Short-Term Trip; Long-Term Planning

Well as you can see, I just changed the name of the blog. "All That Matters" will be the new title from now on. You may ask, "Why?" Well, let me explain. The title of this entry says "short-term trip; long-term planning." I came to Guatemala for a two month missions internship. The purpose of the internship is to gain experience of what it's like serving as a missionary on a foreign field. Well, for me I already had an interest in serving in Guatemala. So, this trip was sort of like a survey trip. I have had SO many wonderful experiences here. And, as this is my last week, it's somewhat "bitter-sweet" to have to leave soon. The first month in Solola was great to get acquainted with the culture, to meet so many wonderful people, and to be involved in various activities. Thank you, Larry and Claire Boggs, for your hospitality and willingness to let me come and work there at the Nido. Those are memories I will never forget! This month in Petén has also been wonderful. If you've been keeping up with my blog entries, you've read of the many wonderful experiences I've had here. It's been great! In my time here, I believe God has placed a desire in my heart to return to Petén and work here full time. Thank you, Jimmy and Shelley Dinsmore, for your encouraging and challenging words in our many discussions. I am so grateful to have met you two (and Jonah and Silas :)

So, in saying all that, I am planning from this point on to begin preparing to return to Petén as a church-planting missionary. I realize it may be bold to make a definite plan at this point. But, I believe it's a good thing to have plans. And God could redirect me if He sees fit. But, my life is committed to serving Him. After all, that's "All That Matters," isn't it? So, I would appreciate your prayer as I finish up with my last year at Appalachian Bible College and make preparations for my future. Thank you so much for your prayer and support! I look forward to continuing to share how the Lord leads and directs in my life.

In Christ,
Jay

Wonderful Ministry Opportunities

6/22/10--Thursday

Well the last time I wrote, Jimmy and I were still preparing our materials for the upcoming Kekchi Pastors training module. We had prepared lessons on the cults and the book of Judges.

All the notes were compiled into 25 pages of notes. We had one notebook made for the cults and another for the book of Judges. The training was planned for 3 days, but we finished early yesterday. Just because we finished early doesn't mean we flew through things! There was A LOT of discussion about various topics throughout the lessons. It was good to see how passionate these men are about the things they believe. And they had many questions to ask. You better have scriptural proof for your answers too! The men always want to take time to look up the proof verses in the Bible and read them out loud. I think thats a great thing!

This coming Sunday I have part two of Esther to finish and I'm really looking forward to that. I had a great time teaching last Sunday and It's going to be great to do it again! I really am thankful for these great opportunities for ministry! Its so awesome to be involved here! Its hard to think that I only have a little over a week left. My time here has been so great and I know even these last few days will be great too!

Teaching Cont'd

7/19/10--Monday

Well, yesterday we studied the first part of Esther. I had a great time teaching to the people at the Santa Rita Bible Study! Its exciting to see the people interact with the story and enjoy it. I was a bit nervous before I began, but I soon felt very comfortable like I was at home. I'm thankful for the opportunity to teach and share from God's Word. It was a good experience because starting tomorrow, I'll be teaching with Jimmy several times a day at the Kekchi Pastors Training. So, I'm glad I got a good start last night!

Today we will go back to Santa Rita for the Children's Bible Study. Another intern, Rebecca, will get her chance to teach. She is starting a two part lesson on the Fruit of The Spirit. I know she has put a lot of work into it and is excited to do it. I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.

Teaching

7/18/10--Sunday

Good Sunday Morning! May God richly bless you as you gather in your local church to hear from God's Word, sing His praises, and fellowship with His people. We were just talking yesterday in the car as we traveled (The Dinsmore's and us interns) about how easy it is to tell who is a Christian here in Guatemala. They are just so different from everyone else. You can see it in their face; they're much happier than before. The truth is, its hard at times in the States to tell who is a Christian. May we do our best to show Christ in our lives everyday.

Today I will begin a two part lesson on the Book of Esther at the Santa Rita Adult Bible Study. I've been working on the preparations for it and I would lie if I didn't say I'm a bit nervous! I would greatly appreciate your prayer for that. Pray also that I will be able to highlight some of the spiritual applications from it, not just merely tell a story.

Jimmy and I are also finishing up all our lessons for the Kekci Pastor's Training. As we look forward to teaching the book of Judges, we already have Ehud's dagger, Shamgar's Ox goad (10 foot long bamboo pole), Jael's tent peg, a Donkey jawbone, and a wig for Samson's hair. It should be a great experience in sharing with these men. We are also excited about our studies on the cults. We've done a lot of research, compiling, and outlining and we're looking forward to teaching.

I'll report more later on how everything goes. God bless!

More Great Experiences!....

Pictures: TOP--Mercedes and Blanca w/Silas (Santa Rita converts),

BOTTOM--Road to Escipula

6/11/10-- Sunday

Sunday we were back at Santa Rita for another adult Bible Study. Jim and Shelley hand out a "homework sheet" every week that relates to next week's lesson. If they bring back a completed sheet, they earn points. (The people try to work and earn points for different things. One reward is a new Bible and a big reward is a trip to Tikal, the Mayan ruins). Since I will be teaching next week, I made a sheet for the book of Esther to hand out. I accidentally introduced them to something new though. I put references for the verses (1:11) beside every question to help them find the answers. The only problem was, they had never seen that before. Jimmy just usually has them read the whole chapter. It took a little explaining, but I think it will work out. Well, that night Jimmy taught on Galatians 1 and explained that salvation was a free gift and gave the Gospel clearly. It was neat to see people interacting and asking questions.

6/12/10-- Monday

After a day of work and preparation for upcoming lessons and projects, we headed again to Santa Rita for the children's Bible study. Shelley has been teaching on the Crucifixion and the events leading up to Christ's death. The kids know the story by heart now and could tell you the events in perfect order. Its great to interact with the kids and just be a "big kid" with them--that's easy for me to do! Monday's lesson taught about the charge Jesus gave his disciples to share the Gospel. The kids make a craft every week and this week's craft was a bracelet with the colors of the wordless book so they could share with their friends the message of the Gospel. There have been at least 3 "kids" (ages 11, 12, and 13) come to Christ just recently. Please pray that more will understand the message of the Gospel and make a decision.

6/13/10-- Tuesday

Do you like off-roading/4-wheeling? Do you like getting muddy? Does a trek through the jungle sound fun to you? Well, you would have loved Tuesday's adventure! Tuesday was a planned day to go to the Kekchi village of Escipula, about a 3 hour ride. There was a "salvation service" planned. Jimmy could do a better job explaining this, but the Kekchi like to really think about the decisions they are going to make. Often times, they think through salvation for a month or more. Along with that, there aren't churches in many of their villages. So, they plan a time when Kekchi pastors (kinda like circuit preachers) can come in a have a service where they will accept Christ that night. We went along yesterday with Kekchi pastors: Jose, Domingo, and Oscar. Now, these men drove their own truck. In our vehicle, their were 5 adults and 2 baby boys :) Jimmy had wanted to rent an SUV that we all could fit in, but that fell through Tuesday morning. So, plan B was for all of us to ride in Jimmy's Tacoma (4x4 with new tires that Jimmy was excited to try out). The only thing was not all of us could fit in the cab. So, myself and Rachel, another intern, rode in the back. It was an enjoyable ride! The road is about 1 hour paved and 2 hours off road. When we arrived at the village entrance, there was another 10 minute or so walk through the jungle over wood bridges, which go over the river, and through the mud. But, it was great! In the village, they provided a meal for us. Well, the most important thing that happened that night was that 2 families and 1 young man accepted Christ! One man announced that he accepted Christ already before the service was held! How exciting it was to be, as Jimmy put it, on the "front-lines of the uttermost parts." Praise the Lord for the decisions that were made! All in all, it was such a great day...and worth putting up with some of the things to get there!

Great Experiences

6/12/10--Monday

Greetings from Dolores, Peten! Its been a week since my last post! I realized that I haven't been as faithful to post blogs as I was last month. I'll try to do beter :) Its hot; its muddy; I've got mosquito bites; and the power goes out often...but I'm loving it here!

I'm thankful for the wonderful opportunities I've had already and the ones yet to come! Last week was a unique and somewhat unusual opportunity. A family from Santa Rita, the Macz family, was going to the city of Sayaxche to exhume their son's body. You may have read about this on Jimmy and Shelley's blog. Jimmy had asked permission for us to come along. So, we packed in Jimmy's Micro, all 34 of us, and rode to Sayaxche, about a 40 minute ride. During the time when they actually dug the body up, it was such a hard time for the family. I won't go into too many details, and honestly I probably don't know all the details. But, the death had been unknown to the family for a few months. So, you could imagine that this was a pretty hard experience for them. The body was exhumed and the family prepared to return to Santa Rita for a proper burial and service. After the legal documents were handled, we headed back to Santa Rita. There, we joined the family for a memorial service. The service and message was delivered by a Catholic priest. The sad part is the fact that the majority of the family is unsaved and they really don't have any hope. Jimmy and Shelley have grown very close to the members of this family and have shared the Gospel with them many times. Please pray that God will continue to open doors for them. After the service, we walked with the family to the cemetery where they were to bury the body. The family did not make the trip for fear of "bad luck." According to their superstition, it is bad luck for the family to be there when the body is buried. How sad it is to see the spiritual blindness of these people. I'm thankful for the experience to be there as this was a very eye-opening and learning experience as well as an opportunity to meet many of the people of Santa Rita.

I've really enjoyed the time to spend with Jimmy and get to know him better. We've had many opportunities already as we ride around to run errands or just sit and talk to get to know each other. We've had several of those "missions/ministry discussions" that a missions intern like me is always on the lookout for. I'm grateful for the talks we've had and the chance to learn from his experience. Jimmy and Shelley are very down-to-earth and I always enjoy just having fun and joking around with them. I know youguys will probably read this so---Thanks a bunch! I think you're great!

For now, I'm staying busy working on my lessons for the Bible Study and Kekchi pastor's training. I look forward to reporting more about what's going on later! God bless!

Jay

Catching Up

7/6/10-- Tuesday

Hello! Its been a while since I've been able to post a blog, so I'll try to fill you in on all thats gone on. I left Solola last Wednesday and took a shuttle to Guatemala City. It was real tough to say goodbye to everyone. I've made a lot of great friends there and had such a wonderful time. In Guatemala City, I stayed in a hotel for one night before my flight the next day. Early Thursday morning I flew into Flores, Peten. Talk about a temperature difference! In Solola, it was cold and often rainy. Here in Peten, you sweat just sitting around! But, its great here! I had Thursday and Friday to stay in a hotel on Flores (a small island) and just hang out and relax on the island. That was nice!

Well on Saturday, I met Jimmy Dinsmore and we picked up a few grocery items and ran a few errands then he took me to the hotel. I spent the rest of the day visiting with he and his wife Shelley and their two baby boys, Jonah and Silas. I've really enjoyed getting to know them. They're great! On Sunday, they meet in a Kekchi village called Santa Rita for a Bible Study. That's what they're allowed to call it, not a "church." Well, that was a great opportunity to meet many of the people and see the ministry that the Dinsmore's have. Sunday night, July 4th...we set off fireworks! Monday was pretty similar except the Bible study is for children and Shelley teaches. It's like a Vacation Bible School packed into an hour and a half! Well that evening the other two interns, Rebecca and Rachel, who will also be here for the month of July arrived. We ate in Flores and headed back to the hotel after that.

There are many great opportunities here. Jimmy has given me the opportunity to teach at the Santa Rita Bible Study. I will be teaching a two part study on the book of Esther...to people who have never heard it! I will also be teaching with Jimmy at a Kekchi Pastors Workshop. We will be teaching a cults class and the book of Judges. These are great opportunities and we would greatly appreciate your prayer! My internet capabilities are a bit limited here. I will try to keep things up-to-date as best as I can. I would encourage you to check out Jimmy and Shelley's blog. The link is posted on the right side of my blog. I look forward to sharing more with everyone later!

Until Then,

Jay