Conversion Thoughts

"Conversion is a process of disenchantment with our small, separate self, recognizing how truly afraid and insecure it is. The only way people can ever be freed from this fear and this insecurity is to be freed from themselves. There is almost a complete correlation between the amount of fear in one’s life and the amount of attachment we have to ourselves and our own agenda.

The person who is beyond fear has given up the need to control or possess or be right. Their being is grounded in the Being of God. As St. Francis of Assisi said, “I am who I am in God's eyes—nothing more, but nothing less.” A truly converted/transformed person does not need to impress anyone because they know that they are not who you think they are anyway—or even who they themselves think they are! Thinking one way or another doesn’t make it so.

That's what St. Paul meant when he so shockingly said: “You have died, you're dead” (Romans 6:3-5) when you are truly baptized into the death of the false self—the self that you don’t need anyway. Conversion happens when you finally face the real enemy, and guess what? It's you!"

-Richard Rohr: Radical Grace

The Bon Fire

 
 
 
 
On the last night of our trip, we had our debriefing time around a bonfire. The Guatemalans do not build very good fires. You start with tinder on the bottom, then you build kindling on top leaving room for oxygen circulation, and then on top of that you put bigger stuff. That is the correct order. Small stuff on the bottom that will catch fire quickly and burn the medium stuff above it creating some embers to then handle the larger stuff above that.

The guy who built our fire just stacked a bunch of wood and threw gasoline on top and lit it. It went great for a few minutes, then it just smoldered. The guy came back out with some more gasoline and threw it on and it blazed for a minute, but then we had to still rearrange the wood and feed it slowly to get it to stay burning. I think there may be an allegory here!

Peter writes in his second letter:
"Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

A trip like Guatemala is gasoline to your faith. but if the wood pile is not properly arranged, it will burn bright and hot for a minute, but fizz out the next. We need to rearrange our lives so that when gasoline is dumped on our faith it is an accelerant that enhances and improves what is already built.

If you left this trip on fire, and crashed when you got home, that is a sign that you need to rearrange your life. Are your values and priorities arranged in proper order? If the large log of self is at the center of the pile, and the essential accelerants are on the outside, the fire can never burn well. Rearrange your values and priorities to put Christ at the center of the fire and stack everything around Him, and when an accelerant like Guatemala is poured onto your fire, it will enhance the existing bonfire.

Boat Ride

 
 
 
 
we went to Santiago accross the lake from Panajacheal. We learned to do some bartering for some tourist junk. It was a good time. the boat ride was about an hour long, but the view was awesome.

lunch in the park

 
On one of our work days we decided to have lunch in the park. we asked the park guard if it was okay to set up a taco buffet and eat, and he said yes. Then when we got the whole stinkin buffet set up, the guard came through and hurried us out of the park. We had to move fast, they had guns.
We re-set up our lunch on the curb outside, while these guys watched us eat. It was awkward.

Food

 
 
the most interesting this we ate was this alien looking fruit.
 
 
We ate some pretty good breakfasts as well. Re-fried beans, fried bananas, eggs, goat cheese and watermelon.

Steven fought the law...

 
Our second van was pulled over on the way to Panajacheal. Steven was doing the speed limit and driving very well. But the cops saw that there were 13 gringos in the van and decided that they needed a few extra bucks for lunch.

Steven was talking to the police in Spanish, but everyone could tell what was going on. The police were asking for a 200Q bribe to let them go. Steven kept saying that he had done nothing wrong and should be allowed to go without paying the bribe. Steven was then taken back to the police car, which made everyone in the van a bit nervous. Cherity said, "shhhhh! guys be quiet, if you're going to do anything, you should pray!"

Steven came back to the van. the police let them go without taking any money. God is awesome.

funny stuff

 
 
 
 

Cabalos Extremos

 
 
 
 

We were able to spend some time in Panajacheal and do the Zipline or Cabalos Extremos!

This was crucial to the thread that God was weaving through the trip of fear being an obstacle that we must overcome for a closer relationship with Him. Many people were a bit scared of ziplining through the mountains high above the canopy.

I loved Julie's comment aftereards, "This is the most victorious day of my life!"

time for something personal

 
 
 

I was able to spend 8 days with my wife on an adventure doing ministry in Guatemala. I had a blast and would do it all over again. It was kind of like a honeymoon but doing work, and looking after 21 other people.

It was tough being away from our boys and only being able to call home once, but we made it through great, and the boys did great as well.

Simply Missions

Our Guatemala trip was done through an organization out of Lansing named Simply Missions. Joe Neill is the head of this organization and was key to setting up our trip for us.
There are a few reasons why I chose to go through SM instead of trying to do everything myself.
1. I can't do everything myself very well. I wanted this trip to be the best experience that it could be, and that meant getting help from a very qualified individual.
2. I did not feel like a cog in a machine. Many missions organizations are very big, and impersonal. I knew that I could call or e-mail Joe and get responses fast to questions.
3. I did not have to squeeze my team into a "ministry model" and try to be something we were not. We were able to be ourselves and offer the gifts that God had uniquely assembled into our team to the missionaries.
4. I did not have to worry about setting up the details of travel, itinerary, lodging etc...
5. Joe provided our team with a devotional book to study through while we were down there on Ephesians 6.

There was a lot that I DID have to do for this trip, but Simply Missions freed me from the details so that I could focus on the big stuff that needed to get done.

If you are looking for a missions organization for Short Term Missions in your church. Check out Simply Missions. www.simplymissions.org

Global Soccer Ministries

 
No this is not an advertisement for GQ. This is John Banta of Global Soccer Ministries. John and his wife Amy have three kids, Hope, Luke, and Titus. They have been in Guatemala for about 18 months working with the Global Soccer ministries (GSM).

GSM provides poorer communities with quality soccer coaching, mentoring, and discipleship. They work in the existing community soccer fields, fix them up, clean them up, and then outreach to the community by providing the soccer programs.

The coaches of GSM provide positive adult relationships for children by pretty much being a dad to them. They also have Bible lessons during each practice to teach the children about Christ.

GSM also hosts tournaments between the different community soccer teams.

This is a great ministry in an area where it is much needed. To learn more about Global Soccer ministries [click here]

Guatemala: 2nd Feild Project

I cannot remember the name of this soccer field, so I have called it the 2nd field, because it is the second place we went to on our trip.

We cleaned up the field of trash and some other interesting items, and painted the benches.


used machetes to cut the grass (after which I vowed never to complain about my lawn mower again)


and participated in an informal soccer game against some Guatemalan children. We lost...badly. But had fun.

Guatemala: La Communidad Project

Another project we had was located in a lower class community called La Communidad. We prepared the soccer field, played with kids, and handed out snacks and refreshments to the kids. Their snack was a small roll with re-fried beans spread on it, watermelon, and a sandwich bag full of water.

Alex was asked to play in a soccer game. He was schooled. The Guatemalan people eat, sleep, and breathe soccer. So by the time they are 15 or 16 they could destroy any senior varsity team in the U.S., and possibly give a few college teams a run for their money. So Alex was more amusing to them than helpful. But they all had a blast connecting on the field.


Someone on our team had an idea to bring their old Beanie Baby collection down. So we tied Bible verses to them and handed all 120 of them out to the children of the community. The kids lit up with delight to receive a present. The missionaries 11 year old daughter, Hope, shared the gospel with a young girl her age, and the girl wanted to pray with Hope and Amy, so they did so. It was a very awesome day.

Guatemala: Otten Prado Project

We went to a field in a lower middle class community named otten prado and prepared it for a soccer tournament. Soccer to the Guatemalan people is like pot luck to the American people. It is a community thing. Global Soccer Ministries uses the tool of soccer to reach communities with the Gospel. The goal is to establish soccer camps in communities and provide quality soccer coaching, mentoring, and discipleship to children who would otherwise have access to none of the above.

We used a machete on the grass, cleaned up the garbage on the field, painted lines fort the game, and then divided into two groups to cheer the children on. Between games we handed out water and watermelon for refreshments.