Bob Hamp

“What was your mission?” He asked me last night.  It was a great question, but the answer would not even begin to describe the events of our five day Guatemala extravaganza.  Much of what “happened” on the trip were the events along the way.  I think the phrase in the Bible is, “…and as they went…” So were the beautiful moments in the land of Volcanoes.

Our mission, as he said, was to train a hand-picked group of pastors in the first steps of Freedom, as an approach to ministry.  WE had gone last year, and as my good friend Alan Smith says, “they need to learn to think differently too, but the way they think wrongly about freedom is different than the way North Americans think wrongly about freedom”  Got it? We had a year to figure out and hear God about how to accomplish our mission.  We were close.  I will tell of the two days of “mission” but let’s talk about the road to Chichi first.

Our plane lands in Guatemala City and we are treated to wonderful treatment because our friend Juan Constantino has spent years genuinely loving the men and women in airports and hotels between Dallas and Guatemala City.  They love him back.  He doesn’t schmooze, or “play”them.  He loves them.  He gives them gifts.  He knows their families.  He loves them.  So they treat us the way that loved people respond.  They are kind, they go out of their way to make us comfortable.  We are treated like Ambassadors. Way to go Juan.

The ride up the mountains is three to seventeen hours of winding switchback modern and primitive highway.  Three hours in ideal conditions.  These do not exist.  Anything can happen.  People my age should think “Romancing the Stone”.  Jungle roads and chicken buses, with valleys and volcanoes, stretch out in front of you.  Mothers with babies strapped to their bosoms in colorful cloth wave, as young girls walk by with a variety of packs balanced on their heads.

Juan points out a large pink home up on the mountainside.  It is a retreat center where his wife Anita has been waiting for us.  We are here to pick her up and continue on up the road.  We turn off the highway onto a dirt road, and the vehicles begin to rock and lurch.  We are now on serious dirt roads.  When we finally break through the brush to the compound, the grass is sculpted and the terrain is completely different.  Clearly much work has gone into this place.  An older couple is walking towards us, grinning,  and Anita is right behind them.  We go inside after a brief tour and find fresh squeezed orange juice and homemade pastries.  We should stay right?

As the conversation turns so does the atmosphere.  It is as if a fragrance has washed into the room, but it is not a scent…it is more like a sense.  God has something in mind for this could and He is beginning to let His intentions be known.  An hour and a half later, these seasoned missionaries have jettisoned some things that have weighted them down for years, but more importantly they have heard God speak to them, words of affection and encouragement.  They were miles down the road to freedom.  We prayed for her body as she was still suffering the effects of the Polio she had as a young girl.  We saw no immediate effect of those prayers.  That Day at least…the next day was a different story.

After day one of “The Mission” we were walking through the torn up streets of Chichi, when Juan tells that his foot was healed when we prayed at the missionaries house.  He had broken it on a trip to Egypt, and had been in pain ever since, until the day before.  As we prayed for the woman to be healed Juan’s foot was immediately relieved.  What had not been relieved was his two torn rotator cuffs.  He had been in pain for two years after tearing his rotator cuffs on a previous trip.  He was awaiting surgery and could barely lift his hands to the level of his shoulders.  Taking off his jacket, he winced in pain.  He asked if we could pray “the same prayer we prayed for the lady the day before…” for his shoulders.  None if us could remember exactly what we had prayed, but luckily, God is pretty flexible, He just wanted us to pray.  We did, and immediately Juan lifted both hands straight up.  No pain, with full movement.  Only two minutes before he could not even remove his jacket.

Our “mission” was successful.  If you do not know what we do yet, central to our approach is to help people genuinely connect to God, and not just live by a system of rules.  In a two day span we watched a room full of pastors (ourselves included) open up their hearts and receive a new view from The Ancient of Days.  One of my favorite moments was when we asked God to show Himself in the way we most needed to know Him.  Anita, who was translating for me, began to choke up, and tear up as she translated for me.  I asked her what was happening, she said that God had shown Himself to her.  Clearly moved, I asked her to share in Spanish what God had shown her.

When she shared clearly she was impacted by what she had seen.  Coming from a past absent a father’s affection, Anita had seen an image of God the Father with His arms wide open, and pulling her in to a full embrace.  Loved!!!

This small room full of Shepherds were being shepherded by God Himself.  God began to express His love to these men as they opened their hearts to receive. Anita had translated far more than words to this room.

It was fantastic to work with Anita.  All of our team had favorite moments as God spoke to them and through them for two days. We grew as men, and as friends.  We grew.  Our team was strengthened as we searched out God’s direction together sometimes at the last minute.

Then we went to the Lake.  Not just any lake.  Ernest Hemingway said Lake Atitlan is the most beautiful lake in the world.  A crater istself, this massive lake is surrounded by volcanoes.  Often the water is a piercing blue, and it’s size is difficult to take in even in person.  No picture could possibly do it justice, and even standing on the edge of the basin, the size is difficult to really comprehend.

After hearing God all week, we got to SEE Him in action.  This is truly one of the most beautiful places on earth.  The stories will continue to flow, as much more happened than should be written in a single blog.  God loves the people of Guatemala and we got to see Him do it.  I am honored to serve with a great team of genuine men and women who live a lifestyle of merciful, loving, supernatural conduct.  How much more fun could a man have?