Literally Building the Church

Currently my team (and team Lightning) are working right outside of Chichicastenango (Chichi) with Pastor Juan and his family of New Generation Guatemala. A huge focus of their ministry is children and approach this in 3 ways.

• Diet – 70% of children in Guatemala are malnourished so they help distribute food as well as nutrition education.
• Education – in Chichi, 90% of the population is indigenous, meaning they come from Mayan descent. They have their own dialect (24 unique dialects in total across Guatemala) which means once they grow up, they won’t have many opportunities outside their hometown. Before COVID, Pastor Juan was able to go to public schools to teach English and Spanish as well as to pray over students.
• Spiritually – Pastor Juan’s desire is to not only meet the physical needs of kids, but to also present them with the gospel. Jesus Christ is at the forefront of everything that New Generation does. 
  

Due to COVID, a lot of Pastor Juan’s ministries have been put on hold, so currently his focus has been put into a community center and church that he is building outside of Chichi. This is where Team Storm Chasers and Team Lightning have been staying and where a big part of our work is being done. We are living in the 2 story part of the building, where the upper floor is intended for church. The lower level consists of 2 rooms, one is to be used for free tutoring for kids in the community and the other as a small cafeteria where the kids will be fed dinner and for community food distribution. In a separate attachment is Pastor Juan’s home, as well as a small store where they hope to give away and sell food at base value.

The work we have been able to do so far:

• Build a set of stairs going up to the second floor and filled in the second floor with floor boards. 
• Build doors that will go out into the streets from the rooms under the church space. This will also eliminate the ladders that we currently use to get in and out of our rooms. 
• We painted the inside brick and plastered the house walls. Finishing up the outside this week. 
• We built steps going down the hill which are currently being fortified with concrete. These will be used as bleachers for outside church services. 
• We carved a path through dirt to make it easier to get to the shed and chicken coop at the bottom of the hill as well as even out the terrain. 
• Helped build a concrete platform and installed a pila, which is used for dishes and laundry. 
• Built 3 tables.

There is still work to be done, but it almost shocks me how much this space has changed in 11 days. 

Alongside with the community center project, we are able to take the 20 minute trip into Chichi several times a week to do prayer walks and to minister to the community. Whether it is giving out food, praying and sharing the gospel or playing with kids. 

Prayers requests for this week:

• Tuesday will be our first chance to use the upstairs church space. Police officers from the community are coming over for a church service and lunch. Our teams are going to lead worship in Spanish as well as give a word. Please pray that the officers will be encouraged and filled. They are currently working round the clock with no days off. 

• Wednesday will be the first time we get to use the community rooms. 10 families from the neighborhood will be coming for meal packets that we are going to make and we hope to share the gospel with them as well. This will be the first time we get to do ministry in the community that we live in. Our neighborhood has some of the strictest COVID regulations but we have been praying for opportunities and God is opening doors. Pastor Juan is gaining favor with the community leaders and them letting us serve these families is a big step. Please pray for continued favor and opportunities for us to serve in our neighborhood.

Thank you for reading, please enjoy the pictures!

I am currently $1,451 from my next fundraising goal which will allow me to stay on the mission field through May.

If you would like to help support me, you can donate here on the blog, or scroll up to the orange donate button. Otherwise through Venmo/Cash App at jackieivarsson or PayPal at [email protected].

Thanks!