A Final Look at Encuentro Indigena 2011

On Wednesday everyone was assigned a different K'ekchi' village and they traveled there to visit and be a part of the evening worship service. Some stayed overnight and others returned to Coban. Thursday as they returned, each person was given a chance to share about their experience.

K'ekchi pastors assigning people to the different churches.

Willie and Edgar, along with our pastor Victoriano and his wife, Kristy,

atteneded from Chimaltenango.  Both of the young men

were asked to preach in the evening worship service in the

churches they attended.  It was the first time for each but they

were rejoicing in the opportunity. 

It was a wonderful experience for each.

We expect to see God launch them out into the world as fulltime missionaries.

On Friday everyone was able to share personal/ ministry prayer requests and then the group as a whole prayed over them. It was an encouraging time for all.

Our group from Chimaltenango shared how God is using them to reach the Chorti in Nearer.

Pastor Victoriano shared how God began a new work in the life of the church

as they grasped the vision of what God had in store for them. 

Willie is holding a poster highlighting photos from

 the recent medical trip.

Edgar is holding a poster which details the Mission and Vision of

La Iglesia Bautista Canaan, Chimaltenango.

"Mission:  We are a church the glorifies God with

faithfulness, obedience, and commitment to the

five functions that are established in the Word of God."

"Vision:  To be a church focusing on the

proclamation, teaching, service, fellowship,

and worship of God.:

"This is my commitment."

David sharing how God is using Guatemalans as missionaries to the Ch'orti.

Each of the attendees received a diploma to commemorate their attendance.

They are always proud to receive their diplomas.

New friendships and relationships were formed which may lead to

shared working relationships in the future as they reach

Latin America for Christ.

Encuentro Indigena 2011

Being part of the family of God means eternal friendships.  It  is good when we are able to renew those friendships each time we "remeet."  This week was one of those times of enjoying frienships.

We have missed being able to see Cruz. 

He was busy being a investigative little boy,

crawling around on the floor of the conference center.

I love this picture...he is just a blur, going all the time, keeping his mommy busy. 

 It won't be long before he is walking all alone though.

You can tell he really enjoyed his crawling time.

I think he was a bit surprised at his dirty knees.  haha

One day for lunch several of us went to Ashley's. 

It is a hostel located next door to the mission apartments. 

I often call it the Orchid Place beause of the abundance of beautiful orchids.

There was Ms. Fran,

SIL missionary who has invested about 55 years in Coban.

She and her partner translated the Bible in K'etki, and numerous other study helps.

There was Richard (Dick) and LaHoma Greenwood, retired IMB missionaries,

who invested 33 years among the K'etki.

It was back in 1980 that God used Dick to open our eyes to Guatemala.

There were David and Regina White who as the newbies invested three years as ISC'ers,

then were appointed as career missionaries and returned to the K'etki with Guatemlan born Cruz.

All of us around the table.

Pastor Apolinario and his wife Maria from San Andres Izapa were able to attend.

Pastor Nahum came from Copan Ruinas, Honduras.

Fellow missionary Ron Carothers led several sessions,

casting before the believers the lost around the world

and the vision for Guatemalans to go, tell, baptize, and disciple.

Fellow laborers, Keith and Penny Stamps,

between Pastor Apolinario and Maria,

led in the planning and facilitation of the conference.

And we got to hang out with them all. Precious friends!

And speakng of precious friends, can't leave out "Precioso."

Wondering why he is on the outside looking in...

"If Cruz is eating, why can't I?"

"I think I understand why that ice chest is there now."

Encuentro Indigena 2011

We had asked you to pray for the Encuentro Indigena 2011 and we saw God broaden the vision for reaching Central America.  It was exciting to see hearts stirred and new visions given. 

The K'etki leadership had prepared well to receive the brothers

attending from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

 
 

In small groups, many were beginning to express,

"Yes, their 'Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the utermost parts of the world'

was further than their family, their neighborhood, their town, their department."

After missionary Ron Carothers shared of the need for Christ in the Muslim world,

prayer time included praying in like manner

- open ears, open hands, to the right, to the left, bowed knees, and prostrate.

                     The evening service was attended by many from nearby churches

                                           and was a wonderful worship service.

Music included marimba bands from several K'etki churches.

 Following regular practice in K'etki churches, representatives from each attending group gave greetings. This is the pastor from the attending church in San Marcos,

far in the west of the country.

Pastor Jeronimo, for whom many of you have prayed for his release from jail,

gave greetings from his church in the west and praised the Lord for his release.

Greetings from the brothers from Mexico - a two day ride by bus.

Nahum, our pastor friend from Honduras, gave greetings for himself, his oldest son,

 and another pastor who attended from Copan Ruinas, Honduras.

The highlight of the evening was the challenging sermon from Richard Greenwood,

 retired missionary who had invested 33 years among the K'etki. 

He preached in Spanish and a brother translated in K'etki. 

At times, it was very difficult for Dick, he slipped into K'etki

 and the brother had to translate into Spanish.

Pastor Jeronimo giving his thanks to all of you

who prayed for him and his family during his imprisonment.

Encuentro Indigenous 2011

Encuentro Indigenous 2011 will be held this week, Tuesday through Saturday, in Cobán, Guatemala, the seat of the K’ekchi. Since many IMB missionaries have invested into the work, discipling K’ekchi believers into a growing church planting movement, it is a joy to have them coordinate the conference this year and share how they have planted over 400 growing, reproducing churches and missions. Some of our own first “on field” mission work and exposure was among the K’ekchi, so we are excited to hear as they share and motivate other indigenous to reach out in evangelism.


During the Encuentro Indigenous 2010, David shared from our research among the Ch'orti', an indigenous group near the Honduran border, of their extreme lostness and the numerous aldeas without any evangelical witness at all. As he shared, the Spirit gripped our pastor's heart. As a result, Pastor Victoriano began to lead our church in a year-long preparation process of teaching missions, of praying, of giving to missions, and of planning and executing mission trips.

In November 2010, David accompanied a group of about 15 six hours to the mountains to begin a relationship and ministry among the Ch’orti’. A brake problem with one of the trucks proved to be divine intervention to cause them to remain in Nearer, rather than their original plan of the village of El Limón. Being stranded there for two days, the team began to minister and the door to present the Gospel opened quickly.

Then in January 2011, they returned without us, as we were working in Honduras, and traversed the mountain side going house to house sharing the Gospel, holding evening services resulting about 15 people being saved.

The week of Semana Santa (Holy Week of Easter), a group of us returned with a doctor, 2 medical students, and 2 nurses to facilitate a medical clinic, continue the house to house presenting of the Gospel and following up with the those who had accepted Christ, and holding evening meetings. Pastor VIctoriano contracted land to construct an open air structure to begin the first evangelical church, a Baptist church.

We will return the third week of May to help them, along with the believers from Nearer, construct this structure. Then groups of 3 to 4 will return will return at least once a month to continue discipleship and evangelism. As this area begins to grow in their faith, our church will lead them into reaching out into other areas already receptive to the Gospel, offering not a religion, but hope for life, eternal life. They will continue evangelistic outreach to other areas with the goal of planting a Baptist church in every village without an evangelical church.

This is what our desire had been all along...not just putting numbers into our mission data base, but using our research to lead Guatemalans into investing in the kingdom by evangelizing villages in Guatemala without an evangelical witness and ultimately reaching out into the whole world.

Pray with us that as Pastor Victoriano, pastor of La Iglesia Bautista Canaán here in Chimaltenango, shares among the pastors and leaders that others will catch the vision of cross cultural missions reaching the nations. Jeronimo, the Mam pastor who spent more than a year and a half in jail unjustly charged with murder will be there with his wife. It will be our first experience to see them since his release.

More from the Encuentro Indigena

Beginning meeting of sharing the vision of indigenous taking the Gospel around the world...


eating together...


praying for Melanya and Jeronimo...



Pastor Apolinario sharing and preparing the people for the Thursday prayerwalk in San Andres Itzapa...


praying for Apolinario and the people of San Andres Itzapa.


One of the most precious times were the Kekchi brothers singing "How Great Thou Art."


Parting shot.

Encuentro Indigena

One of the special things which blessed our hearts was the testimony of Melanya, the wife of Pastor Jeronimo. We have shared of the plight of Pastor Jeronimo and the injustice that has prevailed in his case here in Guatemala. On Wednesday afternoon, Melanya shared of God's faithfulness to them. Though there is no income coming into the home, God has provided for their needs. Pastor Jeronimo has led over 50 people to the Lord and is discipling many of them to fruitful ministry. As they prayed over Jeronimo and Melanya and their three children, God continues to faithfully sustain and guard their hearts.




Since the Encuentro, the following update has been received..."This is the nightmare that never ends...yes, it goes on and on my friends... Jeronimo lost the appeal today and will go to full trial in July or August for the murder he could not have committed. Sooooooo disappointing!" Continue to pray...even in this,God is in control.

Hands and Feet from MFBC

One of the things that MFBC provided was gift bags for each of the attendees. Each age division of their church were assigned a particular group of items to provide - hand sanitizer, small bottles of shampoo, small kleenex packets, nail files, etc. These items filled goody bags which were a delight to give and receive.


The team also filled material bags for each attendee.

They prayerwalked in San Andres Itzapa, praying for the light to shine brightly against the darkness which permeates the entire village.

They assisted at registration,


the tienda (snack bar),


t-shirt sales,


cooking, serving and washing dishes.

(Did I mention, washing dishes? I know they wish they had a quarter for every dish they washed.)

But least you think all they did was work, we took part of one day to shop in Antigua and visited Ronald at the really neat McDonald's there.


And we took a quick trip to Lake Atitlan for a boat ride across the lake to Santiago, to do a little more shopping and sightseeing before returning to zipline high above the jungle.




Well, some of us, enjoyed the walking the trail and viewing the monkeys and watching the flyers enjoy themselves.


Then we returned to the capital for packing and a return flight home.


Thank you MFBC for all you did to encourage and bless our indigenous pastors and leaders. Thank you for sending a very special team (incluing our precious daughter, Rebecca) to minister as your hands and feet in the name of Jesus.