FAMILY RADIO MISSION TO GUATEMALA
January 8-20, 2003
Letter #1
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)
Thursday, January 9, 2003 By God's wonderful grace, Family Radio's group of 17 missionaries arrived at the Guatemala City airport last night. After a short night's sleep,breakfast, and a briefing to line out the work, we eagerly fanned out into the city on foot and by taxi to distribut the Spanish "Does God Love You?" tracts to the people of this Central American country. Our hotel is conveniently located in the center of this bustling metropolis of about 3 million souls.
We found the Guatemalan people to be polite, friendly, and extremely receptive to the tracts. As has been our experience in other Latin American countries, the people generally have a cultural respect for the things of God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible and are quick to take the tracts when they relize what the tract contains. We saw many people inturrupt their daily routines and immediately start reading the tracts. As others see the tract being read, they are encouraged to take and read one of them for themselves., and the process seems to feed on itself.
We have purchased 500 Spanish Bibles from a local Christian book store with funds donated by Family Radio listeners. The Spanish Bible we prefer to distribute is equivelant to the English King James Version, and there is money budgeted for additional Bibles if needed.
Right now, the weather is perfect for our tract distribution effort with temperatures in the mid 70's.
Additionally, many people use busses for transportation thus contributing to a lot of foot traffic in the busy shopping and business areas of the city and giving us direct contact with the people. We consider each tract to be a personal gift of the Word of Life to each recipeint: and thousands of people received this gift today. We are constantly praying that God will apply His Word to the hearts of those He plans to save in this part of the world.
All of our missionaries came in this evening physically tired from a busy day of work but praising God for giving us a productive and pleasant day in His service. We met several Family Radio listeners and all were glad that we were sending forth the True Gospel of salvation in their country.
God willing, our letter on Monday will cover our activities for Friday through Sunday.
"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." (I John 5:11-13)
In Christian love,The Family Radio Mission Group in Guatemala
FAMILY RADIO MISSION TO GUATEMALAJanuary 8-20, 2003
Letter #2
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Friday, January 10, 2003 We continue to be amazed by the very high acceptance (over 90%) wherever we hand out the Spanish "Does God Love You?" tract in this city. God has opened the door for His Word in a mighty way here, and we give Him all the praise and glory for how He is working through us to get the True Gospel of grace to the people of Guatemala.
There seems to be a great hunger for the truth of God's Word everywhere we go. An example would be people in expensive cars with windows up and air conditioners on will open their windows and reach out for the tracts. We don't usually get that kind of response in other places of the world. We also see well dressed business men and women hurrying along clutching their briefcases, laptop computers and talking on their cell phones all at the sametime while somehow managing to snatch a tract from us as they pass by. Typically we find that the higher a person is on the economic ladder, the less interested he or she is in taking a tract, but that "rule of thumb" does not seem to apply here.
The numerous and heavily armed security guards at many businesses, bus stations, and other public places are willing to take the tract and let us hand them out freely in their area of authority. Some members of our group got a preview of that permissive attitude when distributing tracts at the airport on Wednesday night while waiting for missionaries to arrive on later flights. Most airports don't allow the tracts to be distrubuted without a special permit to do so, but no one objected to that work here. One lady missionary shared the following example of this cooperative mood: While eating lunch in a large and crowded fast food restaurant I was moved to ask a lady manager for permission to hand out tracts to the other customers. She quickly said, "Go ahead" with a big smile, and we proceeded to distribute tracts to everyone there.
Additionally, the management and staff of this hotel have been exceedingly helpful, and some have become important extensions of our group by coordinating deliveries of Bibles, calling for taxis, and making various other arrangements to keep things running smoothly for us. Many hotel employees have requested and received Bibles and have been very grateful for the gift of the Word of God or "La Palabra de Dios" as they call it in Spanish. The hotel manager is a Christian who has been very supportive of our work, and also has given us a lot of information and has made various hotel facilities available to us without charge.
As is customary on these trips, we try to get access to some of the prisons to distribute tracts and Bibles, but everyone we spoke to about this told us that it would be impossible to get the necessary approvals during our stay. We were told that we have to submit a letter to the Social Director of Prisons and that it would take a minimum of 30 days to receive a response. However, because of the fact that many people were killed and injured recently during an uprising at this country's Maximum Security Prison and that one section of the prison is still under the control of the inmates, it was very doubtful that anyone would be allowed to visit any of the prisons until that situation was resolved.
Nevertheless, after much prayer we decided to personally meet the lady Director to seek permission. After getting through several levels of bureaucracy we managed to speak with her and learned that she, too, was a Christian. She said that she was grateful that we came to distribute God's Word to the inmates and asked if we were willing to visit the Maximum Security prison, which is located about 30 miles south of here. She said that getting Bibles and tracts to those hard core criminals was their only hope. After much arguing arguing and cajoling with various levels of the prison system herarchy, she was able to get the required approvals for us to visit the Maximum Security prison and another prison tomorrow. This experience reminded us of Jesus' words in Matthew 19:26. "... with God all things are possible." God is all powerful nothing can frustrate God's plan "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10)
We continue to thank and praise our Lord for all of these blessings for without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
Saturday, January 11, 2003 One of our veteran lady missionaries became ill and decided to fly home for medical treatment. We will greatly miss her enthusiastic and energetic work in the Gospel and we are praying for her safe return and quick recovery in accordance with God's perfect will for her life. Your prayers for this faithful sister in Christ will be appreciated.
We sent two men to the Maximum Security prison this morning. After many steel doors closed behind them as they entered, they were able to speak directly to the inmates about God's magnificent salvation plan in the section that is not controlled by the inmates. Our men were allowed to enter a large room filled with inmates, and they all listened intently to the presentation of the True Gospel. Each man was presented with a Bible, a tract and other Family Radio literature. Many of them showed great appreciation for the message and the gifts. Many of them told us that they had never heard the True Gospel before.
We visited a large women's prison and were escorted by the Director herself. We gave a brief salvation message to the inmates in several sections of the prison and gave them Bibles and other materials. It was a great joy to see the expressions of gratitude on their faces. One woman with tears streaming from her eyes told us she had been praying for a Bible and now God had answered her prayers. It was truly a heart wrenching experience for us as well. We thank God for those who have donated money to purchasse these Bibles.
Other teams continued to work all over the city, and our tract supply is dwindling rapidly. Another of our lady missionaries recounted the following example of the kind of reception we received in Guatemala: I was distributing tracts at the entrance to a very busy market in the town of Escuintla, about 30 miles south of Guatemala City at a rapid rate when I relized that I was in the midst of a young child's funeral procession that was slowly passing by. People were dressed in black and carried black umbrellas, and mournful music was played from loud speakers on one of the vehicles. Much to my surprise and delight, all the mourners politely took the tracts and smiled despite their grief. What a wonderful opportunity the Lord gave me to share the truth about life and death, salvation and condemnation with those people during that sad event. They too, will be confronted with their own mortality and question, "Are you ready to meet God?"
Sunday, January 12, 2003. After breakfast and a brief Lord's Day worship service, we again fanned out to various parts of the city to work. However, we found that traffic was light and that few people were out. In the afternoon a huge crowd gathered in a large Central Park located only one block from our hotel. People came there with their families from all parts of the city and outlying villages to "see and be seen." Many of the women and girls wore their colorful native dresses.
There was entertainment, food, and a festive like atmosphere with thousands of people who willingly took the tracts. Several evangelical ministries conducted preaching and singing programs which grew large crowds. Although we don't know what kind of messages the onlookers were hearing, many received the "Does God Love You?" tract. We all thanked God for bringing those people to us in such a wonderful way!
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
In Christian love,
The Family Radio Mission Group in Guatemala
FAMILY RADIO MISSION TO GUATEMALA
January 8 - 20, 2003
LETTER #3
"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." (Romans 5:10)
Monday, January 13, 2003. One team took an hour and a half bus ride westward over a mountainous road to Antigua today and distributed thousands of tracts at a large market and other busy areas. There is a sizeable population of foreign residents and tourists in that city (mostly from Europe and the US), and many of those people rudely refused the Does God Love You? tracts. However, the native people cordially and eagerly accepted our gifts in the same manner as we continue to experience in Guatemala City. The bus ride itself was interesting in that six people were crammed abreast into each 4-seat row, and the mountain scenery was spectacular. There are several dormant and active volcanoes in this country, and some of missionaries saw the hot lava at night from the air last week upon their arrival.
Another team was allowed access to the thousands of visitors at various clinics in the largest public hospital in Guatemala, while other teams worked in several areas of the city that had not been previously covered. Since the distribution rate remains high, we ordered 50,000 more tracts from the printer for delivery on Thursday.
One of our lady missionaries shared the following about her work: When I find a busy spot on the street where I can work for several hours, I like to establish a friendship with the street vendors in the area. They like what I am doing, and we develop an informal understanding that lets us do our work with the least amount of interference as possible. I also like to create working relationships with the numerous bus drivers and their "barkers", who help people on and off the busses and call out the destinations. I usually give the barkers a few tracts to hand to some of the riders, and when they come around again they ask for more, and the process continues. I often get many smiles, "thumbs-up" signs, and pats on the arm from the barkers to indicate their approval.
People who come into the city from outlying areas to conduct their business will sometimes ask us for additional tracts to distribute in their towns and villages. We usually give them a small supply if we feel they are sincere in order to get the precious Gospel of grace to many areas we cannot personally reach. We see God's hand upon this work in so many different ways on these mission trips, and we are constantly thanking Him for His powerful assistance.
Tuesday, January 14, 2003. Today was another wonderful day for us. Preparations for a large political event were in progress all around our hotel as we went out to work this morning. Many streets were barricaded and normal traffic routes were disrupted. Large crowds of people from all parts of this country were streaming into the Central Park, which is located one block away, and hundreds of police officers were on duty to direct traffic and keep order. We learned that a big political rally was underway for the outgoing president and his party's candidate for the presidential election to be held in October. By noon the huge park was overflowing with tens of thousands of people from every part of this country. Many were families of poor farmers and rural people dressed in their colorful native attire who arrived by bus- and truck-loads to show support for their party. A couple of our teams quickly sprang into action to give tracts to the people in the park.
The people graciously received the tracts as fast as our missionaries could hand them out. The demand was so great that each had to make several trips back to the hotel to reload their packs. All manner of people took the tracts regardless of age or occupation. The soldiers, policemen, security guards, political dignitaries, musicians, onlookers - literally everyone - put out their hands to take the tracts, and very few were discarded. The vendors and entertainers we saw last weekend were not allowed on the premises; but our group members - the only foreigners there and the only ones distributing any kind of printed material - were allowed to work anywhere in that crowded area for hours without encountering any opposition to their work. One of our group saw a large contingent of police officers and went right up to the chief and gave him a tract. They received permission to move through the ranks and gave out hundreds of tracts to the police with nearly 100% acceptance. We thank God for arranging that huge rally to coincide with our presence here and for bringing those people from all over the country to receive the tracts to take back to their homes.
On a smaller scale, but no less important, our other teams went to their assigned locations in busy areas of the city, and one man visited another prison. We received very nice letters of appreciation from the heads of the two prisons visited last Sunday thanking Family Radio for the Bibles and tracts that were distributed in those facilities.
One two-man team traveled to the small town of San Lucas, about 40 minutes westward by bus, to distribute tracts and Bibles. They were pleasantly surprised by the steady flow of people. After giving all the vendors tracts, one worked at the entrance to the market and the other walked around handing out tracts in the small stores and shops. It was this missionarry that was praying for God to guide him to some poor people who really needed Bibles but could not afford to buy them when a man walked up with his 5-year-old son and a Bible under his arm. The man shook our missionary's hand and said he got the Bible from him at the Central Park last Sunday. He said he lived there and could take our man to some poor Christians who needed Bibles. As they walked the sleepy streets to the poor area of town, the man handed out tracts on one side with our missionary on the other, and the little boy happily skipped all over giving tracts to people on the street and in the shops with a big smile on his face. We gave Bibles to several poor people. After lunch with the man and boy, our men returned to the hotel with much joy in their hearts for the nearly 100% acceptance of the tracts in that town.
Truly, God works in wondrous ways to accomplish His good pleasure, and we are extremely grateful for His giving us this opportunity to serve Him here in Guatemala.
"But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:4-7)In Christian love,
The Family Radio Mission Group in Guatemala
FAMILY RADIO MISSION TO GUATEMALA
LETTER #4 January 8 - 20, 2003
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)
Wednesday, January 15, 2003. Due to the large volume of tracts that were distributed at the rally
yesterday, we took all of our remaining tracts out this morning, and distributed them a slower pace to shopkeepers and out-of-the-way vendors in the downtown area. However, we were able to get 15,000 more tracts this afternoon as a partial shipment from the printer. The tracts were scheduled to arrive tomorrow (Thursday), but we received this first batch early due to the printer's excellent cooperation, and another batch of 15,000 arrived this evening. Because of this we were able to resume our usual tract distribution effort. The remaining 20,000 should be here tomorrow afternoon, as the Lord allows. Again, we have seen God's hand upon this work through His perfect timing of these deliveries. Working at a slower pace gives us time to make personal contacts and to search for people who really need Bibles. We each try to take at least one Bible out with us and pray that God will send someone to ask us for one.
One of our missionaries described the following such incident: When I handed a street sweeper a tract he pulled out a beat-up paperback New Testament to acknowledge that he appreciated the tract and knows about Jesus Christ. Although he did not ask for a Bible, I took off my backpack, pulled one out, and gave it to him. The look of gratitude on his face and the tears in both of our eyes are things only a true believer can understand. Our Lord continues to bless us in so many wonderful ways as we labor together with God in the construction of His temple (1 Corinthians 3:9), and we give Him all the praise and glory for what He is doing in the hearts of these dear people of Guatemala.
The people here are an interesting mixture of races and cultures but can be divided into two main ethnic groups: 1) the indigenous AmerIndians who account for about 45% of the population, and (2) the Ladino, which is a term used to define all non-Indians, such as Mestizos, Mulattoes, Africans and Europeans, who account for another 45%. Other Ladino minorities from many parts of the world make up the remaining 10%. We have found all of these people to be gracious, polite, friendly, and extremely receptive to the tracts no matter
what kind of religious beliefs they hold or where they are located.
Please continue to pray that God will do a mighty work of grace in the hearts of those He plans to save in this part of the world through the use of the Spanish Bibles and the "Does God Love You?" tracts that we have distributed here.
"For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hathbroken down the middle wall of partition between us;" (Ephesians 2:14)
In Christian love,
The Family Radio Mission Group in Guatemala
FAMILY RADIO MISSION TO GUATEMALA
LETTER #5
JANUARY 8 - 20, 2003
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" (Romans 5:1)
Thursday, January 16, 2003.Today, one team took a one hour taxi ride to the town of Barberena, which is located to the east of Guatemala City and distributed tracts in a large market and city park with the usual excellent reception that we have encountered everywhere on this mission trip.
Another team visited a large hospital complex and was granted access to the clinic waiting rooms, all the administration offices, the laboratories, and even the morgue and laundry rooms. Other teams continued to work in new areas of the city. No matter what the location the tract distribution continues at a rapid rate.
One lady missionary shared this account: There was some kind of protest rally that blocked one of the busy streets a few blocks from our hotel. Police, firemen, and military personnel lined the sides of the street to keep order. I walked down the line saluting each one and giving them a tract containing God's wisdom and knowledge of eternal life as if I was presenting a special award. Many smiled and saluted me back as they took the tracts.
One woman came to our hotel requesting Bibles, tracts, and Bible teaching materials for an organiztion that provides schooling, food, shelter, and medical services for underprivileged children in the outlying villages. She was also interested in learning more about the Bible through Family Radio's School of the Bible. Please pray that God will use His Word to touch the hearts of many of those needy children as they are fed the Bread of Life.
Friday, January 17, 2003. Today one team traveled by taxi to the town of Amatitlan, which is located near a beautiful mountain lake, while the other teams worked in busy locations in the suburbs of Guatemala City in order to distribute the tracts over a wider area around the city. We have only a few thousand tracts left and plan to finish our work here tomorrow. God willing, that will allow us time to praise God at our worship service on the Lord's Day, to study God's Word, and to prepare for an early departure to the airport on Monday morning.
This is our last report for this trip. By God's grace, we have placed a total of 250,00 "Does God Love You?" tracts and 800 Bibles in the hands of these gracious Guatemalan people. Please pray that God will grant repentance unto salvation to many in this part of the world and will raise up faithful men and women here to continue the work of the Gospel through the use of the biblical resources that Family Radio freely provides.
Our veteran missionaries, several of whom have been on many Family Radio trips to various places in the world, have all rated this trip as one of the best they have experienced. Every aspect of the trip, the hotel location, accommodations, and assistance by the management and staff, the wonderful reception to the tracts, the friendliness of the Guatemalan people, the ease of traveling throughout the city, the weather, etc.. have all been great.We thank God for His guidence and protection and give Him all the praise and glory for what He has done for us on this trip. We also thank the listener supporters of Family Radio for their prayers and financial support that make these mission trips possible. We consider our being "Ambassadors for Christ" a great privilege and honor and highly recommend it to others.
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe in him whom he hath sent." (John 6:29)
In Christian love,
The Family Radio Mission Group in Guatemala