Youth Group

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Sunday evenings is youth group with our small church here in Zacapa. I am so excited on how youth group has been going! Our normal attendance is 6-12 kids. All of them are excited to be there, and to learn more about their Savior Jesus Christ! It is such a blessing to see the fire in their eyes and the desire to learn. Our church here has never had a youth group or much of anything for the youth before, so this is something new for them. And because of the lack of activity amongst the youth, when the kids become teenagers, they begin to look to other sources for fun and friendships, because of lack of activity for them in the church. But praise God that He has opened the door, and things are slowly moving forward! At first, everyone was shy, and didn't say much. But now, slowly but surely, everyone is starting to open up more, to answer questions, and ASK questions as well. The most exciting part is that they are almost all willing to share their thoughts, and even help lead some of the gatherings! We have started a system where each week, a group of 2 or 3 of the youth get together to plan each weeks session. So each month, EVERYONE gets the oportunity to prepare and share their thoughts and what they studied during the week. And we have found this is building friendships, and helping them to start standing up as leaders, as the youth are getting together even during the week to talk about and plan what they are going to talk about on Sunday. This is very exciting for me, because my hope and goal is that one day, if all the Americans pull out of Zacapa, that the church keeps growing and spreading the good news of Jesus Christ! It will not happen without leaders, so it gives me JOY to see that they are all starting to want to be an active part in the church!

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Just last Friday we also spoke with them about teaching the Sunday School. We are going to try involving them in also teaching the sunday school classes, and helping with special activities, to help them along in become active leaders and teachers in the church. The more they are involved, the more they will feel a part, and have a strong desire to keep studying God's Word, and sharing what Christ has done with them, with others. Our church is REALLY lacking leaders, and praise God that He is raising some up now! I eventually want to phase out my spot as a Sunday School teacher of the older kids, over to someone/or a group of someone's who will take interest in each students life, and spend time preparing and reading God's Word to bring the message to them. So please pray for our youth! God has been working powerfully in their hearts and lives, and I believe that God will use them all mightely for His kingdom! Pray for God to give them strength, and to give us all guidance as to where and what He wants us to do as individuals and as a body! Gracias.

Backpacks for Orphans

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This afternoon I had the opportunity to deliver backpacks to an orphanage in Zacapa. There are around 80 kids there, of all ages. The orphanage only had 33 backpacks for the 72 students for this new school year. Their school year is from January to October, and their "summer" vacation is part of October, November and December. So anyways, I had gotten two donations from friends in the States, and they both said to use it in an orphanage, or to help children in some way. So, I went to this orphanage to ask what they needed most. After some thought and debating, they decided backpacks were the most urgent need, being that the school year was just starting and most of the kids didn't have one. So, I went to work, trying to do some bargain shopping. With $200 I was able to buy 45 backpacks for the kids! So they ended up with a couple extra's, for new kids that come into the orphanage, or when one of the bags gets wrecked. So, thank you, those who donated, and THANK YOU, Lord for providing this oportunity to shine your love and light to these children.

Guatemala City

Good evening! Today we had a super day! A group from the States is here (some left this morning), and we have had a great week. But for now, I will just tell you about our day today.



This morning we went to the cemetery in Guatemala City. The place is amazingly huge, and it looks like a mini-city. There we spent an hour with the children who either work at, or who's parents work at the cemetery. There are a few different jobs there, some of which are: planting flowers for the people who pay, doing cement work on the graves (all the graves are above ground, they do not bury the dead, but put them in a cement box above ground), painting graves, cleaning the garbage, ect. So a lot of these children go and basically live at the cemetery every day. Well, a friend of mine from the City started a ministry there, reaching out to these poor children who spend their days in the graveyard. They have a group ranging from 30-70 kids, each Saturday that they do the activity! So I was able to participate in this activity for the first time, and it was wonderful. You can see some pictures by clicking HERE.




After that, we ran straight to an activity in another part of Guatemala City, set up by Little Lambs International, for the Day Care that we are going to be opening in May of this year (Lord Willing). The activity was to basically be an announcing of our future plans for a Day Care so that the parents can start to fill in applications for their children. You can read a little bit more about the plans for the Day Care at www.littlelambs-intl.org. Anyways, we had a great few hours there with the parents and kids, with the air-filled trampalines, music, games, and contests for prizes. You can see pictures from this activity by clicking HERE.

We ended the day with a meeting about the orphanage and day care, so it was a busy, but exciting day, and a blessing to be working in the Lord's Kingdom! Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Confirmation 2008

Tom Lappi and his wife Lori arrived in Guatemala on December 11th, two years after moving away, back to OR. They had lived in Zacapa for 6 months in 2006, and were overjoyed to be back to their home away from home! They were back for 15 days, during which time Tom was to teach a Bible/Confirmation class.

They were the perfect couple to come and teach the class, being that Tom speaks Spanish VERY well, and tought 95% of the class himself, in Spanish! So that was a huge blessing for the students, to not have to listen through a translator.

We had a wonderful week of class, and the following Sunday, we had the confirmation, with 13 first time "graduates", and a handful of people already confirmed, that had attended all week with a desire to learn more. To see pictures from the confirmation class, you can CLICK HERE.

During the week, we also visited a village up in the mountain for a small service, and a few small villages around Zacapa, for house visits and small gatherings. In the Zacapa church, we had a Christmas activity where the Sunday School classes and youth group did a small Christmas program with Christmas Carols and Bible reading, and a message by Tom.

On Saturday the 20th, we attended a Christmas activity in Jalapa, where, together with a group of friends from Guatemala City, we distributed 200 shoe boxes full of Christmas gifts, delivered from the USA. Tom also had the opportunity to share a short message with the crowd of 250 adults and children, and after, we did a few songs with the children. So we had a busy, but very blessed week! To see pictures from the activity, CLICK HERE.

Tom and Lorri then ended their trip (and spent Christmas) in Antigua, a beautiful city, the old capital of Guatemala. I want to say THANK YOU to both of them, for their time, love, and for a great week, full of great lessons and blessings!! May God bless both of you!