Building Day One:
As we wrapped up our first day at Paradise Bound with worship, discussion and studying God’s Word, we were all struck by the many blessings we’ve already experienced.
Just 24 hours ago, we were flying into Guatemala City, some of us veterans of working with Paradise Bound in Guatemala, some of us first-timers excited (and perhaps a bit anxious) for the adventure. We praise God that our flights, our travels through customs and the drive to the mission base were truly uneventful. So, we made it!
After a knock on the door at 6 this morning (don’t worry, tomorrow will be earlier), we embarked on a short (1.5 to 2 hour) drive to the village we began building houses in today and will continue to for the next two days. Overlooking ravines, mountains, volcanoes, exotic trees, and lush greenery like many of us have never seen (or if we have, we’ll never tire of it), this village is poor, but full of life.
While Katya and Malachi (one of Dan and Heidi’s sons) played and played and played with the village kids, we began the work of constructing four basic houses for four families in the village. Cement foundation, metal studs and drywall, a window and a door, these houses are nothing fancy. But what they are is cleaner, sturdier, and warmer than what the families live in now.
As we learned about house-building, worked together as some teams finished their day’s work literally hours before others, and met and interacted with the families we were building for, God was in it all. He was moving our work along, he was building relationships that will without a doubt expand His kingdom, he was helping us communicate with each other, even with language barriers and only a few translators.
We have so much faith that the next two building days will bring fruitfulness and the love of God to this beautiful village. Please pray for the families (which we will certainly write more about later) as God comes into their lives over the next few days any number of ways. Pray for our health and safety, the work God will do with us while we’re here, and for MIRACLES!
Lastly, please visit the individual profiles to the right of this post to see individual updates, leave comments and share in each person’s journey.
God bless, and good night!
