Day 5 | Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

During the period when China was ruled by Emperors, the Emperor often would send his princes and princesses to visit different parts of his empire. Those trips had two-fold purposes. One was to convey Emperor’s good wishes to the people under his reign, another was to let his children see the extent of his kingdom and to recognize his greatness. With this in mind, I came on this trip, hoping to understand more of my Heavenly Father’s heart and to see His love and His rule manifested among other ethnic groups.

It has been eye opening for me. I was excited to see how people who did not know each other before, who spoke different languages, who had different culture background, yet because we all believed the same God and accept Christ’s atonement, we can experience such love and unity. We were exposed to different ministries and we can see that we serve the same faithful God and He loves all the people of the world. They also are princes and princesses of the High King.

Today was a work day at Samuel Center. We left the Henriques right after breakfast. It was a beautiful day. After a long drive, we arrived at Samuel Center. This mission primarily works with children, to provide them with life skill training. They needed to build a fence around the back of the property. We learned to mix concrete and pour the mixture into columns, but the work was finished around 10:30. Enrique, the man who is responsible for the center, came smiling and surprised us. He loaded us into a van and then drove away. If he were to kidnap us, with the limited Spanish our group has and the limited English he has, it can be done very easily. Anyway, he took us to a beautiful campsite. It is their vision to establish a camp ground for the children to use. This happened to be my first workout after we arrived in Guatemala. It was hard, but it was good for me. On our way back, the man surprised us with chocolate. When we came back to Samuel Center, he surprised us once more with snacks. After washing up, we all went to the roof top for lunch and some of us lay down for a short siesta. The results were red faces and a red V neck.

After lunch, we met some of the students of the Samuel Center, some dressed in traditional Indian clothing. Their big brown eyes and shy smiles won our hearts very quickly. They performed a few songs for us, and we shared with them through song, testimony, and the Muddy Glove object lesson. Afterwards, Enrique showered us with one more surprise gift: beautiful Guatemalan shoulder bags! Then the children mobbed us for candy, tracks, and hugs.

On our way home, we stopped by the Guatemala Bible Seminary. Bob gave us a personal tour and shared how after graduation almost all of their students enter the "bloodstream of the church or missions work." This weekend two students will be arriving from Cuba, ready to be equipped so that God can use them more effectively for His kingdom.

Each evening, we gather in the Henriques living room, where we review the events of the day and share observations. The needs indeed are many, however, my Father is able to meet all those needs. The only thing I need to know is, "Where do You want me to get involved?"

Anna Chen