Good morning everyone!
I just got back from Guatemala, and I have a lot to share with you. My time there was split between the jungle and Amberes, where Cesar Gonzales lives. The first week we made the rounds in the jungle with Cesar and four young men. The second week we went back to Cesar’s home, where, along with Eduardo Mejia and a team of four other people from Nicaragua, we began laying down preparations for a big soccer tournament in April.
While I was in Guatemala, Bill Burrows spent a few days in Burwell, Nebraska, challenging and encouraging several groups of pastors and church leaders. So we have been busy travelers in the last few weeks!
Though I am tempted to try and tell you about everything now, I think it would be less overwhelming if I share this in at least two parts. So this update will focus on the jungle portion of my trip. Then next week we will go more in depth about the incredible response we got working with the Nicaragua soccer team.
Our Jungle Team
After about 10 hours of driving, we arrived at our base camp in Por Venir, Guatemala. From left to right are Stiven (a 17 year old soccer player from Amberes), Cesar, Anibal (a pastor from a nearby village), Brandon (a 15 year old soccer player also from Amberes), Pablo (a 16 year old soccer player also from Amberes), and Josue (a 20 year old grandson of Cesar). Our team’s goal for the week was to fix a water system in Sepoc and play soccer in a couple of villages with the men and boys from the region.
Also welcoming us to our base camp was this lizard. He kept me company every night the entire week!
The first night in the jungle, we spoke at the Embajadores de Cristo Church (Ambassadors of Christ) in Setal, Guatemala. Here, Cesar greets everyone. Looking on in the background is the church’s pastor. This church is located on a main road that has the availability of electricity.
Most of the Kekchi-language churches love to praise the Lord with heartfelt songs in their own language.
Water-borne Diseases Plague Our Friends
Throughout the years in our church planting partnership with our Kekchi friends, we have had an ongoing battle to help villages access clean drinking water. Five or six years ago, some compassionate individuals gave us money to deworm the village of Sepoc, where most were infected by parasites. But before buying the medicine, Cesar stopped us to consider that, although the medicine would get rid of the parasites and give about six months of relief, the parasites would soon plague them again. That is because the root problem was in their drinking water, which came from a polluted well. During the rainy season, waste from both pigs and people would wash into the well.
Cesar and our team inspected the water well in the village of Sepoc along with Jose, pastor of the church there. Several years ago, we helped them obtain a pump and tubes to bring water from a nearby spring down into the village for clean water. But during the pandemic, the pump broke and they had gone back to using the water from this well—water that is undoubtedly causing more stomach problems again.
So, we worked with a local mayor and the church in Sepoc to provide a water system that pumped water from a spring up to a couple of containers on a hill. Then that clean water could drop by gravity straight down into the village. It worked great, and the people got healthier drinking clean water.
Spring Up Oh Well…
However, about a year and a half ago, the pump quit working, and many in the village went back to drinking unclean water from the polluted well. Naturally, the village has suffered again from parasites. So on this trip, Cesar was bound and determined to get the pump working again.
Clean water is an issue all over the region. These women are from a village near San Manzanila and hike about a mile back to their huts after fetching water from a spring. They had a good water system a few years ago, but recently their system broke down, and leaders from the community are in the process of making repairs.
Here we evaluated the condition of the tubes that come from the spring, which is a more reliable and clean source of water for the village of Sepoc.
In November, Cesar had taken the old pump to his shop in Amberes to repair. Now it was time to re-install it and see if it would work. Here, Pablo and Stiven are doing the heavy lifting.
Before hooking up the pipes, Pablo and Cesar performed a test, and it worked!
The pump takes water that is down in the spring and pumps it up to large plastic containers on a hill. Then the water can drop down from there by gravity into the village. Here we tested the power of the pump, and it was getting the water up to where it needed to go.
Pablo smiled after seeing that the tanks were ready to receive water again.
After a job well done, our boys from Amberes got their first taste of Kakik, a spicy soup that is made by the Kekchi women for special occasions. As Brandon takes his first spoonful, Pastor Jose enjoys watching the reactions of the others. Fortunately for them, it was milder than usual!
The Soccer Connection in the Jungle
Besides working on the Sepoc water system, we went to a couple of villages to play soccer. For the past several years, our friends have played soccer in villages where new churches need to be established. On this trip, we were just playing friendly games. Later they would do a four village tournament and share the gospel between games.
At the end of our second day in the jungle, players from San Manzanila played a game with a mix of players from their village. Originally, another village was supposed to show up with a team, but they weren’t able to come because of the harvest of cardomum (a plant that produces a fruit that is used primarily for perfumes).
Cesar talked to this group of children about the gospel using the colors of the soccer ball. The children didn’t speak very much Spanish, so it was a little challenging for Cesar to convey the message. Later one of our Kekchi friends helped translate.
The two San Manzanilan teams ended up tied and used penalty shots to determine the winner. Here, Pablo is taking his turn. While this was not a big event, it allowed us to continue to have positive interactions with many in the village. And these good relations have made it easier for our friends there to openly share their faith about Jesus.
New Church Start in Chaky Gracia
The last day in the jungle we made a day trip to a village on the other side of a palm plantation. With the help of a guide, we were able to drive through the maze of palm trees to within a short walking distance of the home where the church is getting started.
Every Thursday, vendors set up a makeshift market in designated locations in the palm oil plantation.
Once we drove to the other side of the plantation, we were able to walk to the hut of a layman who wants to start a new church. Note that tree bridges are very prevalent in this region of the jungle.
Also prevalent along the pathway is cacao. This is the plant and fruit that chocolate comes from. Here, Josue is showing off what he just picked.
Fortunately, this bridge made access to Chaky Gracia much easier. Several from the church at Ochul Choch accompanied us to the home of one of their members.
A family that is a member of the Ochul Choch church has been hiking an hour and a half one way for church services. Now they are wondering if they can start a church in their home.
Here is the home in Chaky Gracia where the Ochul Choch church wants to help start a new church.
The owner of the home (in the background with the blue shirt) constructs these kinds of homes for his livelihood. He recently built his home to be spacious enough for a group to meet.
Lorenzo (standing) is the pastor of the Ochul Choch church and joined us that day as we prayed and encouraged the nucleus in Chaky Gracia to start meeting together.
As we met that day, I flashed back to the first time I met with Lorenzo at his hut nearly 20 years ago. Back then he was saying the same thing about hiking an hour and a half to Sepoc with his family to attend church and wondering if it was okay to start a new church in their village. Now here he is, the veteran pastor who has helped several churches get started by those who are like he was. I couldn’t help but have moist eyes while I observed what was happening. Please pray for their continued establishment of a new church in Chaky Gracia and that these churches would continue to multiply.
10:02 PRAYER
(Pray 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 for this new church start in Chaky Gracia. Pray that the pastors of the existing churches, like Lorenzo, will keep their focus on multiplying disciples and new groups throughout their region in the jungle. Pray that the churches will continue to be generous in helping their villages have clean drinking water for all and that this testimony would lead many to drink of the living water that Jesus provides to all.
ENGAGE
Bill and I will be at the First Baptist Church of Mountain Home, Arkansas, for a “Be the Church” Conference March 4-8. Then March 24-26 we will be doing a men’s retreat for the Western Way Cowboy Church in Altamont, Kansas. If you are near those places, we’d love to see you! Let us know if you need more specifics.
A couple of weeks ago in Burwell, Nebraska, Bill facilitated a group of pastors and their wives in a discussion about their prayer lives that led to renewed commitment to pray.
INVEST
Thanks to you, we were able to accomplish so much this past month—training churches and helping our friends plant churches in Guatemala. Thanks, too, for your help with our soccer project. I will talk more about that in the next update.
Please keep us informed of your prayer needs.
CLICK HERE FOR THE EASY WAY TO INVEST.
Love y’all!
Steve
On our last day in the jungle we stopped by Las Conchas, one of the most spectacular series of waterfalls in the region. These young men had never been to this part of their country and were blown away by the experience. Note that in the next update you will see them again. Cesar has been preparing them to be leaders to invite youth near their homes to come to our upcoming soccer events in Santa Cruz Narranjo. Stay tuned for that report next time!