Martes en Amatitlan

Dios es bien. Todo el tiempo. Todo el tiempo. Dios es bien.

Today we loaded into the van in headed south to Amatitlan--a rural community that has many small villages with a total population of nearly half a million people. After a bumpy but beautiful drive, we arrived at a community center that was donated to Groundwork Guatemala by the village that it is located in. After sweeping the concrete floor and setting up for the afternoon teaching sessions, we split up into three groups for house visits in the surrounding area.

One of the groups met with a family that invited the group into sit in the hall of the quaint little home. One young woman who lived there, who we saw making tortillas, had lost a baby only forty days before. Another woman in that home said that her husband was hundreds of miles away for work and that she was concerned for his safety. We share Scripture passages with them, one of which was Christ's promise of peace to them. He tells that family, "My peace I leave with you, my peace I give. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14) We prayed for them as well, asking specifically for peace and protection.

After other similar visits and after peanut butter and jelly sandwiches back at the community center, the people of the villages began to arrive for teaching and fellowship. Tuesdays have been designated as teaching days in Amatitlan; children split off into one group, and adults are in another, and our team leads the activities. Today, the children played "Plato Plato Ganzo" (Duck Duck Goose) and "Simon Dice" (Simon says). We also sang songs and laughed together as we struggled through the Spanish-English barrier. The team put on a skit that was based off Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet, and Oscar explained the skit to them in Spanish and related it to John 3:16. The team washed every child's manos (hands). Following that, they drew with crayons on paper hearts to represent the love of Jesus in their lives. The laughed and giggled. Their drawing were muy bonita (very beautiful).

The adult session also well. After the sessions were done and after playing some more with los ninos (the little ones), we loaded up and headed back to Ciudad de Guatemala. A nice dinner of low mein, a quiet evening of biblical devotion, and continued relationship building awaited us according to God's gracious hand.

We thank you all so much for your continued prayer! We know that your prayer surrounds us and the people of Guatemala, for the ministry and love that we have shared so far would not be possible without God's hand. Please pray for our safety as we travel to Buena Vista tomorrow. We look forward to what God has in store!

Paz de Christo,
Kirk Hulvey
in behalf of the entire team = )