Birthday and Friends!

Hey everyone! Well, not too much has happened since the last time I talked to you. On Monday morning, Rebekah and I ventured out of the house by ourselves and we went to our favorite coffee shop here in Toto. (It´s the only one we´ve tried haha!)  But anyway, we went there and had some hot chocolate and coffee then we went walking around the city and it was raining...we got soaked. In the afternoon we went visiting homes again. It is very eye opening to see how people are living here. That night we didn´t do a whole lot, just relaxed. Yesterday (Tuesday) in the morning we visited people again and finished the baskets! Also, 4 people accepted Christ between Monday and Tuesday! Praise the Lord!!! It was great to see!  It made me remember something- whenever we would talk to the people, it didn´t look like they were listening at all, and then all the sudden they wanted to accept Christ and it just reminded me that it´s Christ that does the work inside the heart and not us that changes them. Amen, right!?  In the afternoon, I was able to spend lunch and the whole afternoon with Luis and Samuel. First we went and ate fried chicken and french fries, which they never eat. Then we got some ice cream and sat in the park and talked. It was really good. I read them Psalm 23 and reminded them that the Heavenly Father is always wanting to know them. Then we returned to their house and played games with them and their brother, sisters, and mother. It was cool! I was living the life of a Guatemalan kid!

I was blessed to spend my birthday with two of the kids here that I love so much. Yesterday evening Rebekah and I and our group of friends here went to the coffee shop and talked a little. After that I ate dinner with my family here and relaxed for the evening. 

Today I haven´t done anything this morning, this afternoon Rebekah and I are going to go play with Luis and Samuel again. Tomorrow morning I get to go to Xela and go to the University with Rafael! I´m excited to spend time with him and see where he studies.

Prayer requests:

1) Luis and Samuel and their family, that they would start a relationship with the Most High
2) Pray for Amity, Rebekah, and I´s return back to the US. It will be hard reverse-culture shock. I´ve had a lot of trouble the past two years and would like a lot of prayer for that.

 These pictures are of Rebekah and I at our favorite coffee shop, ´La Vienesa´

Visiting and Praying

Not too much has happened since I updated you on Wednesday. Wednesday we bought supplies to make baskets to deliver to needy people in the area of Totonicapan. We packed the baskets on Wednesday afternoon and then watched a movie that night. Thursday we went out for our first time of delivering them to people. We delivered 7 baskets of food, including beans, rice, sugar, eggs, oil, toilet paper, etc... We went to peoples' homes, told them about our Savior Jesus Christ, prayed for them, and gave them the basket. It was a good day. Friday we wanted to do the same, but it was raining really hard, so we postponed until Saturday (yesterday). Yesterday we did the same and delivered 9 baskets (our of 40).  We did that in the morning. Yesterday evening we went to a praise service at the new house of Efrain. Since it is done (except for electricity) he wanted to have a praise service there to praise God for the work that he allowed them to do with the house. Those of you who know the story of his house will appreciate this news. It was so awesome to see how thankful they were for the house that they have waited so many years for. (Todd, I knew you would appreciate this).  After that service we went to the youth service of the week and celebrated Father's Day (a week later, I know, but it still counts). We played games and had fun. This morning we went to the Mission in Tierra Blanca and played with the kids. It was a lot of fun. This week I plan to go out with Luis and Samuel for 2-3 days and just spend time with them, sharing the love of the Lord with them.  Please pray for that.  We're just resting the afternoon today and then at 4:00 is the big church service.

Now for pictures!

 This is the trail that we walked for deliver baskets of food and pray for people. I wanted to show you how the terrain was where we were walking. We just walked in between corn fields. There are just little one-person paths within the fields.

 Just like this one haha.

 It was pretty scenery!

 Again

 My friend Rodolfo and I. I met him two years ago and was able to go to his house yesterday!

 This was the praise service in Efrain's new house/room thing!

 My good friends Rafael and Rebekah

 Two girls from Huehuetenango came for the praise service for Efrain's house.

These are some of the baskets that we are delivering along with the prayers and evangelization.

Crazy But Content

Well I haven’t updated you all in a long time because it has been crazy the last week. I think the last time I updated you was Wednesday but I’m not sure. On Wednesday we went and saw the
construction of their new church here in Totonicapán. This is the Horeb church. Then we went to the
internet café and I updated you, but now I have pictures of the construction. In the evening
we went to my friend Rafael’s house and watched a movie.







On Thursday in the morning we were able to buy some food, water, and blankets for Luis and Samuel’s
family. Oh, and we also bought a cake for the youngest boy’s birthday. This is why I felt led to
help them out: When we were there on Wednesday, Esdras and his brother Gedeón were talking with the
mother and they found out that they were using two actual wells (with a bucket and rope to pull up
water) to get their water, but both of the wells had dried up and they couldn’t get water from them
any more. They were having to walk places to get water for themselves. Also when we were there, I
noticed that the walls of the house were not very good and it would make them cold at night
(because even I get cold at night and we’re living in a pretty well build home). There were 6-7 of them altogether sleeping in 3 full-size beds. I just felt like I wanted to do something. So we
gathered up some money and were able to bless them with food and make the little boy’s birthday by
buying him a cake (which he was wanting, but his mother did not have the money for it). On Thursday
afternoon and evening we ate lunch and
dinner at two of my friends’ homes and we just spent time together all of us doing random things
that day.

This is how crowded the car was!!


This is Brian accepting his birthday cake

The whole Castro family and I (minus a few kids)

Friday we didn’t do much during the morning, but the afternoon we went to the movies. We saw X-Men:
The Beginning. It was all in Spanish, so I’m not sure how much I understood of it (this means I can
watch it again with Beth and Shane and Sarah D.) Esdras’s family helped me celebrate my birthday
that night! It was really cool. We got back from the movies (which was about 30 minutes away) and
we ate dinner. Then we had to go walk to Rebekah and Amity’s house to pick them up. We met them and
came back to the house and Joel asked me to go with him to buy something, so we walked to the
square and got there and it was closed (which, I was a little suspicious already because I had
heard the word “cumpleaños” at some point in a conversation that day, so I wondered if they were
trying to surprise me, I just kept quiet). So
since the store was closed we headed back to the house. When we got there it was darker and
Esdras’s dad was standing in an odd place and when he saw us he left really fast…I knew what was
happening next. “SORPRESA!!!” (that’s Spanish for “Surprise!!) They sure did throw me a surprise
birthday party with a piñata and some snacks! It was so cool. I had a lot of fun :) That night I
finished packing, too, because we were leaving early the next morning.


Amity about to hit the pinata

The "Clifford" pinata. There's an inside joke that I'll tell in person.

Rafael spinning me before it's my turn

I was bound to hit it!

The next day was a travel day. We let Totonicapan around 5:45AM. We traveled to the city and got on
the bus around 11AM and made our way to Zacapa. It was a 2hr bus ride and it went well. We got to
Zacapa and started to get accustomed to the heat! That’s about all that happened that
day.


Traveling to Guatemala City

Rebekah was sad and tired. :(

Sunday we traveled again, but it was only a day trip to see a tourist site. It is called
Esquipulas. It is a place in Guatemala that is “One of the 7 Wonders of Guatemala.” It was a really
big Catholic cathedral. The family we lived (there is a purpose for the past tense “lived”) with is
Catholic, so they wanted to take us there. We waited in line to see the “Cristo Negro” (“Black
Christ”) This is a big cross with a black Jesus hanging on it. It was a little odd if I am being
honest.

The main thing that spoke to me when I was there was the Ascension. Let me explain…In the majority
of Catholic crucifixes, Jesus is still on the cross. I had definitely realized this difference
before between our crosses at Emmanuel and the crosses at this Esquipulas, but here in this city
they were EVERYWHERE. This began to make me think how much I am thankful for
celebrating Easter and Holy Week because our Jesus Christ is RISEN and seated at the right
hand of our Heavenly Father! This is something to rejoice in and give praise for! Jesus is not
still dead on the cross, because that would mean that death would have won and no one would have
salvation. That’s the main thing I thought about that day…I was tired of seeing my Risen Lord
hanging on a cross still, because He’s not there…He is reigning as the King of Kings at the right
hand of the Father.


That day was long. We traveled back to the house and just spent time with the family. Now let me
explain what has happened the last couple days in Zacapa. Ever since I arrived in Zacapa, I felt a
longing to return to Totonicapán. I missed my friends in Toto, not to mention the family I stayed
with and even more so Luis and Samuel and their family in Tierra Blanca. Rebekah was feeling the
same way…feeling that we were not at peace in Zacapa. We didn’t want to give up too early, though,
because it was really hot and we were uncomfortable and those reasons alone are not enough to leave
a mission site. We needed to figure out if it was our uncomfortable-ness that was making us
un-peaceful or if we really were supposed to be back in Totonicapán. We prayed that night that God
would give us a sense of anxiety and worry about staying in Zacapa and a peace with leaving if that
is what he wanted us to do.

This is the Catholic cathedral

After viewing the "Black Christ" the people walk backwards away from Him as to not show their back to him.

"Cristo Negro" himself. (Black Christ)


We woke up on Monday and planned on going to the office of Hope of Life (the organization of the
orphanage where we would be working) to check in and get a schedule set; however, the main lady in
charge was not there, so we went back to the house and waited to go back around
2PM. As we were walking back to the house we saw the missionary that works at the Orphanage.
We talked to her a little bit and in conversation she told us that a team of people from the US had
just come on Sunday and another team of around 150 people was coming next Saturday. This news
really caught our attention because we had been feeling like God didn’t need us in Zacapa, but he
did need us in Totonicapán. This news really helped affirm our feelings of anxiety about staying.
We decided after talking to the missionary and some other people that it was God’s interest for us
to return to Totonicapán. We started praying for the family that was expecting to have us for the
whole 15 days. I was really worried about how they were going to take it. Since we both had never
felt at peace there, the family thought it was their fault for us being unhappy there, it wasn’t
that at all. We went to talk to the lady in charge of the organization and she was very
understanding. She told us to be safe and come back any time. We told the family and I
really think they understood! Praise God! They were definitely sad, but I think they understood
our motives.

Rebekah and I before we left Zacapa. This is our Guatemalan mom there, Ester.
This morning we left Zacapa and we’re on the bus traveling to Totonicapán as I write this. I’m so
excited to get back to Toto and see everyone! I am really excited to see Luis and Samuel again,
too. My desire when we get back is to spend almost every day with them…just discipling them and
pouring my life into theirs. Please pray for that…that Luis and Samuel would be receptive to the
words of the King of Kings and that their family would be also.


Thank you for your prayers!

Devin


This is Esdras's mom cooking

Me with Esdras's whole family with whom I'm living. Starting from the left is Gedeon his brother, Esdras, his mom, me, his sister Karina, and his dad Rejino.

The parents and I
 
P.S. Yesterday (Wednesday) we spent the whole day preparing baskets of food to give families. We are going to walk around in needy areas and go into homes, pray for them, and give them some necessities. Pray that this will go well the next few days. We're hoping to see about 7 families a day and we have 40 famillies to see.

Church and Hot Natural Springs

On Sunday I made my first mistake...I ate lettuce. Ok, back up...We went to the mission Tierra Blanca where we worked VBS with the team the second two VBS days. (My friends Luis and Samuel are there if that helps your memory). We went there and played with the kids on Sunday morning. Esdras and his family go there every Sunday because Esdras's dad is the pastor of it. After that we ate a good lunch (steak, salsa, guacamole, and tamales!) It was really good! That afternoon we went the the main service which was at 4PM. It was good, after that is when I made the big mistake. I went out to eat with a friend at a restaurant in Toto, and it was a nice one. But we all got sandwiches and mine had lettuce on it. I didn't want to waste it and take it off, so I ate it....bad idea. I got sick that night and am still struggling with nothing sounding good to eat. I feel nauseas when I eat now...I'm hoping it passes soon. 

Monday we went to some natural hot springs!! They were really cool! We stayed there for about two hours. It felt so good. There were 3 different pools of different temperatures. The most hot one was pretty much unbearable. I got in it once and stayed in for about 1 millisecond. I just wanted to do it :)  

Yesterday in the morning we woke up around 5:45AM and went to a mountain to prayer walk. The mountain was called White Horse in Spanish. It was a really cool experience. In the afternoon Amity, Rebekah, and I braved the city of Toto by ourselves and went shopping without Guatemalans! (Don't worry Teri, Toto isn't dangerous. Especially in the middle of the day :)  It was fun! Then last night we went to a prayer service.

This morning we went to see the construction of their church here. It was good to see. It looks like a lot of work!

That's about it!

Prayer requests:  Safety in travel to Zacapa and Guatemala City. This is probably the last time I'll update until then. We leave Saturday. Strength in relationships here in Toto until we leave, we're getting weary. Pray for Luis and Samuel at Tierra Blanca that they would know the Lord, and for our health for the next two weeks.

Thank you!!  Devin

This is a picture of the mountain where we went to pray yesterday morning. It was really cool! 

 This is us walking to the hot springs on Monday. It was a warmer place but high up in the mountains.

 This is the hottest of the pools in the hot springs. The water is heated by the volcano that we were under.

 All of us that swam! It was fun!

 

This is the hot pool again and the mountain and a restaurant

 The two other pools and some scenery

the view from the hot springs

 This is where we went to pray yesterday morning

 Prayer place

the hot pool and restaurant at the hot springs

Buen Chapin!

Hello all! I won't write very much becuase I wrote a lot the other day and not too much has happened since then, but I like writing you all short updates often so you have something to read more often.  Yesterday (Friday) I went to a water park all day with Amity, Rebekah, Esdras, and 4 other Guatemalans. It was a big water park about an hour and a half away from Totonicapan. It was a lot hotter there, but I don't think as hot as it is in Oklahoma right now (My dad told me it was 103 one day, I'm sorry!). Well, we got there when it opened at 10AM in the morning. It costed 13 dollars to get in (cheap, huh?? Because White Water itself is close to $45 and this park was a lot bigger!) We spend the whole day there. Around 3PM it started raining...you'd think that would shut the park down, right? And if you knew there was thunder, too? Yeah, well it didn't. We kept going! I was surprised, but kept going right on with the Guatemalans! THEN, around 3:30 there was a huge lightning strike right next to us!!! It struck a cell phone tower right next to me and I BOOKED it out of there! (And so did Amity! Teri, you should know that Amity was the first to say LET'S GO NOW!!!) So we left and headed back for Totonicapan. We stopped in the second most important city in Guatemala (Xela) on the way back and ate at Pizza Hut (Yes, I ate pizza for all of you who are wondering. And it was DELISH!) We came back and went to bed around 11PM. Today (which is Saturday if you didn't know...because I didn't :)  we have just hung out and relaxed. now I'm at the internet cafe again and talking to you guys! Tonight we are going to the youth service for the Horeb church. The service is up on a mountain and we're having a bonfire! I'm excited. (That is, if it stops raining...because it JUST started raining.)

Now for pictures!

Ok...well after having typed all this, I can't get the pictures to load. So...here they are in Facebook! haha.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150206281337021.305729.509972020&l=79503500a4

Sorry they won't show up here! 

Prayer request:
1) My digestive system. I've been eating a lot of gluten. :S  Thank you!

Devin

I´m in Totonicapan again!

Hello! Well, I haven´t had internet for a few days now, so I´m just now updating. Since I updated you last, here is what happened. We spent two days in Antigua just resting. It was Friday and Saturday. Saturday night we traveled to Guatemala City and moved into the house there for the rest of our trip with the Emmanuel team. On Sunday we went to church there and we were going to go to the market, but it was closed. So we just hung out in the house together.

Monday and Tuesday we did VBS for the Shalom church. It was fun and a lot different from the the other VBSs that we had done because it was in the city. The city kids just grew up differently. Those two days we also painted a little for the church and we did end up going to the central market on Tuesday morning. I had so much fun spending time with the team. I am so glad that God allowed me to go on the trip with Emmanuel. Glory to the Most High for allowing us to do that.

Yesterday (Wednesday) Amity, Rebekah, and I traveled to Totonicapan to spend our ten days here. I am living with my friend Esdras who I met 2 years ago. Today we woke up and went to the gym. He likes to work out a lot. I hope to get used to that lol! But I also need to work out, too. The elevation is a lot higher here, so I have to be careful how much I do, too.  Tomorrow we are going to a water park here in Guatemala. It will be an all day thing. I´m excited! I don´t know what it will be like, but fun I´m sure.  

On Saturday we are having a bonfire with the youth of the Horeb church. I´m excited about that, too!

Prayer requests:
1) Please pray for my digestive system. I´m not having trouble yet, but as most of you know I have many food allergies, and I´ve been eating some of those things just to be polite. I´ve told them my food allergies, (milk, bread, and cheese) but they don´t understand that pancakes and spaghetti are both included when I say I´m allergic to bread. I don´t want to overwhelm them with a two page list of each food I´m allergic to, so I´m praying that God will take control of my digestive system. (I have eaten beans for the last 2 of 3 meals, so maybe that will help with the bread I´ve eaten ;)

2) Pray that Amity, Rebekah, and I can communicate well during our stay here in Toto. I don´t want to step on anyone´s toes or let anyone´s voice go unheard. I want this to be a pleasant experience. Already today there have been a couple times when we are not all on the same page and someone got frustrated. Pray for the absence of frustration please.

3) Lastly, Praise the Most High God of Abraham for giving us life and salvation. Praise Him for being in control of everything and for loving us so much. Praise be to the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings!

In His love,

Devin

P.S. I cannot put up pictures right now. So I will another time!

We're in Antigua!

As I’m writing this we are traveling to Antigua. Luckily I have my laptop so I can write this while we’re traveling and I can write a lot. I thought I would take this opportunity to write more than I have in the past two posts.

We got to Totonicapán on Sunday the 29th as you all know. From Enid to Totonicapán it was about 14 hours. It was a long day, but we all did pretty well I think. It was really good to be back in the hotel there where I’ve stayed the past two years. There are people in the hotel that have been there for the past two years and it’s always good to see them and encourage them each year. I pray that we can be a light to them and that they know why we come to Guatemala. On Monday the 30th in the morning we prepared crafts and rehearsed for the VBS that we did that afternoon. I can’t remember what else we did that morning, probably just walked around the central park of the city (the town square that is very busy all day long in most Guatemalan cities). We ate lunch and half of the team went to a construction site (Pastor Efrain’s house) to put on a roof there (the house is not livable right now, but our goal was to make it one step closer to becoming livable, which we did). The other half of our group went to VBS in Coxjac (“coak- shak”). I went to VBS and helped with the crafts and the storytelling. I got to see one boy named Rodolfo who I met and really connected with two years ago. It was really cool to be able to see him again and give him a picture of him, another boy named Pedro, and I. Pedro wasn’t able to make the VBS because he was studying, but his sister came both times and he drew a picture for me and wrote me a letter with it. He remembered me and I felt blessed by that.

At this point in this blog entry I should tell you that God has done so much in my Spanish speaking skills in the last two years. I have been able to be one of the main translators for the group. I am actually surprised at how much I am able to do with my Spanish. There are three of us on the team who speak both English and Spanish and I am one of those three that have been blessed to translate for the group. Thanks to God that he has allowed me to learn Spanish the past two years and practice it here in Guatemala!

Tuesday is the big market day in Totonicapán, so we walked through the market in the morning. It was really cool. There isn’t a whole lot for us North Americans to buy because it is a market more for the practical uses of the natives, but it was very interesting to see. There are old ladies that sit on the side of the street with blankets down on the ground and they sell whatever they have made or grown or acquired at some point. After the market we prepared VBS again for that afternoon in the same place. We made Quetzal birds (the Guatemalan national bird), opossums, turtles, bursts of color, and salvation bracelets. The kids were very behaved and loved all that we did.

Wednesday and Thursday mornings we prepared crafts and rehearsed again for VBS that afternoon (the while we were preparing crafts in the morning and at VBS in the afternoons, the construction team was at the house putting on the roof still). The VBS was at Tierra Blanca (white earth). This is the place where I was really looking forward to going back to because there are two boys there named Luis and Samuel that I made relationships with two years ago and saw them last year, too. They were so happy to see us there again! The second day of VBS at that place I had a group of boys that I helped with the crafts. There were six of them and they were very interested in the crafts but also asked me a lot of questions about everything. I was extremely blessed by them and how interested they were in me and the joy that I sensed them having because of us being there. I was blessed to be able to speak Spanish with them as well. I found out that the two boys that I know the most (Luis and Samuel) have 8 brothers and sisters, there isn’t a father in the home, and their mother works all day long to care for them. When I learned this, it broke my heart because of how excited and almost emotional the two boys got when we were there. I’m sure that they just want male companionship, because they don’t really have it at home.

Now we come to today and we’re traveling to Antigua for a day of tourism.

Another thing that has really affected me so far is the relationships that I’ve made and how the people are so generous and loving and appreciative. Three friends that are my age (Esdras, Joel, and Rafael) have shown me how much they enjoy me being here. They help me SO MUCH with my Spanish and with the culture in Guatemala. They also just are so genuine and loving and it is amazing to see. This morning we had breakfast with the pastors of the churches that we worked with in Totonicapán and it was amazing to see how thankful and appreciative they were for us to be here. God has done a lot so far and it’s only been 5 days!

Prayer requests: 

1. For the family of Luis and Samuel. They are two boys about 12-14 years old that have the

8 siblings and the single mom. Pray that they would know the Holy Lord Jesus personally and that their family will have hope in life through Him, the only way to Eternal Life and peace.

2. For pastors Pedro, Rehino, Roberto, and Rehino. Pray that they would continue to be encouraged in their churches and continue seeking the Lord with all of their lives. Pray that their personal lives and worries would not hinder them from glorifying the Most High God.

3. Pray for Joel, Esdras, and Rafael. Pray that these three guys my age would be encouraged to continue glorifying the Lord with their lives and that they would seek the Lord for the plans in their lives.

4. Finally, Praise the Most High King for being Lord over this creation, praise Him for being the love and hope and peace and thank Him for offering us His salvation at no cost to us.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1

 Us eating at the hotel in Totonicapan

 Traveling somewhere 

 Working on Pastor Efrain's roof

Practicing for VBS 

 At VBS in Coxjac

 Traveling somewhere in Efrain's car. Our motto is always, "Cram one more in!"

A picture in Totonicapan with some security guards!  

 The "dried fish" that I haven't tried ever. Yuck! 

 Me helping Rodolfo at VBS

 At VBS in Coxjac the kids tried to paste things on my face

 At VBS again Esdras helping Rodolfo and I 

 Our VBS group in Coxjac with the kids' bags that we made! 

 (This pic is for Audrey to keep track of Tony!) :)

 At the construction site of Efrain's house!

 Patrick working hard at construction

 Joel and I (Efrain's son)

 Luis and Samuel are the two boys with my arms around them! 

 Rebekah, Amity, and I

Carrie and I (Carrie is the craft queen of our group!)