As I write this final blog post, we are flying somewhere over Mexico. We have officially left Guatemala – a fact that is still not yet real to me. It is hard to believe that it was over a month ago that Rachel, Sophia, and I sat around a table at a hotel in Guatemala City with Greg, Tim, Bart, Dr. Jacobo, and Hector, preparing for the pastor’s conference. And it seems unreal that we are only hours away from returning to our previous life of tight schedules, school, work, bills, and numerous other seemingly meaningless worries of American life. For the past several days I’ve had the words “No quiero salir” (I don’t want to leave) stuck on repeat in my head. From our first few days in Achiland, I knew I was going to love every second of our time there, but it wasn’t until our last few days that I really began to realize just how much I love the Achi people, and the OR4 crew in particular. Over the past month, Hector, Eder, Marvin (guitarra), Marvin (tarde), Daniel, Evelyn, Karla, Adela, and Tanya, have become our family. You know you are truly united in Christ when people who live hundreds of miles away in a foreign country who barely speak your language (and you barely speak theirs) feel closer than family to you.

The last month working with OR4 has been one of the greatest of my life. I’m not sure if they realize it, but the OR4 guys have ministered to us just as much as, or more than, we collectively have to the Achi people. I have never met anyone who knows better what it means to fully trust in Christ – be it for their next meal, or for their next possible opportunity to show Christ’s love, for which any of them would gladly give up that meal. They live out the Gospel with every breath, and God is truly using them to spread His glory broader and deeper among the Rabinal Achi. Having the privilege to partner with their ministry was both humbling and edifying, encouraging and convicting, eye-opening and heart-breaking, and God has used it to change my life in a way I will never forget. To Him be praise, honor, glory, and power forever and ever. Amen.

Daniel, Evelyn, Alfredo, Karla, Eder, David y Maria, Marvin (viejo), Rachel, Me, Marvin (tarde), Sophia, and Marvin (guitarra).

Before we left the states, we had expressed some worry about our lack of a concrete schedule. We were worried that we would just be sitting around the kitchen table at the YWAM house bored for 4 weeks. Yet, we trusted "the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will" to provide the ministry opportunities that He "prepared in advance for us to do." As it turns out, God's got a pretty busy schedule, and ministry never sleeps. Let's just say, we had nothing to worry about.

Working with OR4, we have been doing outreaches in various nearby villages almost daily, sometimes spending the night in the village for two solid days of ministry. These outreaches can include visiting the homes of locals to pray with them and invite them to local church events, attending local church services, leading worship through song and giving testimonies at those services, hosting bonfire services for youth, just meeting and hanging out with new friends, and whatever the local pastors have for us to do. This week we made a bit of a transition from working with the OR4 crew to joining a medical team from Georgia in their clinics. I have found myself not quite as useful as in the DSC medical clinics, but it is still a great experience. Those of us with no real skills just end up playing with local kids and such. It's great fun. 

We have been so busy that I've been fighting off the same cold for a couple weeks now. I just don't have to time to get the proper rest necessary for recovery. Even our "days off" somehow end up being just as action packed as any other. On our day off last week, we all went to a waterfall called Chilasco Falls. It was pretty sick. The water was freezing, and the hike was incredibly difficult. Just what I needed to start my recovery. It was so worth it though. Hidden somewhere in the middle of a rainforest, it looked like something you'd see on the Discovery Channel. Or in Jurassic Park. It was definitely one of the most fun things I've ever done.

Saturday we (and the OR4 crew) pack up our things, leave San Miguel, and head for an orphanage in Guatemala City. We are all stoked to get to play with the kids and help point them to Christ, through whom they can be adopted by a Father who will love them and care for them far better than any earth father ever could. Cute kids abound in Guatemala. Unfortunately, we would probably have a hard time getting through customs with our bags packed full of orphans. Rachel might try anyway though. After a few days at the orphanage, we will have a much needed day of decompression/relaxation in Antigua, which is somewhat of a tourist city. It is supposed to be beautiful there, and I hear the market is huge. Which is good, because when 1 dollar = 7.5 quetzales, your money goes a long way, and I can hear a super sweet Achi machete calling my name. 

It's hard to believe that a week from tomorrow we will be back in Albuquerque. I think we're all just trying to forget about the reality of having to go back to our jobs and schools and worries of all kinds. Let's not think about it. Thanks for reading everyone. Sorry I couldn't give you an in depth heartfelt story of some kind. I only have time for this general update. There will be plenty of opportunity for coffee and story time with each one of you when we get back. Until then, just watch these videos. 

Peace.

Friends,
I have been slacking on my blog updates lately. I apologize. Life has been packed full of ministry and we have hardly had a second to rest. It is too late for me to write a post tonight, and we have a completely full schedule tomorrow, so I'm just going to point you to Sophia's blog instead. She has written a couple posts since my last post, and she is a much better writer than I. If you are interested in what has been going on with our team in Guatemala, please visit her blog at http://chomfeet.blogspot.com/. Also, you can look at numerous new photos on my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/brian.whippo.3. I do hope to have a new post up sometime soon, so don't give up on me yet. Thank you all for your prayers and support.
Brian

Peeps,

Here's a summary of our first day of ministry with OR4:

We had a great time working with OR4 yesterday. We got to San Nicholas in the afternoon. We were dropped off at a Nazarene church where we prayed and sang before beginning our ministry. We split up into 3 groups and walked around the village for about 2 hours visiting homes, praying with people, and inviting them to our bonfire-get together-shindig that evening. Everyone we visited was so happy just to have us there. As soon as they saw us coming they always ran to gather all the chairs they owned for us to sit on. Many people asked for prayer for illness, family problems, and spiritual growth. One girl even asked for help accepting Christ into her heart. Her mom gave us all cucumbers as a "thank you". At around 6:30, we walked down to the park to find a surprisingly large crowd of locals. We lit the fire and kicked off the evening with a few songs. Rachel gave her testimony, and then Omar (a pastor from Salama) gave a quick but solid teaching.

(Rabbit Trail Alert)

I am glad God has raised up someone like Omar to minister to the Achi full-time. He is not afraid to address the spiritual issues at hand and preach the truth. It seems that a lot of the Achi churches have many of the same issues as American churches. One issue that seems to be reoccurring here is that many of the Christians want to put on a "spiritual show". This is difficult to explain, because I do not know what is really going on in their hearts (maybe I'm just being insensitive and judgmental), but I think I see it for what it really is because I am often guilty of the same. It is most obvious in prayer. It seems that some of the Christians here were taught to force themselves to become overly emotional, to the point where they are weeping, and just repeat the same things (like "God you are great") over and over to try to prolong their prayers. Certainly Christian's should be emotional about the relentless grace shown to them in Christ, but it seems as though it is thought that their prayers are not valid unless tears are shed. In a large group setting, this is compounded as many attempt to "out-spiritualize" others. Does this sound familiar? Ya, it happens all the time in America, and I think it's exactly the kind of thing Jesus warns against in Matthew 6...

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others... And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

Luckily this is one of the things Omar addressed in his teaching last night. I write all of this with some hesitation, because maybe it really is all legitimate. I have seen that these people truly know what it means to fully put their hope and trust in Christ. They don't have material things to appoint as their gods as we do in America. They have to constantly trust in God that he will provide everything - even their next meal. Maybe their hyper-emotion is simply the natural response to the fully-realized goodness, love, and mercy of our God. Regardless, I think one thing is sure: we need more of Omar's Mark Driscoll-style conviction in America.

Anyways, after Omar's teaching, we went back to the Nazarene church to hang out with the locals for a while while we waited for the bus. The bus picked us up and took us back into Salama to visit Omar's home church, where his father is the pastor. We had a great time meeting his family. They are solid. We are hoping to attend one of their services sometime before we leave. 

We got back home around 10:30, and I was worn out from the long day, so I went straight to bed. I'm writing this the following morning (Friday). Today we are going to do some ministry stuff in San Gabriel. Once again, I'm not really sure what it'll look like, but I know it'll be great. I'll tell you all about it as soon as possible. 

Friends,

The first half of this week has been great. We have finally gotten to settle into our home in San Miguel. Sunday we went to the church of Pastor Elias. It was a great time. We were welcomed by all and somehow ended up leading most of the service. Pastor Elias invited us to lead the congregation in a few songs and then asked Sophia to give her testimony. I was actually most impressed by their music. Not the quality, but the content. They had an entire hymnal (not bound and published, but printed on computer paper) full of deep theologically rich songs. Pop Christian music has plagued many churches with poorly written man-centered songs that have bad theology, lack any depth whatsoever, and produce nothing more than a superficial emotional response. This was not the case with Elias's church, and I praise God for that. In a biblical liturgy, gospel-centered songs are just as important as gospel-centered teaching.

Monday we went to the market in Salama. It is just as you picture it in your head. The downtown streets lined with rows of tents with vendors selling every handmade/homegrown commodity you can imagine. It was a blast. Believe it or not, the most memorable part of the trip was the bus ride to and from Salama. The buses around here are very... efficient. Since each passenger pays 2 quetzales, the more passengers they fit on the bus, the more money they make. To make matters worse, they are actually called microbuses - because they are not buses, they are vans. On the way to Salama, they fit 22 people into a 12(ish) person van. I found my self pressed up against the window, gasping for air, trying not to get too "acquainted" with the sweet sweaty old Achi lady next to me. It was quite the adventure.

That evening we had an OR4 meeting at our house, since we will be working closely with OR4 for the remainder of our trip. In english, OR4 stands for Operation Reconciliation, Restoration, Relationship, and Rescue. It is the local ministry that our brothers Hector and Eder run. It is essentially a city-wide youth group that focuses on missions and evangelism, however they have recently expanded their horizons to include other sorts of ministry as well. The meeting gave us a more clear vision of what the rest of our trip will look like. Lots of youth ministry! Personally, I will be spending a lot of time leading worship though song (which is probably not a big surprise to most of you). The past couple days I've been meeting with my Achi amigo (achigo?) Marvin, who also plays guitar and sings. In the past few days we have learned 10 songs in Spanish and 1 song in Achi. This picture was taken right after I put some new strings on his guitar (which used to belong to Greg). He was pretty stoked. I was too.

Today (Wednesday) we got up early to go to breakfast at the Barreras. Rodrigo Barrera and Marvin Gibson (abuelito) had to go to Guatemala City for a meeting with the Faith Comes by Hearing guys. Meanwhile, Sophia, Rachel, and I helped Carol tutor her English students before lunch, and then after lunch we went to the school where Irma teaches to help her with her English class. It was actually a lot of fun. Her class was made up of about 20 students of all ages. The three of us introduced ourselves, explained why we were in Guatemala, and spoke with the students in English to try to develop their ears. When we were leaving, one student, a man who was almost 50, stood up beside his desk, welcomed us to Guatemala and said "Thank you for helping my people" in English. Those words hit me like a ton of bricks, and I still can't get them out of my head. My prayer is that he would ultimately not thank us, but instead thank God. We can provide temporary physical aid, but we cannot save his people - only Christ can. We are hopefully visiting Irma's class again Friday. I can't wait to talk with him again and find out what he believes.

Tomorrow is our first day of ministry with OR4. I'm not sure exactly what it'll look like, but I am pretty excited. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow night (hopefully). Please continue to pray that God would use us to spread His glory broader and deeper.

Gracia y paz

Brian

Hola,

First of all, I am very glad you are reading my blog. It really means a lot that you are interested in the incredible things God is doing in Guatemala. Beginning where I left off last time…

So, Saturday afternoon we finally made it to San Miguel Chicaj, where we will be spending the majority of our time in Guatemala. A wonderful woman named Kathy Archer, who works with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), has allowed Marvin, Sophia, Tanya (a missionary from Mexico), Rachel, and I to live in her guest house. There is no running water, but it is nice to have a place to call home for a while. We actually got to unpack our luggage and settle in. The water issue isn’t so bad, we just use rainwater collected in barrels to bathe, and we just dump a bucket of water into the toilet to flush it. Unfortunately, the water pipes in Guatemala can’t handle toilet paper, so we have to throw that in the trashcan. It gets stinky.

Saturday night, we met up with the medical/physical therapy team (who had just flown in) at dinner to get organized for the upcoming medical clinics and to pray. Sunday, we had the privilege of going to the church of Pastor David Ixcopal. We had to cross an Indiana Jones-esque bridge over a river to get there, but it was great. David and Bart both preached and David invited the ladies and I to sing a few songs. I think we all had a great time worshiping our great God with our Achi brothers and sisters.

Monday, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed out to a village called San Fransicso, where we set up our clinic in some vacant classrooms in a school. I was not prepared for the things we saw, both heartbreaking and glorious. As the designated videographer, I spent most of the day conducting interviews of team members, filming everything that was going on, and occasionally helping the nurses and doctors when necessary. Are you ready for the heartbreaking? Here it comes. One elderly lady came into the clinic with a very swollen jaw. I was filming when she came into the room to have her vitals checked, and was only about 10 feet away when she took her head covering off and revealed a golf ball sized hole just in front of her ear. I have never been so caught off guard in my life. The doctors said it was from cancerous tumors that went untreated. They said it was terminal, and that she was going to die. There was nothing they could do except treat the wound and give her pain meds to help ease the suffering. What a sobering slap in the face. I have been to other countries before, but I have never seen such physical need. As for the glorious, later that day, a teenage boy spent over an hour talking and praying with Hector. We later learned that he gave his life to Christ. Praise God! I had never gotten to see the actual point of salvation in the Holy Spirit’s long process of redemption before.

Tuesday, we set up our clinic in a village called Tempisque. I spent most of the day painting fluoride on patients’ teeth and doing more filming/interviewing. I have numerous stories about various other patients we encountered, but you’ll have to ask me in person if you want to hear more about them. Otherwise, I’d be typing for hours. Just know that God is doing miraculous things here among the Achi. The water team also met with a committee to discuss and investigate future water projects by DSC.

Wednesday, we got to have pancakes for breakfast. I even found some milk at a convenience store to go with it (for some reason they don’t drink much milk here). Then, Damian was able to fix all the sketchy plumbing at Kathy’s house, so we have running water now!!! That was the best shower I ever had. It was even warm! It was a great morning. After lunch, we drove up to a town in the mountains called Tac Tic. We had a Skype session with all the folks from DSC (Desert Springs Church) in Albuquerque during the Lord’s Supper Dinner. By the time that was over, it was time for bed.

Thursday, we drove up even higher into the mountains to a small village called Chicholom. The drive was breathtaking – in two ways actually. One, being the unbelievably beautiful scenery, and two, the 10 foot wide dirt road (with hairpin turns over several-hundred foot drops) that our bus driver decided to take at highway speeds. Lucky the driver was really good. It seems that all the drivers around here are really good. My guess is that all the bad ones are dead. Chichilom was easily the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. I wish cameras could fully capture the beauty. We did clinics there Thursday and Friday. I painted more teeth with fluoride, filmed more interviews, played with more kids, helped the water guys test the filtration of the soil in different areas, sang some songs, and praised God for the beauty of the geography and the people. The clinics were packed both days, so everyone kept very busy. Rachel has become quite the nurse. She took vitals all week, and has gotten pretty darn good at it. We were sad to leave the Chicholom for the last time Friday. Half the team had to fight back tears when the local pastor gave us all beautifully woven pieces of cloth as a “thank you” for our work. We will all miss that village, and will be anxiously waiting to return on a future trip.

I am actually writing all of this on Friday. We just got back to our hotel in Tac Tic. We spent all yesterday evening walking around in the market, so this is the first chance I’ve really had to sit down and write all of this. In the morning , the medical/water/physical therapy team will head to Antigua for a day of recuperation before their flight back to Albuquerque. The rest of us will head back to San Miguel for another 3 weeks. I am exited to not have such an intense schedule anymore. Please pray that God will use the rest of our time living among the Achi for His glory, and for our joy. I suspect my future posts will be a little more in-depth and meaningful, and focus on certain events, rather than just giving a general summary of a whole week. I just wanted to make sure this last week was documented. Anyways, thank you all for everything.

Brian Whippo

Hey everyone,


First of all, I apologize for my lack of communication lately. This is the first time I’ve had access to the internet since my last post. Well I’ll just start off where my last post ended and try to catch you all up to the present, one post at a time.


The drive up to the pastor’s conference was quite an experience. I wish I had taken a video of one of the many times we played chicken with oncoming traffic while attempting to pass a semi-truck on a winding two-lane mountain road.  Fortunately, we were distracted by great conversation. Sophia opened a theological can of worms by asking everyone’s opinion on the doctrine of election. With a Doctor of Philosophical Theology (Greg), a DSC Elder (Tim) and several other theology nerds (including myself) in the car, we were more than able to keep ourselves occupied and pass the three-hour drive in what seemed like only an hour. Arriving at the mountain retreat hotel where the pastor’s conference was held, we were pleasantly surprised to find the Guatemalan equivalent of a 5-star hotel. They had running water, good food, nice weather, and two pools. The rough life of a missionary ;)


The conference was great. Tim, Greg, Bart, Dr. Jacobo, and Francisco (an Acts 29 pastor from Guatemala City) all taught on the theme of accountability. Around 20 local Achi pastors attended the conference and it sounded like they got a lot out of it; I certainly did, even though I could not understand most of the teaching, as it was all in Spanish. The conference provided me with my first opportunity to lead others in worship though song in both Spanish and Achi. Some lovely ladies and some very strong Achi singers joined me in singing as an opening to each session. I will never get used to the incredible experience of singing the same songs to the same God with people with whom I can’t even fully communicate. Talk about union in Christ. The locals at the conference named us Piedras Vivas (Living Stones), which I assume is a reference to Matthew.


For the three days we spent at the conference, I was blessed to room with Greg, Eder, and Hector. Most of the conversation in our room was in Spanish (Greg is fluent in Spanish, and Eder and Hector speak about as much Spanish as I do English), but I Eder and Hector and I were able to communicate well enough to get to know each other pretty well. They are great guys and the Achi people are blessed to have such strong spiritual leaders.

Sunday afternoon, we packed up our bags and set off for San Miguel, which was about an hour drive. I’ll stop this entry here, and tell you about San Miguel in my next post. Thanks for reading everyone.

Love,

Brian Whippo