Last Day in Zacapa

I cannot believe today was our last day of ministry. We headed to La Maquina to share the gospel.

A church from Maryland is hoping to adopt this village so we were laying the groundwork for them.

The bus ride was definitely interesting. What our driver can fit the bus through is truly amazing! We were all ready to jump out the opposite window if the bus tipped into the canal.

At the village, we split into groups for different ministries. Three groups went house to house sharing the gospel.

A woman named Elma is considering accepting Christ as Savior and Lord after Jessy gave her testimony. She wanted to share how God had changed her life so that God could change Elma's life.

One group met Eddie who had become a Christian four years ago. He was so excited to see us sharing Christ with his neighbors. Katy gave a Bible to a 4 year old who wanted to learn English by reading God's Word.

Oscar was a 23 year old who spoke English. He started walking around with the group to help translate the gospel. He asked us to leave tracts with him so he could share his faith with his friends after we left.

Scott prayed with Manuel, a leader in the church and community who has 10 children. Manuel then prayed for our group, our church, and our city. What a sweet spirit he had!

The rest of us stayed where the church meets, which was a shelter consisting of 2 x 4 posts with a tin roof.

We did manicures, read Bible coloring books, played baseball and other games, sang songs, and shared the gospel through face painting.

Hunter even shared the gospel with some of the children. I was so proud of him!

I had the chance to get to know one of our interpreters, Jennifer. She has only been working at Hope of Life for three days. She, along with her family, lives in the village where we were ministering.

The villagers do not have clean water anymore because the underground water level is too low for the well pump to work. They have to drink from the canal or purchase water from the store 30 minutes from their house. We will be praying that the church in Maryland will adopt her village.

During the afternoon, we visited the nursing home and Kelly's House (special needs) again. Many of us have become quite attached to the residents of both homes.

And, of course, the afternoon would not be complete without one last trip to the orphanage.

It's been so great for our people to choose the orphan they want to support based on a relationship they've built with them this week.

We had our own church service tonight after dinner. We started with testimonies from the day. It's one of my favorite parts of our day -- to hear how God worked in and through each person's life that day.

The main lesson was for us to (1) serve anyone, (2) love everyone, and (3) follow the only One.

We closed out the service by washing each other's feet. After washing our partner's feet, we told them why we appreciated them and prayed for them. We also did communion.

What a sweet and powerful service, a great ending to our time at Hope of Life!