3/17/2007:

Greetings Parents, Friends and Supporters of Proyecto Fe!!!

It´s  almost 3 PM on Saturday afternoon the 17th.  We had a great trip yesterday from Guatemala City to Panahachel by bus and then across scenic Lake Atitlan by boat to San Pedro La Laguna. 

It was a long day yesterday ... we all went to bed late Thursday night and were up very early yesterday morning to eat a great breakfast, have our first devotional, which was preceded by some incredible worship music by these incredibly talented kids!!!  After breakfast, we loaded our backpacks and all the medical supplies we shipped down, onto the bus for the trip to Panahachel.

The bus trip was great ... this is a new bus company for Proyecto Fe and they did an awesome job!  It´s amazing how a bad driver can affect the stomachs of the passengers on the long, winding road to Pana, but this driver was excellent!  The kids were elated, once again, at the prospect of boating over to San Pedro ... this is definitely a highlight of the trip for everyone!

The welcome and greeting at the dock brought tears to the eyes of those returning to this incredible place!  I will never grow weary of the genuine demonstration of joy, excitement and appreciation that these people demonstrate to us!!!  For the few on this trip who have never been here, I saw awe and even amazement at this demonstration of affection ... for people they didn´t even know.  The unfurled ¨WELCOME sign held up by the kids and an entire dock full of people waving and cheering and most important, yelling in ENGLISH, the words WELCOME!!!  You can´t help but feel special and appreciated as people you don´t even know greet you with a hug and a kiss and a thankyou ... we should all, as Christians, learn to model this in our greetings to one another!!!

Countless helping hands grabbed luggage and the totes full of supplies and carried them en masse to the hotel Villa Sol where we´ll spend the week.  The courtyard at the hotel looked like a party scene from some giant celebration!  Reunions were made with those who have been here before, and introductions were made for the those new to this remarkable community.   Gear was stored and the kids were divvied up in rooms and we all proceeded to Colegio Bethel for a super welcome dinner!!!  The special (just for the Gringos) hotdog dinner was preceded by a GET ACQUAINTED mixer where the kids were paired up with a Basico (early high schooler) for a number of group interaction events that really started off the week on a great note!  I observed a much more rapid establishment of relationships with these kids than at any other time down here ... not sure if it wasn´t in part due to the high number of returning kids, but it was really refreshing!!!  I can tell you now ... mark my word ... Friday night´s Tamale Dinner Send Off will be far more emotional for these kids than any of my other trips down here!!! 

After dinner, we spent some time restablishing relationships and then it must have been obvious that we were beat, because Campa, the Basico Director encouraged us to go get some sleep.  We retired to the hotel roof top for some great worship songs ... one of which was God of Wonders ... sung under a sky full of a BILLION stars ... I know, I´ve sung this song a hundred times before, but nothing compares to the voices of these kids and the sight of their upraised arms and a brilliant sky full of stars overlooking Lake Atitlan!!!  THERE´S NOTHING LIKE A YOUTH TRIP!!!!  May God be gracious enough to allow me to continue to do this for a multitude of Spring Breaks in the future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We called it a night after a few more songs and hit the hay for some much needed sleep.

We were up early and at Max´s restaurant for his incredible Chocolate Pancakes!  After a quick breakfast, we hustled to the school where we met with the Basico kids, got the sports equipment and headed up to the top of the mountain to the ballfield for a game of softball.  WHAT A BLAST!!!  Our kids were very gracious in helping the Basico´s learn the game ... their sports are heavily influenced by soccer and basketball and this was very new to them.  There was much laughter as the Basico´s over-ran bases, threw the balls EVERYWHERE and fumbled through the game ... but it was heartwarming to see our kids jumping in and encouraging them and cheering them on ... all this in what was supposed to be a competition between the Americans and the San Pedrans!!!  This event probably  not only accelerated the bonding and friendships that were initiated the previous night, but it cemented them  forever!!!

After the game we headed to the school for a very filling grilled chicken lunch that left nobody asking for more!  We headed back to the hotel afterwards for a half-hour rest and to get our work clothes and gloves to work on the what is being referred to as the ¨Old Folks Home¨¨ ... last year we dug the holes for the footings and this year we´ll be working on the walls ... really neat for these kids to see a project like this come out of the ground!  The kids will be finished around 4:30 and then we´ll have time to shower and clean-up to get ready for a dinner back at the school where everyone who has a Sponsored child will be able to have dinner with them AND their family!  This is the first time we´ve done this ... I´m excited about seeing our kids and adults who have sponsor kids to be able to spend this kind of quality time bonding!  For those without a sponsor child, it´s a great opportunity to witness God at work in this unique kind of relationship ... I am continually amazed at how accurately these people convey their appreciation to these sponsors for what they are doing in the lives of these kids in San Pedro!  This is not a sales pitch, but if you´re reading this right now and want a program that delivers MAXIMUM value for the money you give to a cause, THIS IS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Afterwards, we´ll head back to the hotel for a devotion and some more great worship on the roof!  Tomorrow is an action-packed Sunday including a trip to the local market ... this is a reality-check for anyone who has not experienced this in the past ... and if you have, it´s a stark reminder of how blessed we are ... I vow each year to never, ever complain again about Carrs-Safeway if I can´t find something they advertised!!!  After the market, it´s time for lunch and then home visits for the kids to REALLY see how these people live!  Then to Church at 5 PM for service ... I call it the NEVER ENDING CHURCH SERVICE ... and am smiling as I type this!!!  They have 3 hour services and long past the time when my butt has turned numb, these humble people are smiling and singing and yelling ¨¨AMEN¨¨ when Pastor Emilio says something profound!  Once again, I´m convicted that I will NEVER, EVER complain about a long service in Anchorage ever again!!!

After church, we have a special Pizza Dinner surpise for the kids, then it´s back to the hotel for devotions and worship up on the roof!  If it´s not too late tomorrow night, I´ll send an update, but most likely it will be Monday morning!!!

Special Thanks to my INCREDIBLE wife Cathy for forwarding emails, but especially for the Snack Bags she made up for each of the kids and handed out at the airport!  YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW WONDERFUL THESE WERE!!!  I´ve seen the kids snacking on them during the numerous times when we were between meals, since leaving!  Consideration needs to be given to doing this again ... GREAT IDEA HON!!! 

Health Report¨-  everyone´s doing great!!!  Ashley Shefrey´s cough is almost gone and I haven´t heard Samantha cough all day ... in fact ... Sam was up on the roof VERY early this morning, singing her heart out in worship ... it was incredible for my personal time of devotion to be bathed in her beautiful guitar music and singing ... THIS GIRL KNOWS HOW TO WORSHIP HER CREATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Imagine ... watching the sun come up over Lake Atitlan, warming San Pedro and hearing the roosters crowing and the town begin to stir to life, while asking the ONE WHO MADE IT ALL POSSIBLE to bless the day!!!  Pretty incredible ...  and while I know it can occur ANYWHERE ... it just happened HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once again, thanks to Proyecto Fe for allowing this kind of a mission´s trip to occur!  We are so incredibly blessed to be able to participate ... GOD IS AT WORK IN SAN PEDRO LA LAGUNA ... and it´s awesome to be able to join Him here!!!

More later, Blessings to all!  DB

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3/18/2007:

Buenos Dias from stunniingly beautiful San Pedro!!!

It´s 10 after 11 in the morning on Sunday and we just completed a trip to the local market and everyone´s heading back to the hotel before we go to eat lunch.

Last night was a very sprecial dinner at the school ... our kids were paired with their Basico counterparts and seated at a long table for a great spaghetti feed!  Sponsor kids and their families sat with sponsors and spent the entire evening just relaxing and communicating .. there were lots of opportunities for sharing photos and building the relationships with these people .. it was a great time spent together.

Our work party yesterday completed almost one full layer of block on the walls of the ¨Old Folks Home¨ that we´re helping to build.  We were a pretty filthy group after scrounging in the concrete and dirt for several hours, so we headed back to the hotel for much needed showers and prepared for the dinner described above.  I´m anticipating some significant work on this building while we are here!!!

After dinner last night, we returned to the hotel for an incredible evening of worship and devotions on top of the roof of the hotel.  Each of the kids have been assigned a specific set of verses to use in their devotion, and when finished are required to give their testimony.  Last night was truly remarkable ... the devotion was great, but the testimony was even better ... I could see on the faces of the other kids, and knew from their reactions and nodding heads that many were affected and could relate to what was shared!   In addition to us connecting with the San Pedrans,  I´m seeiing OUR kids becoming connected in a very special way that only God could do! 

After devotions we asked the kids if they were experiencing anything unique or had the trip met with expectations so far ... the answered flowed for a good ten minutes ... as leaders, we were praising God for what we saw happening in this group!  We marveled at how quickly this group was being impacted by the trip ... a wonderful series of blessings taking place right before our eyes!!!

We were up early this morning, had breakfast and another devotion and some teriffic worship.  We then headed to the local market for what I can only describe as a CULTURE SHOCK ... it´s amazing really, seeing large crowds of people buying and selling everything you could possibly imagine ... seeing chickens butchered right before you, fresh vegetables and beans of a hundred different varieties all displayed for sale ... the sights and sounds were stunning to the senses and our kids were definitely in awe!  As I´ve said before, you can´t help but count your blessings for how we live in America!  This is a great way of showing the kids how they have to be grateful for!

We´re about to eat lunch and then it´s off to Home Visits, where our kids will visit the actual houses where Basico´s live ... yet another revealing and humbling experience for one and all!

After the visits, we´re off  to Church services and then the surprise Pizza Party ... if it´s like years past, the Guatemalans will have something to remember after they see OUR kids eat pizza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I´ll check in tomorrow ... please remember to pray for us for continued good health and safety and that God would clearly reveal Himself to our kids as they submit themselves to Him as servants in this remarkable place!!!

Everyone is in excellent health and great spirits!  In fact, WE´RE HAVING A BLAST!!!  This team is just plain FUN!!!!  We´re demonstrating God´s blessings in our life to everyone we meet and this testimony is full of joy ... it´s a real pleasure to be a part of this group!!!  I know I say this every year, but no two groups are the same and the blessings of being associated with them are different, but continue to impact me and my walk in a dynamic, life-changing way ... I´m very grateful to be here!!!  DB

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3/19/2007: 

It´s 5-45 PM on Monday the 19th ... I´m hurrying to get this email out before we head to the school for Pastor Emilio´s presentation on San Pedro and it´s history and the story of Proyecto Fe and how we ended up ministering here ... it´s a great lesson in God´s provision and His use of Joe Lomonaco to bring this vision to fruition.

We just finished dinner and I literally ran ahead to get this email off ...yesterday afternoon and evening was a huge blessing for all of us ... after home visits, which were incredible and resulted in numerous stories from the kids about what they saw and experienced and how God was at work in the lives of the people here AND MORE IMPORTANT ... some of the divine timing for these visits occurring at a time when many of these people needed our encouragement ... we prayed for each and every family we visited and this was a POWERFUL experience!!! These people place so much value on what we say, it´s almost embarrassing ... but God has used this by allowing our prayers to have PROFOUND MEANING AND VALUE and the words were received as great encouragement ... many tears flowed during these prayer times and these humble, gracious people were so grateful for what was said!!! I happened to experience the wonderful blessing of having Zach Gates in my group and I was BLOWN AWAY by this kids gifted ability to take all that he heard from these people and to incorporate it into the most concise, accurately conveyed prayers I have every heard!!! Twice, I found myself opening my eyes during the prayer to look at him to make sure it was him speaking!!! I complimented him afterwards on his ability to articulate his thoughts into words ... I know countless adults who can´t do this!!! God definitely is using Zach on this trip!!!

After the home visits we went to church where our Youth performed a couple songs, one in English and one in Spanish that were very well received! I was asked to speak ... WITHOUT ANY NOTICE!!!!!!! Thank God for Pam interpreting ... having to go slow gave me enough time to think about what I was going to say next ... I couldn´t tell you what I said but it must have been OK because it was well received - HA!!! Then, Scott Luber was asked to speak ... he had virtually no time to prepare, but God used him in an amazing way!!! He spoke specifically to the Youth of San Pedro, but the message was general enough to bless all who heard it. Gabby, who works at the school and was with us last year, translated and it was a profound message of encouragement to the people of San Pedro ... although we shouldn´t have been surprised, after the message Pastor Emilio had an altar call and encouraged people to receive what Scott had said and to re'commit their lives to Christ ... THE RESPO NSE WAS OVERWHELMING!!!!!!! There were more people than there was room on the altar ... a very emotional time ensued with the people on their knees before the Lord ... the VAST MAJORITY of these people were YOUTH!!!!!!!! I gave Scott a ¨¨high five¨¨ and told him that he had just been used in significant way by God and was responsible for bearing MUCH FRUIT!!! God does the work, we know, but he uses His people to deliver the message and Scott did an awesome job!!! Our team was so blessed to see this happen right before our eyes!!!

Then, for frosting on the cake ... Pastor Emilio had Ashley Sheffrey and Aimee Cox stand up and recognized them for being FEMALE GUITARISTS!!! This was something they didn´t see in San Pedro and it was very special! The girls were obviously embarrassed by all the attention, but I translated for them that Pastor Emilio was using them as an encouragement for the women of his church to pursue this form of musical worship ... after the service, several girls, most of them from the Basico´s, came up to Ashley, Aimee and Samantha and asked them to set aside time this week to teach them and to guide them on how they too can learn to play the guitar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUR KIDS WERE SPEECHLESS!!!!!!!!!!! God was using them in a totally unexpected way to reach the Guatemalan people and it was such a blessing to feel used by God for His glory and to further His work in this place!!! It was a phenomenol evening and one I will never forget!!! THE ¨¨GO¨¨ TEAM WAS REALLY BEING USED BY GOD ... AND KNEW IT!!!

Afterwards we had our surprise Pizza dinner at Mike´s Pizza ... once again, even I was impressed by how much pizza this group ate!!! Two of the boys ate 20 and 23 slices of pizza respectively!!! The fact that they were able to walk back to the hotel, let alone eat breakfast this morning was amazing!!! It was a great dinner and Pastor Emilio and his wife Esther and their family joined us for an excellent time of fellowship!!!

We walked back to the hotel and had devotions and worship and spent some time discussing the day´s events and how it affected the kids ... their insight was amazing! I am so blessed to be able to hear their heart-felt responses and to realize that God is working on them as well during this trip!

We were in bed by 10 at my INSISTENT URGING knowing that breakfast was at 6-30 so we could be at the school by 7-30 for a very special time with the kids.

This morning after a quick breakfast, we were at the school and joined the kids in their Monday morning devotions ... what an incrediblly sweet experience!!! What a way to start the school week! It was so great to see these little kids with eyes closed and arms upraised in genuine, sincere worship ... we were all touched!!!

Afterwards, we went and worked on the Old Folks Home and quit in time for lunch ... we did everything from mixing concrete to setting blocks and transporting bags of cement, to breaking larger rocks into smaller ones for mixing with the cement for reinforcement on the footings. It was a great time and I found myself once again marveling at how well this team works together and how much fun we made out of WORK!!!

After lunch, we had a coùple home visits and more work on the building and some of the kids got to help in the kitchen baking for future lunches for the school kids.

We had just enough time to clean up and head to dinner before heading over to the school for Pastor Emilio´s presentation, THAT I AM NOW LATE FOR - HA!!! We´ll see how good he is at FORGIVENESS!!!

Everybody´s doing great healthwise and I´ll send another email tomorrow!  Blessings, DB  Today was a great day! 

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3/20/2007: 

Buenas Tardes! It´s 2-30 in the afternoon on Tuesday, March 20th ... as you can see by the ¨¨2-30¨¨ and any other screwed up punctuation marks, that I am ONCE AGAIN struggling with these keyboards from this 3rd world country!!!

Amazing that Microsoft can run the world, but everywhere you go, the keyboards are different!!! HA!!!

Last night was a great time with Pastor Emilio and Daniel Campa, who is the director of the Basico´s ... kind of like a Principal for High Schoolers ...

Pastor Emilio spoke about Guatemala and the school and his vision and how Proyecto Fe has helped accomplish so much in such a relatively short period of time. I didn´t realize until last night that his church has planted 39 OTHER churches in the surrounding mountains!!! He hosts 5 conferences each year for Pastors and staff, including Pastor´s wives and Youth coaches. The kids began to see how their help and effort was going into something very fruitful for God ... Pastor Emilio did a great job pointing out all the other buildings that had been constructed using efforts just ours!!! This came at a great time for our kids .. they were literally beat from that days work on the building ... the sun was hot and the work was hard, but it was great to accomplish all that we did.

When Professor Campa spoke, it was to teach us some things about the Mayan culture and specifically to teach us their numerical system ... they were WAY AHEAD of the Romans!!! This was a fun time with all the kids actively participating in answering questions and engaging Professor Campa during his presentation.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel for worship and devotions on top of the roof of the hotel ... a good breeze was blowing across the lake and it was very refreshing after the hot day (forgive me ... I just happened to notice it was single-digit temperatures in Anchorage as I started to send this email ... and I´ll make it a point not to tell you that it´s about 80 degrees right now under a cloudless sky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) We had an excellent time in our devotions and spent some quality time afterwards discussing the highlights of the day. It is very apparent that each and every member of this team is experiencing numerous blessings throughout the day ... one in particular came when Danika Stokes had a little girl come running up to her shouting her name out loud ... Danika looked around at us as if to say, ¨¨Who is this?¨¨ and at first she didn´t recognize this beautiful little girl, but then the girl said her name and it was obvious that Danika was stunned! ¨¨This is the girl I was paired up with last year!¨¨ She exclaimed. A great reunion occurred and Danika was really moved by the fact that she only spent one day with this little one, yet this girl remembered EVERY SINGLE THING they did and what they talked about!!! It was a very revealing experience that I took advantage of to remind the entire group that the absolutel smallest things we do and the littlest encouragements we say to these people are ABSOLUTELY CHERISHED!!! Danika was visibly moved by what happened and kept repeating over and over that she had no idea that she´d impacted this girl so powerfully! It was one of the highlights of the trip for me!!! We hit the hay afterwards with plans to get up early the next day.

This morning´s breakfast was at 7 am and we were at the school at 8 and ready to work. Some of the kids were teamed up with Basicos to do several different ¨¨Servant Chores¨¨ that included making tortillas, weaving, beadwork and washing clothes. The tortilla making was a very special experience ... the team had to make 400 tortillas for a family whose mother had gone blind recently (no cause was revealed) and the kids had the incredible blessing of being able to deliver the tortillas they made to this needy family!!!! The teams making beadwork and weaving were creating products to sell for money to help support kids attending Colegio Bethel where we were working. It was very rewarding indeed!!!

Lunch followed the morning´s work and we actually had an entire hour to nap afterwards before heading back to the school to finish the days work at the school and the Servant Chores. We´ll wrap up today around 4 pm and eat an early dinner so we can be back at the school in time for our annual MARCH MADNESS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP!!! These 2 games (One each for the Boys and Girls) has become a favorite of both the San Pedrans and the Alaskans! The San Pedrans make up for their height disadvantage with incredible tenacity and competitive nature! The Alaskans will rely heavily on the talent and skill of our very ATHLETIC group!!! The rope nets are missing from the Basketball rims, so I am going to surprise them by purchasing new ones from a store here in San Pedro and having them installed before the game starts!

AS A SIDE-NOTE ... ANYONE IN ANCHORAGE WHO CAN COME UP WITH A PAIR OF THE INDUSTRIAL CHAIN NETS THAT ARE USED ON OUTDOOR BASKETBALL COURTS, IT WOULD BE MUCH APPR ECIATED DOWN HERE AND WOULD LAST FOR MANY, MANY YEARS!!! IF YOU CAN FIND A PAIR OF THESE, I´M CERTAIN JOE CAN GET THEM DOWN HERE ON THE NEXT TRIP ... I discussed this with Bartolo, the Physical Ed teacher and he was really excited!!! Anyway, the games are really important for these folks ...they bring out the Public Address system and make it like an actual sports broadcast, and have loads of fun teasing the Alaskans!!!

After the games, we´ll return to the hotel for worship and devotions and another badly needed night´s rest!

Everyone remains in great health! I´ve become officially declared THE WATER NAZI as I insist on the kids drinking lots and lots of water!

I would sincerely covet your prayers for continued good health and safety!

Please pray that God would continue to work through us to reach and minister to these people, and by doing so, allow God to refine and further sanctify us!!! We are blessed to be here and very much aware of the blessing we are to these people ... very gratifying indeed!!!

I should be able to send another update tomorrow ... we have more work and Servant Chores scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Warmest Regards to All,  DB

PS - I JUST SAW A CLOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO ... WAIT A MINUTE ... THAT WAS SMOKE IN THE DISTANCE ... SORRY ... JUST MORE BORINGLY BEAUTIFUL BLUE SKIES AND 80 DEGREE TEMPERATURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HA!!! 

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3/21/2007: 

Today is Wednesday, March 21st and it´s 2-20 in the afternoon ... I´m paying

(somewhat) for my sense of humor from yesterday ... today is cloudy and breezy ... still around 75 degrees and beautiful, but not quite as stunning as yesterday!

I attempt to follow my own chronological system of reporting during these updates, but today I´m compelled to change my format a little in response to an absolutely incredible night last night that I have to share with you!!!

I have to say this one more time ... YOUTH TRIPS ARE PHENOMONAL!!!!!!!!!

We returned to the hotel from the Basketball Games last night and since it was around 9 pm we decided to let the kids just have some time to themselves to shower up after the games and just relax ... we worked hard all day and quite a full agenda, then played our hearts out at basketball (the 6500 feet of elevation just smoked us on endurance!!!) it was the first evening that we did not have a formal time of worship and devotions. But what those kids did with this free time is what´s so amazing, and what I´m so excited to share ... on their own, they grabbed their guitars and music and headed up to the top of the roof of the hotel and began THEIR OWN time of worship!!!

I was attempting to prepare for the next day´s activities and do some serious planning, when I heard the first guitar start playing ... then the second and finally the third ... and some singing .... I tried to re-focus, but their voices and the sounds of the guitars were so incredible, I got up and opened the door to my room and the volume was increasing as the number of voices increased ... I couldn´t stand it!!! I grabbed my flashlight and headed to the roof and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF OUR KIDS was up on that roof singing at the top of their lungs!!! Others were holding flashlights for the ones playing guitars so they could see their music in the dark and every one of them had their hands lifted up in what can only be described as beautiful, genuine worship!!! I was deeply moved and joined in the singing and when one song was over, somebody would ask for another and another and we sang like this for more than an hour!!!! I opened my eyes after one song and several of the girls were arm-in-arm singing together! THESE KIDS WERE WORSHIPPING GOD WITH EVERY FIBER OF THEIR BEING!!! The other leaders joined the group and we ended up with the most remarkable, spontaneous time of worship I´ve ever had the pleasure to experience!!! THERE´S NOTHING LIKE A YOUTH TRIP TO GUATEMALA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After this incredible time together, everyone adjourned to their room and we slept like rocks!!! But .... back to basketball game .....

After my last update yesterday, we ate a quick meal then headed to the hotel to clean up a little before the big game. When we arrived at the school, the Basico´s were indeed ready for competition! They had on uniforms and had imported a GOLIATH of a basketball player ... we all had alot of fun teasing Bartolo, the Physical Ed teacher about needing to bring in a ¨¨ringer¨¨ from some foreign country in order to compete with the Gringos!!!

This kid was big and tall and was definitely not from around here ...

Bartolo insisted that he was a student at the school and I was concerned until I saw him shoot!!!! HA!!! The boys ended up maintaining our dominance of the game by whooping up on the San Pedrans, but the girls got stomped ... our gals are definitely better Volleyball and Soccer players than they are Basketball ... I confess that I need to work on my GRACE during competition .... the OLD ME rises to the top and I tend to get pretty competitive! We had a blast playing and ended with a game of soccer that WE WON!!! Kelly Bray, David Templin, Sarah Jones, Ashley Clark and Samantha Dorland LOOKED LIKE OLYMPIC SOCCER PLAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The other teachers watching the game were STUNNED to say the least!!!

I´ll fill you in on more details of today´s events in tomorrow´s email ...

we´re heading off to some more home visits and I´m running behind!

Everyone´s in great health and I continue to praise God for what I see him doing here!!! The kids are really growing close to one another and to their Basico counterparts! No more encouragement is needed to get them to talk to one another ... they are, without any prompting, seeking out one another and the daily reunions are a sight to behold!!! It´s totally genuine and very, very special to witness!!!

I´ll have more time tomorrow!!! Warm Regards to All!!! DB

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HA!!! Two emails in one day! Bet you´re as surprised as I am!!! Our home visit was delayed until tomorrow ... FLEXIBILITY is the key when operating on GUATEMALA STANDARD TIME!!!!

I forgot to mention that for the game last night, we bought new nets for the basketball rims .... Scott and Liz went and picked them up at one of the Tienda´s (stores) in town and I didn´t get a chance to look at them until we pulled them out of the wrapper ... they were RED, WHITE AND BLUE!!! When we presented them to Bartolo, we told them that from this moment on, they would remember our dominance of the game .... because the nets were in the colors of the United States!!! He put his head in his hands and made like he was crying ... it was a great time of laughter for all ... and the nets remain up!!!!

In my hurry to tell you about the BBall games, I failed to mention the Servant Chores from yesterday!!! One of our groups of gals made tortillas again and this time delivered this batch to 4 women who had what appeared to be 3 very young kids ... Pam made the delivery and even she was confused at first because the women appeared to be older than normal mothers for the ages of the kids who were present ... upon closer inspection, all 3 kids were SEVERLY MALNOURISHED!!! Their growth had been totally stunted and their appearance was really bad. Pam said that there wasn´t a THING of value in the house .. and that this ¨¨family¨¨ appeared to be the poorest she has seen!!!

Our kids were deeply moved by what they saw and their gift of fresh tortillas was received as if it was GOLD!!! They were obviously starving and even Pam did not realize the extent of their poverty prior to arranging this delivery (post note - Pam is going to try to find a way to help these

people!) Pam said she cried when OUR KIDS asked if THEY could pray for this family!!! She said she could see from the faces of our kids how much we cared for these people and how bad we wanted to help them ... when our kids started to pray, Pam said she really cried because of how sincere and emotional and heart-felt these prayers were!!! Pam had tears in her eyes when she told me about this experience and said she´s never seen a Youth Group like this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I concurred!!! This is a very, very special group of young people!!!!

In some of the other Servant Chores, one of the gals was weaving and got it down so good that the woman she was helping BEGGED her to stay and when she couldn´t, she asked if she could come back tomorrow saying, ¨¨You learn so fast!!!!!¨¨ Made our kids really feel like God was using them to help these people!!!

One of our new team members, Madelyn Pearman from Kodiak, had a blast making bracelets and other bead items ... she said she caught on quickly and was amazed at how much the lady she was working with, appreciated her help!

Other kids helped by doing laundry ... THE OLD FASHIONED WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On rocks, with soap ... talk about an experience!!! Still others helped by taking large rocks and breaking them up into smaller ones for use in the concrete forms we were building at the Old Folks Home. It was a great day of serving the Lord and these kids definitely were heeding God´s call in Colossians 3-23 (DANG THIS KEYBOARD!!!)

OK ... this time, I´m checking out for good today! HA!!! Tomorrow we have more of the same, actually a very similar schedule ... but tomorrow night we have the distinct pleasure of being invited to Dora´s (a lady who works at the school) wedding! This is a very small, private ceremony and we are indeed honored guests!!! Pastor Emilio is performing the ceremony at his church ... I´m not sure what to expect, but it will a unique experience to witness this in San Pedro!!! ONLY ON A YOUTH TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!! HA!!!

I know I keep bragging on these kids, but I must tell you parents that you have raised some AWESOME kids!!! You should be very proud of each and every one of them ... they are jumping in and helping each other without ever being told ... we go to the restaurant and they actually ¨¨fight¨¨ over who gets to serve and then clean-up afterwards! They support one another and help each other at the work site like no group I´ve ever seen! They appear to have been brought up together for years before making this trip!!! My ¨¨JOB¨¨ as a leader is so incredibly easy and enjoyable with a group like this!!! It´s enabling me to spend some time building relationships on my own and less time MANAGING the group! These kids are on-time for every event and I´ve never had to tell anyone a second time for anything ...

pretty amazing!!! They are truthfully much more mature spiritually than any other group I´ve had the pleasure of being with! I am immensely honored to have them on this tri p!!!

I wish you all the best ... sincere thanks again to my Bride and Charlotte for forwarding emails ... we´ll ¨¨talk¨¨ with you again tomorrow!!!  Regards, DB

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3/22/2007: 

Greetings from HOT San Pedro!!! It´s 2 PM on Thursday, March 22nd and It feels like 90 degrees today! There´s no breeze, no clouds and it´s just plain HOT!!! I´m living up to my reputation as Water Nazi and forcing the kids to drink lots to stay hydrated ... working at the job site this morning we took frequent breaks ... I can tell the work and elevation and the heat is beginning to take it´s toll on our endurance ... we´re all kind of dragging a bit today!

Yesterday afternoon we sent out a couple teams to ¨¨seek out¨¨ opportunities for service (we stayed on the main roads and streets of San Pedro for visibility and safety) ... we noticed that there were many opportunities to be SALT AND LIGHT in this community without having to look too far. Scott and Liz came up with the original idea and I mentioned that in the future, we should team up our kids with Basico kids and THEN hit the streets looking for opportunities to serve! Yesterday´s trial run was an AWESOME success!!!

Two of our boys, Alex and Aaron came upon a man who was building an addition onto his house ... he obviously needed help, so the boys jumped in ... Alex said that he was using his bare hands to dig the foundation for this man and the guy was totally AMAZED that two strangers would volunteer to help!

He said ¨Thanks be to God¨to our boys, expressing his appreciation!!! I know that we´re onto something here ... the people in this community already recogniz e the blue t-shirts we wear, and to see us stopping and helping people like this man further endears us to the community and represents a poweful testimony of God´s love without ever saying a word!!! It reminds me of the recorded saying by St. Francis Asissi who said, ¨¨Preach the gospel everywhere you go ... if necessary, use words!!!¨¨ Another group had discovered a lady who had dropped a large basket of lemons and our kids stopped and helped her pick them all up while many San Pedrans walked right on by!!! Imagine pairing our kids up in the future with the Basico´s and teaching them to have the sense of AWARENESS to recognize needs like this AND TO RESPOND IMMEDIATELY in love!!! Talk about impacting a community for Christ!!!! Our other group of gals ran into a lady with a large basket of clothes heading to the lake to wash them ... our kids helped her carry them

to the lake, then helped her wash the entire load!!! She repeated over and

over how thankful she was ...

our gals said they actually felt embarassed at her repeated expressions of gratitude ... further affirmation that this type of work is having a profound impact on individual people!!! THE ¨¨GO¨¨ TEAM WAS TOTALLY IN ACTION IN THIS COMMUNITY YESTERDAY!!! The spontaneity of this Servant Chore had such incredible success and the kids REALLY felt like God was directing them to specific opportunities to minister. When we did a ¨post mortem¨¨ on the day, the kids were really excited about what they did and how it was received! I can picture in my mind the conversation these San Pedrans will have with others in the community ... telling about what happened today when a group of kids in blue shirts came up to them and helped them!!!! What a great experience!!!

After dinner last night, we adjourned to the hotel for a great time of worship and devotions ... I will never tire of the sounds this group makes from the roof of the hotel! There is something special about being up there with the lights from neighboring communities across Lake Atitlan shining over the water and a million stars directly overhead .... AND OUR KIDS singing for all they´re worth!!! It´s a moving experience that cannot adequately be described with words ... these kids LOVE THE LORD and they´re totally unabashed display of such love is the affirmation that THIS ministry is worth every penny and every second we as adults put into it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the devotions and worship the teachers from the school brought things to sell and had them laid out in the courtyard for what appeared to me to be alot like the NORDSTROMS HALF-YEARLY SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was embarrassed for the guys who appeared to get caught up in this retail frenzy ... HA!

The gals certainly had a good time with it ... amazing how many times one can look at the same items over and over!!!! (grin!)

We got to bed fairly early under my encouragement to get some much needed sleep to be prepared for another 7 am breakfast and a full day today to follow!

When we awoke this morning, Dustin, one of our leaders wasn´t feeling well ... I´m not sure if he´s come down with something or just wiped out by the heat (he said he´s very sensitive to the heat) ... I´ll keep checking on him throughout the day and it takes a turn for the worse we´ll get him started on antibiotics ... if you have time while reading this, please send up a ¨¨flare prayer¨¨ on his behalf!!!

After breakfast, we headed to the school for more work - half the team was working on laying block and building forms for pouring concrete reinforcements for the walls of the Old Folks Home and the other half was involved in specific Servant Chores with their Basico counterparts just like Tuesday and Wednesday, making tortillas, washing clothes, weaving and doing bead work. The tortillas will be given to needy people, but all of the merchandise that is created from the weaving and beadwork will be sold by the people we are helping with all proceeds going directly to benefit them ... a very significant blessing of labor for the people in San Pedro!

We broke for lunch and the kids were beat! We had a devotion and a testimony by one of the kids and then we headed back to the hotel for an hour nap!!! Work resumed at 2 pm when I started this email. Later this afternoon, our music gals will teach the San Pedran women and Basico´s how to get started playing the guitar! I believe this will be a foundational meeting that will excite the San Pedrans and encourage them to continue pursuing this form of worship! I didn´t realize it, but Pastor Emilio announced it at church last night!!! He is very excited about the prospect of getting more ladies involved in musical worship!

Tonight at 7, after dinner, is Dora´s wedding ... this should be interesting ... I have no clue what to expect, and that alone makes it fun! I´ll check in tomorrow for another update ... it´s a full schedule tomorrow, complete with a presentation by the students of Colegio Bethel specifically for us!

Then in the evening, our annual Farewell Tamale Dinner. This is gonna be tough this year!!! I make it a point to observe how our kids are getting along with the Basico´s and this year, more than any other, the relationships seemed to get very close, VERY FAST!!! The Basico´s are so demonstrative of their affections, that it wasn´t uncommon for them to have their arms around our kids (and vice versa) in a show of genuine acceptance and affection! The guys were not any different! The bonding that occurred was very real and there was continual horseplay and kidding around and lots of ¨¨High Fives¨¨ and hand shakes to each other throughout this week ...

yeah ... it´s going to

be a tough evening ... each of our kids will stand up and speak (with a microphone and speakers so all can hear) WHILE STANDING WITH THEIR BASICO!!!

They will each be telling what the week meant to them and how they grew closer to each other ... if history repeats itself, I didn´t bring enough Kleenex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We´ll adjourn once again to the roof top of the hotel aftewards for our final in-town devotion and have a great time of worship ... our last night in San Pedro! Saturday morning we´ll leave for Panahachel and begin the journey home!

More later! Blessings to all .. please pray for Dustin ... everybody else is doing excellent!!!   DB

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3/23/2007:  

It´s a little after 2 in the afternoon on Friday, March 23rd, our last full day in San Pedro. First and foremost, Dustin is a new man!!! He said he felt bad enough to start the antibiotics yesterday afternoon and they kicked in really fast! He ate dinner last night and was up for breakfast this morning! Thank You Lord!!!

Yesterday afternoon while I was typing yesterday´s update, the Guitar Girls (as I´m calling them) spent 2 hours teaching 6 girls from San Pedro how to play the guitar! Obviously they won´t master this for awhile, but a very strong, solid foundation of encouragement was laid that will need to be followed up on in the future! I´m not sure where the funding came from for all the musical instruments that the kids play at Colegio Bethel, but they have a pile of instruments! Guitars need to be purchased because these girls are really excited about participating in worship with guitars! OUR KIDS SET SUCH A COMPELLING EXAMPLE, that these San Pedran´s are very motivated to follow their North American friends´ leading! Our girls got lots of photos and will share them with the group when we return!

While the guitar ¨lesson¨was taking place, our kids worked on the Old Folks Home and others worked on the Servant Chores, with everyone calling it a day around 4-30. We headed back to the hotel en masse and got quickly cleaned up for dinner at 5. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to change into more presentable clothes and headed up the hill to the church for Dora´s wedding. We arrived promptly at 6-59 for the 7 o´clock wedding that, typical of Guatemalan events started around 7-40!!! Then, it was announced that 3 different couples, including Dora and Elias would be married that night. According to Pam, when an announcement is made in this community about a wedding, the preachers attempt toget as many OTHER couples who are considering marriage OR are living in sin, to make the committment! Apparently at least 2 other couples heeded the encouragement!

It was a very unique service with 3 separate sets of marriage vows, lots of singing and then we were ready to leave after an hour and 45 minutes .... BUT WE COULDN´T BELIEVE IT when Pastor Emilio grabbed his Bible and went to the podium ... TO PREACH A SERMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My butt is still NUMB more than 15 hours later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The kids did an admirable job keeping their eyes open and the appearance of attentiveness, but it was one REALLY long service!!! I felt so bad for them afterwards that we went to Mike´s Pizza again (since they were all starving again!) and we got 6 EXTRA LARGE pizzas and soft drinks and just took it easy for awhile. We headed down the hill to the hotel afterwards and sang just a couple songs before retiring since it was almost 11 pm.

This morning started with breakfast at 7 and we had time for two devotions and testimonies from the kids before heading over to the school for THEIR presentation to US!!! For those who have not experienced this, it´s a very special time indeed! The kids, representing every class and age group practice for what must be a couple months before our arrival, for a series of presentations that include singing, mimes, acting and even some musical talent, ALL OF WHICH IS DIRECTED AT US!!! One of the highlights was a group of 5 little boys who could not have been more than 8 years old who were dressed up as old men and were carrying instruments ... two trumpets and two guitars and one vocalist ... they were introduced as the Colegio Bethel Alumni Band and they had a special song prepared for us ... as they began tapping their feet, a song began on a CD and they mimed the words ... it was being sung by older men and the kids did such a great job miming the words and holding up the trumpets and guitars for the times in the songs when those instruments were featured, that we all laughed until we cried! Our entire group gave them a standing ovation when they were done!

Then the entire school sang a song of God´s blessing and it was specifically for us! EVERY ONE OF THOSE KIDS HAD THEIR EYES CLOSED AND THEIR ARMS LIFTED

UP IN WORSHIP AND THANKSGIVING!!!!! We were seated up front and as you

looked out over the crowd of students of all ages, you couldn´t help it .... tears were flowing and the kleenex was in high demand!!! These people expressed their love and appreciation so sincerely that you couldn´t help but feel touched by their love!

Everyone who performed made it a point of coming up to EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US and giving us a hug and a kiss and saying ¨Thank you¨for coming to San Pedro! You couldn´t help but get choked up each time this happened! Our kids were made to feel very, very appreciated!

When the performances were over, Pastor Emilio handed out special bracelets with our names hand-beaded into them, to each member of the team, while a different Basico took the microphone and verbally thanked us and said something special to each one of us ... it was humbling indeed! In fact, one of the kids who came for the first time continued to remark over and over as we walked back to the hotel, Ï´ve never seen anything like that ... I´ve never seen anything like that!¨

Back at the hotel we had a chance to grab the guitars and Bibles for two scheduled devotions after lunch. These were great and the testimonies were powerful! We surprised the kids by announcing that after lunch they had earned an afternoon that was free to do some shopping and packing for tomorrow, or anything else they wanted to do ... just a much-deserved time to take it easy!

After lunch and devotions we all had about 45 minutes to rest up before some of the kids were heading to the school where they would leave from to deliver firewood to needy families. Some of the other kids were using the time to study and do homework and others still had some items they wanted to purchase, so we split leaders up and took several different groups in different directions with plans to meet back at the hotel in time to clean up for tonight´s tamale dinner at the school. As much as I look forward to this because it´s very special, I also have to brace myself because it can be an emotional roller-coaster! That´s exactly what I´m expecting for tonight ... this group has grown so close to each other and their Basico counterparts, that saying ¨good bye¨will be very hard indeed!

After the dinner, we´ll return to the hotel for our last evening of worship on the roof of the hotel ... this is usually a somwhat somber time ... in the past the kids have really spent quite a bit of time reflecting on the week and the relationships established and strengthened and all that has transpired. We´ll sing and worship and it´s always a great time, but the sharing on this particular evening is usually pretty emotional. For me, it´s the affirmation, once again, that this trip is so much more precious than the money or time spent to get here! As leaders we get to see some of the fruit that God bears in the lives of these kids directly related to this trip! Have I said that there´s NOTHING quite like a Youth Trip???

Tomorrow we depart from the dock at 8 am and head over to Panahachel. The departure and official ¨good byes¨will take some time as another emotional farewell takes place. We´ll arrive around 9-15 to 9-30 in Pana and kids will split up into groups with leaders and walk around this tourist town and experience the myriad of shops and stands all catering to tourists - clothing, jewelry, gifts, bead work, weavings and more trinkets than can be named are all on display and for sale. The kids will have 3 hours to do this touring and shopping before we head back towards Guatemala city by bus. En route, we´ll stop for an ice cream at the half-way point so everyone can stretch their legs before proceeding to the girls orphanage where we have a pizza party planned ... do teens every get tired of pizza????????????

After the orphanage visit, we´ll head back to our hotel for a special ¨last¨ evening ... we´ll begin a ¨re-entry¨of sorts, that will be complete the following morning before we head to the airport.

I probably will not have time to send an update until late tomorrow evening ... depending on my energy level, this may have to wait until early Sunday morning before we prepare to go to the airport. I appreciate all your prayers and support ... I´m grateful to my wife Cathy and to Charlotte for forwarding these long (sorry!) updates ... special thanks to Jerry Ralston, my business partner who´s covering things in my absence so I could make this trip - you´re as much a part of this trip as I am!!!

One final prayer request - please pray for a quick trip through Customs in Houston!!! We have a very short connection and if the lines at Customs are really long, it will be very tight indeed making our connecting flight!!!!!!!! In the past, God has really cleared this obstacle ahead of time for us and I am praying He will do the same this year!!!

I am indeed looking forward to returning to the land of NO PURELL (hand sanitizer) ... and drinkable water from the tap ... but I wouldn´t trade this experience for anything!!!!!! If you´ve never been on one of these trips, you need to go! Forgive me if you´ve heard this story before, but I grew up in Artizona and for 22 years never saw the Grand Canyon ... I decided to go visit it before Cathy and I moved to Alaska ... I´d seen the pictures and heard the stories, but it was no big deal to me .... UNTIL I WALKED OUT ON THE PLATFORM THAT OVERLOOKED THE SOUTH RIM!!!!!! There isn´t a photo, of all the millions that have been shot, that could accurate portray the sight I beheld that day!!! No matter how many stories I´d heard about the Grand Canyon, words could never accuratley describe what I was seeing!!! THAT´S HOW GUATEMALA AND A TRIP LIKE THIS IS!!!!!!!! You can see the photos, hear the stories, but until you experience these people, in this place, you will NEVER und erstand!!!!!!!!!!! I encourage you to make the committment ... contact Proyecto Fe at their website at www.proyectofe.com and learn about future trips ... they are life-changing!!!  Blessings, DB

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3/25/2007 FINAL: