Guatemala Trip Report
October 2004
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Wonderful Name that is above every name, the precious Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have just returned from a one-week trip to Guatemala in Central America.
SUMMARY. Three of us arrived in Guatemala City on Mon. and went directly to a meeting with the local missionary and a representative of Ministerios Vida, who would help us get into the prisons. We purchased 140 full Bibles in Spanish to go along with the three suitcases full of new testaments and Gospels of John we brought with us. We proceeded then to the Centro Preventivo prison for men in Guatemala City where we met with 6 inmate “pastor” leaders and conducted the prison training seminar with them. Each of these leaders was responsible to provide pastoral care for their own pavilion (12 pavilions in all) and they were very grateful for the training. In the evening, we spoke at the Philadelphia Assemblies of God Church in the Santa Martha Colony and spoke to about 150 leaders. On Tues. morning, we traveled two hours to the El Boqueron prison in Santa Rosa. We had services in the general patio with inmates and families and also in the Maximum Security areas. In the evening, we spoke at the church of one of the pastors who belongs to Ministerios Vida. On weds. we went to Centro Correctivo Santa Teresa prison, in Antigua. Missionary Jeff Mills helped us gain entrance for a full service there. On Thurs., we traveled to Puerto Barrios for two days of work with the people in the villages of the tropical rain forest passing out 800 pounds of rice and beans to them. On Fri., we returned to the U.S.
DETAILS. This trip was, as usual, a whirlwind of intensity but the Lord put the details together and I sensed His Presence throughout the trip. We left on Oct 18 and returned Oct 22 but so many powerful and amazing things happened in the short days of ministry that we had. On this team were Francisco Sanchez, a Mexican, Constantin Lupancu, a Romanian, and myself.
On Mon., we arrived and were whisked to a meeting with the local missionary who set up the trip for us. We purchased 140 Bibles but that was not nearly enough for our ministry in the three prisons. For the first time, I conducted the Prison Training Seminar with inmate leaders who were encouraged to expand their vision. They have the opportunity to minister to the inmates 24 hours per day while visitors and Chaplains do not. All six who attended were grateful for the materials and training that we gave them. That evening, we spoke to 150 leaders at the Philadelphia church about the importance of obedience to God in all things.
On Tues., we traveled to the El Boqueron prison in Santa Rosa. ALL of the guards wanted a Bible and the Director of the prison was a sincere Christian man who wanted us to give a Bible to every single one of his 160 prisoners. We gave about 100 out at this prison but I have never seen a Director of a prison so cooperative and glad to have us in his institution. We were able to minister to every single area of the prison including “the hole” when the most violent inmates are housed. In the evening, we spoke to more leaders at a Cristiana Vida pastor’s church on the importance of conviction, repentance, submission and commitment to God. The service lasted 3 and 1/2 hours.
On Weds. we all went in for a service at the Centro Correctivo Santa Teresa prison, in Antigua. Because two inmates had been killed in a riot there two weeks ago, we were only supposed to be allowed to speak to the inmates through the bars and have no direct contact with them. However, after talking the administration, they opened up the entire facility to us and we had a full service in the patio with about 40 inmates present. It was as though an Angel of the Lord had opened the prison doors for us. I thought about the Apostle Peter who was in prison and an Angel opened the door and he walked out. We walked in. We distributed 40 Bibles, not enough, including many of the guards. Missionary Jeff Mills is now interested in continuing this new work at this prison and he has already submitted the paperwork to the authorities in order to do this.
On Thurs., we traveled to the Puerto Barrios area and purchase 800 pounds of rice and beans and immediately took them in the tropical rain forest to distribute them to the villagers there. We also had a meeting with the local leaders to make plans for a medical mission trip from Maranatha Chapel in Evergreen Park, IL. in Feb. 2005 at the Mision El Faro children and family ministry site across the bay from Puerto Barrios.
On Fri., we distributed the remaining rice and beans and we returned to Guatemala City by small airplane. While the ride was beautiful, we ran into a storm just as we arrived at Guatemala City and had to make an emergency maneuver at the last minute that provided a little more excitement than anyone was expecting. We landed safely, and then returned to the U.S.
In conclusion, please pray for us because we are receiving many invitations to conduct our training in many countries. We have a specific invitation to San Pedro Sula, Honduras for March of 2005. Also, we have put the training on videotape and DVD in order to equip and prepare trainers to go out and do the same training that I have been doing these past few years. We are also developing a training institute here in Chicago for this purpose. We have an office and an institute director. Please continue to pray with us about this ministry as we continue to build on it.