Letter to FNC from Tommy Matthews
Guatemala 09 ..
So I am back in Guatemala now. I have been here for just over 5 weeks. Here is an update of what has been happening in Gods? Ministry here in Guatemala for the first 4 weeks
I want to begin with when I returned to Guatemala. I returned to Guatemala on Jan. 7, 2009. Once I returned to Guatemala I was welcomed by all the missionaries with opens arms, which very much makes working in this ministry much easier. I was very eager to get back to where I felt God has led me and
begin working with the people of Guatemala and fellow missionaries. I was especially excited to get back to work with the ministry team. This team consists of the guys (Rolando, Fili, & Jiame) that dedicate and sacrifice their lives to work for Work and Witness. Without them this ministry wouldn't be the same.
Nine days after my arrival we saw our first team of the year. This is the story of how the Church of Sparks, NV, along with the Work and Witness Team served the people of Guatemala. This church arrived the 16th of Jan.. This team was originally planned to just go and build two structures for pastor's houses in Coban district. After talking with the team coordinator we came up with the idea to visit a local Guatemalan orphanage. This visit to this orphanage was one of the greatest things that could happen. This team brought smiles to hundreds of children's faces. Most of these children were there because they were found on the streets of Guatemala. This orphanage had over 250+ children in it with a variety of all ages. Those hours we spent with those children could never be replaced. And we know that God's presence shared in every moment, every smile, every laugh, and when we left every tear that fell. The time that I had there was one of the greatest times I have had in a long time. The Church from Sparks brought 221+ pairs of shoes, 128+ backpacks, 515 pairs of socks, 2,050+ pencils, 500+ toothbrushes, and 653 pairs of underwear. As we gave them these things and our time, we showed them the love of Christ, which is the ultimate goal. When we left it was sad, but we all knew that this one afternoon we spent with these children was well worth the whole trip to Guatemala.
When I had returned to Guatemala there was a landslide in San Cristobal. I contacted the local DS and asked him in what ways we can help these people. After speaking with him, we decided that food and clothing were the best items to give the affected 800 families. With this in mind, work and witness
purchased 350+ pounds of food for these families. The awesome part of this story is once the Church from Sparks discovered what we were doing to help out, we were able to give out over 750 pounds of food because of support from their local church. The team had the great fun and opportunity to give
this food personally to the affected families. We gave out over 400 bags of food to the victims and left more at the district office to be distributed to the other families who we couldn't reach. The team loved every minute of doing this and showing them the love of Christ as well.
These things were done outside the normal scope of what work and witness has done in the past here in Guatemala, but I feel that these are the types of things that God calls us to do as a body of believers. We are called to help all people, we are called to seek them out and help them by whatever means possible.. That's what happened with this team. For which I, the team, the Church of Sparks, NV, the people who received help, Rolando, Fili, and God are grateful we did such things.
Having done these things, we still went and began construction on two pastors' houses by giving a new roof structure. The team enjoyed doing both of these structures, especially the roof in Caquiton. This church is an example to all churches, their passion and willingness to give up numerous days of work to prepare the site and then eventually erect the structure and roof with us was awesome. 25 men worked for 40 days to prepare the jobsite for where this new house would be built. The support that they showed for their pastor & Church makes us wonder where some of us in the US have lost that support for our church and our pastors. The team was very excited and very pleased to work with a church as passionate as this one was and is.. The impact that this church made on Sparks, NV, has lead to this church wanting to partner with both of these churches in the future to help assist them in completing the project by purchasing blocks, rebar, concrete and other needed items to complete this task. This day opened the eyes of many (the team from Sparks) to see how some of the Guatemalan people live on a daily basis. This was another day in Guatemala that the team of Sparks, NV, will never forget.
Work and Witness will not forget the lives that were touched in Sparks, NV, or in Guatemala by the work and support from this team. As this team came and gave some many things to the people and showed the love of Christ to everyone. They received the acceptance from a far different culture, they received laughs and smiles from people of all ages, they received tears from a pastor and church because of the help they gave, and they received Joy for the work they accomplished in the name of the Lord.
We are happy to know that we fulfilled the WORD of God with this group. And our prayer is that God will keep showing us new ways to minister through Work and Witness to the groups from the US and to the people of Guatemala.
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this. I ask that maybe you will take a few more minutes out of your day and pray for the prayer requests below.
Prayer Requests:
* My grandfather (Fred Lamaster) is in ICU in KC
* My mom (Sheri Matthews) as she still recovers from her long battle with acute pancreatitis
* My Family
* This ministry in Guatemala, that we would have God's vision and nothing else
* The Ministry Team and their families
* Protection and safety as we do much traveling in the coming weeks
* The teams who come to Guatemala, that they will be open to let God's spirit work within them
* The leadership here on the MAC Region
We would love to pray for you as you share your requests with us.
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