On Friday, we were invited to attend a service in Xepocol for mother's day in Guatemala.  Mother's day here is always on the 10th of May.  This small service was a home service in the house of Gaspar, one of the promoters/evangelists that works with HTI.

We have never had children so do not know of the experiences parents have as they see their child grow and mature in their christian faith, but today we had a small glimpse of that in the home of Gaspar.  We have been here now for 8 years which is the longest we have ever been in one church or in one house in our married life and for me (Kemmel), possibly my whole life, which we praise God for as we would not change a thing with the experiences we have had with the diversity we have had in our lives.  As we have been here for 8 years we have been able to follow the growth and spiritual maturity of many of these young people in Xepocol and on Friday we had a glimpse of what that experience is during the church service.  You see, this church service was all directed by the young people you see below.

These pictures were taken 6-7 years ago and now these boys who were between 8 and 12 back then,  lead the worship of the congregation, one a song leader, one leading prayer, 5 helping leading the singing as a worship team in front, and one giving a message of encouragement for the women of the church.  What a joy to see how God works in the lives of those who serve him and make disciples. 

Some of these young men were ABC children, some are siblings of ABC children and some are still ABC children.

Here, Tomas, in the black jacket kneeling down, is a current high school scholarship student and lead singing today.  His brother Julio, green shirt, was part of the singing group and is also in high school.

Here Daniel, a graduate of the ABC program and a teacher, on the far right with the hoodie, gave the message.

Here, Noe in the white t-shirt far left, an ABC graduate and current Physical Therapy student, his brother Manuel with the red shirt, also a graduate from high school and a teacher, and their younger brother Josue, other white shirt, were all part of the singing group.

As we fellowshiped after the church service with some of the members and the young people, they told us how they are involved in the church, how they have 2 singing groups, how they encourage and help each other as a church family to finish school, how they seek out other young people who they have not seen in a couple of weeks to encourage them, how they bring each other together to support each other without someone telling them to do so, how they have encouraged some who have dropped out of school to return to school, and how some have opted out from university for now as they are working to help get their younger siblings through middle school and high school.

Wow, God be glorified.