Global Outreach Website

Apr 10

Without specifically naming anyone, there was more than one person before the trip that dreaded the notion of 7 am worship with Dr Alb. Dreaded it. The reason wasn’t so much the earliness of the hour. Rather, the fear came with the knowledge that these worship times are known to regularly go two hours. For anyone used to Atlanta’s fast pace of trying to eat breakfast quickly and make the school bus or to get ahead of rush hour traffic, 15-20 minutes may seem the norm. What else is there to do for another 90 minutes?

But everyone has come and found the wisdom and beauty in beginning the day with a time consecrated to God. Again we focused on the theme of being Available for God to use. So much of what we read in the Bible pointed us to what should be obvious- Intimacy leads to availability. The light seems to be going on for some of us. When I really develop intimacy with God (which takes more than 15 minutes), then I desire to be available to glorify Him looking expectantly for opportunities to serve the lover of my soul.

Sometimes I wish that we could just slow down Herman’s exposition of Scripture. It can feel like a summer shower that pours down hard but is brief enough that it has little time to soak into the soil and cause growth. We touched on Psalm 127 and the realization that our human efforts and knowledge are not what bring success. Rather, the Lord’s work accomplishes its purposes. Fortunately he didn’t dig too deep on the topic. Otherwise Herman might have discovered that all too often I rely on my own natural resources but expect supernatural results. But that is God’s realm. Maybe this time I’ll not forget.

We also discussed an application packed verse of 1 Corinthians 15:58 which says, “Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord.” Each word in that sentence brings an aspect of meaning that reinforces the whole theme of the universally human need to invest lots of time with God in order to serve Him well. Apparently Martin Luther and many of the great fathers of the faith knew the wisdom of obeying this directive and received the intimacy of rising early in the morning to connect meaningfully to God as if the day would be a loss without His leading. Without being defensive as to how this might look back in Atlanta, I believe that is wholeheartedly true in Guatemala. Maybe I’m just not desperate enough for God’s presence in every day life compared to the genuine desperation I feel in asking Him for miracles here.

John put a human face on this whole idea of being available for God’s work when he led a devotional about boldness and asked the penetrating question, “If not me, then who? If not now, then when?” So many other good things came out of this worship time that better equipped us for the day. But I’ll just have to ask that you trust me for the sake of brevity.

Again the weather was beautiful, especially considering that it was supposed to rain most of the week. But we haven’t had a drop all week. Of course, the lack of rain did mean that there was a lot of dust. After making the 75 minute drive to Rincon Grande, which means Great Corner, we arrived in a remote village with a heavy Mayan influence. And there was lots of dust. This was an area that one of the locals described as having been severely hurt during the 1976 earthquake when almost every building was destroyed and sometimes entire villages disappeared. In addition, there was still a lot of pain because the government had supposedly killed many of the men who had protested against it. The complex history of these people made me appreciative of the 150 member church we were cooperating with and thankful for God’s preparation that morning during worship.

The Mayan women wore beautiful handmade dresses whose material alone was said to cost $125, which might represent months of wages sometimes and take four months to sew. The whole privilege of being able to ask these sweet people about their culture is priceless. We learned that there are25 different ‘states’ in Guatemala and that each state has its own pattern and material for the dresses. Anthropologist will often say that a person has to submerge him or herself in another culture in order to learn the most about his/her own life. We are sure learning a lot about the US and ourselves.

The life changing stories were absolutely incredible. But the difficult lives of these people were incredible as well. It seemed as if we’d heard most of these types of problems the last two days. One should expect to get a stomach ache from drinking unpurified water all day and not washing hands often enough. Many of their medical problems are directly traceable back to the hard lives they lead. As we ask all the obvious “Why?” questions, it is instructive to look to the wisdom of preacher CH Spurgeon who gave a sermon on Galatians 2:10 which says, “Remember the poor.”


“Why does God allow so many of His children to be poor? He could make them all rich if He pleased; He could lay bags of gold at their doors; He could send them a large annual income; or He could scatter round their houses abundance of provisions, as once he made the quails lie in heaps round the camp of Israel, and rained bread out of heaven to feed them. There is no necessity that they should be poor, except that He sees it to be best. "The cattle upon a thousand hills are His"-He could supply them; He could make the richest, the greatest, and the mightiest bring all their power and riches to the feet of His children, for the hearts of all men are in His control. But He does not choose to do so; He allows them to suffer want, He allows them to pine in penury and obscurity. Why is this? There are many reasons: one is, to give us, who are favoured with enough, an opportunity of showing our love to Jesus. We show our love to Christ when we sing of Him and when we pray to Him; but if there were no sons of need in the world we should lose the sweet privilege of evidencing our love, by ministering in alms-giving to His poorer brethren; He has ordained that thus we should prove that our love standeth not in word only, but in deed and in truth. If we truly love Christ, we shall care for those who are loved by Him. Those who are dear to Him will be dear to us. Let us then look upon it not as a duty but as a privilege to relieve the poor of the Lord's flock-remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Surely this assurance is sweet enough, and this motive strong enough to lead us to help others with a willing hand and a loving heart-recollecting that all we do for His people is graciously accepted by Christ as done to Himself.”


At times it can be discouraging to try to talk to these people about hope. Today few seemed to read. Few, if any, had money for medical doctors or follow-up treatment. It was a challenge to tell the Spanish speaking translators to communicate to the Mayan translators who spoke to the patient and then sent the message back. In spite of that, professions of faith and healings were prevalent. It’s impossible to tire of how creatively God shows up.

Brooke, Haley, and Stephanie experienced an amazing time with a 9 year old boy who kept itching. After three iterations of prayer, the itching went completely away for the little guy who walked away smiling. But within minutes the three of them started to suddenly itch. So they began praying and it left them. Craig had a rewarding experience when a 17 year old girl felt our love as he was able to make a custom pair of glasses for her. After years of not seeing, she walked out of the clinic and exclaimed in shock that she had never known that there was a mountain across the fields from her village. So not only were 93 villagers seen for medical care and prayer. But 23 got new eye glasses in the clinic today. Again, the numbers don’t really matter. They’re just helpful to get an idea of what our day looked like. It was so humbling to watch lives improve so quickly. And these are but a few of the literally hundreds of ways we’ve been able to serve the Guatemalans because of the prayerful and financial support of so many back in the states.

After supper and showers back at the house, bedtime came quickly with great anticipation. Even though we’ve only been in the field three days, we’ve all experienced how physically and emotionally draining it is to pour so much attention and love into these brief interludes with the Guatemalans. It shouldn’t be a surprise. Relationships work that way. Anytime someone pours out part of themselves and their love for a hurting person, an exchange takes place. It’s often described in the Bible as carrying on another’s burdens. But it does come at a price. Yet that price is one we’d all gladly accept because our intimate mornings with the Lord have cast the perfect picture of how Christ loved us in another exchange, a truly great exchange of my sin for His righteousness.

Of course there have been lots of humorous moments. One of the classics happened around the coffee pot as someone asked for decaf coffee. Then another guy responded, “There is no decaf coffee in Guatemala.” It really was humorous because we all know what a huge cash crop coffee is here and we realize that we are all so tired that decaf has no more place here than a snowmobile.

Another light moment happened because one suburban in our caravan had picked up the local pastor in an identifiable location in a nearby town in order to help us navigate to the final destination of the church. At the end of the day the quiet pastor with no English background piled into the back cargo hold of the suburban to help guide us back to the town and a bit more of a beaten path. After driving for a ways, Nate innocently asked, “Should we let this pastor out of the back?” So many reasons to laugh at ourselves.

Abby’s favorite funny was the little Mayan boy trying to wipe the biggest globule of nose mucus that she’d ever seen onto John’s pants and watching him squirm to resist.

Brooke and Haley had their own inside jokes as one of the translators taught them how to really roll their Rs and say “Rapido corren los carros del ferrilcarril,” which doesn’t mean anything significant but gave them ample practice at maximizing their rolling of Rs. So they must’ve gotten lots of funny looks from the Guatemalan onlookers.

Amy is getting lovingly laughed at because she’d placed her hands on a woman’s head today to pray that her headaches and ringing in her ears would stop, which is a very common occurrence. But when Amy opened her eyes, the woman’s hair was moving and Amy realized it was covered with lice. The woman was healed and it appears Amy did not get lice. So she’s fair game to tease.

Of course, Amy has found reason to laugh at me as well. This is probably funnier demonstrated than in writing. But a sweet Mayan lady came to me with stomach pain and headaches. I’d taken proper courtesies to ask if I could put my hand on her head and pray for these items specifically. So I put my hands on her liceless hair and pleaded to God for Him to remove these pains from her. When she opened her eyes she said her headache had disappeared. But she told me her stomach pain had only improved a little. So I requested that she stand and allow me to put my hand on her stomach and pray for her again until she felt totally pain free. Since the headache thing had gone so well, she readily agreed and stood up. I placed my hand on her stomach. However she grabbed my wrist and raised my hand’s location to place it square in her chest, saying, “Here is where it hurts.” Please feel free to insert your own joke here. By God’s grace, she was healed. But I’ve taken a pretty good ribbing about the episode, no pun intended.

Today truly has been a wonderful day to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. We feel as if we’ve really given away a part of ourselves. It has been work. But it has all been for Jesus to glorify Jesus. That happened today again in royal fashion. And there’s no place this team would rather be.

So tonight we’ll sleep and awake in varying stages of emptiness. But even at week’s end, I’ve got to believe that we’ve learned that going to God for intimacy fills us back up with His Spirit. He makes us full in a way in which even the largest breakfast buffet cannot do. He fills us up with Himself. And where He is, there is love and power. So let’s close the day looking back to Spurgeon teaching on John 1:16 contemporized by me just to make it easier to read.

John 1:16
And of his fullness have all we received.
These words tell us that there is a FULLNESS in Christ. There is a FULLNESS of essential Deity, for "in Him dwells all the FULLNESS of the Godhead." There is a FULLNESS of perfect manhood, for in Him, bodily, that Godhead was revealed. There is a FULLNESS of atoning efficacy in His blood, for "the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." There is a FULLNESS of justifying righteousness in His life, for "there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." There is a FULLNESS of divine prevalence in His plea, for "He is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him; seeing He forever lives to make intercession for them." There is a FULLNESS of victory in His death, for through death He destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil. There is a FULLNESS of efficacy in His resurrection from the dead, for by it "we are born again unto a lively hope." There is a FULLNESS of triumph in His ascension, for "when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and received gifts for men." There is a FULLNESS of blessings of every sort and shape; a FULLNESS of grace to pardon, of grace to regenerate, of grace to sanctify, of grace to preserve, and of grace to perfect. There is a FULLNESS at all times; a FULLNESS of comfort in affliction; a FULLNESS of guidance in prosperity. A FULLNESS of every divine attribute, of wisdom, of power, of love; a FULLNESS which is impossible to survey, much less to explore. "It pleased the Father that in Him should all FULLNESS dwell." Oh, what FULLNESS must this be of which all receive! FULLNESS, indeed, must there be when the stream is always flowing, and yet the well springs up as free, as rich, as FULL as ever. Come, believer, and get all your need supplied; ask largely, and you shall receive largely, for this " FULLNESS " is inexhaustible, and is treasured up where all the needy may reach it, even in Jesus, Immanuel-God with us.