What a great story I have to share with each of you reading this blog.
I am the co-leader for our trip to Guatemala leaving on Christmas Day at 5am. This means that for the past 6 months many lists have been made, sermons selected, international phone calls and translators scheduled, parties planned, crafts constructed, meetings with our team, money collected and raised, hours of planning for reservations and travel, etc etc. Mission trips involve much time and effort as you prepare to be Jesus' hands and feet in a third world country.
About the time this journey started, David Platt preached to our congregation about helping the poor and how God commands us to share. Dr. Platt encouraged each of us to take a hard look at ourselves and our material possessions. Great friends of ours, Robin and Jana Roberts, talked with us about donating funds for our trip. Robin told us that God had been speaking to him about giving lifelong gifts such as houses, property for farming, plots of land or something that the families could use for years to come. Robin asked us to check on how to purchase property or land while in Guatemala.
Of course, my wheels begin to turn and the search on google started for housing information in Guatemala. Each search produced information about cooking and stoves in the Mayan Indian villages around Lake Attilan. More research showed that most of the families cook on what is known as a three-stone fire. I found a construction team in Canada that travels each year to Guatemala to do nothing but build stoves. I emailed the "contact us" for information on the Guatemala Stove Project. The response led me to another source located in San Marcos, who selects families and schedules for stoves to be installed as they are purchased. I then began trying to connect the dots between how much do they cost, how do I transport them to Solola, who will build them, who will receive them, how will the family be selected and the list goes on and on. I had no idea where to begin to put this together and was very frustrated by lack of contacts and information. Little did I know (although I should have) that God was at work. He is in control of all things -EVEN STOVES in GUATEMALA.