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We had a wonderful last day in Guatemala! Showers of Grace is a more charismatic church (compared to Perimeter), and we had Javier and Giovanni on hand to translate the message for us. We all went up to the stage to talk about what we had been doing this past week, and got to meet some of the pastors and members. It was a great experience and the message was fantastic!

After the service, we had to say our good-byes as we headed off to the airport. One of the students made/bought us some lovely (personalized) gifts, which was so touching. It seemed like the trip had gone so fast, and we were very sad to be leaving all of our new friends behind! But we are excited to be seeing Herman, Estuardo and his family in November when they travel to the US for the Medical Missions conference!

We had a safe trip home (our flight even got in early!). I know that God really touched all of us on this trip and we are so fortunate to have had to opportunity to serve Him in this way. Looking forward to serving again next year!

Another great day on mission! We started out with our regular morning devotional as we reviewed the GO Journal lessons together. There was some great material in there - particularly the section about "relaeasing our rights" prior to embarking on a GO mission trip. This essentially means that we are supposed to give up our "idol" of having to be in control (very pertinent for most of our group!). Herman joined us for the end of the discussion, which promptly turned into the beginning of another one about living an "integrated life" as a believer. It was a great time of fellowship for all of us!

After Estuardo picked us up from the MMM complex in the afternoon, we got to try Pollo Camparo (Guatemalan fast food but as a sit-down restaurant - interesting concept!). Then Estuardo and Gladys welcomed us into their home to discuss some potential new changes to the program for the rest of the afternoon.

Before the teaching this evening, we got to have one-on-one "consulting" sessions with each person in the course who wanted to speak with us individually about how they might be able to improve their business/business ideas, ask questions about the material we have covered thus far, etc. We had translation assistance from Estuardo, Estuardo's son Javier, and Giovanni (who were all GREAT as usual, and a huge help!). The class/teaching went well tonight too - we are making good progress through the material and it is exciting to see the class members really "getting it" and providing real-life examples of what we are teaching. We're all looking forward to the rest of the teaching starting tomorrow (Saturday morning) and going until mid-afternoon, when we will hold graduation. Then we are heading to Antigua for dinner and some sight-seeing!

What an exciting, jam-packed day we had! We began, as usual, with our team devotional - covering the Day 5 GO Journal content. The topic was our family relationships, and we enjoyed sharing our experiences with each other. Then, we headed to SOG church for our final teaching session and graduation. The testimonies and stories that the students shared were truly inspirational. The trainings really mean a lot to them, and they see all that they have learned these past few months as being critical to helping them improve their quality of life and helping teach them how to be ambassadors for Christ through their businesses. For me, it has been amazing to feel God using me as a vessel for His purposes by being here and serving others.

After graduation, when we handed the students their diplomas and took pictures, we headed to Antigua with Estuardo and his family (plus Giovanni, our translator). We got to go into a beautiful old Catholic church during Mass, and we got to take a drive up to a gorgeous hill that looked down over the old city and afforded an awesome view of sunset between 2 volcanoes behind Antigua. Later, we had dinner at a lovely Guatemalan restaurant...and this time, it was Bob's "birthday": )  The last thing we did before driving back to Guatemala City was visit the Casa Santo Domingo Hotel, which is a gorgeous property that used to be a colonial monastery. It was quite beautiful with candles everywhere on the property. David gave us a great tour of the place!

Tomorrow, we are going to a service at SOG and then fly home in the afternoon...hard to believe that it's almost over!  

After a good night's rest, we were up early to prepare for a VERY long day ahead! We kicked things off right with a team devotional on James 3 - "taming of the tongue". We all shared experiences (and people) that had made us angry and/or bitter in the past, and talked about how we needed to let those feelings go, and that we need to consider our shortcomings before we judge others. The team from Palin arrived right on time and we spent all day (until about 5:00 pm) reviewing the CFC "micro-enterprise" material with them. This particular program is targeted toward very small start-up type businesses, mainly in small towns (like Palin) or rural villages in Guatemala. The material was in hand-out format, but most of the teaching came via group dicussions. And we certainly could not have done it without the help of our trusty translator, Giovanni! One of our team members, Bob, is actually trying to expand this mission (and also the BPI general content on running a "Kingdom Business") to other countries as well, potentially Ecuador or Nicaragua. Very exciting!

We had our first session at Lluvias de Gracia today (Showers of Grace is the English name of the church). It went very well! We have enjoyed sharing our various business experiences with the students, who are all members of the church selected by their pastors because they either have a business idea or are in a business already. We are trying to teach them the fundamentals of a successul, profitable business (but most importantly, is also a "kingdom business" that can be used as a tool for bringing glory to the Lord). It really struck me to observe believers coming together in a room and praying simultaneously but in different languages - it was an amaxing experience! Estuardo also had uplifting words for each of us as we closed in prayer, which was very encouraging. We'll be continuing the presentations tomorrow (Thursday), Friday and we'll wrap up on Saturday with graduation.

We had a really great day today! It began with a devotion led by Jessy (me) on the topic of spritual warfare and how various distractions, issues, etc are really techniques that are meant to distract us from our true missions. We read a passage from Ephesians 5, and also one about "coming closer to God and He will come closer to you" (Jer. 29). It is so interesting because totally unrelated to our conversation, Eduardo (the Guatemalan contact at the church we're doing the nightly teaching through) even mentioned spritual warfare last night during the session, and he mentioned the "Come closer to God" verse tonight! Looks like the Lord was trying to tell us something:-) Luckily, D'Ann was able to join us for the devotional (another Perimeter Church member who was staying at MMM working with a local orphanage - a different program than ours but we share resources). All in all, it was just a great time of fellowship as we discovered similarities in various things that we individually struggle with in our walks with the Lord.

After the devotional, we met with Pastor Juan Carlos again to follow up on the CFC (Credito Financiero Cristiano) content and ministry opportunity in the villages of Palin and Montecristo (and even beyond, eventually!). He seemed really excited and felt that this type of program is exactly what they need to fund the small/micro businesses! We discussed the setup, details, and expectations of the program - reviewing how it would logistically work in his community. We also prayed with him about this opportunity, asking God to bless their efforts. It is so humbling and convicting to see such strong faith in people who have so "little" (from a materialistic perspective). He hopes to start sending missionaries from his local community to unreached countries in the world within 15 years. What an inspiration!

Estuardo kindly took us out to lunch at a beautiful Guatemalan restaurant called Hacienda Real. He told the waiters (en espanol) that it was my birthday and they brought out a piece of flan with a candle and all sang happy birthday (complete with loud noisemakers - VERY embarassing, especially considering the fact that it was NOT my birthday, not even close...). We then had the opportunity to visit with several former students of the program which we are teaching now (i.e., they are members of the Lluvias de Gracias church who went through the course in previous years and received funding to start or enhance their businesses).

Maria, who owns a women's clothing store business, has had to overcome the challenges of diabetes and being robbed at gunpoint and having her entire inventory stolen. She is excited because she is soon going to be opening a new storefront outside of her home. We had the opportunity to pray over the new store with her. Doris, who grew up in the City, has also had to overcome much adversity to get where she is today. She has faced a number of trials (that are all unfortunately quite common in Guatemala), including being robbed, abused, beaten, and extorted from. She now owns a hair salon and her smile and inner joy is absolutely contagious. It was a true blessing to get to meet and pray with these courageous women today, and it is amazing to see how upbeat they are despite the circumstances. You can really see the love of Jesus shining through them!

We wrapped up the day with another great night of teaching, with a focus primarily on marketing concepts like pricing, determining and defining "value", and brand positioning. The students seem to really enjoy the class, and we are looking forward to tomorrow when we will get to sit with them for "one on one" consulting breakout sessions for their individual businesses!

We have arrived safely in Guatemala and have managed to pack a good bit of activity into an afternoon and evening! Our journey began early this morning at Perimeter Church, where we met to drive to the airport and were prayed over before we left. All of us noted a sense that there was some serious spiritual warfare going on in the form of lots of distractions and frustrations amongst team members this week - from forgetting passports/important bags at home to laptops crashing. We are only encouraged and excited by this, since it is hopefully an indicator of the impact that we will be able to make here for God's glory (as well as growth in our own spritual lives).

Once we arrived at MMM, we met Hermann and some of the other staff/people here before Dietrich drove us to the town of Palin, about an hour or so outside of the city. We met with a local pastor there named Juan Carlos (along with some of his family and friends). Juan Carlos has already gone through our BPI training and is really trying to teach, shepherd and enable Christians in his village to start their own businesses (on a micro level, intially - for example, carpentry and small business start-ups). We met in their tiny upstairs church (literally the size of a room!), and listened intently as they showed us a Power Point presentation and explained some of their business ideas. One notable example was Juan Carlos' daughter Dulce, who as a young teenager has begun making her own bead jewelry for sale. We were very impressed with the quality of her work (all of us purchasing multiple pieces from her!) and gave her some tips on how she might be able to grow her business (i.e., through pricing strategies, promotion/advertising/placement, etc). It was wonderful to spend time with these people in their own community and see how God is working in their lives.   

We seem to be bonding well as a team, and are excited to see how we will be able to capitalize on our strengths to be successful in our mission. We will begin the morning with a team devotional and then Juan Carlos is coming in from Palin to meet with us for an extended training until 4 pm. At 4, we will head over to the church (Lluvias de Gracias, or Showers of Grace) and get ready to teach until 9 pm or so. We had a very nice group dinner at the complex, where we ate a simple meal and just enjoyed sharing stories and relaxing in each others' company. Our spirits are up and we are ready to get rolling tomorrow!