Dedication Day

Good Evening to everyone reading this post.  If you you didn’t know already today we dedicated the houses we built.  If you have never experienced this, I’m Sorry because it is hard to explain the emotions that come from today but I will try my best to put into words how it went.

1st those who built the house spend time making sure the home is all in order before the families come in to accept their home (handing over the keys).  We bless the families with housewarming/love gifts they can use in their new home (It’s like Christmas for them).  The families shared how appreciative they were for the home and all we did, little do they know how much they are blessing us!  Then, we share how appreciative we are, a little testimony and lots of tears!  The gospel and love of Jesus is shared with every family member there.  After, they are asked if they would like to accept Christ into their life and join Him in Heaven for eternity.  Today all of our families accepted Christ!!  Praise be to God!!  Here is were the emotions were high, there are more emotions and joy then one can explain!  We came to love these families so it is a very joyous occasion! During this whole process we have team members outside of the house who are continually praying over the house, the families inside, the pastors and for the Holy Spirit to make himself known.  Thank you for all of your prayers as we have gone through these few days, without you we wouldn’t have been able to get through them.  Thank You!

My Experiences

These past few days have been a great experience. Today we used stuko on the houses! Believe me I think i got more on my body than oh the houses. It was a long day of work, but after that we got to paint the house and some of the kids came and helped out with the painting. After that we had some free time so I found a new game today, AVOCADO BALL, you throw the ball at each other and if you are hit you are it. I started to communicate with some of the locals and learned more about their families. Tomorrow is dedication day and i am excited to dedicate these houses to the families. But, the most that i have gotten out of this trip is seeing the people that are content with what they have even though they have so little. Can’t wait for the days to come, keep on praying, goodnight.

Thank you

Isaac Van Beek

things I have experienced….

While down here i have seen a lot of eye opening things, many of which you would not see in the states. We went through some obstacles to get down here (the devil tried to knock us down, but we did not let him) Last night (Sunday) we went and had a medical clinic in a village that was about 4 hours away. The ride down there was bumpy, long and squishy but when we arrived and got started and it was well worth the drive. As the night went on we experienced many new things. I was privileged to braid and paint the little girls hair and have them jumping all over me and following me around. later on that evening i gave my testimony to the village, something I would not normally do but i braved up and did it because I knew God was calling me to do so. Each and every day i can feel God working in my life. Today (Monday) we went to build houses for the families in another village that was an hour away. My group that I am working with is building a house for a 91 year old widow.  while building her house her grandchildren came out and were super shy at first but later on were all over Erin and I and let us paint their nails and they taught us more Spanish and even braided our hair. On this trip I have felt god working in my life and hope to have that same feeling through out the rest of this trip. Thank you for your prayers so far but we continue to ask for prayers as we have a couple days left. WE are not done here yet.  I can not wait to come back and tell everyone about this trip and all the things I have seen so far. God bless each and everyone of these people because the life they live is not easy so please pray for each and everyone of them also.

With love from Guatemala,

Tessa ❤

Hello Greetings from Guatemala! We are all doing well, but we are starting to get tired.
Yesterday we went to a very remote village. We gave out medicine to the villagers, The villagers have never had any sort of medicines at all – can you imagine living with out Tylenol or Ibuprofen?
They were shown a movie about Jesus life and then asked to except Jesus into their life. We prayed over them, sang with them,gave testimonies,and loved on them,played with the children and made relationships in Jesus Christs name. To give you an idea of how remote this village was….. it was 26 miles as the “crow” flies…..it took us 3 1/2 hours to get there, on very bad roads
even drove on a river bed. You know those roads that you see with really big ruts/wash outs. Then 3 1/2 hours to get home.We were very happy that the vans held together(lots of prayers) and that nothing broke off of the bottom of the vans. The experience was awesome!
Today we got to go and start on the 4 homes that we are building. We have 4 teams and each is building a house for a family. Today we got the frame up, sheet rock on, taped, mudded, and the cement board on, and the porch done. Left there by 3:30 to go back to the base, it takes us an hour to go there and back, but it is only 1 mile away (across the ravine). Oh, and we also had a
little “mudding fight” in our group. Tomorrow we mud for the 3rd time and then start with the stucco.Then on the third day we dedicate the house to the family – ours is a 91 year old tiny lady.
She’s not too much into helping with the building but we are impacting and making relationships with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

What a start!!

Hi everyone, man imagine if all trips started this way. But, there is always something good that comes out of this. God always has a plan, even today i saw him working through some of the people that helped us through some tough times! We had devotions tonight and shared how we saw God working in our lives, and most of our examples related to each other. Keep on praying for us, your prayers are being answered! Thanks again to all of you who sponsored me on this trip, I am connecting with God in new ways and growing deeper in my faith.

Thank you,

Isaac Van Beek

Saturday, July 23

Hello all, We made it to the base here in Guatemala, safe and sound, finally. We had a very nice meal and got to take showers,and meet new people. The roads here in need some MAJOR work – I cannot describe how bad they are. Dan(head dude) said they put new tires on every 2 years of they last that long. The road have jagged rocks popping through the ground. According to Dave(another leader) that was a mild road! Yikes!!
Also, I know where all the school buses go to die – here! They repaint them, put on lots of chrome, jack up the fronts and haul lots of people!! And I’m sooo thankful for Dan’s driving because people are crazy drivers, not too mention the motor cycles going in between the cars, trucks, and the 1 semi truck we saw. Tomorrow we will be going out to a clinic and help out.
Our last group left on time from Houston(6:50 pm) so will get in hopefully on time- it took us about 1 1/2 hours from the airport to get to the base. There are about 10 people coming in on that flight. Well, I am about done for the night – it’s been a long 2 days. God is Great!! We are here safe, happy, and healthy!

Team Maurice Reformed 2016

Watch here for updates from Team Maurice Reformed, July 22nd – 29th, 2016