GUATEMALA Baptist Convention Partnership by Mike Douris

One way to really understand one’s place in the universe is to take a moment and contemplate the massive nature of the church and how the Lord uses each member to achieve His will. David in Psalm 139 does just that as he reflects on the universe the Lord created and the vast wisdom and know ledge He possesses. As he is reflecting on the vastness of God he says in verse 5, “…Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

Amy Norton and I sat in the offices of The Convention of Baptist Churches of Guatemala preparing to sign a memorandum of understanding with Orphan Outreach and my mind went back to the year 2000 when I first met the former president of the convention very late at night in his home on the seminary campus. We prayed together and covenanted to work together as brothers in Christ to serve the children of Guatemala. Several months later that dear brother died of a heart attack and another brother in the Lord Jorge Morales became president of the convention. He will soon leave that position having been president for seven faithful years. He is such a humble faithful servant and dear friend to all who serve with him.

Another dear friend was sitting next to Jorge, Amed Bendfeldt who has just taken on the responsibilities of being president of the Social Ministries and Humanitarian Aid board. He has such a committed heart for the Lord and his country Guatemala. He has been such an encouragement in the formation of our partnership with the convention as we work with both the convention and several key churches in educational ministries in the slums of Guatemala City, a remote village called Pachux, and in a villiage destroyed by hurricane Stan called Panabuj. The manner in which the Lord brought us together and guided us to these projects and people has been amazing.

We all reflected on the grace of God before the signing and in prayer we made a commitment to serve hand in hand as one body – brothers and sisters in Christ to serve the least of these in Guatemala as “God prepared in advance for us to do.” Eph 2:10. As we signed the document and anticipated what the Lord has planned for our partnership the words of David came to my mind, “…such knowledge is to wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

We know there will be struggles, obstacles to overcome, battles to fight, victories and defeats, fear and courage but knowing beyond any doubt that the Lord will be our sustenance and our strength. He will give us wisdom, courage and hope. It will be by His will and His resources and the love He expresses through our lives that will go before us to reach those he loves so dearly. Our prayer and our hope is that many will commit to pray with us that this new partnership with The convention of Baptist Churches of Guatemala and Orphan Outreach will glorify the Lord and will be used by Him to bless the children of Guatemala.