Great week in Guatemala

I had a great time this past week in Guatemala.  Had a very close connection in Houston after being delayed out of Kansas City due to a dead battery on the plane and then the need to de-ice the wings and tail due to the cold temperatures.  It was much more pleasant in Guatemala, though the evenings in the mountains in Quetzaltenango can be pretty chilly at times.

We had 76 pastors and lay leaders present for the 2-day training conference led by Bill Miller, pastor of the FBC of Farmington, MO and David Holman, a deacon of his church who earns his living as a pharmacist.  Bill shared about sermon preparation, sermon series, planning a calendar of preaching, and some general information about pastoral ministry.  David shared about the importance of a men's ministry in the local church and gave some guidelines about how to begin and administer such a ministry.  I handled the translation duties for them. As always, the folks there were very gracious and hospitable, as well as very appreciative of Churchnet's ongoing support for this ministry. 

After returning to Guatemala City on Wednesday, we visited the Tabitha Ministry on Thursday and were impressed to see the good progress they are making on their facility.  They're up to almost 120 children that they are educating and feeding five days a week.  They've also begun a new church that is meeting on as-of-yet unfinished third floor of their building.  Some workers were installing windows the day we visited--a step made possible by the donation of funds from a team that had ministered there the previous week from the Parkade Baptist Church in Columbia, MO.  They still need to finish the floor, walls, electrical installation, and bathrooms on that level.

I'm including a photo below of a recent gathering on the unfinished third floor of the Tabitha Ministry.