First, there is a Pastor from Chimaltenango who has asked us to help put in a ceiling in his church. This will be the 17th of March I believe. Then shortly after, about the 23rd of March, Pastor Mike and a team from the states will be coming down to build some dorm rooms in Panimaquin. These will have two rooms on each side and a common area in the middle, along with bathrooms in each room. This project will allow for bigger mission groups to come to Panimaquin, as well as give opportunities to help those in the village who may need a place to stay.

Oh, and one more very important thing, we will be doing some earthquake training and earthquake drills. We all are aware of the earthquakes that have recently happened all around the world. I felt my first (slight) earthquake last time I was in Panimaquin in November. We feel it would be wise to prepare, just in case.

Pastor Lazaro has emailed me letting me know that my room has been finished. I will be leaving Monday March 15th along with John Hilbert who will be staying for about eight days. As soon as I get there, I will meet with Pastor Lazaro and get a schedule of exactly what I will be doing. I will make sure to keep you all informed of what is going on. If you have any further questions about my stay there, or anything else, please feel free to e-mail me at johntcollins3@gmail.com.

Blessings!

I am also convinced that the Lord desires to continue opening more doors for discipleship with the youth who know Him already, which I have seen since being back in the village. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to walk alongside several of the young ladies through this season of their lives. It is a privilege that I know I cannot take lightly as the Lord entrusts me with the treasures of their hearts. Also, I know that the Lord wants to touch and minister to each of them to the depths of their beings, to bring about His healing, restoration, and freedom in their lives.

I also know that they don’t really need me, but that they need the forever-faithful God on the inside of me. I know He is touching them and ministering truth and love to them.

All of this being said, concerning the position of youth pastor, I believe that God desires to raise up a young adult from here in the village to step into the position, so please be praying for that person, that the Lord would touch and stir in their heart a desire to seek and know Him more, as well as the courage to say, “yes,” to Him. I believe I will be working myself out of this position when the timing of the Lord is right!

I know that God has a lot in store for the youth in the village. I believe that His desire is to know them, to save them, to heal, restore, transform, and free them. I believe this generation will live a better quality of life than past generations.

What a blessing it has been to be back in the village this month! I am so grateful to the Lord for the privilege to be among this people. It is a true blessing to be able to be used by our amazing heavenly Father. He continues to astound me!

In many ways, this month has served as a time of transition to become re-acclimated to life and culture here in Guatemala. Thanks be to God that He is with us as we walk each step of the journey that He has set for us! Over this month, He has surely shown me more that He is “...my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26b)

For me and the students, classes have resumed, and we have been reviewing the information from last year and are delving into new things as well. I am excited to see how the Lord grows each of the students throughout this year.

The new “primer basico” class has such a hunger to learn and study. It is truly refreshing!

  I arrived back here to Guatemala on the 2nd of February and was greeted by many familiar faces. It was such a blessing to drive up the mountains and to have my eyes set their gaze on my home for this season.

  I have also resumed teaching here in the village, and we have 22 students in our school which is 4 more than last year. I believe God desires to touch each of them very uniquely and look forward to seeing how He moves in their lives this year!

  To each of you that I was able to see during my time in the States, it was wonderful to see you, and my heart was very encouraged by the time that I was able to see and visit with you. For those that I was unable to see, know that you were in my heart and on my mind. I pray that each of you have had a blessed beginning to this New Year. Remember that the hope of the Lord is yours for the taking... He is the constant in our lives... Hang onto Him, and you will not be let down!

  I would like to include a few prayer requests in this e-mail though, before closing. Please be in prayer for wisdom and discernment for me as there are several things taking place here in the village right now. Also, please pray for two of the families in my village specifically. An argument between them led to a physical attack including machetes, and both families need a touch from the Lord. Please pray for new leadership in our church here in the village as well. Our youth leader has left the village for this year, and the other young woman here and myself are now leading the group, but I believe that God desires to bring in other leadership to this group. Please pray for salvation for those who still do not know our Lord and Savior.

  Thank you so much for your support and for your prayers. I believe God has a great plan for this year, and I am excited to see His plans come to fruition!

  I am sure that many of you have made New Year’s resolutions, but today I would like to challenge you with just one more that will most likely change everything in your world. It has to do with a lesson that God has been teaching me over the past few months, so as you read this, please realize that I have not arrived, but I am going through the process just like the rest of you.

  Okay, are you ready? Here goes... The challenge is this: to walk a life of obedience out of a love relationship with the Lord. To break that down a bit, that means to live a life of obedience out of the motive of love and not out of a motive of obligation or legalism. So, how many are squirming now? I am too, but let me tell you that this will change our lives forever!

  I believe that this is important because God has not called us into a life of religion but into a life of relationship! He tells us that He knows that we love Him when we keep His commandments and that His commandments are not burdensome! What He has revealed to me over the years is that our motives are never hidden from Him. He can see why we do what we do.

  I am sure many of us can recall times when we have been obedient out of fear of punishment, out of obligation or expectation, out of a need for approval, or out of a myriad of other motives. With our heavenly Father, we do not have to worry about being approved of or accepted because He accepts us unconditionally. How amazing would it be if our motive for obeying our heavenly Father was love? What if we obeyed Him because we loved Him so much that we almost could not help to do otherwise?

  I personally believe that we would be walking in more of the fullness of joy that He promises us. I believe that we would see a drastic change in our lives! So as this new year dawns, let’s experiment with this new challenge! Let’s walk in love and live out of a motive of love!

  Remember...LOVE BRINGS CHANGE!

  A blessed Christmas in the village... I would like to take a moment to share with you about how we celebrated Christmas with the people of Panimaquin.

  In preparation for our special Christmas service, all of the students in our school prepared songs, dances, and dramas to present at a special program in the village. The students also decorated for this special time of year, making an array of decorations. They are so talented. I thought I was pretty crafty, but they sure did teach me a few new things!

  For our special Christmas service, we had the families from our village, as well as some families from a nearby village who came to share in the blessed presence of our God. They participated in a time of worship, special teaching, and were able to enjoy the program put on by the students.

  Each family also received a Christmas gift, a gift that provided them with some necessities for daily living, rice and beans, towels, and a few other things. They were each so blessed by what they received, and I must admit that for me, I was reminded of the importance of being thankful for the small things!

  It was a sure blessing to spend this special time with them, and it was a great start to my own celebration of Christmas. I must admit that my heart was torn as I left the village for my sabbatical, but I knew the Lord had planned out this time to prepare for next year. The people lined up for a night of farewell’s, and though it was difficult for me to leave, I knew that I was going back, so that made it a bit easier!

  A new year in the village... I mentioned above that I am now preparing for the upcoming year in the village. Let me share with you some of what will be happening as I return to Panimaquin.

  As many of you know, I am teaching English in the school we have in our village, so classes will begin the second week of February and will run until the second week of December. However, that is only part of the ministry... As I reenter the village life, our project will reopen, and this not only provides education, but provides jobs and other opportunities for the people as well. Our feeding program should be in order, providing meals for the students, children, and staff who are affiliated with our project.

  Activities in our church are also continuing, and I know that God will continue to draw His children back to Himself as they are exposed to His truth. I believe God has begun a revival in our village, and I cannot wait to see how mightily He moves in the lives of the people as we see His miracle of salvation. I know the river of His redeeming, transforming love has no end!

While the GMO Board is considering her request for a year commitment we wanted to introduce you to Kim Hembry.

My name is Kim Hembry, and I am 23 years old. Back home, I am a part of The Vineyard Church of Brenham (Home of BlueBell Ice Cream). I have been involved in our women's ministry, various Bible study groups, service projects, and other areas of ministry as well. I grew up in a home where the knowledge of God was present, but during my childhood, a relationship with the Lord was not modeled in my home. I had the privilege of attending various church camps during my middle school years, and it was at a summer camp that I heard about an actual relationship with the Lord and realized how desperately I needed that in my life. Though I had received the Lord into my life and grew in relationship with him, it was not until about four years ago that I had a true revelation of God's love for me personally, that despite anything that happened to me in my past or anything I had done, He loved me. He has now made me a vessel of this love to be poured out on others! What a privilege!

Before coming here to Panimaquin, I had the opportunity of completing three years of college at a private university in Texas, pursuing a degree in Psychology. Last year the Lord redirected me and set me on a different path, one different from that which I had originally planned for myself, but I am continuing to recognize how much better His plans are than mine. He placed me in a position of volunteering at a local pregnancy center as a peer counselor where I also had the opportunity of sharing the gospel with our clients, discipling them, and sharing the love of the Lord with them. While in the university, I had the opportunity of studying Spanish for a year, in addition to some schooling I had earlier in my life. I am very grateful that God is continuing to grow my language each day, answering my prayer of fluency. By knowing Spanish, I have the privilege of speaking directly to the people, which brings much joy to my heart! I am continuing to learn that truly the plans of the Lord are higher and far more adventurous and fulfilling than any plans I could make!

Blessings to All

Please read Brandys post below and continue to keep her in prayer. In a short time she has become part of GMO and greatly connected to the people of Panimaquin.

By Brandy Jarrell

I have been here a little over a month and Great Blessings never cease to come. I have helped to host two teams so far and they have both been such a blessing, each in their own way. The first team was from Harvest Temple, and I really got to see a servants heart in a way that I would have never thought to serve. While we were in Antigua, Bryon, one of the team members had on flip flops and wanted so badly to bless one of the little boys who was shining shoes. The boy looked to be about 8 or 9 years old. Bryon, asked the little boy if he paid the 3 Quetzales that it cost to have a pair of shoes shined, if he could shine the little boys. So, the little boy agreed to have his shoes shined by Bryon. It was right on the edge of the sidewalk downtown by the square. So, many people were looking as they passed by, it was such a picture of servant hood. It really spoke to my heart.

The next team was from Outreach Church of God, with Pastor Sheri. They preached and ministered healing, love, and unity to the people. This team was really special because three of the girls on the team, heard God say to them that they were not to go home yet, and this was the night before they were supposed to leave. Two of them, Britney and Lauren are here until August 22, and Kim feels called to stay a year. Such a blessing to me because I was teaching English the first month that I was here and God knew that was not my calling, so He brought Kim, and that is one of her callings. I am now on visitation ministry and helps ministry until next month, when the little kids come back, and then I will be helping with them as well.

I have had huge doors of opportunity open for me here. I have been able to go and help some of the women and girls with their work. I went up the mountain and helped pick fodder for one of the ladies here in the projects animals to eat. While I was there working on the side of the mountain, the story in the Bible about the women gleaning in the fields just kept rolling in my mind. I just kept on thanking God for that opportunity to be a blessing to this family and a help. I think I was more blessed by this experience than anyone. But, I really saw how helping the people open doors to be able to be a part and minister in other ways. I have helped milk a cow, carried water on my head, and helped one family wash clothes at the pila for an hour and a half one day. I am enjoying getting to know the people here and also I love that God is using me to bless them.

Blessings to all!

    On July 1st, a group of four arrived from Robyns Nest Ministry in Florida (Drew Coffman, Alicia Collins, Alexis & Bryon Potter). They brought with them a heart of love and readiness to serve. With some extra hands around, we were able to accomplish more.

    The guys took on pulling stumps out of the forest in the project, while the girls embraced cleaning out and organizing the school bodega. Everyone pitched in a hand with painting the dorm room. Every project was taken on with joy and excitement. We were able to spend some time with the younger children on the day the project was open, teaching them 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' in English. I cannot put words to the beauty and affection that is in those youngsters. One Sunday, we helped Glendy with a VBS for children from Xeparquiy and Panimaquin. We had quite a turn out! Over 50 kids came up to hear the word of the Lord, get beaded bracelets, and play with bubbles. The guys went down to Chimaltenango and worked a day at an orphanage for disabled children. They did some physical labor that they needed help with, and the next day 3 people went down to attend a birthday party at the same place. It was an honor to do so.

    The Lord moved powerfully through nights of worship where Bryon Potter taught songs in English, and they taught him in Spanish. Every service was a melding of two cultures, two languages, and two different ways of life. Yet, we are all similar as children of God. Some things cannot be changed, no matter what country you live in.

    We left Panimaquin on July 12th, but Panimaquin has not left us. Every day, we carry the weight of our love for them in our hearts, minds, and prayers. There is not a day goes by that we do not yearn to be with our Guatemalan family again, and we look forward to returning as soon as possible. (Pictures under Photo page of website).

Sarah Houser

    Over the next week, we began to see the faces that we knew so well. With every church service and Bible study, connections were strengthened. And a hike up the mountain to San Diego came with most mornings. The long, uphill walk was always a doozy on my lungs and out of shape muscles. But the view from the top was worth it every time. There is a silence that descends right on top of you after your breathing slows. Everything in me seemed to settle into groundedness upon reaching what seemed like the top of the world. Gods' majesty and our limits as humans are so evident in environments like those. After a week, Luis and John Hilbert returned to the States. We greatly missed their kindness, cooking, and love.

    Though the language barrier was sometimes a hard one to overcome, there was much aid in Pastor Mikes' translation skills. We shared many devotions with the youth, and awesome times of teaching them worship songs in English.

    Saturday, June 20th, we were incredibly privileged to attend the wedding of Cruz and Dalila. It was held in the church, complete with the traditional pine needles covering the floor. The legal portion of the wedding was first, with guests from Itzapa performing the 'official' marriage ceremony. It was quite long, with quoting from their legal books and such. In the end, the woman talked about marriage, and how special it is. The couple kissed, and then turned to face the crowd with tears in their eyes. Guest Pastor Moises from down the mountain preached, and Juan Carlos led worship. Shortly thereafter, there was a time of photos, and we all went up to the couples house for a type of reception. We were served a meal, and sat at long tables under a covering. Not long into the meal, as custom to Panimaquin in the summer, it began to pour rain. Everyone crowded into their house with their plates and chairs. After a long road of so many trials for Cruz and Dalila, the addition of beautiful baby Karin, it was amazing to see everything end in this fashion. (Pictures are under Photo section of website).

    The next week, we spent our mornings teaching English to the youth in school at the project. It was so awesome to be able to spend time with them like that, and also watch how quickly they picked up the words and their pronunciations. The day after we finished with our lessons for the week, we packed into cars and headed to Agua Caliente for baptisms in volcanic heated waters. The location was absolutely beautiful, but the youth experiencing Christ more so. Each baptism was such a strong declaration of their life transforming encounter with their Creator. Following that, we had a fun time of swim lessons in a larger pool. The people from Panimaquin are so kind and full of joy, it is contagious. We left after lunch with families, feeling filled and tired. (Pictures are under the Photo section of the website).

Stay Tuned for Part 2 from Sarah

    The group here now consists of John Hilbert, Mike Young, Luis Melendez, John Collins and Sarah Houser. John Hilbert is known as 'John 1' has a tremendous capacity to organize and follow through with plans and instructions. He is great to have on any mission trip.
    Luis is thoughtful and very careful. He is fluent in Spanish and a great cook; I don't know which is better to have. Unfortunately he is leaving this Friday unless we can talk him into staying.
    John and Sarah are the two 'kids' of the group. Sarah keeps telling us that she will be 18 in just 15 more days. I believe she thinks that when she becomes 18 on the calendar that something magical happens. We treat her as a daughter or, in my case, a granddaughter.
    John is twenty and like Sarah, really in love with the Lord. We tease John a lot and are trying to fix him up with a girl that we happen to meet. He shrugs it off and tells us God will provide a wife when God is ready and isn't asking us to help.
    Both John and Sarah live in a special ministry house in the Clearwater area. They both came out of difficult circumstances. They have both gone through experiences that no one their age or any age should have to go through. But the Holy Spirit uses those experiences to make them ministers to others here in Panimaquin. Here they work with the youth.
    People ask, "What will we do on a mission trip?" While we have plans and goals and projects that we work on, that is not the real work of the mission. The real work of the mission is to be God's person when you meet and talk to the people here. They want to see Jesus and we are to show them Jesus by being Jesus.
    You cannot wake up and put yourself in a mental state of saying, "today I am going to be more like Jesus." To think in that way would certainly come across as phony and the people would see immediately that we are not real. We are simply what we are and that means at the state that God has us in now. You will not be in that state tomorrow for God is working daily in our lives. But daily we are where the Holy Spirit has us. Those ahead of us recognize where we are and help us. Those behind us want to learn from us.
    God puts us where we should be and brings the people we are to minister to today.
    Luis was out speaking with a couple of the youth of the project. They talked about farming and different plants in Puerto Rico as opposed to here. They talked about what was happening in their own lives and Luis likewise talked about what God had done in his fifty plus years. God was there.

    Monday we went to visit Erica. Erica and her husband have two churches and a unique mission. They take children off the street for one Q for day. (Eight Q is about one dollar). Therefore, for about $1.25 they would feed the child two meals, teach them, shower them and wash their clothes and provide a place for a nap. They would keep the child from 6:00AM until 4:00PM although many of the mothers would not pick up their child until 5 or 6PM.
    Erica had to close their mission because of the lack of funds. We encouraged them and gave them a little money to help with the mission. We do this because we know God will provide for GMO as we provide for them.

Blessings,
Pastor Mike Young

    Among the many good things that happened in 2008, one to share with you was the Basico (high school) graduation (pictures coming soon). There was a graduation ceremony for the students which families, including the Fathers, of the students came to see their children receive their diplomas. Basico started up again at the beginning of the year and the students are digging into their studies again. The rest of the project has been open sporadically during each week as finances allow. There are many great events still happening and more communication will follow.

    For now, we thank everyone for their continued support and look forward to communicating more to each of you with the new site.

Blessings and love...