Time to Cool Off!

The team has been canvassing door to door in 115+ temperatures, so I guess we can't blame them for wanting to cool off in the pool!



Even in the grueling heat, God provides us a reminder of his perfect creation.


Despite the out of this world temperatures, the team continues to prepare for Camp Wilderness!
We aren't sure what Bryan Franco, our intern is doing? But it looks as if the rest of the team is working hard!

Pray that God will use our team to encourage Josh & Ginger and their church members. And pray that God will stir the hearts of those who received information and bring their kids to Camp Wilderness, that they might hear the Gospel and come to know Christ as their Savior.

It's Going to be HOT!

Our team left this morning headed to Tulsa to catch a plane to Arizona this afternoon.

One Big Prayer Request - Pray for Cooler Temperatures - while they are there! This past week they have had outrageous temperatures in Arizona. It has been shared with the team that you sweat 26oz of sweat per hour! And Arizona was listed at the #1 hottest destination this summer!

Also, pray for the Canvassing and the Bible Club they will be holding! God is doing some amazing things at Church of Celebration and we are so excited to be a part!!

Arizona Trip 2007

Please be in prayer for our team who leave for Maricopa, Arizona Thursday, June 21st to work with Josh and Ginger Barrett at their new church plant, Church of Celebration. They just celebrated the one year anniversary of their church and God is doing great things.

You can see more about their church and their ministry at www.churchofcelebration.com.

Steve Boschen - Christa Boschen - Candace Bradbury
Brandon Ivy - Bryan Franco - Becky Gann - Joe Matott

Guatemala YouTube Video Report!

Thank you Eagles Nest!

Larry & Claire Boggs:
Thank you for the great trip! This group and all of HSBC are proud to be a part of your ministry in Guatemala! Thank you for allowing us to partner with you to share the love of Christ to those that you minister to.
Gary

Thank you to everyone that helped the group be able to go financially as well as for all the prayers for us before and while we were gone. We really felt them each day. But most of all I want to thank the team that went. I have lead teams of all age groups but this was my first time to lead a team of mostly high school students so I was not sure what to expect. But I want to say that I would be honored to take this team again anytime anywhere. They were willing to prepare before we left and do what ever was asked of them while we were in Guatemala. Of course it is always exciting for me to have people go on their first mission trip and on this trip we had 10. I truly feel that we have exposed our young people to things that will change their lives from now on. I know they will not look at missions and missionaries in the same light as they may have done before. They now realize the sacrifice they make to follow the call God places on them when they take their families around the world. Little things like street lights at night and nice smooth paved roads. We had such a great time going to the parks and schools and presenting the gospel and playing with the children at the Eagles Nest. For us to see these kids being loved by the incredible staff at the Eagles Nest was great to see. Meeting people like Marta and the rest of the staff there was an honor. Thelme fixed us great meals while we were there so all of us might have gained a few pounds. Again I want to thank everyone that helped us go thought prayers and financial support.

Thank You to everyone!

We would like to thank everyone for following our blog and praying for us while were we gone. We could especially feel the prayers last night when we missed or flight and have to stay in Atlanta overnight and not get home until this morning.

Guatemala boat ride to small town of Santiago

Note: filling boat with gas while we go across the lake, native fisherman, Cindy and native women doing laundry in the lake (because she would not do th zipline...not really), one of the volcano's from the boat ride

More Zip Line Excursion

Note: coffee beans, white-faced coatimundi, and monkee (with the banana in it's hand, not the ones on the zip line)

The Zip Line Excursion

This Afternoon's Outing

A hang glider over the lake right near the Eagles Nest.
Mikes Crossroads Café and Coffee Shop. Mike is the funniest guy you will ever meet and has the best homemade deserts and coffee you have ever tasted. But his stories are even better then his coffee and deserts. He also might be the same guy we got our fireworks from.
Larry, Ashley and myself eating our fish at supper.

Thursday Schools

The best thing is that before we performed the dramas Larry Boggs explained the dramas to them about what they mean. Then after we performed he would lead them all in a prayer of salvation.

Wednesday Schools

These are from one of the schools we went to on Wednesday.

This is why we came to Guatemala!

Jesus Loves the little children of the world...

"The Day of the Dead"

We toured a cemetery. Is was sad to see the way they make them so colorful and do not bury them in the ground but on top in concrete containers. They have a day of celebration each year they call the "Day of the Dead". Very said to see and hear how they celebrate this instead of Eternal Life. Seeing this made us feel our trip here is even more important to share about Christ.

Football or Soccer?

We played some of the national workers at Soccer. Or "Football" as they call it. They only beat us 8 to 3. But we know they were taking it easy on us to make us feel good.

Earthquake! All is well with our team.

We felt this earthquake, but it was not bad, and we are all ok. Initial indications are that the fireworks were not to blame.

Guatemala Firecrackers*

We purchased 13 of those firecracker bombs for the low price of $20US. It was a Blast!

Please do not try this at home, these are trained Missions Trip Proffesionals.

*The management and sponsors of this trip would like to point out that everyone was kept back at a safe distance, in a safe zone and only the Missions Pastor and Missions Committe member were the only ones allowed to "participate" in this entertainment from the native Guatamalan culture, everyone else simply observed from a safe vantage point.

Local fare, made from scratch.

These are from the house that we went to eat lunch at today. They fixed everything from scratch and let us help them make tortillas. It was awesome.
They also made tamales' from scratch as well. The daughter Marta works at the Eagles Nest.

Visit to a local school

Presentation at the school today. We did both dramas and sang our group song. Clayton and Nicole gave their testimonies.

Mt. Fuego Volcano

A closer look at the Mt. Fuego Volcano, the most active volcano in Guatemala.

Mt. Fuego Volcano

The Mt. Fuego Volcano is spewing steam in the background. Read more about Guatemala's most active volcano here.

The Name of the Orphanage is “Nido Del Aguila” or “Eagles Nest”. Eagle’s Nest is located in the town of Sololá. Sololá lies in the central highlands at 6,932 feet (2,113 m) above sea level. Sololá overlooks spectacular Lake Atitlán, a few miles to the south.

Lake Atitlán is located at an approximate distance of 144 kms. from Guatemala City. A fantastic view is created by the three volcanoes of Toliman, Atitlán, and San Pedro, which surround the lake. Lake Atitlán is considered one of the most beautiful places in the world because of its purity and natural beauty.

The Eagles Nest

These are pictures of the Eagles Nest as well as the views all from the Eagles Nest. God provided them this facility that was in bankruptcy about four years ago for about 25% of what it was worth.

Work Day!

Today was a work day and we painted and helped more with the children.

Sunday we went to three churches and did the dramas at each church as well as Cindy and Skyler sang and two of our young people gave their testimonies at each church. Troy Wolfe and Corey O'Grady preached at the services.

The gentleman in the middle with Cindy accepted Christ as his Savior in one of the church services Sunday! He was crying and telling Cindy how much her song touched him.

Well......you didn't think we wouldn't find a little time to have some fun!

Saturday we went to 3 parks and had at least 100 people at each place. At each park we did both dramas, sang our songs in Spanish, gave out Frisbees with the churches names on them and made balloon animals for the kids. Each park was located within a few blocks of each church. We also handed out tracks at all 3 parks. We don't know if any accepted Christ on Saturday, but hundreds were exposed and we planted many seeds.

The team has been great. We have been going strong and the kids just go along and do whatever we ask them to do.

As you can see, the taxi system is a little different in Guatemala, as well as walking your pet.......?



Typical Guatemalan Lady carrying goods on her head
Nationals singing This Little Light of Mine
As many parents and adults show up as kids do
They are precious in His sight......

Below are pictures of the people playing with the 500 Frisbees we gave out.

Even though we have only been here less then 12 hours we have already seen Gods incredible creation. The children at the orphanage where we are staying are precious. We spent the evening playing with them and read books to the older ones and just held the babies. I think many are ready to come home and try to talk their parents into adopting.

Take care and please keep us in your prayers.

Guatemala Mission Trip 07 Has Begun