Our First Four Teams

Well, we just said goodbye on Friday morning (at 4:30am) to our fourth team of the year! It has been a busy 7 weeks since we arrived in Guatemala on January 8th. Our first team was a church group from PEI. They were a huge blessing to work with as their leaders have worked with the ministry for many years already. With this group, we administered parasite medicine to all of our schools, under the supervision of Doctor Cathie!
Our second team was from New Brunswick and they too were a church group, although they attended three different churches. Some of their team members had been to Guatemala before, which is always helpful.
Our third team was from Regina. They were a group of Bible school students, but they ranged in age from 24 - 72! The leader was the youngest member of the team! With this group, we worked in a remote mountain village.

Our fourth group was from Linden Christian School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was fun to have a group of young people, but certainly their energy levels and need for constant activity tired Rocky and I out! They had 3 amazing leaders, although, who were always right there lending a hand.

Today has been a quiet restful day! What a blessing! Tomorrow we leave for the capital to pick up team #5 from Estevan, Saskachewan. Les' brother, Ellery, and sister-in-law, Marlene, are on this team. We got to know them a little while we were home this winter and we are looking forward to seeing them again, and the rest of their group.

Please pray for us! We go straight through from February 27th to April 10th with no breaks between teams. We are working to ensure we get a day off with each group (every 10 - 12 days) but it isn't always easy to schedule that. So, if you could pray for good health and an abundance of energy, we would sure appreciate it! Also, it is so important to begin each team fresh - with a positive attitude and a sincere desire to serve. Sometimes when teams are back to back (and overlapping) we get tired. In our weakness, we need the Lord to show up! It is only His guiding and directing that enables us to have a successful time with a group. We believe that He has called us to this place to do this job and we trust Him to provide. We know, although, that your prayers have a direct and positive impact on our effectiveness here.

James 5:16b "...The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
Thank you for your support! It is such an encouragement to know we are not in this alone!

Blessings,

Karren

Life!

Sometimes life is frustrating and confusing. It is at times like this that I have to work really hard to refocus my energies away from dwelling on the things - mostly external - that are causing me grief, and onto the things of the Lord. I wish I could say that is an easy task for me, but it isn't. When my feelings are hurt, or I don't like the way things are going, or I feel left out or misunderstood, it is easy for me to stay in that place of feeling sorry for myself.
This morning was one of those times. The past month has not been an easy one for me, for many reasons, some my own doing, others completely out of my hands. But this morning, I hit a wall and began to feel sorry for myself. I opened up my internet browser (what did we do before the internet?) and found an online concordence. I typed in "frustration" and it popped up Romans 8. God is so good! When I know I don't know - that is a great place to be! - the Lord steps in and provides the words of wisdom I need to hear.
It isn't that He is going to change my circumstances, but my attitude changes and that makes all the difference in the world. I have typed below the section of Romans 8 that I read this morning and pray that it will provide you some encouragement, regardless of what you are feeling or experiencing in your life today. The Lord knows and He is there to comfort you and help to redirect your thinking.

More than conquerors...And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined ... And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ...Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, netiher the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This morning, for me, this passage kind of put things back into their proper perspective. Thank you Lord. I know I need an attitude adjustment from time to time, and perhaps when you read this, the Holy Spirit will use these words to realign your thinking as well.
Huge blessings,
Karren

Just say yes!

Well, our third team of the year is here. They are from the Master's Commission Bible School in the Regina Apostolic Church. Although we do many of the same activities with each group, they are never quiet the same. For example, we do children's ministry with each team, but the location and the people group we are working with is always changing. With this group, we will be doing 3 days of children's ministry in a remote moutain village about an hours drive on a dirt road outside of Tactic.

Becuase today was Sunday, we were invited to attend the church service in the church where we will be doing children's ministry. The ride up was incredible. There were some spots in the road which had been washed completely away during the rainy season and now were slowly being rebuilt. On one side of the road was the mountain which went straight up; on the other side, the cliff! You guessed it; it went straight down! By the time we worked our way up to the church, we were almost at the very top of the moutian and as we looked around, all we could see were other mountain tops.

For those living in the village, we were quite a spectacle. I don't think any other group of North Americans have ever ventured this far into the hills. During the worship service, a little girl was stroking my blond hair! It was quite a novelty.

When we left the house to go up in the morning, we thought we were going just to be introduced and to allow the leader of the group to give a short 2 minute greeting.

Well, this is Guatemala, and things change! When we arrived, the pastor asked us who was preaching. It is at moments like this when we have a choice to make. We can say, "oh, no, I am not prepared," or we can say, "yes." Praise the Lord, He gave me the courage to say yes. I wouldn't say preaching is my gift; in fact, it is a bit of a stretch, but this morning, I preached. I asked the Lord to give me His Words for His people, and He did. It was such an honour to bring the Word of the Lord to His people.

On the way down from the village, I thought about what would have happened if I would have said no. Someone in that service this morning, needed to hear the very words the Lord gave me to share. If I would have said no, they would not have received the encouragement they needed this morning.

Everyday, we are given many opportunities to say "yes" or "no." How we choose affects not only us, but also those around us. For me, I think I get so hung up on being prepared and having a plan, that I say "no" because I am worried I won't be good enough. Boy, do I have it all wrong. I will never be good enough, no matter how much preparation I have done. It is only God and His Word that is good enough and if we are willing, He will use us as a vessel to speak through. The only preparation that is required is to be daily in His Word and then to say "YES" when the opportunity presents itself.

This is what I want - to live in a way that I am ready to say yes without any hesitation. This morning, the Lord had the rest already worked out. He just needed me to be His vessel to work through. Wow! What an honour; what a privilege!

Blessings,

Karren