In honor of local churches

Sorry we have not posted in awhile!  It is not that we do not have anything to write about, there is just so much to write about we have writers block of which one to write about!  We have had a great month so far with a group coming from many parts of the US, starting some health classes and delivery of anti-parasite pills in the schools (we have dewormed close to 1000 children in the local schools thanks to some donated meds), standard clinics, attending church festivities, and prepping for new community classes.

Today, we wanted to give an update on 3 of the churches that we partner with - Las Cuevas, Mactzul III (Tercero), and Mactzul V (Quinto).

Mactzul III is one of the smaller communities in the area and also one of the smaller churches; however, this does not stop them for wanting to make in impact in their community.   They started with the church meeting in the home of one of the brothers and maybe 2 years ago they started buidling a church building on the donated property from one of the families.  Today they have the walls, the roof, the windows and doors complete and have started having worship services in the building.  This is the church where a small group from TN came and helped build the latrines which are now fully operational as the members of the church finished the septic well.

The church is small but continues to grow and over the last year have added 1 - 2 families.  On the day of the visit we had clinic, hosted a deworming activity with the school and delivered some water filters to the children in the ABC program who have recently been sponsored.  This is the Sucuqui family.  Mom is a widow and the 2 little ones are in the ABC program; however, with the assistance the mom has also sent the older child back to school and she is in the first grade along with her younger sister.

Las Cuevas is the smallest community we work with and also one of the furthest away.  This church has struggled for many years through droughts and more poverty than the rest of the communities that we work with.  They too started a new building project at the beginning of the year and received support from the local churches of Christ to start their building to the tune of almost $1000 and then also received a nice donation from the local mayor.  In speaking with Santos, one of the church leaders, the mayor has been very supportive on the churches in the area as he realizes the importance of the church in the social integrity of the communities - very nice!  This church is also growing and this last year we have added about 4- 5 families to the ABC program. 

The day we visited the church in Las Cuevas one of the sponsoring U.S. families joined us and were able to meet the child they sponsor from this community.  It was a good day for all.  We sat and talked for a few hours about life in the area and came away very impressed in the contentment they have in what God has provided them.

This is one of the new ABC families - the Ajmac Uluan Family.  They have 12 children in total with a pair of twins who are in the purple blouses.  Both the twins are awaiting sponsors in the ABC program.

Mactzul V is probably the fastest growing church in the area and has probably doubled in size over the last few years.  They also started a building project in the last 2 years and as you can see it is a pretty sizable building.  This church is involved in a number of ministries in their community and spend much time visiting families and praying with them.  They have also started a youth program, childrens program and tutoring program for kids who are not doing well in school.  This past Saturday we attended a family day celebration which included clowns, a cake eating contest between two elders (without their hands), and a short worship service held by the boys of the congregatin.  Great day!

This is Gerber Tomas Salvador Yacon with the opening prayer.

This is Israel Esteban Garcia Tecum (son of HTI Promoter Tomas) leading singing.

This is Diego Jeremias Garcia Cuin giving a short devotional.

This is Hector Ircac Ajanel leading more songs.

This is Kevin Yacon Yacon leading the closing prayer.

Elders in the cake eating competition.

Clowns - Armando Ismael Salvador, Tomas Salvador and Jose David Garcia - great job!

Ana Elizabeth Yacon (previous scholarship recipient) and Marciela Yacon (high school student) were 2 of the leaders of the childrens activity.

Part of the church of Mactzul V.  With everyone would be around 250 people!

Please continue to pray for these churches as they serve the Lord in their communities.