Amatitlan Park Ministry 02-12-2009

I was excited to return to this town (Amatitlan)of about 63,000 people, nestled between the mountains about 1 hr away. As we got to the outskirts of town, I heard Manuel (who is almost always the driver) say that there was a lady he hoped pick up at her house. As best I could understand, she had some connection to an Alcoholics Annonymous type of group and she had questions. We picked up the lady, and I recongized her as a helper from vacation Bible school last fall. She led us to a building in Amatitlan with a sign that essentially said this was a residential home for alcohol and drug addicts. I soon learned that she knew the founder of this home and she wanted us to stop by this place to check it out as a possible new arm of our ministry. When we got there, the founder wasn't there, but we were warmly greeted and invited inside. The entrance room was lined with benches full of men of all sizes, shapes and ages. 50-55 men live in the home, and it seemed that we had the attention of nearly all of them. Manuel, who is ready to speak about the Lord at any moment, spoke to the group about us and our purpose in this new ministry. Then he spoke for about 30 minutes about the Lord. Oscar then gave his testimony, which includes how the Lord used his own abusive alcohol and drug using father in his life. When we left, I think we all felt like we'd just experienced something very cool. It wasn't exactly in our plans for the day and put us way behind, yet it was one of the Divine Interuptions that make life so much better.

We pulled up to our destination; a "park" which only consisted of a concrete slab with old basketball goals. Just as we parked our borrowed truck in front of a house, the door opened and I was envoloped in one of the best hugs I've had in a long time. It was Francisca, a strong Christian woman in the Lord and a faithful helper at vacation Bible school. We had bonded last fall and we had no idea that we would see each other until that moment. I hope I will remember the sweetness of that hug for a long time to come. She invited us into her home. She offered us soup, cheese (maybe from a goat?), tortillas, beans, and Pepsi. This was probably the food she would've used to feed her family for the week, yet she put it before us. We added to the feast our jar of peanut butter and 3/4 loaf of bread. We all ate and enjoyed time together. I'm sure the Lord will continue to repay her in tangible and intangible ways for her graciousness to us.

By 2pm the townfolks had gathered, anticipating our arrival. The adults gathered one one side, the children on the other. As usual, part of our Guatemalan team led the adults in a time of worship and Bible study, and the other part of the team worked with the children, repeating the activities and crafts that we prepared for yesterdays ministry in Buena Vista (the Bible story of Isaac).

The difference between Buena Vista (BV) and Amatitlan (Amat) was evident. Urban vs rural. Concrete homes vs bamboo and tin homes. By comparison, some were middle class, but some were obviously as poor as those in BV. All, however, were anxious to gather and hear about the Lord.

We are scheduled to continue this "Park" ministry in Amat. every Thursday. I understand that we are scheduled to return to a way different section of Amatitlan on Tuesday. I think this Tuesday ministry is based out of the home where Carlos lives (down a winding dirt road in the middle of nowhere). Remember Carlos? He's the El Salvadoran guy who was hired to dig a well for a family, in the meanwhile was secretly raping their teenaged daughter, and eventually fell down the well causing him to have his right leg amputated and spend the remainder of his life in wheelchair as a paraplegic. Yet, the Guatemalan family took him in and has provided for his care every day. I look forward to seeing Carlos next week. I'll tell you all about it.

I've loaded more pictures of this day in Amat in my facebook.