Posted by Lance
Lance Liggin
May 11
We arrived safely in Guatemala after a safe and smooth flight and were greeted, as is usually the case, by Estuardo Perez and his delightful family: wife, Gladys; son, Javier; and daughter, Dulce. Estuardo heads up the Business Ministry at Showers of Grace but it really is a family effort. Javier and Dulce (who, as she grows into her teens, is now expressing a preference for her real name, Melissa) are both very mature, smart and have wonderful hearts for the Lord. That trait, plus love for each other, runs in the family.
We had lunch with the family which gave us a chance to catch up with each other on both family and ministry as well as discuss plans for the first phase of teaching for the new class of students, starting the next day (Wednesday). Since it was Mother's Day in Guatemala, we had a chance to celebrate with Gladys and have a lengthy conversation, since the restaurant was jammed with business. We learned that "Cinqo minutos, maximum!" means " your food will be ready in about 30 minutes to an hour"!
After lunch, we enjoyed shopping with the Perez' for a few grocery supplies for our use at the Mission Center, which gave us an opportunity to learn some of their tastes. Javier picked out the coffee with an enthusiastic endorsement, insisting that we take a sniff to endorse his choice.
We then went back to the Medical Missions Ministry Center, where Dr. Hermann Alb gave us a tour of the new facilities that will be dedicated this coming Saturday. It is truly amazing to see what God has made possible and to hear Hermann's enthusiasm for the resulting opportunities to expand the ministry. It has additional rooms to double the number of Medical Missions teams and a conference center for equipping pastors from churches in villages and small towns from all over Guatemala. Hermann and his team (including all the GO journey teams from Perimeter and other affiliated churches) have already built productive and influential relationships with over 100 pastors and churches and they already conduct a pastor's conference once a year. The new facilities will provide opportunities to increase the depth of this equipping with smaller teams and more frequent sessions. There is also provision for a business training and development component in the new facilities, which excites us enormously.
We can all watch, with great interest and anticipation, to see what God will do with the facilities, the MMM and business teams and the churches in Guatemala.
We then spent a quiet evening preparing for the rest of the week and thanking God for the opportunity to be a small part of all this. We are also grateful to our prayer and financial supporters, who are a key component of this entire team. "Amazing" was a word that frequently escaped our lips. And we wonder what God will have in store for us tomorrow.
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