Dear Friends,
As another day comes to a close I am continually reminded of the faith of everyone around me and our team. Today we had a chance to travel to El Rincón, which when translated to English means the corner. This place is normally an hour away, but traffic was especially bad today making the ride around two hours. I think that I can speak on behalf of the team and say that we all enjoyed the ride because we had a chance to see more of Guatemala and also spend some time with the Guatemalan missionaries. When we got to El Rincón, we had a chance to visit a man named Carlos. Carlos is a man that has a very interesting story that I am sure everyone of us would tell you when we get a chance.
After lunch we were able to have our faith lessons with the kids. We had around 120 kids attend. This was a time that each and everyone of us were able to talk to the kids at many different levels. I think that all of us can agree on say that we all had a lot of fun with the kids. After faith lessons we talked with some different people and then we piled back into the team vans and traveled back to the mission house.
Kevin, the leader of the mission house said that today’s phrase is: “not everything is as it appears.” This phrase was very evident in many different ways today. Kevin was able to show us a very physical example. When we were at the place were Carlos lived, he had a well that was in the ground. This well was extremely deep and we had a chance to pull some water up. When we pulled the water and think that you can relate with me and the rest of team, most of us expected the water to be cold right? Wrong! This is because of the many active volcanoes around, meaning that there is a lot of lava under the surface. This causes the water to be hot and some times even causing it to boil underground.
There is so much more that I could tell you, but I think that my team and I will leave some stories to tell you when we get back. It has been extremely powerful to hear the stories of the Guatemalan missionaries and also watch God work through them. Many people may not really know this, but it is not us that does all of the outreach. We simply take care of the kids while the Guatemalans are doing bible studies, health clinics, home visits, and many other things. For those of you who enjoy reading along with us, Today we had a chance to reflect on Matthew 9:9-13. This verse talks about how Matthew is a tax collector and gets called by Jesus. Don’t forget to check out the Groundwork Guatemala Facebook page to see pictures of where we are, and what we are doing.
Blessings,
Jon Knickelbein
P.S. We have an extra long day tomorrow and lots of travel time. Extra prayers would be greatly appreciated.
