FEED 5000: Guatemala Testimony
Posted on October 7th, 2009.The following content was a facebook blog written by a young businessman and friend who recently traveled with us to Guatemala.
Hey guys! I just wanted to write a little note just to give a testimony of what God did in Guatemala!
I really didn’t know what to expect when I told Trey McAlister and Michael Laymon that I wanted to be apart of their RU4 Children – October trip to Guatemala. I just knew I had a peaceful feeling that I really needed to go! I had no idea what all I was going to be blessed to be apart of!
We got there Monday night and Trey told us to be ready and in the Lobby at 4:30am on Tuesday morning! That was interesting! But on trips like this the excitement of the day gives you an adrenaline burst, so I actually felt energized even though I slept only 1 hour the first night! We got on a bus with about 12 other people, some were press, some were church pastors, and some were volunteers and headed to Jutiapa, Guatemala. This part of Guatemala had places that had received too much rain and the rain washed away the crops and other parts hadn’t received enough rain so the crops didn’t produce. There was a serious food shortage and many – many families were in dire need of food. We met some more volunteers and pastors and then headed out into the mountains and villages to where about 3000 families where all in a large recreation field waiting for us to arrive. I walked up to the front of the lines of people not knowing what to expect! All the people had such a look of serious need mixed with a sense of grateful hope.
Cash Luna, who was described to me as the Central American version of our Billy Graham arrived and gave a word and a prayer and many cheered at his words of encouragement and wisdom. Then, just as he said “Amen” the people started to line up and we started the process of passing out the 40 lb bags of food. Each bag had about 5-10 lbs of Rice, Beans, Sugar, Maseca, Oil, Flour and many other essentials. The people receiving the bags were so serious but also thankful. It was such a blessing to see the peoples faces as they gathered their children and headed back to their homes with their bag over their shoulder or on their donkey!
We then headed back up through the mountains to another small village where people from many neighboring villages had gathered to receive their gift of food as well. And just as before it is indescribable the joy that I received by just being apart of the giving to those less fortunate than us! I got to hang out with about 5 or 6 kids in the play ground and talk to them in my broken Spanish. One boy in particular loved to ask me all kinds of questions about English and the Estados Unidos (United States ) He smiled and laughed and I could tell he was definitely the class clown type (like I was). But when I started to ask him about his family his little facial expression changed. I asked about his mom and he said she was in line waiting for food, but when I asked him about his Dad he said he didn’t know and he held my hand and put his head in my chest. He sat there talking for another 10 minutes and he didn’t let go of my hand. Such a humbling experience I will never forget.
The next day we first went to a small school and feeding center located in a Barrio (slum) of Guatemala City. It is run by a sweet lady named Sister Doris. We first sang worship songs with the kids and even jumped around to a Hillsong song in Spanish. After that we went upstairs and started calling up the kids a few at a time to fit them for new shoes. It was such a cool experience as many of the kids had never had anything but old dirty sandals. We passed out about 80-100 pair and then said good bye to all the proudly shoed kids!
The next day, Thursday, was one I will never forget the rest of my life! Trey and Michael had been planning this day for months and months but I had no idea what to expect. The event was planned for the City of Peronia, in the Villa Nuevo area of Guatemala. When I got home, my Dad had looked Peronia up and found that this was one of the most dangerous City’s in the world with at times the highest murder rates in the world. For 18 years two gangs had been extorting and murdering the people of Peronia as well as each other. The Metals and The Horses, Los Metales y Los Caballos. They had been killing each other at a rate of 10-12 people a week for 18 years. But about 2 or 3 months ago the leaders of these gangs had heard a powerful word from God that they needed to change their lives, stop killing and start following Christ. They responded and started the process of making peace and stopping the fighting. The climax of this decision was reached on Thursday night. The two rival gang leaders got on stage together and apologized to the town they had extorted and murdered for 18 years. There were many tears and broken hearts. At one point the local pastor called for widows to come up and receive an apology from the gangs. The men hugged the widows of the men they had killed and begged for forgiveness and gave their word they had changed and would never be the same again. Cash Luna gave an amazing word from the stage about how Peronia was to become a City known for its character and peace. That God had a plan for this city and it would never be the same again! He asked the crowd if there was anybody who wanted to give their life to Christ and start a new life with faith in God and I would say 70% of the city raised there hand. Then he asked if there was anybody in the crowd who might have already put there trust in Christ and they wanted to make a recommitment to that decision and this time the other 30% raised there hands. Then he prayed for the city and at the end of the prayer the whole city cheered with excitement over the new providence God had for their city! Once again we handed out thousands of bags of food and the food staples that helped over 15,000 people that night. The ex-gang members lead in the handing out of food to the people of the city and ask each one to please forgive them and give them a another chance.
After the event I was so encouraged and so blessed. We had brought a lady named Chiqui (pronounced Chickie) who owned a local hospital where they administered free medical aid to the poor people in Guatemala City who need medical help. Her husband had died a month before and had been in ICU the previous two months before that. She said that tonight was one of the best nights she had had in months! She said that she hadn’t slept in 3 months and that God told her, “Tonight you will finally sleep!” She had tears in her eyes and gave me a big hug!
So much more happened on this trip that I would love to tell you about but this is already too long! If you want to hear more just let me know and we can get some coffee! Thanks for taking time to read my testimony of God’s mighty work and I love you all!
“He must become greater; I must become less.” John 3:30
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