First I'm Heading To Guatemala

Before I head off to learn how to eat dinner on the floor with chopsticks, I'm headed to Guatemala on a mission. Alongside 12 of my youth group's alumni, 12 members of the Bethesda Church Community in Chicago, and 12 native Guatamalans, we will work to build a sunday school for an amazing congregation of Guatemalans.

Here's a background of what we are doing (copied from an e-mail from my Pastor, Skip):

Church Mision Cristiana Filadelfia was founded by Pastor Abraham Flores Mairen in May 1987. He ministers to the community in three ways: “Partners of God” – this is a group that meets once a month and collects money to provide food for widows and other impoverished people. They deliver about 75 bags of food each month; “The Feeders of God” – this is a group of young people who start working at 3:00am on Sunday mornings to help drug addicts, the homeless, orphans, prostitutes and other outcasts. They help the people get cleaned up, feed them and take them to church; “Bread for the Poor” – this is a group of individuals who make bread and sell it at low prices for those in need.

The ministry first began meeting out of Pastor Abraham’s home and as the congregation grew, they moved to a small 10x25’ metallic structure. In 1990, they purchased some land and built a temple of worship as well as a temple for children’s classes. In 1999, he founded the Liceo Integral Cristiano Filadelfia (The School of the Church).

Pastor Abraham founded a number of small churches outside of the city that work with Mision Cristiana Filadelfia and one of those is in San Miguel Milpas Altas, which is where you’ll be working. This congregation worships and teaches in one small facility. Our goal will be to help complete a new worship building and to build out walls for classrooms, sleeping quarters for the traveling pastor and a storage area in the old sanctuary. We’ll work side by side with members of the San Miguel congregation, Pastor Abraham’s congregation and our old friends from the Bethesda Christian Center.

I'm really excited to see a new country, and interact with new people. I plan to test my spanish skills and my new camera. As long as I can keep away from the violence that has plagued the nation in the past, the trip will be unbelievable.