Our Arrival
Leaving Houston was
delayed by a thunderstorm, so arriving in Guatemala City an hour late made
our arrival to the house in Panajachel about 2:00 AM. Riding in the crew
cab pickup truck up mountainous curves for three hours was a new experience
that began with the words, “You may want to fasten your seatbelts.” Thus
was the beginning of our grand adventure under the direction of our host,
Jim Guffey, who knows how to “wait” on God for his next step.
The Man Without a Plan
Jim is one of the
kindest, most easygoing men I have ever met. When I talked to him by phone
a week before Christmas, I knew nothing of his concern for the people of
Guatemala, particularly the people in the towns and villages around Lake
Atitlán. In November he had called stating how much our website has
meant to him and he ordered an album. I sent him the album and added two
other related albums to his order.
When he called the week before
Christmas, he wanted to get three copies of each album, as Christmas gifts
for loved ones. Lucy, recognizing his voice, said, “Here, let me let you
talk to Gene.” We talked for over an hour and I found out a little about
his concern for the people in Guatemala.
In the following conversations with
him, he invited us to go with him on his next trip to Guatemala. Even
though I explained how much more expensive it would be for him to cover our
costs for being gone from our ministry, he didn’t hesitate to cover it all.
As is his way, he really didn’t tell us that much, which I would realize all
the more as people would quiz me about things to which I didn’t know the
answers.
Prior to our going, Jim kept telling
me that he had no idea what our agenda would be, but he knew Father would
reveal it to us as we needed to know. Now that just happens to be the way
Lucy and I live our lives every day, so it didn’t sound strange to me until
some “more sensible” person would ask me those annoying questions like:
“What do you know about this man?” or “What are you going to do there?” and
“Are you sure he will do what he promises he will do?” and many other
similar questions that never occurred to me.
Setting all the questioning aside,
Lucy and I just waited on Father to lead us as to what to do. Now couple
that with Jim saying he didn’t have a clue what was going to transpire when
we were there and you can see this was no ordinary opportunity to serve the
Lord according to some prearranged, committee approved, “normal” agenda.
Jim just kept assuring us that it would in no way be a time of vacationing.
He told us it would be a lot of work and he didn’t exaggerate about that at
all.
I found Jim to be quite delightful
and fully abandoned to doing God’s will “a step at a time.” Often he would
come into the house in Panajachel saying, “Guess whom I just met.” or “Guess
what we are going to do tomorrow.” And then he would proceed telling us of
a certain pastor or resident of the town coming into his life for the first
time and all kinds of things started developing. Day after day Jim would
get his direction from the Lord and in many cases it turned out to be much
more than we had imagined when we started toward the task.
The circumstances in Panajachel at
the time Jim invited us to visit were completely changed by the time the
visit took place. Different people were involved than had originally been
expected and the mission to the villages took on a medical flavor that had
never been done before in Jim’s ministry to these precious people. Jim met
many people in Panajachel at different times that would change the whole
thrust of our adventure in faith. It was the best example of SINGLEVISION
LIVING that I have ever encountered outside of our own lifestyle. It was
truly SPONTANEOUS LIVING just as Jesus lived when He walked on this earth
doing His ministry according to the immediate leading of His Father in
heaven.
Guatemala
Guatemala,
officially Republic of Guatemala (1995 est. pop. 10,999,000) is 42,042
square miles in Central America. The country is bounded on the north and
west by Mexico, on the east by Belize and the Caribbean Sea, on the
southeast by Honduras and El Salvador, and on the southwest by the Pacific
Ocean. The capital and largest city is Guatemala City.
The
Land and People
A highland region, where most of the
population lives, cuts across the country from west to east. The rugged main
range includes the inactive volcano Tajumulco, which is the highest point in
Central America (13,816 ft/4,211 m). The range is flanked on the Pacific
side by a string of volcanoes (some active), such as Tacaná, Acatenango, and
Agua. Volcanic eruptions, floods, and hurricanes have plagued Guatemala
throughout history. In the center of the range is Lake Atitlán, and south
of the highlands is the Pacific coastal lowland. North of them are the
Caribbean lowland and the vast tropical forest known as Peten.
The population is about evenly divided
between those of mixed Mayan and Spanish descent and those of purely Mayan
origin. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion, and there are also
Protestant (about 30%) and traditional Mayan minorities. Spanish is the
language of about 60% of the people; the balance speak indigenous dialects.
The literacy rate and per capita income are extremely low.
The Towns
Located about 1/2 way between
Quetzaltenango and Guatemala city is one of the most beautiful spots in all
of the Americas, Lake Atitlan. This crystal clear blue lake sits at the
base of 3 towering volcanoes. One pleasant experience was eating at the
Sunset Cafe in Panajachel and watching the sun set on the edge of the lake.
Panajachel is the largest and most
developed of the villages surrounding Lake Atitlan. Calle Santander the
principal street in Panajachel is loaded with souvenir shops.
Lake Atitlan is considered by many to be
the most beautiful area in Guatemala. In addition to the beautiful lake,
the lake and the cities around the lake are surrounded by large, vegetation
covered mountains as well as a number of striking volcanoes.
The town of Panajachel was our home base
for our mission endeavors. Panajachel is a colorful and lively, yet laid
back, beach town. One of the things that makes Panajachel so interesting is
its blend of people that stroll its streets. This includes Mayan women in
their traditional dress, the wealthy of Guatemala City who come here to
vacation or spend the weekend, backpackers, and hippies from the 1960s and
70s that appear to have visited but never left.
More than a dozen small towns sit on the
shores of Lake Atitlán, and all may be visited by boat. We went by boat and
ministered to a small group in a church. We showed two films and I gave
them the gospel through an interpreter. On another occasion we drove around
the rugged terrain to minister to their medical needs.
Near Panajachel, the town of Solola
had an interesting market. It was very colorful as all of the local people
wore their traditional dress. Many of the men wore cowboy hats, while
Guatemalan women use their heads to carry produce and other items. It is
really amazing the way they balance such loads (with no hands) while
carrying on with everyday life.
Divine Protection and
Direction
There were so many things that
transpired while we were there that it would be impossible to recite all of
them. I think it would be more valuable to tell you of a few providential
interventions that without Father’s protection could have turned out to be
total disaster.
From the very first night of our
arrival in Guatemala City and the long trip up to the highland area and our
safe arrival to the house in Panajachel we could see Father’s hand of grace
and mercy was upon us. The next morning the caretaker of the property
knocked on the door and asked Jim if he knew the tire on his truck was
flat. To our delightful surprise the tire went flat, not on the hairpin
curves of the mountains or in the areas infested with banditos, but safely
within the fenced confines of the Adobe (the name of the place we stayed).
It takes little imagination to see
what could have happened to the three people in the truck after midnight
driving through very dangerous areas. A woman who has never changed a tire
in her life, her husband who has a heart condition that proved limiting from
the first walk from the airport to the truck, and a man seemingly ignoring
the fact he suffers with Parkinson’s Disease, none of whom would have
handled the task well if there had been a flat on the way to the Adobe.
On another occasion, we had just
spent the day ministering medical aid to the people in three villages,
showing a movie at a church and were driving over the mountains to return to
Panajachel. The truck was loaded with supplies, equipment and a lot of
people (six in the cab and three in the truck bed). We were at what
appeared to me to be the top of a mountain ridge late at night. It was very
dark and I learned later a very dangerous place to breakdown, but breakdown
was what Father had in mind for us.
The truck made a strange noise as we
were going up a grade and around a curve. Then the engine just stopped
running. Jim coasted to the other side of the road to get under a lone
streetlight that was lighting a small store that was closed. As we came to
a halt I thought of an “X” marking the exact spot where the truck stopped
and I said, “Father knows exactly where we are stopped.” Two or three guys
from the back of the truck immediately jumped on to the road and began
running toward an on coming car (which I didn’t think was the wisest of
moves). Before they reached the on coming car, it turned left into an
uphill drive and stopped at a corrugated tin gate. As the man exited his
car to open the gate, our guys spoke to him in a native dialect, which I
think is called Quetschcal. The man didn’t speak English or Spanish.
It “just happened” that our guys
could speak his language. They told him of our plight. Being very late and
probably glad to get home the man, whose name was Julio, showed signs of
annoyance at the prospect of having to help us, however, it “just happened”
that, not only was he the associate Pastor of a church, but he even knew who
we were because we were to come to his church in the next few days. Of all
the places we would breakdown, we “just happened” to breakdown at the house
of a brother in Christ who “just happened” to be arriving home at that very
moment. Julio had us push the truck across the street up into his fenced
parking area. This way we were able to get the truck and all the expensive
equipment and medicine off of the dangerous road and stored safely in the
enclosure. As Jim puts it on his website (http://guatemalago.org/id48.html)
“At this point you must realize we had $3000 worth of video equipment and
over $2000 worth of medicines in our $10,000 truck. No way could we leave
all this all night unattended. No way could we have found a ride home at
this hour. Our phone had a dead battery even if we did have someone to call.
God is great!”
Julio then loaded all nine of us
into his SUV along with him and his son. He drove us all the way back to
Panajachel. We were so “lucky” to have all of this fall into place like it
did. Can’t you see that it would take more faith to believe in “luck” than
to believe the truth about Father’s loving care for us?
The next day Jim went to check on
the truck and found that it was the timing belt and guess what other
“co-incidence” occurred. Julio is a mechanic. He said he would have to
drive into Guatemala City to get the part and it would take several days.
While Jim was there the Pastor of the church drove up. Hearing of Jim’s
plight he loaned Jim his pickup to drive while Jim’s was being fixed.
There was another man with the
Pastor who was quite interested in what Jim and his team were doing. The
man is a pilot and his wife is a Registered Nurse. They are very interested
in seeing what Jim is doing and doing something like it in the future. We
don’t know what Father may bring about by still another man that he has
brought into Jim’s life. Time will reveal what Father is going to do in
this development of circumstances.
Conclusion
There is not time nor space to tell
you of the many personalities we met while in Guatemala. Hector, Angel,
Pedro, Antonio, Nicolas, Anna, Maria, and many, many more. God is doing
good things among unknown people by other unknown people; unknown to the
world, but not unknown to Father. Jim has an ongoing school and ministry
that continue even when he is in the states. It is run by the local people
that Father has put in Jim’s path. They teach English to the local people.
They show Christian movies and preach the Gospel as opportunities arise.
Please pray for Jim Guffey - his
health, his ministry, his vision, his walk with our Lord. As I understand
it, three years ago Father began showing Jim the truth that we teach and
what we call SingleVISION. It has been so good of Father to allow us
to see this lifestyle in action on the mission field.
“Stand still and see”
what Father is going to bring about. Expect good things from Him, even
though trouble will surround us. Remember, we will never be
TROUBLE FREE
in this life, but it is His will that we be
FREE IN OUR TROUBLE
as we trust in our God of Mercy and Grace.
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