Guatemala Mission Trip (by Roderick Carrasco- team leader)
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There will be 10 of us from The Bridge Church heading to the San Marcos regions of Guatemala in June of this year. What a great opportunity, once again, to partner with When Will We Cry? Inc. and head to Guatemala. This is our 6th year to send teams and partner with Pastor Ely.
When Will We Cry? Inc. partners with Eleazar Siebenhor (Pastor Ely) and his wife Rosa to spread the gospel in the San Marcos Department of Guatemala. Located along the border with Mexico, San Marcos is one of Guatemala’s poorest regions and ranges from the Pacific Ocean in the south to the mountains in the north. Born and raised in this area, Pastor Eleazar clearly has a heart for these people and has helped start over 40 churches throughout this region.
When Will We Cry? Inc. is the only American mission organization working in San Marcos. We help supply many much-needed resources to this area, where 74% of the people live in extreme poverty. We provide for both physical and spiritual needs for these people, most of whom do not have adequate nutrition, clean drinking water, access to healthcare, or sufficient education.
Last year God did some amazing things while we were there:
This was some of the team members preparing for VBS classes in Guatemala City at Pastor Ely’s home.
This is Pastor Ely’s church there in Guatemala City.
The whole team enjoying one of many fabulous meals prepared by Maressa Pastor Ely’s daughter.
I was interpreting while John Howard delivered a powerful message on Easter Sunday at Pastor Ely’s church.
This is a picture of the food we purchased to distribute to some of the families in the villages.
This is some of the kids who came to our VBS class in Armenia Tejutla. Some traveled for several miles on foot to come hear the gospel.
This is the food bagged and ready to be delivered the next day to families in Armenia Tejutla.
John Howard and Lewis Thomas, founder of When Will We Cry? Ministry, passing out food to families in Armenia Tejutla. Again, these people traveled on foot for miles to come and be blessed. What they didn’t know was we were the ones being blessed!!!
While we were waiting for what we thought was an inconvenience due to a flat tire. God gave me the opportunity to minister to this gentleman Mr. Baptista. Talk about a divine appointment!!!
This is a picture of a church that the Bridge was able to help build a couple of years ago in Choanla. God is doing great things in this village with pastor Juan Marroquin.
Our experience at Choanla & Armenia will be one not soon forgotten. Children, who had never seen Americans, a bit apprehensive at first soon warmed our hearts with their smiles and humble appreciation. I pray that this story in some way has touched your life. We are a blessed people called to go and share the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. To Him be all glory!
As you can see there is still so much work to be done in these villages of San Marcos Region in Guatemala. Continue to pray for Pastor Ely, Rosa and their family that God would continue to give them the strength to do the work He has called them to do!!
Please keep us in your prayers as we journey to Guatemala in June. Pray for more divine appointments from God and that we’ll be able to do what He’s called us to do!!
God Bless!
Hermano Rodrigo
Haiti
by Shivonne Hood (Haiti Mission Team leader)
Anyone who has known me for any amount of time has probably heard me talk about Haiti and I’m okay with that. I talk about it because it was there 16 years ago that God birthed a passion for missions in my heart. It’s hard to put into words the poverty, sadness, and needs there but also the joy and love in the hearts of Haitian people. I’m hoping this blog will open your heart and mind to be in prayer for these amazing people.
Mission Haiti, Inc. has been actively serving in Haiti since 1983 and I am so excited The Bridge is partnering with them this year on mission. Here are some statistics you may or may not know-
• Only 25% of Haitian children have the vaccines they need to survive, making Haiti the country with the lowest vaccination rate in the world.
• The infant mortality rate in Haiti Is, of every 1,000 live births, more than twice that of any other country in the Western Hemisphere.
• Only 14% of Haitian children ages 13-18 are enrolled in school.
• There are 1.2 million children under the age of 5. Over half of these children suffer from malnutrition.
The good news is that with the gospel and people who care, like Mission Haiti, we have been able to see tons of progress over the past years – from building health clinics in one of the most unreached areas of the country, to building a children’s home for orphans, feeding and clothing thousands, holding training for pastors and lay people, constructing buildings for congregations to meet who have never had that before,… the list goes on! It is not a vacation destination but Haiti is a place of so much promise with the Gospel!
So what can you do?
PRAY! Pray for our team going in May. Pray for wisdom, safety, and good health. Pray that God will open many doors and opportunities for ministry and that we will be obedient to His prompting.
Also, if you would like to donate clothing or shoes for the efforts there, that would be awesome. We will be able to take these with us and give to families in need.
I am so excited about this opportunity and the team God has put together. Thanks in advance for your prayers. We can’t wait to share what God does!
Read More“THE BIG GIVE” – Feb.12
It’s that time of year when we all start cleaning out our closets and drawers, vowing this year to be organized and to de-clutter. Yep… Lance longs for that day!
So all those things (that are decent and in working order) you will want to get rid of need a good home, right? And that’s what we intend to do with “THE BIG GIVE”. We will publicize to the community that everything is FREE as a gift from The Bridge, so come get what you need from 9:00am-3:00pm. This is going to be like a HUGE FREE CHURCHWIDE YARD SALE. Publicize this to your friends and places you frequent that might reach a lot of people that are in need of what we will share.
During these tough economic times people in our community have many needs of which they cannot afford to buy. We often have too much stuff and don’t even need it yet someone else might. So Bridgers… start saving your stuff to donate.
You can bring your donations to the church ONLY at these specific times:
Wed., Feb. 9 – 5pm-6:30pm
Thurs., Feb. 10 – 5pm-6:30pm
Friday, Feb.11 – 5pm-6:30pm
If you’d like to help out that morning (or days before) please sign up at the missions table. We need people to help go through things, organize, set up, clean up, make baked goods to share, greet,
and help people that day. This is a great time to love on our community again, acquaint them with our location, and invite them to worship with us, making sure they know that we’re doing this to share the love of Christ and to make Jesus famous in Spring Hill. Plan to serve as a house group together, as a family, or just on your own. Hoping you will make it a priority to be part of this special day.
More Information
CLICK HERE