Last week I had to leave the farm for a week and we were waiting on one young cow that still needed to give birth. I really wanted her to have her calf before I left. With less than 12 hours remaining until I was to get on a plane, I noticed that she was finally in labor. Of course she had waited until sunset, so I would be monitoring her in the dark. As I went to check on her the first time, I found myself praying, under my breath; praying that God would protect our investments and that the calf would be born quickly, easily and safely.
Beautiful, isn’t she? We have been blessed to have been traveling to Guatemala for a number of years as a part of a medical missions team. That little girl is one of the many faces that stole our hearts all of those years ago. She and others are the reason that we do what we do alongside In Jesus Name Medical Missions. We believe that we are called to serve and support the people of Guatemala and part of that mission includes the directive to feed the hungry.
We are so humbled to be a part of In Jesus Name Medical Missions and what they are doing in Guatemala. More than 10 years ago, this group started working in Guatemala by making a once a year medical mission trip. Doctors, nurses, dentists, and numerous others make this yearly trip to work and serve for 4 days and see more than a thousand patients in remote, poor villages. The team functions to show each and every person that comes to the pop-up clinics, Jesus.
As they are seen by the physicians and nurses, they are also ministered to spiritually. While they pick up their medications from the pharmacy, they are told that Jesus loves them. When they walk through the hospitality area, where clothing and personal hygiene items are given, they are hugged and blessed. The last stop of the clinic experience is to sit with the evangelical team, who through interpreters, offer to pray with each and every person for their illnesses and any other needs that they may have. At the end of each day, 200 families are given enough food to last for 30 days. That food will fit in a bag approximately the same size of the plastic grocery bags we use.
About 5 years ago, the dream and vision of In Jesus Name grew. They became a legal foundation in Guatemala and then began the search to purchase property. Collaborating with local pastors and churches, the plan was to build a feeding center that would service the 100+ orphans of the small village, El Tejar. That plan is about to become a reality! We are just a few short months away from the vision coming to life!
The Feeding Center, although incomplete, held its first service during the May 2019 trip. It was a wonderful time of celebration and beginning to see what had only been seen in minds and on paper. But now the real work begins. A team will leave at the beginning of December to assist in unloading a shipping container of furniture and appliances and moving those items into the building. A group from Mobile, Alabama plans to use the building as a mission house in early January while they are in Guatemala distributing shoe boxes with Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child.
Following the completion of the building, In Jesus Name will open the Feeding Center for service. The upstairs portion of the building will serve as a place for teams to stay when in the area either to work at the feeding center or in the surrounding villages. Downstairs will include a large indoor and outdoor eating area as well as a commercial kitchen and live-in staff housing. A meal will be served daily to the 100+ orphans of this small community along with the Word of God.
The mission of In Jesus Name is to keep and honor Matthew 25:37-40. ” ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “
One of the more recent accomplishments was the completion of the well. This well will supply fresh, pure water to the feeding center and beyond! We do not know yet the plan that God has for In Jesus Name here in El Tejar and in Guatemala. The future dreams include purchasing some of the surrounding property and developing those parcels to include an orphanage, a school and so much more!
The current need here is this, will you also choose to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty? Many will never travel to a foreign country to serve. Does that mean that they cannot fulfill the Great Commission to go into the all the world and serve? No! The opportunity to sponsor a child and support the work of God in Guatemala is just that opportunity. Some can go and some cannot; but those who cannot go, can send. You can support a child for less than a dollar a day. That money will feed a child a nutritious meal, provide pure water and also give them the chance to hear the Word of God and know Him.
We hope to spotlight more ministries on a regular basis. We would love to hear from you and the ministries that you support. Please feel free to reach out to us! ***Other than nominal administrative costs, nearly 100% of all donations go directly to Guatemala and its people.
That path is as narrow as it looks. It’s about 8-10 inches wide! It wasn’t made by a tractor or a four-wheeler, it was made by cows! Did you know cattle travel on paths? How in the world do those big girls manage to walk these small, narrow paths? I mean, our girls are some big girls! Yet, you can look at our pastures and in the most traveled places, you will find these skinny trails. This particular path above, leads from one pasture to another and crosses a creek. Sometimes, especially in the winter, the cows will travel this route twice a day. The pasture on the other side of the creek is used as a winter pasture and is full of rich, green grass. The grass is so full of nutrients that we can’t let the cattle stay in there for very long. So every day, they are led across the creek and allowed to stay and graze for 2 hours and then led back out. Summer months are different and they tend to go back and forth as their taste buds or their desire for a particular shade tree catches their fancy. But every time they go from place to place, they travel this route, and no matter the reason they are travelling, they will walk that single path. Why? They follow the leader. Others before them made the path. The path leads them where they want to go. They have learned to trust the path.
These days we are so determined to do our own thing and make our own way that we have ignored the benefits of the path that is already there. Many of us are only where we are today because of the path that was laid before us. My parents and grandparents lived a certain way and taught me values and beliefs and those things got me to where I am today. I had to walk the path to where I am, but they “blazed the trail.” I hope and pray that I am doing the same things for my kids. Even now, I hope that the life that my husband and I have lived has given our children a path to follow that will make their futures easier.
Sometimes, when the moms are traveling from one pasture to the other, we watch the babies. The calves have not yet learned the path and they run along side their mothers or even run ahead with their friends. The cows will call out to the calves, but the moms stay on the path. They know that at the other end of the path there is feed or green grass. The babies run off and get sidetracked and distracted. Often by the time the calves make it to the feed trough, it’s empty or maybe there just isn’t any room to squeeze in. Sometimes the calf leaving the path even affects its mother… when the calf isn’t in line with the rest and is off the path, a good mother will wait for her calf. This causes both the cow and calf to be late to feed and both miss out because of it.
The narrow path leads to food. The narrow trail leads to best possible place to get water from the pond. That narrow path leads to life. It certainly doesn’t look like the easiest way to get their either. It most certainly couldn’t be the fastest! Who wants to walk in a single file line to get there? Let’s all just run ahead, full tilt, without a care in the world! But the easy way, leads to destruction and that is the way that most will choose.
If you looked at that pasture, you would think that it would be so easy for the cattle to get from one side to the other across that wide open space. But out in the open spaces of the pasture, there could be holes that would cause the cattle to stumble and possibly be injured as they travel to their destination.
Today, choose the narrow way. Choose to walk behind those that have gone before you. Choose the path that doesn’t seem obvious and that everyone isn’t on. Maybe you have been following a crowd or making your own path; find a mentor or a trusted friend that can lead you along the path. Find the trail that was blazed with you in mind and stay on it. My prayer today is that you find yourself on the path that God has designed for you, in His perfect will!
I am also praying that we will blaze the trail for those that are coming behind us. We need to make sure that the path stays open and clear for them. Someone made the path for us. Let us not allow it to grow up and become hidden. May we keep the path worn and visible and show others the way. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord and He will direct your paths.”
