On our last day of ministry, the team went to a local village in San Lucas. This village is under immense poverty, most people live in homes that would be illegal to live in stateside. No running water. Dirt floors. Open stoves that flood the house with smoke, homes with many children inhaling carbon monoxide.
However, it was here that our team saw the Lord move in mighty ways. Here are three stories.
1. Pastor Dan Goble:
“The first was a man named Robert whose wife recently left him, when we entered the village we were blown away by the living conditions and the quality of life. We came to donate socks, Bibles, and toys for the families as well as sharing the gospel but prior to sharing the gospel we washed their feet as a way of showing Jesus to them and humbling ourselves as a style of servant leadership. All the teens were washing feet and I was looking for somebody to wash and I saw Robert and saw that he was watching but he was not participating. When I approached him he didn’t seem interested so I put my hand on his back and moved him forward. As I washed his feet he was deeply moved in way where he said that he was not worthy for us to wash his feet. I explained to him that it was a honor and that I was a Pastor. I shared the gospel and he received Jesus at that moment, soon after I gave him a Bible and challenged him to read it to develop his new relationship with Christ, he was truly excited.”
2. Patrick Hewes:
“On the Topic of feet was in my opinion the best ministry we did all week, washing these people’s feet. It is great to humble yourself and realize if you really are a Christian that you are a servant unto the lord and that is awesome. So washing these people’s feet did exactly that to our team.
You see in Guatemala theirs is no such thing as a man doing something for a woman. For many women they have never been served by a man, which made preaching to them so easy, because when we washed their feet we did something that no one without god would go out and do. So when it came preaching time so many hands were raised, it made me want to cry, and all of us tough men don’t cry so it was pretty impressive. I mean I carried 20+ pounds of bibles on my back and we were running around trying to find bibles because we ran out.”
3. Pastor Dan Goble:
“I took one of my teens and we entered a house where we met Jessica who was 20 years of age and had Polio. She could not move her body but her smile illuminated the room.
She lived in a shack that was full of bugs and smoky from a bad heating source that was slowly decaying her life. Jessica had not left that shack for 19 years and when I started to wash her feet I was deeply moved because I saw a joy in her that could only be described as Christ indwelling inside her. Regardless of her circumstance she was smiling because of her joy in Christ. I will never be the same after that experience and I saw strength in her that I have never experienced.”
For our team, the time spent with the forgotten is not something that will easily be…forgotten.
(Photo Credits: Village of Hope, villageofhopeguatemala.com
