Photo of the Week!

This PRECIOUS 3-year-old child is named Pedrito! He lives in San Jose Cajagualten, a village where we have built houses in the past and are now conducting a follow-up discipleship program. Pedrito had developed a large tumor over his right eye, which was removed surgically in the last year or so. His eye was not able to be saved, but to be honest, I am not sure whether his eye was able to develop in the first place because of the tumor. Either way, he has recovered well and is doing WONDERFUL today! He is one of the cutest, sweetest, and well-mannered children you will ever meet! He also doesn't mind posing for pictures! =)

pan dulce (sweet bread)

After a long day at the hospital with a patient (more to come on that later), I came back to the mission base to find Estuardo, Noemi, Debora, Emanuel, Paulina, and Yohana all making bread! Estuardo used to help his family make bread in their bread store while he was growing up, so he has always told me how good of a baker he was! "One day," he said, "I'll make you my famous bread!" Little did I know how soon that time would come, and how AMAZING the bread would actually be!!! We made both pan frances (French bread) and my favorite, pan dulce (sweet bread)! Either type is a Guatemalan treat - and tastes really good with coffee! We made the pan dulce in various shapes and sizes, but I found that I was pretty good at making the guzanos (the type that you will see a picture of below). Here are just a few pictures from our fun family experience - enjoy!

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

Photo of the Week!

"Those who look to him are RADIANT..."
-Psalm 34:5-

Cuz we are a FAMILY, whose hearts are BLAZING, so lets raise our CANDLES and LIGHT UP the sky!

WOW! Amazing and life-changing are the only words I can think of to describe this past week in Guatemala, but even then, words can not bring justice to what God has done in the lives of so many Guatemalans and Americans this week! As I sit down to write this update, the rain has started to gently fall on the tin roof of the mission base - another reminder of the tears God has shed for His children who have come to know and accept Him as their personal Lord and Savior!<

This past team, composed of both individuals from my home church of Hager Park and Hillcrest CRC in Hudsonville, Michigan, began with two village outreach clinics. From the beginning, this team worked hard and became one family despite not knowing each other for very long before the trip. I am so happy to now call many of them my brothers and sisters!

The first clinic was in a small village in the Tecpan region of Guatemala. This village had initially been investigated two years ago, but God had planned that this would be the night we would go and minister to the people there. I spent the night in the clinic explaining medications to the patients while many team members worked in the clinic or played with the children outside. It took a little while for me to get back into the routine of things, so I was grateful for a smaller village with fewer patients and less severe illnesses! Before I knew it, however, the clinic was over and we were outside showing the Jesus film to the village, singing songs, giving our personal testimonies, and listening to Hermano Jesus present the Gospel. As the invitation was given, numerous waves of people, including men, women and children, came forward to accept Jesus Christ! What an amazing sight to watch the group members lead the villagers forward and pray for them as God used their words, actions, and testimonies to show His love for these, HIS people!

As we listened to the championship World Cup match on the radio, we made our way on Sunday to another needy village in San Martin called La Rincon. This area of Guatemala was hit hard by Hurricane Agatha and thus brought with it many people to the clinic who were struggling with various diseases as a result of the storm. Again, I explained medications in the clinic, but along with many of the team members who were outside interacting with the people, I could feel a certain warmth radiating from the villagers. All of the people who passed through the clinic were quite ill, some even presenting with mysterious cases that we have to follow up on. However, regardless of their condition, the people smiled, listened intently to what I had to say, and even joked around with me! The clinic went late into the night, and as the rain began to fall in heavy downpours, the team was forced to move the people under the small roof to finish watching the Jesus film. We then moved into one of the small rooms of the school for the rest of the evening. In that room, God gathered us closely together as the villagers listened and watched intently as many young men from the team poured out their souls while giving their personal testimony. It was the words of these young team members that touched the hearts of many and soon brought almost the entire village to their knees, accepting Christ! You could feel the presence of God in the room as a cool breeze swept through and the light bulb that we were using to see the sound system exploded. After praying for the people and presenting them with a Bible, we proceeded to sing the song “Days of Elijah” together, rejoicing in what God had done that evening! As we made our way back towards the vans to head home, many children came forward to give us hugs – one little boy who I had never met before even came up and gave me a kiss on the cheek! That village will always hold a special place in the hearts of myself and the team members, but more importantly in the heart of our Heavenly Father who welcomed many of His children into His kingdom for eternity!

The next 3 days were spent building in a village called La Reina. This village is quite coastal, but the summer teams have not been able to access this village until now because one of the bridges leading into town was washed away by Hurricane Agatha. However, God has now provided a way for us into this village, not only so that we can begin building houses for the 100+ families who reside there, but also so that we can bring His message of hope to these cold and lost souls. Team Hager Park/Hillcrest certainly set the pace for the numerous teams who will be building in La Reina over the next few years. Although shy at first, the children and people quickly latched on to the team members by playing games and helping with the building process. Day one brought with it the completion of the framing, drywall, outside cement board, and the first coat of drywall mud on the inside. Although it rained on the second day, we were still able to get the walls sanded, a second coat of drywall on, stucco plastered on the outside, and the patios assembled and installed. We spent the evening in devotions and reverent prayer as we prepared for the final building day, which was referred to by the team as D-Day (Dedication Day). On the morning of the third day, awakening to a beautiful sunrise, we knew it would be a special day! We finished sanding, mudding and painting the inside walls as well as adding our own personal pictures and Bible verses while the roofing crews came around to install the roofs. We then placed the beds in each home and cleaned up our construction sites before breaking for an earlier lunch of tostadas.

After lunch, we began with the house dedications. The first home was for an older couple and their seven children and grandchildren. The mom has been a Christian for about 5 years or so, but on that day her prayers were answered as the entire rest of her family came to accept Christ as their Savior!

The second home went to the oldest son of this older couple and his young family. The father from the first house waited nearby during the dedication, almost as if he was praying and hoping that his son would make the same commitment to Christ as he had just made minutes before. Shortly after the dedication began, Justin and Dan sent out the word to have us pray against the distractions of the children, but more specifically for this son, and as I began to pray, I heard a rooster crow nearby. Immediately, I thought of the story we studied during devotions the night before, which was about Peter denying Jesus three times. I prayed and prayed that this son would not be like Peter, and as the rooster crowed for the third time, we began gathering as a team to pray for the house as this son, his wife, and his children were all on their knees inside, not denying Christ but recognizing Him as their Heavenly Father.

The third dedication was for an elderly couple and their 12-year-old daughter who are now going to be living in the house that I helped build throughout the week. Although the couple was not around much throughout the week, the 12-year-old daughter was always hanging around with her 11-year-old cousin. This precious girl had touched Dan’s heart in a special way, and as we joined them in saying the Salvation Prayer, we made sure to let her know that God was going to use her in a big way in the village of La Reina, whether that be in witnessing to the other young people or to her parents!

The fourth home was dedicated to a mom and her three children; her husband was away working. The only requirement that we have of families when we build for them is that everyone is present on the day of dedication, but I think that God had a different plan this day which involved the father NOT being present. Often times, a woman does not make decisions on her own or even accept Christ on her own without consulting her husband because of the “macho” attitude of the culture here. Without her husband present, however, this woman and her children were able to find love, comfort, and safety in the arms of their heavenly Father, the only One who can fulfill our every need and the only One who is in control of our lives. As we moved on to the last and final house, we made sure to encourage and support this wife as she will be pushed and challenged to share her faith with her husband once he returns home. We also encouraged her 11-year-old daughter, Joselin, as we felt like both her and her 12-year-old cousin from the prior house could provide the leadership and example that is oh so needed among the young people of La Reina.

From there, we headed to our fifth and final home of the day, which we knew going into that day was going to be our most challenging battle spiritually. As the team gathered with the family, Dan, and Hermano Jesus inside the house, many were in awe of the respect this father had for the Bible that was presented to him. He would shake as he held it, and he never put it down; he even knew exactly where to find the passage that Hermano Jesus was reading from in order to follow along. However, we quickly realized that our prayer for this father and this family was that their knowledge of Christ was not only a head thing, but a heart thing as well. As we prayed for both the mother and father to keep their focus, it was God who ultimately directed their eyes and their focus to Him as they accepted Him as their personal Lord and Savior.

We proceeded to end our time in La Reina with singing and the breaking of the piñata. It was touching to also have one of the local women, who had been our cook for the week, thank us for all that we had done for her people. Many hugs were shared as we left that place, filled with both sadness and joy for all that God had done and will continue to do in that place.

On Thursday, we headed into Antigua for a day of shopping, and then returned for one last night of devotions together. At the beginning of the week, Dan had asked the team to ponder the question, “Why are you here?” and many received answers this special night. This night was like none I had ever experienced here before in Guatemala as many of the team members, especially the young people, approached the cross with tears streaming from their eyes as they laid their “storms” of life at the feet of Jesus. Some even gave their lives over completely to Him for the first time! After devotions were over, it was an amazing sight to see the team come together as many friends, brothers, and sisters remained around the cross, singing, praying, talking and crying with each other until the wee hours of the morning; it was also amazing to see those who were left speechless by the wonders of our Creator. God was so good this past week, and I know He will continue to be good as this team heads back home to America and serves as the hands and feet of Jesus to those they come into contact with!


Please continue to keep this team in your prayers, as well as those they ministered to at both the medical clinics and in La Reina. As I wrap up this post, the next team has arrived and is resting up for their first big day of building. Prayers would also be greatly appreciated for this team as they work with God this week. I look forward to updating you on their experiences as soon as I can.

Love and miss you all!
In the palm of HIS hand,
Erin

.:safe and sound:.

After very little sleep last night, and a long day of traveling today, I am now safe and sound at the Paradise Bound mission base! I can not tell you how awesome it feels to be "home." The base looks quite different from the last time I saw it, but all the changes are AWESOME! I will have to post some pictures soon, but for now, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am here safely. Now off to start a few projects...there is always plenty to do around here, especially knowing the troublesome team that is coming next (my MOM!) More later when I get my own laptop up and running...

With love in Christ,
Erin

a special announcement - let the journey begin!

Dear Intercessors,

We at Paradise Bound are honored to announce that Erin Van Oordt has
accepted a position as a full time missionary with PBM. Many of you
know Erin as our Intern over the last two summers, and were as
impressed as we are with her. Additionally, Erin has had many other
opportunities, but feels that God is leading her into ministry with
PBM. Erin is a senior at Hope and will be taking her Nursing Exams in
May or June and then joining us full time after that in early July.
It will be an incredible blessing to have this servant of our Lord
working alongside us in ministry!

Pray for Erin as she now has the daunting task of raising her
financial support before she can come to Guatemala, but we know that
our Lord is in this decision and thus be working ahead of Erin. There
is an open ended two year agreement between PBM and Erin and our
prayer is that two years is only the beginning.

Once again your prayers continue their work through our Lord Jesus
Christ as HIS Kingdom is expanded!

For everyone at Paradise Bound,
dan smith