Mi amigo Gustavo

As I was falling asleep last night, a visual came to mind that I think would be good for all of you to really see the need here, especially in Cerro De Oro. The workers on one of the construction sites were father (Cruz) and son (Gustavo). On the last day we were there, Gustavo was given a pair of one of our work boots. His own shoes were mens dress shoes that were falling apart as he mixed concrete and worked in the dirt and mud. The boots were near a perfect fit and his expression told that he was very happy to receive them. Most of us have experienced having to tell our children no when there is something they want or need because there is no room in the budget. But can you imagine if something your child REALLY needed was given to him or her and still he could not keep because need somewhere else was greater. Brand new works boots probably traded for a fair price and gave his family needed food or supplies, more needed than work boots. We saw Gustavo again at the work site and he was not wearing the boots. I pray for Cruz and his wife and how difficult it must have been to tell Gustavo that they must use this gift for something else.

Written by Stephanie Larkins

Walking Among Us

Hola from Guatemala! Today was our last day in Santiago and we are all with heavy hearts. Today and yesterday, I literally felt as if God was walking among us just hanging out with His people helping us all to join hearts despite language and cultural barriers. I can feel His presence so close here that it will be hard to leave tomorrow. What things can I share that stand out? So much but I will choose just a few. Yesterday, we delivered beds to the families that have been relocated from Panabaj. I am sure you all saw the post and pictures from yesterday so you can see that when I say "bed"I mean a fold up cot that might be rolled in as uncomfortable extra in a hotel - not a real bed by our standards. Yet the receivers of these beds were overcome with joy and thanks - many receiving only one per family. It was heartbreaking to see such a visual contrast between what we are have and what these people have. When was the last time you gave genuine thanks for the bed that you sleep in? We also visited the homes that our team and past HPCC teams helped to build and got the honor of praying with each family. Let me tell you, Pastor Diego prays with an authority and passion for God that is emotionally overwhelming. I am not typically a public crier but I found myself sobbing as I tried to pray. I also got to try my hand at tortilla making....mission failed?! Everywhere that we go, we are followed by children. I can't help recall from the bible how the children loved to follow Jesus and He always made time for them. Father God, PLEASE let these children have seen a small glimpse of Jesus in us!

We ended the day with the honor of hearing the testimony of Pastor Diego. His faith in God is inspirational and he has warmth that makes you know instantly upon meeting him that he is a man of God. I am positive that all HPCC teams have a warm place in their hearts and prayers for Pastor Diego and his ministry.

Now today, I have to admit that some of the team was a little hesitant about today. We were told there were two church services that we could attend - one was the children's service from 9am - 11am and the other was an adult/family service from 5:30pm - 8:30pm...now that is a whole lot of Jesus - right?? Especially considering that it would all be in Spanish or the native language here so we would more than likely understand little to nothing. Both services were optional for all team members. My family and I decided to attend both. We had to see the VBS kids one more time for sure! The morning service with the kids were great. Frederico was the teacher for the class I sat in on and it was so much like JAM. They had lively songs with movements, a great lessons, and of course the awesome kids! They let us sing a few songs with the kids as well. After morning service, some of us spent the day watching a soccer game that hear was very exciting - I opted for a nap. I feel emotionally spent and needed some rest.

Finally, we ended the day with the entire team attending adult service and I have little words because nothing I can say in words will help you to visualize the experience. If you can believe, our very own Roy gave a testimony that was translated in front of the entire church. Roy's testimony is powerful and he was very "valiente" to share with his new church family. We also shared three songs with our new church family and got to participate in their worship that was passionate and beautiful! A few songs were even familiar to us - helped to feel like there was a bridge that gapped the cultures. Finally, Pastor Diego preached and surprised us all by asking our awesome translator, Cesar to translate his message for us as he spoke it! Cesar was a little nervous but did an amazing job. Pastor spoke powerfully about having a heart for God your whole life through. The time flew by and we were all glad to have gone!

I am so glad to be experiencing this as a family. Had just one or two of us gone, we never would have been able to express the love and need in Guatemala. We will return and we all have a new heart for international missions. The worst conditions that I have seen in our country don't compare to the average conditions here in Cerro de Oro. Please continue to pray for the people of Guatemala and for Pastor Diego and his ministry. Love to everyone at home - we will see you all soon!

Posted by Stephanie Larkins

Chuk Muk

As the days pass by, it is getting harder and harder to take all of this. You know...the good kind of hard. Yesterday, we said good-bye to our VBS kids after having spent four days playing and loving on them. Yesterday was our last day of construction on the two houses we came down to build. And today...today we tied it all together. Of course, if you want to see all the pictures...go here.

There is a community between Santiago and Cerro de Oro that is entirely made up of people relocated from Panabaj. Their homes were washed out in the mudslides and they were moved to government housing in four different sectors. The entire "new city" is called Chuk Muk (pronounced chook-mook) and is the only government housing in all of Guatemala. The houses are much bigger than most of the people have probably ever had and are actually very luxurious in comparison to the homes we see in the surrounding communities. Unfortunately, in the move, these people didn't get to take anything with them and are literally without.

In 2 Corinthians 9:11 it reads: You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

I feel like this verse is so vital to keep in the forefront of our minds. God has so richly blessed us, not just each person on this trip but our country in general. We are so richly blessed that we buy bigger and bigger houses to store more and more stuff. We have money just lying around, in jars or pigs or bank accounts, that we may or may not touch for months or years at a time. We can justify the things we buy yet find it hard to hand over the same amount of money from something we can't physically hold. I am not saying we need to never save or that big houses are bad...but what are we doing with the over abundance that God has given to us. What are we doing with the overflow of blessings? Are we overflowing on to someone else? Isn't that what God is calling us to do?

I am not telling you this to brag on how amazing we are. I am telling you the stories of giving because I feel very honored that we are able to give. I feel so humbled that we are able to overflow on the people in this community, in such a seemingly simple way, yet it makes such a huge difference to them. In Chuk Muk, we were able to provide cots for 40 families. Cots. Metal framed beds that fold up in half, thin mattresses that would be an awful night sleep for us and uncovered springs that immediately made me think of little kids getting their hands pinched in them. Cots. Something to sleep on besides the concrete floor.

And those 40 families? Their children go to the school where we held VBS. Not only are their little precious minds being taken care of during the day while they learn to read and write and pray, but now their little bodies will be able to sleep better at night. Their parents will be able to sleep better at night. Their grandparents can rest their achey bones on a soft mattress instead of a solid surface. They can all rest...a little easier tonight.

We partner with a church in Santiago called El Buen Pastor (meaning the Good Sheppard). Pastor Diego has become a good friend of our church and helps facilitate all this giving so we can help convey the message that the church is helping to provide all these things instead of those "rich white people" that come in to town twice a year. We have learned that the second you hand even ONE piece of gum out to a child in the town, you are expected to give to EVERYONE. And they get feisty about it too. We learned that just handing stuff out was counterproductive to our work here. It was creating hostility towards us if the people didn't get something or between each other if one person received more/better than the other. We want to share Jesus with these people...not greed! Pastor Diego is amazing at sharing the message with the people that God provided this stuff and he uses people like us or those from their church to make these things happen.

What an amazing feeling. We stood in a circle with the community of people, with our friend Pastor Diego and with our translators as we all prayed over these beds and the people receiving them. Do you have any idea how moving it is to hear these people pray? They pray out loud, with full voice and in their own words, right along with Pastor Diego. They cover their faces and all look like they are about to cry. Most of us on the team DID cry...big ol alligator tears mixed between joy and sorrow, heart break and happiness. And as they carried their beds off to their homes with HUGE smiles on their faces, we couldn't help but smile right along with them. Some of them held our hands and thanked us. Some of them kissed our cheeks as they whispered sweet sentiments of which we couldn't understand.

As the moisture from their lips started to dissipate from my face, more tears came. Thank you Jesus for these moments, these life changing , heart shaking moments. I pray those kisses will never dry.

Goodbye VBS

Last day of VBS and Construction can be found here. SO many sad good-byes but so many new friends to keep in our hearts FOREVER!

Last Day

It is our last day of construction for the two houses. The roof and the floor will be finished today and some other extras that will help make the home a bit easier on the family. Things like stairs made of cinder blocks and a concrete walk way add just an extra bit of convenience for the family and with all our people there to work, it was quick for us to "help" with. I am sure the people from Guatemala that are leading the building project are probably sick of our help since we are very slow and usually don't know what we are doing! We aren't used to carry burlap sacks of dirt...we have wheelbarrels. We don't normally chop cinder blocks in half with macheti's...we cut wood with high powered tools. And we don't barely ever dig up dirt from behind our house to throw on our floors to level it out! But this is what we have been doing because this is how they do it. Really makes us appreciate our "easy ways" back home.

It is our last day of VBS with the kids in Santiago. I know that it will be an emotional day for all of us as we say good-bye to them. After four days of hugs, tickles, tag, and giggles...we will be done at the school and taking each one of them in our hearts forever. We have been so blessed to spend this time with them. What amazing children they are and I know that every one of us is forever changed for having met them.

We took a record amount of pictures yesterday and have uploaded as many as time would allow. Check them out here.

Hugs and Love to all! -Amy B

PS> This picture of Roy cracks me up! The lesson for VBS included combing each others hair and the kids just FLOCKED to him! He has the least amount of hair of all of us but they insisted on combing his....head. Love it!

Day 3

Getting ready to get on the bus and get back to work today! No time to write but wanted to show some pictures to you so you can get a visual! Still working hard on the houses, still playing hard with the kids in the village and still enjoying this time to focus on what God is calling us to do instead of what our normal lives scream at us. Amazing time of growth for us all as we build relationships with these people and just 100% love on them.

You can view the pictures here. I didn't get to add titles to all of them but I hope you at least get an understanding by what is up.

Guatemala in Pictures

After our first day on the job, we were all a little tired last night and didn't manage to get anything written. But we did upload photos from our first two days to share with you all so you can see what we are getting to see down here.

The people are shy but friendly and the temperature is perfect for working and playing...until it started raining. The first half of our morning was dedicated to two teams working in two different areas, building homes. We quickly learned how to mix motar, apply it and lay cinderblocks to add the next couple levels on the walls of their future home. By home, imagine the smallest bedroom in your house, divide it in to two and call that a home. Seriously. Four people living in less than an 8x10 abode. I was very humbled by our first day.

After lunch, we began the first day of VBS with the kids. Over 60 kids between the ages of 4 and 12 showed up and it was total chaos but totally awesome! Endless fits of giggles surrounded us as we taught Bible stories, played games, made small bracelets, and served snacks with the kids. SO much fun! The icing on the cake was getting customary kisses on the cheeks with the "adios" as they left to go home. We were accepted.

Now please..look at the pictures from Day 1 here.

And the first half of Day 2 here.

Lost

Today the team woke up at the Vista Real Hotel. This is one of my favorite places. I love to get up early in the morning and sit under the Statue of Michael the Arch Angel and smell the Jasmine with wafts of car exhaust in the air. As Greg Reed said last summer, “It is a smell that just welcomes you to Guatemala”. It is a smell that you fall in love with. It is a smell that I get lost in. It is a smell that I find myself in too.

After this quiet morning welcome to Guatemala. I head into the restaurant for breakfast.

“Lost! One of our bags is lost! It never came to our room last night.”

This is the first hiccup of the day. Ok let’s go check the bus. Josue has been loading the bags, and the tarps are already on the luggage. I hated doing it, but we needed to find it. Josue counted the bags and thought that we came up with 43 bags, 43 bags? 2checked bags x 13 people + 13 carry-on bags, plus translator bags. The number sounded good, we were going to have to trust God on this. If God wants us to have what is in the bag than it is there, if not, it is not. Throw the tarps back on and let’s get going.

"Lost! I just had my notebook with the budget in it, what did I do with it. I just set it down at the store that we bought school supplies at. And POOF, it’s gone.”

We looked around for a little bit and decide to go. I can figure it out. It was just a book with numbers in it. Nothing actually lost. Let’s go we have a long trip ahead of us.
On the way to Santiago, It rained and the roads were washed out all over the place. Josue was incredible in his driving abilities. We made it safe and on time to Santiago.

We finally make it to Posada de Santiago...“Lost! They booked the room we were going to store our supplies in and have our team meeting. “ The hotel said we could rent the owners house next door to store our supplies and hold our meetings. But the price of$30 dollars a day was pretty steep. We can figure something out. Let’s just get into our rooms and we will be creative.

“Lost! “ Tara comes running up the hill. Amy thinks she left her Passport at the Vista.

We unloaded the bags from the bus. Josue’s count was right. The Missing Larkins bag was found. Josue went to get the school supplies out of his trunk. Look it’s my missing folder. It was in the basket of the shopping cart and Josue saw it and threw it in his trunk.
A call to the Vista Real, housekeeping found the pass port and had turned it in to the office. It will be in there safe until we return.

“Thank you Lord, for this day of lessons.
I remember why I came.
You have found me again Lord, and Now I am lost in you.”

Sometimes we think our mission is the stuff we bring. My focus was wrong in this. What we bring is the LOVE of Jesus. This is all we need. It does not matter what we bring in those bags if we don’t bring the LOVE of Jesus with us. I was lost in the stuff Lord, but you found me and I LOVE you.

Sometimes we as Christians think our mission is about numbers. How many will be saved. How many supplies can we bring? How much money can we donate? How many people we can medically treat? What we really need to focus on is the LOVE of Jesus. How much love is in our heart? How much do we LOVE our neighbor’s? How much do we LOVE our Lord Jesus? How much Love is in you? “Lord I was lost in the number of supplies. Lord I was lost in in “our” budget and you found me. I LOVE you Lord.

Sometimes we as Christians think missions are who we are. “We are Christians and we are bringing the word of God to these poor people.” Or we think we are very good Christians because of how much we are helping these people by building their houses. We even start to address ourselves as “Missionaries”, like it is a title to be worn with pride. We are nothing if we do not have the LOVE of Jesus in us. Everything I have earned is filthy rags next to the LOVE of Jesus. They should now us by our LOVE. Not by who we say we are. Not by what we bring. Not by what we build. BUT by our LOVE they will KNOW we are Christians. By the LOVE that Jesus has washed us with while we were still sinners should overflow and they shall know His LOVE that they see in us and know that we follow you. Lord I was lost in who I was. But you found me and I LOVE you.

Today I needed to refocus on why I was coming here. My Lord Jesus has helped me with this. It does not matter what I bring if I do not LOVE. It does not matter what the numbers are if I do not LOVE. It does not matter who I am If I do not LOVE. Lost supply bags, lost budget numbers, lost passport. We are lost if we do not LOVE Jesus. And if we truly LOVE Jesus we LOVE people. AND If we do not first focus on LOVING these people they may never know the LOVE of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord we LOVE you. We are here because of You. You invited us to be a part of what You have been doing here since You created this world. Thank you for LOVING us.

Written by Barrett Hartmen

We Made It

After an early alarm clock, a car ride, a bus ride, two plan rides, and another shuttle, we are finally here! No problems, total traveling mercy and even some funny stories along the way all kept us all smiling. I wasn't able to get pictures from some of the other team members yet but will tomorrow. These are just a couple I took...of us packing that shuttle FULL of suitcases packed with school supplies, soccer balls and VBS supplies.

Thank you to Spencer and Wendy Finney for allowing us to pack and launch from their home! Some of even got a minute to talk with Keith Havenstrife on skype while he is deployed to Iraq. We even got to stuff our faces with donuts before our departure!

At the packing party, everyone made necklaces with our names on them (which I gather is from a fun tradition started somewhere). Roy wasn't able to go to the packing party so the others took care of making his for him. From now on, he is known as RoyMundo! And it has pink beads...perfection!

Our hotel is amazing...even in the dark! Tomorrow, we head out nice and early to Santiago where we will be getting right to work. Sounds like rain for the week so we will all be stopping to buy some ponchos at the markets. Seriously. None of us planned on rain! We can't get away from it! ;)

Thank you all for your prayers! We made it through customs with NO problems...well...excluding Roy and Barrett and even those were just little hiccups for us to giggle about!

All for tonight! More tomorrow!

$348

Every year we buy school supplies for our kids as they begin the new year. What is it about school supplies that sticks with us? Why can we remember the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, scotch tape and elmer's glue? How much do we love cracking open a new stack of college lined paper just to flip through it and hear the sounds those sheets make before they are placed securely in our three ring binders. What is it about school supplies?

As I roamed the aisles at Target with $500 cash in my grubby little paws, I flashed back to moments from my childhood when we used to shop for new goodies to take to school. I remember overlooking the generic brands because only Crayola would do. Forget that glue with the blue applicator tip, Elmer's is the brand for me. Had to have the brand names. Couldn't have any ol' lame binder...had to be a Trapper Keeper with Kittens on the front.

I felt like I needed a shower. I felt really guilty for my childhood greed. Who cared what the brand was? I was just going to peel the labels off the crayons, glue my hands together for fun and use my ruler as an ax on the edge of my desk...who cared what the brand name was? For some reason, I did.

Not sure if it is parenting, or just plain maturity or if it was this really cool thing God did to remind me of where I came from [choose the latter] but I was suddenly renewed as my kids and I grabbed armful's of stuff and threw it in the cart. It wasn't about the brand names this whole time? I could have had TWICE the fun with my school supply consumer product testing had I known better?! I was just trying so hard to fit in and be normal...I didn't even think about the cost or be thankful that I even GOT supplies. New. Every year. These people on the receiving end, they don't care about the brand. They are just thankful for the goods! Oh Man! I wish I could bottle up that feeling I had right there in that Target aisle and share it with everyone.

Poor Target. Poor Tuesday shoppers of Target. Poor checker that was about to spend 30 minutes ringing us up with no order or quantity option because of how we were throwing and mixing everything together in our excitement. But yeah for filled suitcases. Yeah for big smiles on little faces. Yeah for stocking Guatemala school rooms and maybe having no one see who did it. Yeah.

We got to the register with a TOTALLY full cart, items strewn about behind us with little kids in tow to pick it all up. We grouped as best we could to help sweet Red Shirted Lady get through the mess and we watched as the numbers climbed higher and higher. I was afraid we might have gone over our $500 cash on hand limit. I hadn't been counting. Eek. Sweating.

$348. Seriously? That's all? No. There is too much in this cart for it to be only that?! Seriously? Did you know what $348 can do...school supply wise?! I had no idea! That a lot of generous, donated bills...that made out to be a whole ton of school supplies.

Every aspect of this mission trip has surprised me. I should not be surprised. But I was. Who knew...what $348 could be turned in to.

PS> The remainder of the money was taken back to Target a few days later to fill up another cart. On top of JUST THIS donation, our amazing church family filled FOUR suitcases with school supplies as of last Sunday AND gave $1000 more to purchase whatever else we could. What a blessing you people are. What a change you will make in Guatemala. Please know that. And thank you.