Fifty Days and Counting!

We are fifty days away from leaving for Guatemala!  If this is your first time to visit this blog site, let me tell you what we are doing.

Our team will be travelling to Guatemala this summer on a short-term medical mission trip.  Last year, many of us witnessed God’s hand at work, as people prayed to receive Christ, and as we prayed with believers in the villages, encouraging them in their walk with Christ.  The last village that we visited had been severely impacted by a mudslide one month to the day prior to our visit.  About 25 people had lost their lives, six of whom were part of a family in the church.  Although they were still hurting from their loss, they were encouraged by our visit, and when they spoke of Jesus, we could see the joy on their faces.  That was an incredible blessing for all of us.

We will leave for Guatemala on June 11 and will return on June 25.  We will join a team of Christian Guatemalan doctors and interpreters, and will travel to various parts of the country where the medical team will provide care for the people there.  Our role will be to share the good news of Christ with the people after they have seen the doctor and while they are waiting for their prescriptions to be filled. 

We would like to ask you to pray for our team, for protection from evil, for spiritual growth, and that the people we visit who do not know Jesus will trust him as their Savior.

The total estimated cost for our team is $47,528, which needs to be in hand by June 1st.  To date, our team members have contributed and/or received total contributions of $27,380, 58% of the funds needed for this trip.  Some of our team members have been able to contribute 100% of their funding, while others have needed to rely on contributions from family and friends.  We believe that God will provide the remaining funds needed for our team. 

If you would like to support our team financially, we would welcome your contributions!  Please make your check payable to Seek & Serve, Inc.  Contributions are tax deductible.  Please mail your contribution to:

Seek & Serve, Inc.

4716 Eastbourne Drive

Roswell, GA 30075

If you know a team member and would like to designate your contribution to their support, please include a note with their name.  Undesignated contributions, as well as any contributions received for a team member whose balance has been met, will be applied to remaining outstanding balances of the team members or to the cost of other mission trips supported by Seek & Serve, Inc.

We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead!  Fifty days will pass quickly, and there is much to be done.  Pray for us as we get ready to go. 

“In His name the nations will put their hope.”   Matthew 12:21

An Email from Hermann Upon Returning to Guatemala

Dear Dave,

 

As you know, we try not to load our supporters with unnecessary emails, but this time I believe we can make an exception.

When our container arrived, we found out that in order to import refrigerators we had to have a special permit because we had to prove it had the right cooling gas.  Our broker, a man of God, has been diligently doing things beyond the job and got the permit.  We were approved to pay taxes and we did according to the cost of everything that was bought and donated to Medical Missions Ministries.

 

After the taxes were paid, we were told that a red light came on, which meant that we were randomly selected to be inspected.  We were in a line of 50 containers.  A container that was in position 15 had to be removed and agreed to give us their position.  Finally, yesterday afternoon they got to our container and began to unload everything.  Because of the way our broker had completed the paperwork, it seemed like we had not declared some of the things on it.  I was able to speak with a person in authority there and they told me that according to the law they had to present it to a court.

 

I went to bed and got up early this morning to pray and God spoke to me:  "Hermann, do you remember how you joked with the teams that I love your driving because when you drive people pray?"  He continued, I drove in a way that you would pray, because I love it when you touch my heart".  After that, He gave me Proverbs 21:1 that reads: "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it to wherever He wishes ."  I then called the broker to see if there was any good news and this is what he reported:  "After I talked with you, Hermann, I called the port and spoke to the person in charge.  I explained to him what the problem could be and miraculously he agreed that I could come and show him the receipts and the original list.  I went there and was able to show him the misunderstanding, made the corrections and everything was packed back into the container and will leave the port on Monday morning around 10 a.m."

God is in control, but He wants us to remain in an intimate relationship with Him.

Thanks to all of you that have been praying with us; we indeed brought pleasure to the heart of God.  He enjoys it when we touch His heart in prayer.  God bless you. 

 

Thanks for being obedient to God in supporting this ministry.  We are a part of something great -- and your prayers and support make you part of it.

Sincerely,

Hermann and Linda Alb

From Coming Home Again: Reentry Devotions for Another Successful Return by Howard and Bonnie Lisech

"Someone once said, 'When you travel to another culture and people, your heart becomes enlarged in such a way that it will never be as small as it was before you left.' We fall in love with people overseas. All the nameless faces we have seen in missionary publications now have names. Their hurts, fears, and joys seem more important to us since some of them are our friends. You know and remember who they are and where they live. They made a meal for you with the best they had. They sacrificed a month's wages to cook a chicken for you. When you experience these things, or a hundred others like them, you begin to realize you are a different person from the one that left some time ago."

Shared by Pam