut the country down. In our devotion for the morning, I mentioned that Jesus told the disciples that when they found a “man of peace” who was receptive in a community, they should stay with him and not move around. So we decided to stay the whole day in Chiquimula so that we could keep the conversation going with Luis. He set up a lunch meeting and then a meeting with some friends near a lake outside of the city.
Here Ray greets Boris, a friend of Luis, who met us for lunch at Luis’ restaurant.
Luis walks us over to a meeting spot near a beautiful lake in a mountain setting above Chiquimula.
This group of guys met with us in an area filled with hammocks and benches. The men were intrigued by the idea of a group for those who don’t go to church. All of them admitted to believing in God but not attending any church. The day after we left Luis was a Sunday, and we heard later that he rode his bike back up to them with a group of bike friends, and these guys all showed up again!
Since we have gotten back to Cesar’s in Amberes, we have Zoomed a couple of times with Luis, and he introduced us to a professional bull rider who is a dedicated Christian and wants to be a part of what we are talking about! Stay tuned!
On to the Jungle with Cowboys and Our Kekchi Friends
One of the big priorities for us on this trip was to meet with a cattlemen’s association of Raxruhá and then do a training with pastors and leaders of the Kekchi Baptist Association. Both events went super well. Here are a few pics.
Here we met with the cattlemen’s association of Raxruhá. We had visited that group nine years ago, and recently Cesar reconnected with them. They were about to decide if they were going to continue as an organization. After initial talks with Cesar and a couple of Zoom meetings with them, they have determined to continue and to ask God to help them carry out a positive vision for their region. Here we are sitting under one of their structures for exhibiting animals. There are a couple of dedicated Christians among them, and we believe they can readily help lead the group in their devotions that they want to have before each meeting. They also want to continue to Zoom with Cesar and me occasionally.
Here one of the Kekchi pastors reads a scripture in the Kekchi Bible before the start of our training at the association headquarters in Fray Bartolome de las Casas, Guatemala.
Cesar speaks to the group with German Tzi, the director of missions for the association, translating into Kekchi.
Here Cesar is prepping volunteers to pray one minute prayers for themselves, the leaders of the crusade planning, and for their list of 10 friends who don´t have a relationship with Jesus yet. This association has over 80 churches, and if their combined efforts prove to be as fruitful as in other regions of Guatemala, they should see hundreds of people come to Christ this next year.
10:02 PRAYER
Thanks so much for your continued prayers. We have felt them during this trip. Pray that God will raise up laborers to bring in the harvest here in Guatemala. Pray for Luis Gabriel, the mayor of Jutiapa. Pray for his safety as well as wisdom. One of the last two mayors there was murdered.
Pray also for guys like Luis Cuellar and his wife Grecia. These are the kinds of people who can make a huge kingdom difference. Pray for wisdom for us as we evaluate how to best stay in touch during these crazy times.
Finally, pray for our Kekchi brothers and sisters who are combining their forces to evangelize thier region. And above all, continue to pray that this trip and continued follow-up will foster the multiplication of more friends and followers of Jesus.
ENGAGE
As the world opens back up, we believe incredible opportunities are coming to you to be on mission with God. Would you be willing to start a Play. Story. Eat. group or go on a mission trip? Pray about what God wants you to do, both where you are and wherever He is sending you.
INVEST
Thank you so much for your continued partnership in this ministry.
CLICK HERE FOR THE EASY WAY TO INVEST.
On behalf of myself, Ray, Cesar and Elba, we appreciate your prayers.
Love y’all!
Steve
After Ray left, we made a visit to a Senior Citizens center in Santa Cruz Narranjo. No longer able to have the folks come to them, they are taking food to the seniors. Here, they sprayed me down when Cesar and I went to see the leaders of this program. The ladies you see in this picture are forming their own Play. Story. Eat group among themselves and Cesar and I will be Zooming with them a couple of times a month.