Another day in the mountains

Today was another earlier morning. We were up at 5:15 am and devotions at 5:45 am. We then went over to the Codero's home and had eggs and oatmeal for breakfast. Then after a quick breakfast we loaded up the bus and went to the church load up another fifty bags of food to take up to the village in the mountains.

Once we got to the nearby Chorti village we all got out of the bus and loaded the team up into three flatbed trucks and took about a fifty-minute ride up the mountain to the village in the back of these trucks. The view and the scenery were amazing. The mountains were so beautiful in the morning, everything is green and the clouds were in the background with the sun shining through. You just get the overwhelming feeling of God's presence in that place; it was awesome.

So then we finally get up to the mountains. We then unloaded and met the village people that had came out to greet us. As you looked down the dirt paths and saw the women and children from the villages come out to see us the joy on there faces of just us being there was moving. Some of the old women came up to us and gave us kisses on the check and told us "God Bless You" in Spanish and that is really what we are doing it for, we are not doing of this for thank you's or anything in return but simply for God and the glory of His kingdom.

So after we got settled Pastor Oseas gave a short message to the people and event though we could not understand what he was saying, you just knew, the Holy Spirit is so strong in that man and he fills anyplace he goes with his words, even in the middle of Guatemala up in a small mountain village God is present. After the short message Chris Holcromb and myself (Jason D'Amico) and went over to the truck to get the bags ready for the people to receive. Then as we handed out the bags we then prayed and laid hands over every bag that we handed out, and it was so amazing to see the joy on these people's faces when we gave them the bags. We knew we were giving out more than bags we were giving hope and a sense of spiritual renewal that they would be okay for at least a little while and that they know that God will always provide for them no matter what.

As we finished up with the bags we kissed everyone goodbye and and proceeded back down the mountain and headed back to the Codero's house for lunch. After having lunch we had some down time. So in that much needed time of relaxation, we took the pastor's kids swimming at our hotel. After swimming around and relaxing for the afternoon, the team went to the church for some time of fellowship with the local youth group from the church where we talked and got to know each other and we also shared some of our testimonies which were very moving and very powerful.

After the testimonies Pastor Oseas gave us a final message about the work we had been doing and how God had been using us in this time that we had been in Guatemala. He then prayed over all of us and just gave a moving Spirit filled prayer over the whole team. It was kind of just some closure and wrap up of our time here. After the fellowship session at the church we came back to the Codero's house to eat dinner, which is always my favorite part, and then headed back to the hotel to rest and get ready for church in the morning.

God is present in this place. The way He uses us as well as Pastor Oseas to reach out and minister to these village people is amazing. The bags that we gave out today were much more than just food. We were giving these people new life and hope for themselves and for their lives in Christ.