Panajachel Festival

 Every October 4th, there is a fiesta in Panajachel to celebrate their patron saint, who is San Francisco.  They have parades to honor him, school and work are canceled for the day and vendors come from all around to sell their wares.

 The strangest and saddest part of this fiesta is the Mayan/Catholic synchronization that goes on, as you can see here.  The masks and costumes are Mayan, as well as the incense and music.  It is commonly accepted even with most evangelicals as a kind of fair day.  Public and private schools participate in the parades and they even have a band competition from the schools that most of the kids participate in.

 This Maya culture and mindset is the reason we are here.  Even believers have as their central belief system, a Maya belief.  This is why we are encouraging the evangelical churches to participate in a program to teach moral values based on Bible stories in the public schools.  Reaching the children for Christ is the only way to change this acceptance of the culture.  This program will begin in Feb. of next year, but we still need Bible teachers to commit to teach - our primary prayer request this day.

Marimba music had it's start in the Mayan culture and for this reason, many evangelical churches will not have marimba music in their buildings.

 At this time, more than normal, you will see many drunken men just lying in the street.  People just walk over and around them.  Whatever they drink is extremely potent and when it hits, they just hit the pavement.  Alcohol is a huge problem here.  People who drink get drunk and many families are destroyed by it.  For this reason, alcohol drinking is prohibited by evangelicals.  However, many of our Christian men have a drinking problem and the church doesn't seem to know what to do about it.

Amusement rides are brought in from who knows where or when to be enjoyed by all.  Some of the kiddie rides would remind you of the 40's and 50's in the states - really cute and old!  Some of them are actually run by hand.
We had four ferris wheels this year, put together by rubber bands, I think.  But the price was only 1 quetzal per person, which is about 15 cents, so Niel could not pass that up, so he talked me into riding it.  It was a unique and a bit scary experience!

Good evening to our friends and blog readers.  We have had major hassle trying to access our own blog, and to add a new submission, so this is mostly a test!
Thanks for your kind attention.  Hopefully later we'll have the real thing on here!   niel

Medical Clinic in Mayan country

 Praise God!  For the 1st time ever, (except for VBS), our indigenous church (Iglesia Emanuel), has received from the Lord - a missionary heart!
Four months ago, when we received news that our yearly medical mission team from the states couldn't come this year to minister to the poor of Guatemala, we were very disappointed as we already had chosen 2 needy places for the clinics.

 But, just as He always does, God had a better plan for this year!  As Niel talked up the possibility of our church picking up the slack, God provided partners from the states to send down meds and vitamins we can't get here and donations for other medicine, as well as accommodations for two Korean medical missionaries, two acupuncturists, and a Guatemalan dentist. 

Then our precious believers from our church started volunteering to divide and pack up medicine, help in the clinic with Mayan dialect translation and pharmacy, prayer and talking to patients about the Lord as well as training in cleanliness.

Reading the Gospel of John that they had been given!

So, for two days, predominantly Catholic Mayan communities witnessed God's love in action! 
Lord willing, when it was all over, every heart was softened or changed - patient and servant alike!

Pray for marriages

Last week when we announced the beginning of a study for marriages, only one couple attended.  We were a little discouraged, but kept praying and Praise God!  This week five couples came and we had a really good meeting, ending up with pie and coffee.
 I think this type of study is really new to Guatemalans here in Mayan country, so we will see how they do, but judging from their first reaction, I think they will like it.  Whether they open up or not is yet to be seen, but God's Word is powerful, so we can leave the results up to our Marvelous Saviour!  We are excited and pray for the Holy Spirit to reach deep into the marriages represented at this study, heal hurts and renew lost loves.

Las Buenas Nuevas

Las Buenas Nuevas

A ministry of CAM International, with a breathtaking view of Lake Atitlan,is located in Panajachel, Guatemala.

Our guests, (missionaries, mission teams, national churches and families) can stay, rest, recharge, or play in a beautiful, quiet place away from the stress of everyday ministry.

We have three comfortable houses complete with kitchens and the ability at the current time to house up to 30 people.  

Our Mission

To partner in reaching the lost for Christ throughout Central America by providing a guest facility for missionaries primarily, aiding in their need for rest and refreshment so that they are physically, spiritually, and emotionally better able to minister to the needs of others.

Providing a secure parking area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the near future, we will also have four efficiency units and an apartment with three bedrooms in the second level of our new construction.

Hoping to serve you soon!

Dinner for Couples - 2

Playing the "heart" game using Scriptures with their mate.

Dinner for Couples

God is so, so faithful to always glorify His name through his Word!  We experienced such joy this past Saturday night as we saw how focusing on what He says in his Word about marriage brought tears to the eyes of the couples who attended the dinner especially made for them!
Let me explain...  Twenty couples attended our second "Cena para Parejas".  The purpose of this dinner was to emphasize how important our marriages are to our Lord because he has ordained them to be a picture of Christ and the body of Christ, or believers.  Not much is said here about this subject and most marriages here present the opposite picture.   A young couple who are also ministering in our church produced some professional booklets to give to each couple who attended, with 7 challenges from the "Fireproof" book, in Spanish and written appropriately for this culture.  We took photos of each couple, then gave them a word game to work on as the other couples arrived using verses of Scripture that were written on hearts and placed all around the room.  Our precious Marta, from Las Buenas Nuevas, because of how this particular dinner positively affected her marriage last year, prepared "pepian", a tipical chicken and rice dish which was delicious!  We had a special message, and played Newlywed type of games.  All in all, God made this dinner a wonderful success and we are praying that He will continue to use the concepts from the booklets to speak to the hearts of every couple who attended. 

discipleship groups

Last night was the kick-off for the new year with our respective men's and senorita's groups.
 We invited all of them together to share some hotdogs and fixins, then separated for the evening.  Niel started with games from "Minute to win it", which the guys loved, then talked about the steps of a Christian life.  10 guys committed once again to meet once a week with a partner for prayer, Bible study, and accountability! Encouraging men here to be vulnerable with each other is a very long process, but we are praying that the Holy Spirit will use these guys to spread that enthusiasm to the rest.

The girls from the youth group meet at our house about once every 5-6 weeks for a Bible study and usually some kind of craft.  Last night our study title was how the Christian life is like a race.  One of the girls volunteered to model all kinds of extra clothing representing sin in our life that we need to throw off if we want to run the "race" well (I wish I had a picture of that).  After the study, two of our women taught the girls how to make earrings.  They really enjoyed that!

All in all, we trust that God was glorified in the evening and our "hermanos in Cristo" were encouraged in their walk with Christ!

Vacation Bible School

VBS!  We invited some students from the Biblical SEminary in Chimaltenango and Guatemala City to come and help us since we have no pastor at this time.  They were awesome and great examples to the teenage helpers from our own church.

The theme of the week was "Cambio de Rumbo" which means Change of Course, which spoke to unbelievers and believers alike. On Thurs. the story was of Phillip and the Ethiopian where Phillip tells him the story of Jesus and he responds by trusting Christ as Savior.  So, that day, we emphasized the need for salvation and gave the kids an opportunity to trust Christ. These are the kids who responded to our invitation.  We are praying that some of these 60 kids were sincere in their desire and will continue to grow.  We got all their addresses and hope to visit all of their families in the next 3 months.   We gave each of them a wordless book bracelet to help them remember

 

 their decision.  We spent some time with this group explaining what salvation means.

Can't forget snack time!

 Our 9-11 yr. olds made pinatas.  They were very excited and many showed some great creativity!  The large group was divided into 5 groups.  Each group had the task to paint their pinatas with the theme of one of the Bible stories.

 

 Usually each VBS has a small "store" where the kids can buy small snacks, but each day one of the groups from the church also gives a substantial snack.  So this year we decided to give the kids an alternative to put their money.  We made a styrofoam church bank and encouraged them to give their small change to a missionary.  Made about $15 to send to a Guatemalan family who are serving in Spain.  Not a lot, but it's a start of getting them to think about missions.  We also had a mission story every day.

What a great week!  Started with 150 and had 200 by the end of the week.   

 

Making pinatas!  Very messy, but extremely gratifying.

 These were our 3-5 yr. olds.  In the space of 10 X 20 feet, there were 45 little ones.  We had one teacher and 3 helpers for this group, which we really needed!  But as you can see, they had a wonderful time!

 

All in all, it was a wonderful week and we praise our Father in heaven for the opportunity to  minister to so many children in the community and plant seeds of the gospel in their hearts. Thanks to everyone who donated crafts and finances to help with this year's VBS!

Finding room for so many kids in our small sanctuary was a challenge.