As soon as we pulled up the children ran to the make-shift tin fence to greet us. We rolled in with our cameras and started talking to them and taking pictures right away. After a brief conversation with the teachers (there are only 4 for 150+ students here), Nathan told us that their recess had been pushed up so that we could play with the kids more. There were games, hacky-sack, football, soccer and many other things going on. We tried to converse with the kids as much as possible, but just having fun with them in the mud was really enough for them, you could tell.

After this, Nathan shared the gospel with the children en Espanol and prayed with the kids. It was a really great experience to hear a brother-in-Christ sharing the Good News with another culture in another language. After this, we passed out some food and candy to the kids. You could tell that it was more food than they're used to eating in one setting. Some of them we actually saw scavenging after we left for other stuff on the mountainsides.

A team volunteered to stay behind at the school while another broke off and took a hike with Nathan. Literally. We took some agricultural-type trail to what I thought to be the highest point on this mountain (at least one of them). The whole trek was in the rain and through the mud. After nearly a mile of hiking up steep hills we came to a piece of property 3 acres large. Nathan shared with us his vision to build another similar type of facility as the other piece of land. He is going to begin the plans for this facility Monday morning with his interns. We spent some time praying on the top of the hill and listening to more of Nathan's stories. Then we trekked down the hill another way and along the way met a man named Augusto chopping down a tree. For some reason this part stuck out in my mind; I felt like sharing it, however irrevelant it may seem.

We left the land and the school to head back to the worksite where we were blessed enough to see a back-hoe working on parts that we had prepared for it; progess! We also continued to prep the guard-shack floor for pouring concrete on Friday. We left the site and headed into Antigua for a bit of tourism. Antigua (which translates as "antique") is truly a beautiful place full of fountains and 16th-century architecture. After a nice trip through the sites and a shop or two, we came back to the guest house for another wonderful meal prepared by Nathan's wife, Claudia. She is a fantastic cook and we have been blessed to have her preparing our meals this week.

God has given strength through many known sources, such as Claudia's cooking, and I'm sure other less tangible one as well. I've been amazed at just my willingness and ability to help in certain areas. Looking back on the property now, we're all amazed at just how much us poorly-acclimated Okies have done in a few days. I'm excited to see how we end this week and have started praying for doors to open for my return next year. This is certainly a ministry worth supporting and in need of support. Continue to keep the team, especially Nathan and his family, in your prayers as we finish strong this week. Thank you for your prayers thus far... and I'm sorry for the length of this blog! We miss you guys and we'll see you on Sunday!

Our God is amazing he again has put together the perfect team for the work that we are doing, partnering with Liberty has been a blessing and the team works well together.

I am prayerful that this trip will ignite a desire and passion for the project Nathan is working on here in Antigua. 

Tomorrow we are going to Nathan's other property that will be used for the Engadi Ranch, it is much flatter and I think we have a project to work on there.

This trip has been a blessing and prayerfully will be trip number 2 in a long line of continued trips by SHBC.

Greg

    We went and visited these boys in "Paradise". We visited with mothers and brothers of boys who had been involved in drugs, gangs, and dropped out of school. They were not just monetarily without, but starving for love and acceptance. I met one grandfather today; not a single father. These mothers are often abused as girls and then marry or partner with a man to bring him a child in hopes of acceptance and love...the cycle is then repeated with their sons as they run to gangs for this basic human desire. We were blessed to day to stand in dry homes Nathan and previous mission teams built for these families that were dry and had well worn bibles as many of them had come to Christ through Nathan and others' outreach. The kids' smiles as we passed out candy and soccer balls was priceless!

    This morning before visiting the boys and their families, we worshiped with brothers and sisters here at a contemporary service with tv screens and special lighting. It was a sermon on bearing good fruit, making sure our attitudes are that of a servant who trusts the Lord and does not have an attitude of self reliance. Please be in prayer for our group, that as the wheelbarrow builds blisters on our hands, and our cloths are soaked by the afternoon showers, that we will faithful serve our Lord through his might with joy in our hearts that we are being used by him to provide hope.

    There is a great spirit about the group and as we have thrown footballs, played four on a couch, and sat through traffic we have become of one mind and heart. We are bonded by the Lord in a desire to serve and marvel at the wonder God displays in Claudias' cooking (Nathan's wife), to the majesty of the mountains. Thank you for your continued prayers. We love you all and can't wait to share all of our pictures! 

This is my first mission trip. When I was getting set up to go, I had no idea what I was in for. I can still say that, actually, because it's only day one. If the rest of the trip is anything like today has been, I don't know if I'll be coming home!

To begin our journey we met some of our team in Tulsa, flew to Houston and then flew out to Guatemala City. When we got there we met the onsite missionary we will be working with this week, Nathan Hardeman, and after a brief lunch took off from Guatemala City to Antigua. I was blown away from the beginning. The way that traffic works here is completely different than back in the states, but as crazy as it feels, we only saw one wreck in the hour or so it took to get to Antigua. The traffic can be very intense to and I found it quite funny to see the vendors standing in the medians trying to sell flowers and other items to cars caught in a jam.

We continued driving out to Antigua and, after seeing some of the beautiful architechure of Guatemala City, we came across some more run-down places. Even though 80% or more of the buildings seemed dilapidated and better off left alone, they were, as far as I could see, all occupied for one thing or another. When we arrived in Antigua I was told that Guatemala City is about the size of Tulsa and has a population of around 7 million people. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't saw some of the other housing structures in the area. See, this part of Guatemala is very mountainous and hilly with quite a few valleys. At first I was awestruck at the beauty of the land in the area (and the creative use of billboards on cliffsides), but then the site of houses stacked on top of each other along the cliff-faces left me sort of confused. It tugs at my heart a bit to see so many less-than-habitable buildings put so close together and thinking about the people who live in those areas (if the poorer residents of the relatively nice Guatemala City are any indication). It also gave me hope in a way that maybe I'll come in contact with some of these poorer folks when we go out on site and begin working later this week. I'm really looking forward to playing soccer with the kids and showing the love of Christ through my actions in any way possible.

Right now I'm sitting at a desk at the guest house in constant marvel of the area around us. The compound we're at is walled in and protected quite well. At the same time it's an open facility: aside from the rooms and bathrooms, the building is not enclosed. It's been between the mid-60's and mid-70's all day with some rain on and off. It's so cool that I need a jacket (take that Oklahoma weather!) While I'm typing this I'm listening to the sound of fireworks in the background, which is apparently a favorite past-time for Guatemalans and is a way of celebrating just about anything, including birthdays.

Other than marveling at God's artistry in Guatemala and taking in the environment I have the blessing of staying in this week, I am taking an opportunity to meet some new people and make some new friends. Steve, Jessica, Greg and I have tagged along with a group from Liberty Church in Broken Arrow for the week. There are 19 of us in all, mostly guys, about half sponsors, and from what I can gather not even everybody that came with Liberty knows one another very well. Thankfully we have been put in positions to meet other brothers- and sisters-in-Christ and to work alongside them in our coming projects this week. I've already met and talked to a few of the others here and they are all great, fun, funny people. I'm definitely looking forward to what God has in store for all of us this week and I'm eternally greatful that all of the right doors opened for me to be able to attend this trip.

Thank you all for your prayers; please keep them coming! Keep looking for blogs throughout the week!

After months of praying and working to get the logistics, plans, and money all lined up we are less than 21 hours away from the begining of the trip!

 Feel free to add comments to our blog posts.

 Greg Peters