We are at WAR!

Well, only kind of.  You see, we have a deck outside of our apartment and we absolutely love sitting out there to eat.  In fact, more times than not, we have our meals outside.  The view is amazing, the breeze is not too overpowering, the fellowship is just more "alive" when we can eat outside.  YET....yet, at night, we become under attack once the suns sets. We have a light on the outside as well.  Which brings in the June Bugs.  The kids simply cannot understand why they would come, given that it is still May.  However, come they do.  And then come the screams.  These dive bombing fools seem to have a death wish as the dive right towards us.  Hearing girlish screams from ALL of the kids, seeing hands swirling around forcefully to get them out of our hair, and having to double and triple check our food before we eat.

This adventure has not slowed us down from eating outside: we make adjustments.  We eat a little earlier.  We have a fly swatter ready.  We laugh it off when we can.

Isn't this true of life sometimes.  We really want something, but there is one small annoyance.  We need to make adjustments, plan and prepare, and laugh at ourselves.

                                                               How.bad.do.we.want.it?


Last week was Mother's Day and we celebrated the one and only Vicki.  A truly wonderful mother who can seem to do so much in so little of time.  So we went out to eat and with it being Sunday (which means insanity in terms of busyness) we went to the Pradera (fancy word for the mall food court).


Good times!!!!


Want to know what it is like to eat at Chimaltenango in the Pradera on Mother's Day?  Music and all at this link...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9K1DLM5sG8&feature=youtu.be

Sums our family up well now...two languages....LIVE MORE!

Emilee

AJ and Kira

Naomi

Beautiful Flowers and.....corn growing together!

Panoramic pic of Lake Atitlan near Panajachel, Guatemala

National Geographic says: 3rd most beautiful lake in the world.....yep!

17 people from the Chuaquenum church were baptized

beautiful colors

Day One...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq2Tp3asLU8

This new song by Matthew West sums it for us.  SO…

Before you continue on reading….go ahead and click on the above link and watch/listen to Day One by Matthew West.

We are down to less than 8 weeks left here in Guatemala.  We have had a lot of questions cycle through our heads in this journey that our family has embarked on.

Besides questions, we have taken note of various truths as well.

*We were called to come to Guatemala (for an actual season!)

*We always said that we would remain in youth ministry at our home church until we were called away (even though we never really gave much thought of what THAT would feel and look like when it was time to move on).

*We are truly called back to the States.  If there is any sort of running, it is into the arms of our LORD.  That same path that led us here to Guatemala is the same path that leads us back.

*Moving our family to a third world country that we have visited before was a leap of faith, BUT heading back to the States, yet not fully knowing what the “next step” looks like….now THAT is the leap of faith that this past year has been preparing us for.

*What is next?

As we proceed to finish well here in Guate, we continue to work on:

                        **The on site clinic organization and implementation

                        **Profiles for each pastor/church that is under the discipleship care

                        **Hosting various people that come to stay, visit, work, serve

                        **Update the painting (switching from flat that needs to be re-painted                                                                 each year, to semi-brilliant that can now be wiped down

Yet, the most important part is that we are doing what we can to live into the mercies of the Lord each day.  Each day is a gift.   We let the kids experience life in a third world country.  This means when we hear the words “I have it so tough” or “ I miss my friends” or “I have nothing to do”, we can easily share with them the world around us and then words seem to change to “God really does love everyone” or “how come they do not have……and how can I help” or “yeah…..pretty amazing”. 

We let imaginations go wild.  Like letting all of the kids make forts in the big room with chairs and blankets and then let them “sleep” downstairs, if you could midnight to 4:30 in the morning sleeping?

Each new day brings us closer to the next phase, whatever that will look like besides being in the States.  Each new day brings us His mercies and new ways of learning more of His heart.  Each day, can be and really is….Day One.

How are you living your day today?

~Justin

Cooling off on a hot day

capturing a rare moment....calm togetherness! 

Lesli and Emilee

first meal out on the deck with the "new" table...straight from a pallet

normal day

Happy Birthday Emilee

There are 6 kids in this photo...can you spot them?

Forts and kids and big spaces go well together...

Thoughts from the Last Timothy Leadership Training

As I type, Pablo is finishing up the last lesson for this first session of the Timothy Leadership Training for the 2017.  Man, can that guy TEACH!  The worship has been great, watching these pastors soak in the teaching has been incredible, seeing their faces and hearing their stories has been amazing.


If you have not done so, I HIGHLY recommend that you head to Facebook and check out the Paradise Bound Ministries page to view videos and photos from the weekend.

PBM has been in Guatemala for 18 years and desires to reach the beautiful people of Guatemala.  This has been done up until 2013 through house builds and medical clinics.  NOW, we enter into the era of including the pastor's training: TLT.

The first class was 19.  The second class was 21.  This third class is 23, and we have around 115 pastors on the waiting list!  The end of May finds myself (Justin), Dan, Hermano Jesus, Pablo, and Darvin heading to Chiapas, Mexico to help out with the first class of TLT there with another 25 pastors!

What we are seeing is when these pastors, who previously had no training and only the CALL of God, receive encouragement, theology, counseling training, and a deeper well of the Bible and the Spirit of God: They become alive! These men and women go from here to their home villages and share Christ deeper and more passionately.  We are seeing more people come to know Christ than through when teams come down here for the house builds and medical clinics.  Now, we are still called to the house builds and clinics, but it is clear that the pastor training is equally as important to who we are at PBM.

The thing that gets me is this: This is not in our budget.  Yet, PBM continues to go forth with TLT because we see the Fruit of it.  It costs us about $600 for each Pastor to take the TLT program for the 2 1/2 years.  We are able to handle two groups a year (class of 2016 and class of 2017 this year)...will lead us to about $12,000 a year that shifts into TLT.

Dream with me.  What would it look like if $12,000 came in each year for Pastor Training.  Do you know someone or some group that has that passion?  Do you know someone who knows someone?  I also go with the idea of this: What is the worst they could say...no?  I don't know if I do not ask.

I ask not personally, as it is true that my family will be leaving PBM's staff the first of July.  Yet, I have seen and felt and experienced first hand this ministry to and with the pastors.  It IS bringing people (MANY people) to a life in Christ.  You want to change Guatemala for the Gospel?  Get behind this.....what is stirring in your heart?  Prayer changes everyone....always, first and foremost, the one on their knees first.

Dios te bendiga y hasta pronto y con mucho amor!

Justin

Hola, como estas?

Hello, how are you?

The title is an often-familiar greeting that we give to one another.  This is no different here in Guatemala.  Hola, buenas dias?  Como estas?  You hear that just about everywhere you go.

So it is with great joy and sincerity that I share that expression with all of you:  Hello, how are you?

It has been a long while since our last post.  We have traveled back to the States to help with a fundraiser/awareness event for the ministry, connect with friends and family, putz around on the acreage, and share our hearts with various churches and groups, and individuals.  Alas, we (the Schrocktribe) are now back in Guatemala.

We are in the small break between the two Timothy Leadership Training seminars here at the base.  Each week about 25 pastors come here to worship, study, train, grow, and develop.  Exciting is hardly the word to use.  Our family simple acts as host at the base, I (Justin) led one devotion, and then chat with the presenters in between their teaching….oh…and we eat ALL GUATEMALAN FOOD.  It is amazing!

As we reflect on our family’s experiences this past year, we are amazed.  We had felt the call to come here a few years ago, but it was not entirely clear.  We were content and felt like we still had a role at our home church in youth ministry.  We always said that we would stay there until God would call us out.  We had a hunch that the next calling would be in Guatemala.

In September of 2013, our Church went through The Story together and on the last Sunday in September the message was on Abraham and his following the Lord.   We, Vicki and I, were mulling over, “is it time to move on”.  We had chatted with only 3 other people…..yet on that Sunday we heard: So they left.  Only 3 other people knew what was in our heads….not the pastor, not the youth group, only three close friends.  Yet we heard it: The Call.

This passage is taken from Genesis 12:4 when Abram responded to the Lord’s calling.  He, and his wife and nephew Lot (hence the they) went to a place that they did not know, only to follow the Lord. 

We heard those words that day: So they left.  So we began the journey that we find ourselves in….Guatemala.

Yet, in the journey of following God, which I pray that all of you desire to do, we need to be aware of two types of callings:  A Life-Long Calling and a Calling to a Task.  I had to learn this in my years of ministry.  My vocation is my life long calling.  My job is my calling to a task.

Acts 16 sets this up beautifully.  Paul (called to be a Missionary to the Gentiles) heads out to share God with a man from Macedonia.  After spending at least four weeks in Philippi and was beaten and flogged and thrown in the inner cell, THEN he gets to share the Gospel with the jailer and converts him and his entire family to Christ.  Then in verse 40 we see these words: Then they left . 

Their task was done……

For us a  Schrocktribe, let us be the same…..in September we heard and answered: So they left.  Yet again, we hear that same mysterious calling:  Then they left.  We will answer that call.  We share this with you, to let you know…..we are moving back to the States July 1, 2015. 

After much prayer and soul searching and listening, we see and sense (having confirmation that we were to come AND confirmation that we are to return) we will be faithful yet again and return to the States.  Vicki has a job/ministry in the field of nursing and serving the under served.  This opportunity will be within her gifts and passion and a benefit to our family.

I remain open to the Lord’s leading.  I still enjoy youth ministry, discipleship ministry and helping men and women called into ministry to further explore their vocational calling. 

As a family, we see the overall need and direction is to move back.  This has been a difficult process because we hold much love (still) for the ministry and people here.  We still HIGHLY recommend people to come to Guatemala with Paradise Bound Ministry.  We believe in what God is doing in and through the ministry here.

Yet, for the Schrocks, let it be said of us: So they left and then they left , ALL in God’s plan and timing.  We thank you for your prayers (oh how we thank you!!!!).  We plan to continue this blog to share God’s movements and devotions and our hearts.  We are not done yet.  We still have a few more months here.  Join us in the great unknown WITH the Great I AM! 

~Justin

Tuesday Fun

So it has been a while since we last posted.  We are now back in Guatemala as a family.  We are even in between the two Timothy Leadership Seminars.

School Work is done.  The Clean up is done.  There are no teams here.  So what do the kids do to keep themselves entertained?  Aj writes, directs, and produces a short video with Caleb and Emilee.

The joys of self-entertainment bring entertainment to us all.


ENJOY



https://youtu.be/UoOxpL8hQX8

Copy this above link in your web browser and have fun!

We welcome the next group (the 2017 class) of pastors in the Timothy Leadership Training tomorrow.  We will keep you posted when new adventures occur.  Thank you for your continued prayers!!!

~Justin

Hungry?

Another medical clinic was about to begin.  Today’s beginning had a few challenges.  The entrance into this school was a short steep embankment that all 3 vans drove right up.  The schoolteacher had not allowed us to use the classrooms so we set up shop under the awning of the school, this set up worked but it was tight for both lines of people to work through the clinic.

I was completing my normal tasks at the clinic of setting up the med boxes, scanning the crowd for anything medically abnormal, taking blood pressures and checking blood sugar.  I also was watching the Dentist that had come on this team from Keokuk Iowa do his magic on teeth that were in desperate need of attention. As a team we were about 75% through the line that had formed in Patzun, Guatemala. 

The next person in line caught my eye.  This man was relatively tall for a Guatemalan, although he was literally skin and bone, his hair was brittle, and his eyes were sunken in.  This man is sick!  I quietly walked behind Dan, a fellow missionary, and began eves drop  I looked at the paper that records age and meds needed, WHAT, he is only 32, he looks like he is about 15 years older.  My thought was, “what is wrong with this dude?”

ping on his conversation.

Not only did this team come with a dentist, they also came with a doctor.  After gathering some information from this patient, Dan turned around and began to spill all the usual info with the Doctor and myself.  The first thing out of Doctor Tammy’s mouth was HIV or Hepitits.  My fear had been confirmed this man was in trouble.  A few more probing questions were asked, but some of the information wasn’t quite adding up. 

To confirm diagnostic suspicious blood work was needed.  This man, Juan Carlos, was admitted to our long term patient care program.  He proceeded to the back of the clinic to receive the meds that we did have to help him.

Next in line was a woman with a bunch of kids.  It came out that this is Juan Carlos’s wife and kids.  Again my brain said, “WHAT” why didn’t they come through as a family?   Whatever, it is what it is.

After the patients had been seen, our medical team gathered with Juan and his family to make a plan of when he could return to receive the exams that he needed.  After some interesting glances for Juan’s wife, it was decided he would come back on Wednesday, one of our staff would return to the village and pick him up because Juan was unsure how to navigate the bus system. 

Thursday came and Yohanna went with Juan to Obras, the hospital they arrived at 5 in the morning to get in line for the doctor.   Blood work was drawn, Doctors were chatted with, and stories were shared.

The blood results were picked up on Friday and our mind was blown.  All blood results were normal.  “WHAT.”  Normal, was as Normal can be, no HIV, no Hepatitis, no infections.  Why did this man look so…terrible?

 As the words fell out of Yohanna’s mouth, my skin started to rise with goose bumps, my mouth fell open and my heart broke.  His wife and mother-in-law were starving Juan because they didn’t / don’t like it that he is a Christian.  WHAT this man is being starved because he is a follower of Jesus?  WHAT, he is anorexic because he loves my Jesus?  What, Juan has lived in hunger because he was hungry for salvation?

Juan and His family

Juan is currently living with his sister and being feed with food and gaining weight. 

He is also celebrating Easter this Sunday and being feed by the Holy Spirit spiritually. 

AM I willing to approach my Jesus with hunger?  Am I willing to stand up to surroundings when I am being persecuted?    Do I love Jesus more than anything or anyone?  Lord please let me follow you with the dedication and determination that I need to meet the challenges you place before me!

LORD, please feed me!

What does it look like to plant a seed of faith?

Yesterday (Saturday) I was able to head back to the Coban region with Pablo, Hermano Jesus, and Isidrio.  We were to meet with Daniel, a regional pastor that oversees about 60 other pastors.  We were going to their latest gathering to share about the Timothy Leadership Training ministry that we are connected with.  TLT is one side of the many ministries down here at PBM that many people are not aware of.

When people think of the mission trips to Guatemala with Paradise Bound Ministries, they think of the houses builds and the medical clinics only.  As these areas are a huge part of what we are all about....the evangelism.......

The Timothy Leadership training would be the other side of the coin.....the discipleship.  When teams are not down in Guate, we help locate and train pastors to be the best that they can be.  We add a little gas on the fire that they have for and with Jesus.  Please do some research on Timothy Lay Institute based out of Grand Rapids and you will see that it is world wide and doing wonderful things!  As of now, we are the only inlet they have into Guatemala......



So, on Saturday when we shared what TLT is all about and showed some videos and heard some resounding "AMENS!", we knew something big would be coming down the pike soon.

2014 class  had 19 graduates
2015 class will have 24 graduates
2016 class will have 26 graduates
waiting list.....currently 150+ pastors!!!!!!!

We already are seeing some beautiful fruit from Guatemalans sharing with other Guatemalans the FULL MEASURE of Christ's love!  This part of the ministry is currently not funded at all.  It costs us $600 a year per students for multiple training times, materials, and retreats.  Has that stopped us from doing it? No.
It takes time and prayer.

We met with 65 pastors who all said: "we want more of what Christ has to offer!"

Can see that with time, and prayer, there will be fruit as the seed is looking to be placed in good soil....rooted in God's Word!

excitement with FUTURE Timothy Leadership Pastors....