Team Allendale!

Although Team Allendale arrived in Guatemala a month ago, and departed a short week later, the love that this team shared with those they encountered - the love of Christ - will never be forgotten! As we gathered for our first team devotions on the evening of their arrival, I realized that this love ran deeper than just a love for their Savior or a love for the ones they were serving – it was a love for one another. Everyone on this team had at least one family member along on the trip (besides one young lady), and God would soon use their love, trials and experiences as a family to minister to the people of Guatemala and invite numerous brothers and sisters into the family of Christ!
Before the week even began, we knew that we were heading into a strong spiritual battle. Dan Smith had asked me to be praying about which houses we would build with Team Allendale as there was one home in particular where the family members could really benefit from someone who could communicate in Spanish yet also be a strong spiritual leader and example. Dan knew team members coming down with both Team Allendale and the last team of the summer, but wasn’t quite sure which team God was calling to build for this single mother and her young son. In the end, God had planned that Team Allendale would be building for Sylvia and Javier, and what He had in store for the team and I was beyond what my mind could have ever comprehend!
On the morning of the first building day, I woke up sick for the second time this summer. Considering that I had never gotten sick that much in the 6 months total I had lived in Guatemala prior to this, my initial reaction was to be angry. I then realized, however, that my illness was actually Satan trying to interfere with what God had in store for the week as I was hoping to use my Spanish to minister to Sylvia. However, by midday I was feeling better - God’s Almighty power had overcome the powers of darkness once again! On Tuesday, I eagerly headed out with the team to the four construction sites at La Reina. Although it took awhile to fit in to the building routine after missing the first day, I soon jumped in with mixing the stucco, learning how to attach the roofs to the patio, and meeting the various families we were building for that week. To my disappointment, Sylvia was gone working that day, but it made the anticipation of the next day, dedication day, even stronger as we all were anxious to see what God had in store!
On dedication day, I had the pleasure of meeting Sylvia right away as we began sanding and painting the houses. To break the ice, I had her braid my hair, which soon led into inviting her to paint the house with us, and then to instant friendship. At some point during that morning, we took a break to look at the volcano called Fuego (Fire) as it puffed out clouds of black and gray smoke every five minutes or so! What an awesome display of God’s creation! As we walked backed to the construction site, Dan asked me what I thought of Sylvia, and I replied that it seemed like she was really opening up compared to the closed, hard and cold demeanor she displayed earlier. Dan agreed – he could already tell that she was a changed woman, and we hadn’t even dedicated her house yet! We were in for a treat! Before we began the dedications, I enjoyed some time getting to know Henry, a young boy who can not hear or speak. I had met him the week before, and was really struggling to communicate with him, but God used a yellow balloon and a black sharpie to destroy that barrier! For about half and hour, Henry and I stood there drawing faces on his balloon as he showed me what he wanted – eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears, arms, legs, feet, hand, pants, shirt, shoes, fingers, hair, hair…and lots more hair! It was truly a blessing for me – who thought you could find so much joy in a balloon and a marker?!
After enjoying a wonderful lunch of tostadas, rice, and a delicious chicken soup prepared for us by one of the families in La Reina, we began the four house dedications. We started with the house of a family who has been quite sick all summer along, including one of their young daughters named Brenda. We have brought medicine to this family countless times, but I believe they will now find true cleansing through the Ultimate Healer as the entire family came to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. From there, we moved on to Sylvia’s house. We asked a few of the team members to keep her parents busy during this time as we didn’t want her parents to influence her decision, or for her decision to influence her parents as their house dedication would be next. With that said we entered the house and began handing out gifts to her and her son, which they received with humble joy and gratitude overflowing from their hearts. The presence of God that you could feel so vibrantly in that house soon brought a group member to tears as she went over to grab Sylvia’s hands and share a few words for her in Spanish. I knew that I would feel something powerful in that house that day, but instead of feeling a battle taking place between Christ, the Evil One, and Sylvia’s heart like I had anticipated, I was overcome with the power of Christ as He poured out His love upon Sylvia and welcomed His daughter and her young son into the family of God with open arms! After giving Sylvia numerous rounds of hugs, we made the 10 foot trek over to her parent’s house. It was here that we encountered the strongest spiritual battle of the day. With some hesitation, the father and two sons decided to accept Christ, but the mother was continuing to refuse. From the doorway, I could see the hate in her eyes, so I motioned to the rest of the team outside of the house to pray specifically for her. Then, she provided her reasoning… “My husband has decided to accept Christ, but he’s not going to change. He is still going to beat me, hit me, and abuse me, so why should I make the commitment to supposedly change as well?” Although these words were hard to hear, and deeply saddened my heart, they opened the door for Hermano Jesus to focus on the words of 1 Corinthians 13:13 that were painted on the wall: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” In the end, you could see her eyes soften as Christ knocked on the door of her heart and she opened it to accept the love, protection, and grace that can only come from Him! I am so excited and anxious to witness the healing that will now take place among these family members from this day forward into eternity! Finally, we made our way back toward the first house as we dedicated the home of a daughter from the first house, her husband, and their young baby. Immediately, the distractions set in. The baby began crying, the rain began to fall, and a dog that was chained up aside began barking. But God calmed these distractions, even causing the dog to break free from his chain and run away! Shortly thereafter, this young couple, who were already Christians, were on their knees renewing their vows to Jesus Christ. How important is it to be reminded that we are a broken people and we need to continue seeking Christ, or else we will fall? Is it time that you recommit your life to Him and continue pursuing that personal relationship with Him every day?
On Friday of that week, we went out to conduct our first of two medical clinics that awaited us that weekend. As we approached the small building, I was a little concerned about how we would be able to run the clinic, play with the kids, and show the Jesus film with the limited amount of space available. The night went on, and the rain fell hard, turning the open area outside the building into mud and making it hard for the team to interact. Regardless, God overcame our doubts and frustrations by bringing many rounds of people forward to accept Him, as well as others who came forward seeking physical and spiritual healing that they knew could only come from Christ.
As we approached the setting of the clinic location on Saturday, we were all overjoyed to see the large soccer field and patio that was available for us to use! What a drastic change from the night before! In the clinic, I was privileged to interact with many special needs children as well as begin working with many interesting cases that would soon become a part of our medical follow-up program. Although the rains began to fall yet again, we were able to stay dry by gathering under the patio as the group began to sing songs to the villagers. Many adults and young people came forward to share their amazing and life-changing testimonies about the struggles that had taken place within their own family life, and Hermano Jesus was able to feed off of their stories to preach a message of forgiveness, love, mercy, protection, cleansing, and comfort to the people. What a blessing it was to witness such a large harvest that night! On our way home, I also got the chance to experience my first "driving adventure" of the summer! Due to all the rain we had received that night, we encountered a large tree had fallen across the road on our way home, blocking our path. All we needed to go was clear part of the branches away so that we could pass along the side of the road, so we attached the tow straps to the front of the 4-wheel drive van and started pulling! We were making progress, until the firemen came with chainsaws and machetes, taking away all of our fun! Soon, a large machine called a backhoe came along and was able to push the rest of the trunk away so that the road was clear and we were able to pass! What an exciting end to an incredible night!
The next day, Sunday, was our free day, and the team enjoyed a relaxing day of shopping in Antigua before coming together for the last night of devotions. During this time of devotions, many family members drew close to one another, but also to the love of our Heavenly Father; a few even stayed up late talking and praying together. Personally, God had been equipping me for this night since the week before as I had experienced true comfort and healing about a difficult event that took place in my life this past semester at Hope. Through that, He had given me the strength to say the right words when needed or to know when not to speak and just be there to support a team member who was struggling with a similar situation.
I thank you all for your continuing prayers, and for being faithful to check out my blog for recent posts! I apologize that I was slow in getting this post up, but now that teams are done for the summer, I am hoping to have more time to keep you FREQUENTLY updated on the amazing ways that God is continuing to work through Paradise Bound Ministries here in Guatemala!

I love and miss you all!
Blessings,
Erin