Hi Everybody! Nola, Ray Gurney, and I are back from Guatemala, and we have a few things to share with you about our recent trip.
While we had multiple groups that we were planning on interacting with during our two weeks down there, the big project on the board was with the Kekchi Baptist Association in Fray Bartolome de las Casas. That project has been over a year in the making, as 80 churches in the jungle had been prepped to pray this year for their lost friends and family. The goal was for the churches to share a gospel witness with their friends the first week of February 2022 in an evangelistic crusade that included home visits and nightly services. The hope was that this would spark the people in the churches to share their faith before, during, and after the evangelistic efforts.
As of yesterday, we got word from German Tzi, the director of missions for the Kekchi Baptist Association, that they have tallied 568 salvation decisions so far! From our vantage point, we are blown away, because the trip for us was a near disaster. If you want the readers digest version, here it is:
We got to Guatemala. All started well. But in the jungle sickness grounded our team to a near halt. Thankfully a construction guy/pastor of a church drove 7 hours to bail us out just in time to experience a wonderful time with his church and one of the most meaningful baptisms in a river that I’ve ever had. Here’s our story in pictures!
It All Seemed Okay…
A few days into the trip, we were on a roll. On the way to the jungle, we had stopped and had a great meeting with some new friends starting a new group near a lake on the top of a volcano near Ipala, Guatemala.
At the top of this volcano is a beautiful lake that fills the crater. It was near here that one of our friends from Ipala had started a new group. Though the group normally meets in town, they wanted to do something special for us, so they met us here.
Before starting a horseshoe competition, I took this group photo. Cesar and Elba Gonzalez are on the top left. Ray Gurney is next to Luis Cuellar in the blue shirt. Luis has been starting several groups in the past year. The men in the front row in orange shirts are part of a men’s backpacking ministry called “The Legendaries.” Luis wanted us to meet them, and it turned out to be something of a life saver for us later in the trip.
Juan Carlos Lopez, a construction guru and lay pastor of a church in Ipala, is the leader of “The Legendaries.” A little over a week after taking this picture, Juan Carlos and one of the men from his church drove 7 hours to come rescue us when we had no transportation!
Juan Carlos’ hat has a special message on the inside. It says “Unbreakable men in the service of Jesus to make history and to give their life for their friends.”
Our first day in the jungle, we stopped by a new church start that Cesar had been advising near Setal, Guatemala. Here Ray is praying a blessing over the food. Word had gotten out that we were coming, and they served us Kakik! It’s a spicy soup—to be eaten with large amounts of tortillas!
“Esteban, I’m not feeling well…”
After a brief stop that Sunday morning at the Embajadores de Cristo Church (Ambassadors of Christ) in Setal, we had gotten to the jungle and had just checked into our hotel in Fray Bartolome de las Casas, when Cesar knocked on our door.
“Esteban, I am not feeling well.” I knew that he had started coughing and sneezing quite a bit the last few hours of our drive that day. “I’m worried that if this is Covid, I will jeopardize the rest of you and keep us from doing the project with the Kekchis.”
Within the hour, Cesar had called his doctor, who advised him to treat it as if it were Omicron. So, Cesar and Elba left to drive back to their home in Amberes. That left Nola, Ray Gurney, and me facing a week-long project with the Kekchi Baptist Association in Fray without Cesar.
Kekchi Baptist Association Project…
The first two days we managed to go to two churches and do our evangelistic visits in homes and huts of our friends. But on the second day, Ray started coming down with the same cold-like symptoms that Cesar had.
On our first day of hut-to-hut visits, Ray struggled from just the hikes up and down the hills of this village near La Laguna, Guatemala! But what a view!
Nola went visiting with some ladies of the church. Even though they couldn’t speak the same language, they managed to communicate with hand motions, pictures on the phone, and lots of laughs!
This woman, home alone with her children, scurried to find a couple of chairs for us to sit on for a visit. Ramiro, the pastor of the church in La Laguna, is standing in the pink shirt. One of his members is in the blue shirt.
At the end of the visit, this woman told the men in the Kekchi language, “I’d like to receive Jesus as my savior, but if my husband finds out, he will beat me.” Less than an hour later, Ramiro had hopped on a bus with us to take us back to town. About a mile down the road, we happened upon an accident in the roadway. A man was laying on the pavement. “That’s her husband,” Ramiro said, pointing to the man in the road. A day later we found out that the man was in a coma, and the church members were caring for this woman in her distress.
Our second day of visits required us to ride in the back of a truck for about an hour and a half.
Then we got off the truck and boarded a boat to travel up river to get off near a village near Chotal, Guatemala.
After getting off the boat, we hiked a bit more and arrived at the Templo Bautista Rio Jordan (River Jordan Temple Baptist) Church in Chotal.
This picture captures the drastic changes taking place in the Kekchi culture. I snapped this before getting a group picture of all who had prayed to receive Christ in this home. But you will notice that one of the daughters is watching a video on her cell phone.
Several ladies wanted to have their pictures taken with Nola.
Holed Up in a Hotel
After two days of work, everything for us ground to a halt. For two straight days, we were stuck in the hotel. Ray was not feeling well, and to complicate things more, our contact that Cesar had arranged to come transport us had also gotten sick and couldn’t come. So the last two days in the jungle, we were not able to do anything.
The Heroes Show Up!
Thankfully, Juan Carlos, our new friend from Ipala, was both willing and able to come get us. And that drive back with him was so refreshing to me as Juan Carlos and I were able to see some of our Spanish “Be-the-Church” videos on his phone as Jose Garza, a truck driver and friend of Juan Carlos, drove.
The funny thing to us at that point was that we didn’t know that Juan Carlos was a pastor! We just thought he was leading a men’s ministry and was a construction guy. A few hours into the drive, he asked if we would be available to come to his church the following day to speak. Ray asked, “Do you need to call your pastor to make sure it’s okay?”
“I am the pastor,” Juan Carlos chuckled. “I think it’s okay!”
Juan Carlos sang with his daughter, Helen, in the church service.
Here I was translating for Ray as he brought the message.
This is Juan Carlos’ family: his wife, Glendy and daughters Tiffany, Mari Elsi, and Helen. One other surprise to us was the fact that the restaurant where we were eating at, belonged to them! (Nola and I had wondered why, when they sat down, none of them wanted menus!) Most days, they all take turns waiting on tables or cooking. The soup pictured was one of their specialties that Helen and her mom created.
Glendy wanted to take this picture of us with their cooking staff. The mural in the background was designed and painted by Juan Carlos! What a talented guy! Notice the two flags in the mural. The one on the left is of Guatemala. The other one is of El Salvador. The restaurant features food from both countries.
Here Nola is finishing up her pupusa, an El Salvador specialty, that Glendy and her team coached Nola into making!
Nola’s pupusa wound up on Ray’s plate! Pictured with Ray is Jose Garza, the truck driver who came with Juan Carlos to bail us out the day before. Jose speaks English a bit, and he and Ray enjoyed talking cars, motorcycles, and life as a new believer in Jesus. One year ago, Juan Carlos led Jose to the Lord, so all this is new to him. Jose asked me to translate the last thing he wanted to tell Ray, because he didn’t have the words in English.
“I don’t know why God gave me the privilege of driving these servants of God for the past couple of days, but I am so thankful for this opportunity to get to know you.” Believe me, the feelings were mutual.
Bull Rider Baptisms
When we finally got to Chiquimula on the morning of Monday, February 7th, Cesar had gotten well enough to come meet us there for the baptism that we had scheduled with Alfredo Barrantes, a professional bull rider from Costa Rica.
Alfredo has started a group among his traveling bull riders. This particular day, the group had moved on to the next rodeo, but Alfredo and his fellow bull rider, Rafael, from Brazil, had stayed back in order that they could meet us and get baptized.
Before we went down to the river for the baptism, we met at the horse stables of our friend, Luis Cuellar, to talk about what baptism means. Top left is Alfredo Barrantes, of Costa Rica. Top right in the green shirt is Rafael Da Silva, of Brazil. Here, Alfredo had asked Cesar if we could come back when the other guys were ready to get baptized.
“We will baptize you, but from here on out, you guys will baptize the next ones.” Cesar explained. “That permission comes not from us, but from Jesus Himself who said that we are to go into all the world and make disciples…baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…”
Alfredo was the first one in the water.
I loved the fact that these guys jumped in with their boots and hats and everything!
Next, I asked Alfredo to help me baptize Rafael. Below is the whole video. Whether you speak English, Spanish, or Portuguese, I think you understand why it was such a meaningful day for all of us!
After getting wet, Nola snapped this picture with Cesar. Even a week after the event, Cesar and I were admitting to how much that day meant to us. “That was the best medicine I had the whole week!” Cesar blurted to me on a Zoom call yesterday. I couldn’t agree more!
The Rest of the Story
Thankfully, Cesar, Elba, and Ray got better, and they all tested negative for Covid when it was time for us to get on an airplane and come home. In talking with Cesar yesterday, we are both still blown away by the number of salvations being reported among our friends in the jungle. All we can say is, “Wow! God is good!”
10:02 PRAYER
Please pray for our Kekchi friends as they follow up on these new believers. Also pray for guys like Luis and Juan Carlos who are starting new groups. Pray also for Alfredo and Rafael as they continue to live out their faith with fellow bull riders. Pray that they can get their visas to come to the United States this year. I have some friends I want them to meet who could help them as they start ministries for their fellow bull riders.
Pray too that Cesar, Elba, and Ray get back to 100% from their bout with the “cold.”
ENGAGE
Bill Burrows continues to expand and improve our “Be-the-Church” training. If you are interested in having us do that in your church, let us know.
INVEST
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support! Without you, this past trip would not have happened.
CLICK HERE FOR THE EASY WAY TO INVEST.
Keep us filled in on your blessings and concerns. We consider it a privilege to pray for you as you pray for us.
Love y’all!
Steve
PS…I won’t say how old she is, but the lady with me in the big chair had a birthday on this trip! And Ray Gurney did so on the day we flew home! Happy birthday y’all!
Thanks Ray for hiking up this hill! And for gutting it out this trip. Happy belated birthday!
