What an incredible God we serve! Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed we would be building a mission home only 3 years into this project, in the heart of our mission field. We are seeing changes in this village on a daily basis. By just being the hands and feet of Jesus and showing compassion, folks see that we are real and have a genuine love for them, and this opens their hearts for change. People who were once cold towards us and did not want to participate, are now full of joy and are there for every activity. Something is changing in their lives. It is the hope that we bring with a new well and clean water to drink. It is the healing that we bring through short term Doctors and Nurses. It is the education we are bringing to teach them how to read and write. And most importantly, it is the Salvation message of Jesus Christ we bring, how He loves them and died for them, and all they need is a simple faith found in John 3:16. We are not shoving religion down peoples throats, rather we are showing them our relationship with Jesus, and Jesus is drawing them to Himself! We are His hands, to do HIS work, to bring HIM the glory!
In March 2018 we purchased the land rights to a small piece of property to put in another well and see how we could use this land for His glory. We thought about a greenhouse project, but the land just was not big enough or had the right kind of soil or sun exposure to be productive. The idea of a mission home kept coming into my spirit. Our team discussed the idea several times and it was dismissed. Being a Spirit led ministry, I am always sensitive to that still small voice. The idea was not going away. Lord, how are we going to do this, we barely have enough money to keep things going now at times. But as I have personally seen over these last 3 years, God provides in His timing in the most unexpected ways. And this time was no different. I spoke with our team again and shared what God was doing and how He was providing and moving us in this direction. At the same time we were pondering how to move forward, I received a call from a church that had their mission trip cancelled with another organization in another country, and was looking for another option for a construction project and asked if we could make it work. Again, God provided in an unexpected way for this team to provide the needed money, but also they are coming in a few weeks to help build.
God gives us incredible stories to tell how He provides. But I am not finished just yet. On Monday this week after we had our plan from the architect for the mission home, the piece of property right next to the mission home became available for a reasonable price, so we bought it and doubled the size of our land just 2 days before we were scheduled to break ground. Again, another completely unexpected provision! So now we have gone back to the architect for a new plan.
July 11, 2018 we broke ground to begin the construction on our new well house and mission home. Folks in the village are so excited and emotional that we chose to build in their village and live with them. This is the beginning of something incredible. God loves these people and has great plans for their lives. We are committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in their lives, and by placing our mission home and visiting mission teams in the heart of our mission with the people we serve, sends an incredible message to the folks we serve.
If you are planning a mission trip, please consider Guatemala and His Hands International. God is doing incredible things through us, we are just his hands and feet, doing his work, to give the glory back to him. Will you join us? Check out this Facebook Live video from our Project Coordinator and how happy and emotional the folks are over this decision. https://www.facebook.com/HisHandsInternational/videos/1435257403242360/
