All Wet and All Blessed in Guatemala!

Hi Everybody!

I just got back from my trip to Guatemala on Tuesday, and words are inadequate for me to describe what I witnessed these past two weeks. This trip was like 3 trips in one. So bear with me in reporting this; there’s a lot! For an overview, we wanted to touch base with several of our Christian Rancher groups—especially our bull rider group in Chiquimula, and we wanted to recruit leaders for a big soccer emphasis this next year. Then, as a bonus, I was signed up to go on a men’s retreat with Juan Carlos Lopez, a pastor friend from Ipala, Guatemala. I thought I was ready. But after hiking and surviving the rain and the elements for three straight days with 215 other men, I realized how overconfident I was and how much I needed help to survive one of the hardest and most exhilarating experiences of my life. Here are a few pictures that reflect some of the highlights from the trip.

It rained almost every day on this trip, so there was an abundance of water. Here’s a shot of a waterfall that is not too far from Cesar’s house in Amberes.

Touching Base with Leaders

During the first few days, we made the rounds within easy driving distance from Amberes. We touched base with leaders in Santa Cruz Narranjo, Barberena, Quesada, San Pedro Alvarado, Moyuta, Jalpatagua, and Agua Blanca.

Every place of contact went super well, and we enjoyed seeing so many face to face.

Here is a typical group meeting of our friends in San Pedro Alvarado, Guatemala, near the border of El Salvador.

On the only day that we had a cancelation of a group due to a mix-up in communication, we visited this family near Cesar’s house. Eddie, the man sitting on the right, is a construction worker who has worked for Cesar on all his remodeling projects. A couple of months ago, he nearly died from pancreatitis induced by heavy drinking. On this day, he, his wife, and three daughters prayed to receive Christ.

The same day that Eddie and his family came to Christ, a couple of hours later we visited with his 88 year old grandmother and an aunt. And both of them prayed to receive Christ! We got word that they all got together later and celebrated their decision to follow Jesus. Here, Eddie’s grandmother is showing off her bracelet that Cesar had her make while we were visiting together.

Bull Riders and Horse Trainers

After a week of visits we made our way to Chiquimula to meet with our bull rider friend (and horse trainer) Alfredo Barrantes. Alfredo has been the leader of a WhatsApp group on Monday nights where now over a dozen bull riders and friends are joining in a call to do our group process.

When we got there, all of the bull riders who he had hoped to be there were gone because of a last minute shift in date of a rodeo for their company of bull riders. So we spent the day with Alfredo as he worked horses. During that day he introduced us to some other horse trainers who had come to Guatemala from Nicaragua. Both Cesar and I are amazed at how much Alfredo is doing to share his faith with anyone and everyone. About every week we have a new guy on our Monday calls.

When we first caught up with Alfredo, he was in a training session with a horse that he had made good progress with. Most of the horses that he works with are horses with major problems, and their owners are coming to him as a last resort.

Here Alfredo introduces us to two horse trainers from Nicaragua. Later that day, Edubije, the guy in the center, and one other guy from Nicaragua prayed to receive Christ and are now in our Monday group.

When we got to Alfredo’s house, he showed us his pack of blue heeler dogs and pups. He has trained them to work the rodeo bulls and help distract the bulls when a rider is down or in danger. The pups are also trained and sold to other ranchers for working their cattle. Alfredo jokes that at most rodeos they make more money than he does!

Alfredo is bringing out a new horse that has been assigned to him for rehabilitation. Several years ago, Alfredo was left almost completely blind in his left eye from a bull-riding mishap. He attributes much of his pain and suffering as a help in dealing with both horses and people.

Alfredo tells us that this horse is a lot like some of the guys he works with who have trust issues.

About that time, this horse broke the line! Alfredo says that his faith is what he relies on when dealing with horses like this and with friends who are making bad decisions. In both cases, God has given him success. Many bull riders have stayed with Alfredo and gotten squared away with positive life changes.

Update on Soccer Strategy

As you might recall, when I was in Nicaragua in March, I met Eduardo Mejia, a former professional soccer player who had led a team to put on soccer tournaments in Nicaragua, where last year over 700 people came to Christ. When I asked if he would help us in Guatemala, he enthusiastically agreed.

So, in September I plan to take a U.S. team from Lenexa Baptist Church to Nicaragua to participate in one of Eduardo’s tournaments, and to learn as much as we can about how he does it. In faith, I have been operating with the idea of having some Guatemalans meet us there who will help us carry the torch to Guatemala.

On this trip, my aim was to recruit at least one leader who would be willing to meet us in Nicaragua. And God blessed us with three high caliber soccer enthusiasts who are excited about doing just that. I will introduce them one by one.

This is Dr. Esteban Polanco, a physician in Jalpatagua. On one of the days we were in Moyuta, Guatemala, we mentioned to Dario, a coffee grower friend, what we were planning on doing with soccer. Dario immediately said, “You need to talk to this doctor who has started a soccer school for children.” He pulled out his phone and called the doctor directly and asked if he could meet us right then. Thirty minutes later we were sitting in his exam room. Dr. Polanco did his medical training in Cuba, and while there, he was told to keep his religion to himself. But as a bold believer he evangelized by simply reading the Bible out loud in parks! People came to faith by the hundreds. One day I hope to share his story. By the time we explained our idea, he jumped at the chance to meet me in Nicaragua!

On my last day in Guatemala, we had a coffee meeting with Alfredo Mendoza, a relative of some friends in Madison, Nebraska. (Julieta, a sister-in-law, sat next to me on a plane ride from Guatemala to Dallas about five or six years ago!) In April, when I was at Calvary Community Church in Madison and Northern Heights Baptist in Norfolk, they heard of how I needed help with this soccer project. They called Alfredo in Guatemala and told him about it and urged him to contact me. Alfredo is an administrator in a university in Guatemala City. When he called me, I learned that he had started a non-profit that helps children of lower economic means to have uniforms and shoes to play soccer. Also a dedicated believer, he loved the way we use the colored soccer balls to share the gospel. And because of his family’s strong endorsement, he told me that he would consider it an honor to help in any way he could!

And last but not least, we met with Flori Salguero, the president of a girls soccer federation. About five years ago, we met her when she was working with the President’s wife on a project for senior citizens. It just so happened on that day that we were there and she was visiting that group. She loved what we did and wanted to stay in touch. As an aside she mentioned her role as a volunteer in the federation for women’s soccer. Little did we know that she later became the president! This day as we shared with her our project, she immediately agreed to be a part of our team. She also asked if we could make sure we not only bring boys, but girls to come play soccer! So ready or not, this thing is rolling!

Cold and Wet in the Jungle

When I agreed to go on this men’s retreat with Juan Carlos, I knew it would be rough, but I didn’t realize that it was truly boot camp tough. Having run a half marathon a few weeks before the trip, and having my experience in the jungle before, I thought I’d be just fine.

This was our last meal before getting on a bus that would take us to the main starting point in Jutiapa. Juan Carlos, my pastor buddy, is on the far right.

Once we got to Jutiapa, all of us first timers were assigned to tribes and called to line up military style with our backpacks on. Shortly after I took this picture, they came and collected all our cell phones, our watches, and our money! So for the rest of the retreat, I could not take my own pictures! (There were photographers taking pictures as we went, so shortly before sending this to you, I got access to some of those!) As they took our stuff, it started to pour down rain. Normally, I have a cover for my backpack, but it was buried inside my pack. And the leaders immediately started running us through drills in the rain! For the next three days, I was mostly wet! And that was way harder for me than the actual hikes. Each day we hiked about half the day. Periodically they would stop us for a message on building character and listening to Jesus and the like. While at first it was hard and grueling, once we started getting into a groove as a tribe, and started having amazing conversations with each other and with Jesus, we could feel something change in each one of us.

This men’s ministry is called “Legendarios” or Legendaries. The theme comes from “Legendary #1” who is Jesus, and He calls us to follow Him, to be legendary men in our homes, at work, in our churches, and in making disciples.

Here we were waiting for instructions for a competition.

Because we were thrown into competitions without much of an introduction other than our name and where we were from, we had a hard time remembering everyone by name. For me, they caught that I was from Kansas. So that became my name—“Consas” (Which is how they say “Kansas!”) The guy in the blue shirt behind me is named Edin. He was an amazing guy who kept our tribe together. And he wants to travel with me anywhere I go whenever I am in Guatemala. He is a gifted communicator, and lives only about 3 hours from the jungle. So pray that I get more time with him.

All the tribes lined up at the beginning of day 2 awaiting instructions before hiking.

On day 3, I was asked to speak to the larger group on behalf of my tribe. Here I’m sharing a little of my story and how I realized that I was in way over my head! I hadn’t gone on the retreat with the idea of recruiting guys to go to the jungle with me on one of our projects, but in this moment, it dawned on me that these guys were built for the challenge. So I threw it out there for the entire group. Now, I have dozens of guys who tell me that they are ready to go with me to other jungle places to evangelize! I can’t tell you how much that encourages me as I think about the future.

On the next to last day, Juan Carlos, who was serving for the event (and who had a cell phone since he was not a newbie!) got this picture with me. At this point I was wearing the only clothes I had that were dry! Shortly thereafter, even these were soaked!

During our last group time as a tribe we talked about what each one of us was going to do about our time in the mountains. Here I was sharing what I felt like I needed to do.

Here’s my tribe on the day we earned our orange Legendary shirts and took our official tribe picture.

When Cesar dropped me off at the airport in Guatemala City, my heart was so full, and since I had several hours before my flight, I wrote page upon page of notes trying to capture the nuggets of personal and ministry insights from the trip. On my flight to Dallas, I wrote. And even on the way home to Kansas City. I’m still sorting it all out, but this one thing I know. I am truly grateful to God for His sustaining grace through the most difficult hours. And I have new ministry partners and friends who have my back and are ready to go the next leg of the journey with me. Maybe when I sort out some of this, I may be able to share more.

The Easy Button to Invest Now

10:02 PRAYER

(Praying Luke 10:2 each day at 10:02 am or pm that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest fields.)

Please pray that our friends who prayed to receive Christ on this trip will get solid in one of our groups. Pray for Alfredo and his bull riders and fellow horse trainers as they meet on Mondays. Pray for the continued development of the soccer leadership team in Guatemala and the next steps of planning for the Nicaragua/Guatemala connection. Pray that soon we can have a strong team ready to hit the trails to evangelize in some remote places in Guatemala!

ENGAGE

I am heading out Saturday, June 4th, to spend time in Valentine, Nebraska, for Sunday services June 5th at First Baptist Valentine in the morning and at the Cowboy Church Sunday night at the sale barn. Come see us if you can!

Then Monday through Friday I am scheduled to be with the Calvary Chapel Vacation Bible School in Colome, South Dakota. Please pray for my ministry partner, Bill Burrows, who was planning to go with me. He and his wife Joyce caught a case of Covid while I was in Guatemala. So he will not be able to be with me on this trip.

INVEST

Thank you for your generosity to keep us moving and going. While I was in Guatemala, Cesar asked me to thank as many of you personally for your prayers and support as well. Muchas gracias!

CLICK HERE FOR THE EASY WAY TO INVEST.

Love y’all!

Steve