Ivanrest Impact Ministries – Guatemala

Saturday Morning -6:AM        Wow has the time here flown by already.  Last night around 9:00 PM we arrived back at the base in Chimaltenango after an incredible three days in the village where we built the homes.  The satellite internet service was not able to get up and running at the village and then just prior to our arrival here a huge storm took out the power and fried the server at the base.  If you are reading this, most likely I was able to find and internet café in town. 

The village as you will read by the teams and hear when we get home, was an amazing experience.   The people there were so kind and appreciative and welcomed us quickly to live among them.  The team did and incredible job, through exhaustion and heat, building the homes and making the connections with the people, especially the kids.  This group has the ability to both work and play very hard.  Parents, you should be very proud of your sons and daughters as they are truly being Christ’s hands and feet here in this small part of Guatemala.

The schedule is quite different this year as the group times have been much less due to the fact that we run out of time and have to get people to sleep.  Though they have been less they have been very good.   Our topic this year is on becoming “Sold Out!”.  Christ calls all of those who wish to be followers to take up their cross and follow Him.  Pray for each of us as we explore and challenge our selves to step to the plate, realize how broken we are, face the fears that hold us back and let go of our own needs and become sold out for the one who gave us the only hope there is for Peace and Joy. 

This morning we will be packing for the village clinic tonight and getting ready to touch hundreds of lives.  Please pray for us as we travel.  On the way here last night one of the old vans lost a wheel and God spared us from a tragedy.  We had to fit 36 people in two vans along with all the 50 team bags that we took here.  [A small miracle in itself]  One of the new vans is sitting up on jacks waiting for a part to complete the brake job it is in need of.  

Pray also for a couple of the team that we have had to put on antibiotics due to skin infections or bites that have gotten infected.  This can be very serious if the antibiotics don’t begin working right away.  So far there has been no other big health issues.  Your prayers are certainly covering us.  Continue to pray for the weather as there has been some big rain falls here in the past week.

The village we are going to is about two and a half hours from here and we should be getting there about 4:00 PM [6:00 Michigan time].  Pray that we can quickly make the connections with the people and that the message of Christ is received openly.

We will continue to post as much as possible due to our internet issues.  We can’t thank you enough for the love and prayers that you all have and are offering to us.  We are truly blessed to have such a great community the has surrounded us.  Thank you!

Each of the 5 small groups have been assigned to write a post for one of the days.  I will try to get the individual posts that you have written us to the team.  It does not look like we will be able to have them write in theirs, at least not until tomorrow or Monday.  We hope you understand.

God Bless!

KEVIN