YWAM Antigua News

January Update

2012-01-25T10:03:00.002-06:00

After the DTS ended in December we immediately hosted a CDTS group from Chico, California. They kept busy with local ministry and were a blessing to have at the base. We really enjoy hosting other YWAM teams as they come prepared for ministry and are flexible as things change without notice. If you have a group interested in coming to Guatemala please contact us, we would love to work with you to provide a great experience for you.
Our base has been working with Iglesia Vida Real in San Pablo La Laguna for several years. The church began 6 years ago and met in a small cornstalk siding building with just a few people. Over the years we have ministered there with our DTS groups as well as visiting teams and have seen the church grow to over 200 people. On January 7, the new church was completed and a dedication service was conducted with over 400 people attending. Many groups have been a part of the success of the church to enable it to raise over $150,000 to buy land and build the facility. In this community of very poor people it is a testimony of God's faithfulness and His desire to reach the people of the community. Pastor Antonio has stated that many people in the community do not believe a church is for real unless they have a building. We can argue the theology of that viewpoint but nonetheless it is a factor in how the people receive the church and want to be a part of it.
We are still offering the Motorcycle Discipleship Training School starting February 26,2012. If you want to be a part of it please send in your application immediately. This will be a unique DTS with the classroom phase conducted in Guatemala and the outreach in the USA. The outreach will focus on evangelism and mercy ministries as we ride to several locations to partner with churches, ministries and YWAM bases.
We have a new staff person joining us at the end of January. Carissa will be a great help to us and we thank God for sending her to us.
We will be hosting a seminar on "Hearing God's Voice" for pastors in the Lake Atitlan area January 27 & 28.
Several teams will be coming in February and March to minister in our area. We will involve them in our ministries we conduct each week which include: Monday Worship Service in English, Kids Club, Street Church, Feeding program and Soul Patrol Evangelism.
Our next Compassion DTS will start July 29, 2012. We are praying for the students who are registered and asking God to send us the ones He wants to be a part of the class. We are looking at going to India for our outreach and will continue to pray that God will direct us to the right place.

DTS Graduation!

2011-12-17T16:29:00.002-06:00

December 9th was the date of our graduation for the Discipleship Training School. We concluded our outreach to Haiti and Guatemala and had a fantastic experience. Each of the students were touched by the Lord and did a great job preaching the gospel in a variety of ways. We returned from Haiti and rode a bus and 4 wheel drive pickup for 13 hours to reach a village in NW Guatemala called Yulmacap. There are about 400 families living in the area and very few white people get out there. When we first arrived the children ran away from us but by the end of the week they were crying when we left. We lived in rustic conditions for the 5 days of ministry but it was worth it to have the opportunity to share the love of Christ with the community. We visited 5 families that have children with a rare form of skin cancer caused by ultraviolet light. These children must stay out of the sun all the time to reduce the spread of cancer. It is very difficult for them as there is not much for them to do.
We also conducted ministry in Quetzatenango, Guatemala, working with a local church. It was a time of encouraging the believers in their walk and work for the Lord.
Our final week was spent in San Pablo La Laguna working with two pastors who are doing a great work in their community. One family we visited has lost both parents to AIDS and the 4 children are now living with their grandparents who have very limited resources but plenty of love for their grandkids. We hope to build a home for the children as the home of the grandparents is too small to accommodate them.
Our graduation service was a special time for all us and it is always hard to see the students leave. We have been blessed to work with a very special and talented group this past year and pray God's best for each of them as they pursue their individual calling from the Lord.
Our next DTS will begin in February, Motorcyclist DTS will be an outstanding adventure for those who have a passion for motorcycling and sharing the gospel.

Outreach to Haiti

2011-11-02T11:53:00.004-05:00

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we are in the 3rd week of outreach in Haiti and it has been a great experience. We worked with Pastor Beau a Ywamer who is pastoring a church in a very poor area. He took us around the area to do evangelism and we has opportnities to share the gospel with hundreds of people. In order to get to his church we had to take 4 wheel drive vehicles as the road was partially under water and was muddy. Then we had to cross a small river and walk the rest of the way to his village. We showed the Jesus film and during the film the people clapped whenever they saw Jesus do miracles. The children were deeply moved by the death of Jesus and some cried.

On Saturday we hiked up to a fortress that overlooks St. Marc to worship and pray for the city. It was a beauty vista and even though took some effort to reach the top was well worth it.

Please continue to pray for protection and health for all of us.

DTS Outreach to Haiti

2011-10-22T13:28:00.002-05:00

We arrived in Haiti last Sunday and have spent the first week conducting evangelistic outreaches with the YWAM Haiti base. We have shared the gospel through dramas, testimonies and preaching to over 1000 people during our first week. One of the most memorable sites was the local jail in St. Marc. The cells are designed to hold 4-5 people but each one has 30+ in them!!! There are no beds and the prisoners have to sleep on the floor that is not big enough for all of them to lay down on at one time. They listened attentively to our presentation from behind their cell doors as no one is allowed outside except for 10 minutes per day to shower. It is a place you would never want to return to as a prisoner.
We have also shared in several public schools and parks. We have drawn crowds at each location and have seen a few people accept the Lord. One lady was from another town over the hills that surround St. Marc and she just happened to be in the area we were at sharing the gospel. She gave her heart to Christ and I was reminded of the 1 lost sheep that was found while the 99 remained.
We will be in Haiti until November 17 and we will be working with YWAM Haiti and a church.
Next week we will be visiting 8 villages near St. Marc. These areas are very poor and are heavily influenced by voodoo. The pastor we are working with was threatened by witch doctors and told at gun point to not share the gospel or he would be killed. He told them his life was in God's hands and they could not control him. He has remained faithful to share the gospel and has seen many people come to Christ.
Please pray for our DTS students as we continue to share the gospel and bear fruit for the Kingdom.

DTS Update Week 9

2011-09-27T15:07:00.003-05:00

We are currently in our 9th week of the classroom phase. Our topic this week is Spiritual Warfare and our teacher is Terry Keith the Base Director of YWAM Heredia Costa Rica. Terry has been a YWAMERS for 26 years and has vast experience in the ministry. We are blessed to have such highly qualified and experienced teachers in our DTS this year.

We have made a decision to do our outreach in Haiti and Guatemala this year. We will be leaving for Haiti to work with YWAM Haiti on October 16 and return November 17. Our last 3 weeks of outreach will be spent in Guatemala in 3 different locations: Yulmacap in NW Guatemala; Quetzaltenango and San Pablo La Laguna.

DTS 2011

2011-08-19T15:44:00.002-05:00

We have just completed the 4th week of the classroom phase of the DTS. We have 12 students attending this year from the USA, Canada and Curacao. Through the generosity of a local church we are able to use their classroom for our daily classes which helps the student focus on the studies and eliminates distractions at the base. We have been blessed to be able to secure excellent teachers from the USA, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Each day the students are involved in work duty and this year we are partnering with a hospital for disabled children and adults, an orphanage and a ministry that makes wheel chairs.
The students are also involved in the weekly ministries of the base which include the English Worship service, Kids club, feeding the poor and conducting a worship service for homeless people.
We are tentatively making plans to do our outreach in Haiti and Guatemala. Please pray for the students finances that they will each be able to raise the support needed ($2000).

Diaspora DTS and Riverpoint Outreach

2011-07-09T15:52:00.007-05:00

After the team from Nachitoches, Louisiana left we were surprised by a call from the Diaspora DTS from the YWAM Los Angeles base. They were on their 2 month outreach to Central America and contacted us on short notice to see if they could spend a week with us. We had the time they wanted available so we were able to host them and conduct ministry with them. They had 9 team members with only a couple who spoke English as all of them were from South Korea. They were a wonderful team to host. We enjoyed their times of worship in Korean, the dramas and songs they did with the children and their times of intercession.
We just finished hosting Riverpoint Church from Georgia for a week. They brought the largest team we have ever hosted-24 youth and adults. We had a great time of ministry with them and divided them into 2-3 groups at times to be able to get more involvement and touch more lives. Some of the things they did were: Kids ministry at the base; home construction project; painting a Christian school; ministry at Hermano Pedro Hospital and Orphanage; feeding the poor; conducting services for the homeless. Kids ministry in Santa Maria de Jesus and evangelism in Central Park. They took advantage of ministry opportunities that became available and did a great job. We were blessed by their servant attitude and sincere desire to see people reached with the gospel.
Our next group arrives July 10 from Rochester, Minnesota. They will be our last team before we start our DTS on July 24 with 13 students.

Natchitoches Outreach

2011-06-07T14:12:00.006-05:00

From May 30 to June 8 we hosted First Baptist Church of Natchitoches, Louisiana. They came prepared with ministry for children and adults. Part of their time was spent working at the YWAM base in the minstries we do on a regular basis and they spent time at San Pablo La Laguna ministering in two churches we have formed relationships with over the past 8 years. We also have an intern, Dave, working with us for 6 weeks. He and the music pastor of the Baptist church sang the song in the video and were a blessing to everyone.You can view this on youtube: Outreach Music at San Pablo La Laguna.

We will be hosting 3 more teams in June and July and then will focus our efforts on the DTS which starts on July 24. We are anticipating 12 students enrolling and look forward to working with each of them.

Miraculous Healing!

2011-04-16T12:51:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday 3 of our staff and another YWAMer from Colorado Springs traveled to San Pablo La Laguna to visit some families and take pictures of the home and church construction projects we are providing financial assistance. We stopped to pray for a 17 year old girl, Tracy, who had serious health issues that the doctors could not diagnose nor prescribe anything to help her. She experienced paralysis at times over most of her body, would go into a state of unconsciousness for up to an hour and a half and was unable to walk the day we saw her due to the intense pain she felt in her leg. When we met her in her parents home she was sitting in the chair as noted in the picture. We joined in prayer for her and asked God to heal her in the way of his choosing and in his timing. She was not healed immediately but a couple days later she was at a church in Panajachel and four women carried her to the front of the church at the altar and prayed for her. She felt a fire go through her body and she was instantly healed and began to walk and leap and shout for joy!!!! All praise be to our all powerful and loving God who hears the prayers of his children and responds.

Outreach Ministries

2011-04-05T14:24:00.003-05:00

YWAM Antigua has several ministry programs that we conduct on a weekly basis.

Every Monday night we host a worship service in English in Antigua. We have a time of contemporary worship, teaching, prayer and fellowship at our service that reaches out to the English speaking population of Antigua. Many of the people who attend are missionaries or students who have come to Antigua to learn English. The service provides a connecting point for people who are here short term or long term. When visiting teams are with us we always make their participation in the service an option for them. During our DTS our visiting teachers participate in the Worship service.

Each week at the base we host Kid's Club for the neighborhood children. Typically we have from 40-60 kids coming for a time of singing, stories, crafts and games. Many of the children are unchurched so this is a great opportunity to make an eternal impact on their lives. Visiting teams often will do several days of kids ministry at the base and it is always a special time for the children.

Every Saturday night we host "Soul Patrol" at the Central park in Antigua. This is a hang out place for people of all ages. Many are passing time, relaxing and are open to having a conversation about Christ. There are a mixture of Spanish speaking and English speaking people in the park which give everyone more opportunities to share their faith with someone who speaks their language. God always shows up and leads us to people in need and it is a blessing to be able to be available and used to bring God's love to people.

One night during the week we do a small feeding program for people who live on the streets of Antigua. Many are addicted to chemicals or have been abandoned for various reasons. We give them a hot meal and spend time talking with them as well as pray for them. These are the people that most people pass by yet they are equally loved by God and worthy of being treated with care and love.

On Sunday nights we have been holding a worship service for a group of homeless people who live by the market area of Antigua. Each of them has a story of how they got there but our goal is to get them out of there, free from addictions and working to meet their needs. We want Christ to take control of their lives and bring the changes that are needed to help them enjoy the life he intends for them to live. Please keep these outreaches in your prayers.

Home in San Pablo destroyed by fire

2011-03-24T11:12:00.002-05:00

Fire destroys home

On Tuesday night the home of Gaspar and Anna with 9 other family members living in San Pablo La Laguna was completely destroyed by fire. The cause of the fire has not been determined but the family is now homeless and has lost everything that was inside the home. All clothing, school books and notebooks, beds, blankets etc. was consumed in the blaze. The home was made of wood and was built for the family after Hurricane Stan struck Guatemala in 2005. No one was in the home when the fire started and we are very thankful for that. The family attends Canaan Assemblies of God church in San Pablo and the church is housing them in their Sunday school classrooms until other housing can be arranged. It has been a very tragic event for the family and the community and we are praying that many people within the community as well as people like you will be able to help them recover their losses. Please keep the family in prayer and if you would like to make a donation to help them rebuild their home I know they would greatly appreciate it.

The home that was burned down was similar to the one in the photo on the left. The family like most families in this community is poor and does not have the resources to build a new home. We have been bringing teams to San Pablo for several years and have built a dozen or more homes for families who would never have been able to build a home with the income they receive which on average is $4-5 per day. A typical home we are able to build using cement blocks and a metal roof costs about $1800-$2000. We also build bunk beds for the children so they can have their own bed and not sleep on the floor or have to share a bed with several others. We always provide windows and doors for the home as well. It is a very simple home but provides adequate shelter for the familes and is much healthier to live in than the adobe homes that are made of clay bricks and have dirt floors.

If you have a team coming to Guatemala that would like to build a home for them please let me know. Donation information is noted below.

If you want to donate please make your check payable to YWAM Antigua and send it to the following address with a note attached stating it is for the Home Construction Project. All monies sent will go directly for the project and are tax deductible. Thank you for your help!

YWAM Chico
15850 Richardson Springs Rd
Chico, CA 95973

March Update

2011-03-10T15:01:00.004-06:00

Last month we hosted a team from Faith Harvest Helpers based in Washington. They came to Guatemala to help distribute a shipment of canned salmon, soup mix, dried peaches, medicine and books to areas of need in Guatemala. The shipment came into port in December but it was not released for distribution until the team left on February 16. It was disappointing for them to not be able to do what they had hoped yet they used their time in Guatemala to minister to many people. The food has been distributed since they left and many people have been blessed by the hard work these people put into the shipment. Our YWAM base has in storage some of the food that we will use on various outreaches we conduct as well as with the feeding program we have in Antigua.
Currently we are hosting a youth group from Connexus church near Toronto. They are doing ministry with local children and working in several other ministries that we are involved in. This is the third year the group has come and we are grateful for the opportunity to work with them.
We are receiving applications for our DTS which will begin on July 24, 2011. We are anticipating a group of 10 students and are looking forward to the 5 months of training with them.

January news

2011-01-26T07:38:00.002-06:00

January has been a busy month of hosting teams from Montana, Iowa and Colorado. We have enjoyed working with them and have appreciated the ministries they have been doing. The Montana team is part of the YWAM Montana base. They have been with us since December 8 and have conducted many types of ministries including, children's VBS, conducting our weekly worship service in Antigua, feeding the homeless, building a home and ministering to church groups. They spend 10 days in San Pedro La Laguna working with Pastor Antonio and helped build a home for a family with money that was donated by a family in Superior, Wisconsin.
We also hosted a team from Spirit Lake, Iowa, who came to build a home for a family living near our base. The former home had a couple layers of cement block as the foundation and then had cornstalks for the walls. The original home was build in 1994 so the family has lived with this type of structure for 16 years. The team put in cement block walls, a new metal roof and extended the size of the house by 5 feet to give the family more room. They also build bunk beds for 2 of the girls so they no longer have to sleep in the same bed as their parents. The new home improvement was a tremendous blessing to the family.
Our final group of the month was a team from Colorado Springs "Springs Church." They ministered in San Pablo La Laguna in 2 churches as well as in a Catholic school. The Pope had declared that the week of January 16-23 as a week of working together with the Evangelical churches in Guatemala so our visit to the school was made possible. The team conducted ministry with several different groups within the church and had great ministry during the week they were here.
We are grateful to the Lord for the teams that have come and the impact they have made on the people of Guatemala. We look forward to hosting another team in February that will be distributing a 40 foot container shipped from the USA filled with food, medicine and Christian books.

Base Update

2010-12-26T19:10:00.004-06:00

We hope you had a great Christmas celebration. Guatemala celebrates Christmas by igniting firecrackers and fireworks at midnight on Christmas Eve. We watched the display from our roof top and it was amazing. A haze of smoke lay all over the city after the fireworks ended. Traditionally families eat tamales and drink ponche which is a fruit drink on Christmas. We are currently hosting the DTS from Montana and it is their first time celebrating Christmas in Guatemala and for many the first time being away from home for Christmas. They arrived on December 8 and have been doing a lot of ministry to children as well as evangelism. They will be at the base until January 5 and will then travel to San Pablo La Laguna to help build a home for a poor family and work with a local church conducting ministry among all age groups. We will also be hosting a team from Spirit Lake, Iowa who will be coming on January 5 to build a home for a family of ten near the base. On their heels will be a team from Colorado Springs, Colorado who will also be going to San Pablo to conduct ministry among children, youth and adults in the church as well as in the public schools. It will be a busy month for us but we appreciate the teams who come and the ministry they offer to the people of Guatemala.

We are praying for more staff to join us as soon as possible. One of our staff members moved back to the USA this past week to pursue other ministry options so we are in need of more staff to continue conducting the ministries that we are currently doing. We trust God to help us and provide for us and ask that you join us in prayer for this need to be met.

Haiti Outreach

2010-12-08T20:00:00.003-06:00

We returned from the outreach to Haiti on December 6. It was an awesome time of ministry for our team and we saw hundreds of people come to Christ. One of the highlights for our group was helping to start a church near the missionary house we were staying. It began with meeting a family when we went house to house sharing the gospel. The family had been rejected by a church because they did not have the right clothes and some had tatoos. The pastor we worked with wanted to start a church that would be open to all. We did a lot of evangelism in open air places and used the children's version of the Jesus film to attract people. We had crowds of over 300 people coming out to watch the film. Every time we showed the film we had people giving their lives to Christ. We also spent time at an orphanage run by ReachHaiti ministries. Many of the children have been rescued from very harsh condition and abuse. They are now receiving food, education and most importantly a Christian environment where they are loved and cared for by many. We thank God for our time in Haiti and for keeping us safe amidst intense heat, cholera outbreaks and a hurricane. Haiti is a very needy country and the real solution is bring Christ to the culture to transform it through people living out their faith in every area of life. We will continue to pray for the people who are suffering as they wait for help to begin to rebuild a fallen nation.

Haiti Outreach

2010-11-20T06:41:00.003-06:00

Our DTS has just completed our 5th week of outreach to Haiti. We are partnering with ReachHaiti Ministries located in Croix de Bouquet and have been focusing mainly on evangelism through door to door visitations and open air evangelism using the "Jesus" film. We have seen over a 100 people come to Christ and have helped start a new church from the converts that have been made. We are doing a Bible study in the afternoon and have about 15-20 people attending. They are hungry for God's Word and the students are able to share from their DTS experiences to help them grow in Christ.

Last Thursday we showed the film to a crowd of 300 people. We have shown the film twice before in this area but both times had to quit before the film ended due to rain. Thursday we got through the entire film but did not give an invitation at the end because the generator that powered the audio system ran out of fuel. The people immediately scattered as it was very dark. We trust the Lord to have spoken to many hearts through the film and leave the result up to Him.

We have 2 more weeks of outreach in Haiti before returning to Guatemala to finish the outreach and end the 5 month DTS. It has been a great outreach thus far and we look forward to the final 2 weeks of great ministry with many more people coming to Christ and seeing believers encouraged and strengthened in their faith.

Haiti Outreach

2010-11-02T19:49:00.002-05:00

Our current DTS is conducting ministry in Haiti. We spent our first 2 weeks working with a church in Port a Prince and in Barbancourt. We conducted ministry in schools and churches using dramas, testimonies and teachings. It has been challenging to be here mainly because of the hot weather, lack of electricity and shortage of water.
We are now at our second ministry site in Fonds Parisiens which is located close to the border. We have visited and ministered in a special project area that is very poor. Many of the children have little clothing and food is scarce for them. Today we gave out some food but not nearly enough to meet the needs of the people here.
Haiti is battling an outbreak of Cholera. We had a couple of people living near our last ministry site die from it. Tropical Storm Tomas is predicted to hit Haiti this weekend and the government is trying to evacuate some of the tent cities in Port a Prince as they anticipate strong winds and heavy rain in the city which will destroy some of the tents and cause further damage.
Please keep our team and Haiti in your prayers.

October Update

2010-10-06T11:52:00.002-05:00

We are currently studying "Spiritual Warfare" with Don and Barb Johnson who have been serving with YWAM for over 30 years. They established the base in Nicaragua over 20 years ago and have been engaged in many battles to see the work established and flourish. We are blessed to have them with us to share from their experience and knowledge gained over the years. Our final week of the lecture phase will focus on missions and cross-cultural communication and will help our students prepare for the outreach to Haiti October 16-December 6, 2010.
This past Monday we joined forces with "The World Race" teams who are in Antigua on the first leg of their 11 month mission trip. It was an awesome time of worship and fellowship with believers from many countries.
We are looking forward to our time in Haiti working with churches and missionaries who are doing a great work. Please continue to pray for our students and staff as we prepare for our mission. We are believing God for great things to happen in us and through us.
We will be posting a blog on our website: www.ywamantigua.org about our outreach to Haiti.

Outreach Update

2010-09-24T18:19:00.002-05:00

We have finalized our outreach plans to Haiti and are looking forward to our time of ministry. We will spend our first 2 weeks working with Brother Jean Lyonel near Port au Prince who works with Heaven's Family. Their ministry has built a camp about an hour from PAP for people who have lost their homes. Our next week will be spent with Haitian Christian Missions in Fonds Parisians about 1.5 hours from PAP. Our final 4 weeks will be spend with Reach Haiti Ministries. We will be doing a variety of ministries with all ages. The students are prepared to present 2 major YWAM Dramas "Redeemer" and "King of Hearts" which we will present in many locations. We will also have a couple more shorter dramas along with lots of Children's ministry programs. The students are doing research on Haiti and will present their information during our last week of the DTS.
Our final 3 weeks of the classroom phase will go quickly but will also be very important topics: Identity; Spiritual Warfare and Cross-cultural communication and missions.
Please continue to pray for our team as we pray in the finances for our trip. Several students need help and if you would like to be one of their supporters please send a gift to the following address:
YWAM Chico
15850 Richardsons Springs Road
Chico, CA 95973
Make your check payable to YWAM Antigua and attach a note indicating it is for the "Outreach to Haiti."
Thank you!

DTS Update

2010-09-07T18:15:00.004-05:00

We are in our 7th week of classes. This week we are doing the "Plumbline" class which is one of the most intense weeks of the school as it is a time of soul searching and identification of areas of our lives that we are not walking in the truth. It is a time of restoration and healing of past hurts that have been carried into our lives today and have an effect on our relationship with God and others. We anticipate that God will bring great healing to our students in the areas of their greatest needs.
We have prayed about our outreach destination and will be leaving for the Dominican Republic and Haiti on October 16. Our plans while there are still being formulated and we ask for your prayer as we contact ministries that are able to receive our team. Communication has been difficult to say the least but we are trusting God to guide us as we continue to pray and seek Him.
We invite you to join us in prayer and in helping us financially as we travel and minister on the outreach. We would like to raise $5000 to help with expenses and be able to give money to ministries we will be working with to help them in their relief efforts. Haiti is still suffering from the earthquake with over a one million people living in tents. God is moving in the hearts of the people and we look forward to extenting hands of compassion to the people as we meet spiritual and physical needs.
If you would like to support us financially you can make a check payable to YWAM Antigua and send it to the following address:
YWAM Chico
15850 Richardson Springs Road
Chico, CA 95973
Attach a note stating that it is designated for the Haiti outreach.
Thank you for your prayers and support, it is deeply appreciated.

DTS Update

2010-08-21T19:55:00.004-05:00

We are now starting our 5th week of the DTS and will be focusing on Supernatural Ministry. Our visting teach is Pastor Rod Marquette from Rochester, Minnesota. Rod and a member of his church, Cecil, came last year and had a tremendous impact on the students. We are looking forward to their teachings and all that God will do through them in the lives of the students this week.
We said goodbye to the Backpackers DTS from San Jose, Costa Rica today. They stayed with us for a week after being delayed when Mexicana Airline declared bankruptcy and their flight to Guatemala was cancelled. We enjoyed hosting them and it was a great experience for our students to get to know them and share what God is doing in their lives.
We continue to pray about the location of our outreach beginning October 16. We are considering India and Haiti but remain open to wherever the Lord leads us to go. We want to be His hands of compassion reaching out to a fallen world to bring hope and liberty to those who suffer.

DTS 2010

2010-08-07T17:36:00.002-05:00

Our DTS class of 2010 began July 25 with 7 students; 4 from San Pablo La Laguna,Guatemala and 3 from the USA. We have 4 languages represented in the group: English, Spanish, Tzutujil and Mam! Everyone is learing new words from each language to help with our communication. We are looking forward to all that God is going to do in the lives of each student as they spend time seeking Him and learning from the ministers God sends our way to teach them. Please join us in prayer for each of the students, staff and teachers who are involved in the 5 month DTS. Our students from San Pablo have never been away from home for any length of time which is an adjustment for both them and their families. Several of them have never used appliances that the students from the USA have been accustomed to for many years; ie. microwave, gas stove and oven, hot water showers,washer and dryer just to name a few. We have raised support for the 4 Guatemalan students but need to raise more for the 8 week outreach phase which will begin October 15, 2010. If you would like to help sponsor them please send a donation to:
YWAM Chico
15850 Richardson Springs Rd
Chico, CA 95973

Make your check payable to YWAM Antigua and attach a note that it is for the DTS Scholarship fund.

A Community in Need

2010-07-15T07:32:00.003-05:00

We recently hosted two men who represent 2 different organizations that are working to meet the needs of the poor of Guatemala. One organization, Proyecto de Fe, provides work for women in the Lake Atitlan area along with several other projects they have going. The other organization, Faith Harvest Helpers, sends containers of food,medicine, medical supplies, books etc. to countries in need. They are planning to ship a container to Guatemala and distribute it in February 2011. We visited several communities while the men were with us to identify the areas of greatest need as well as the areas that they can access with the team of doctors, dentists and fellow laborers who will be coming in February. One of the communities we visted has been almost wiped off the land. The first blow came from Volcano Paycaya erupting and spewing ash and rocks on their community. The rocks burned holes through their tin roofs and destroyed much of their crops. Two days later, Tropical Storm Agatha hit Guatemala and caused massive mudslides which destroyed many homes. It was an incredible sight to see the destruction that has happened. These families need to be evacuated permanently from this area as it is dangerous to live there but they have nowhere else to go. The needs are great and the resources are few. While we were there Pacaya sent a huge pillar of ash in the air as is pictured in the photo.

Covenant Church Outreach

2010-06-15T10:02:00.003-05:00

Last Friday, June 11 a group of 16 adults and children from Covenant Church in Pittsburgh, PA arrived for a week of ministry with us. We went from the airport directly to San Pedro La Laguna. The roads where in several places restricted to one lane due to the Tropical Storm Agatha damage which has caused major mudslides and destroyed many homes, roads and over a hundred people have died. Relief work is ongoing and it will be awhile until the families that have lost everything will be able to move into a home. The Covenant group conducted a "Women of Valor" seminar in Santigao, Atitlan and also helped purchase 4,500 pounds of food that will be distributed to help victims of the tropical storm. We havebeen working in a refugee camp near Panabaj since January distributing food once a month. The people of the refugee camp were evacuated when Agatha hit and moved to their new home in Chuk Muk even though the homes were not completed. While we passed out numbers for the families to present to receive their bags of food, the group played with the children of the community until the rain came down hard. The people traveled in the rain to Santiago to receive their food immediately after they received their numbers. The rain did not hinder them, they were in need and we were blessed to be able to help meet in a small but significant way the needs they continue to have.

YWAM Belize DTS Outreach

2010-04-21T20:21:00.004-05:00

We are currently hosting the DTS group from YWAM Belize. They are in the middle of the 8 weeks of outreach and are busy doing ministry with us. In the mornings they are working with handicapped children at Hermano Pedro Hospital in Antigua. Most of these children are confined to wheelchairs and are not able to talk but they respond to the human touch and can sense when people are giving the love and attention. The afternoons are busy with Kids Club at the base with about 70 kids coming each day for songs, Bible stories, skits, crafts and games. They are a great group to work with and we have enjoyed their ministry.

April News

2010-04-07T14:39:00.002-05:00

We just finished Holy Week (Semana Santa) in Antigua which is the biggest celebration of the year. Thousands of people come to watch the processionals and view the alfombras (rugs) made of colored sawdust and flowers and fruit. It is quite a scene to take in but also a great time to do evangelism as people are thinking about the crucifixion of Christ.
We will be hosting 2 YWAM DTS groups in April,one from Belize and another from Minneapolis. We always enjoy working with fellow ywamers!
We have continued to host our weekly Kids Club at the base and have between 40-100 kids coming. Many of the teams that come are prepared with special programs for the children which they thoroughly enjoy.
The Feeding Program in Panabaj will take place April 10 which an evangelistic outreach planned with a youth group from San Pablo La Laguna. It will be the youth groups first ever outreach to another community!
We continue to pray for more staff for our base so if you are a Ywamer and are looking for an opportunity to serve the wonderful people of Guatemala we invite you to check us out.

March News

2010-03-16T13:44:00.007-05:00

Currently we are hosting a group of young people from Connexus Church near Toronto Canada. They will be here for a week doing several types of ministry.
A new project we have been doing since January is a food distribution in Panabaj. This area was buried in a mudslide caused by Hurricane Stan in October, 2005. There are about 80 families still living in the refugee camp waiting for their new homes to be constructed. Through the generous donation of a church in Washington state we have been able to do a food distribution once each month. Each family receives about 35 pounds of food.
We have several more teams coming during the next 3 months from Belize, Costa Rica, and the USA. It is always a pleasure to work with these groups and provide meaningful ministry experiences.
We will be hosting a special Bootcamp Evangelism program June 20-26. This is open to anyone and you can either stay at our base or just come for the program during the day. Please look at our website for more information.
If you are a YWAMer and are interested in working with our base please contact us. We need more staff to help with our ongoing ministries. We are looking especially for help with our DTS which will begin July 25.
Check out our website for more information about our programs at

DTS Graduation

2010-01-24T20:20:00.002-06:00

Friday, January 22, 2010 was the last day of our 5 month DTS. I has been a wonderful time with the students and we miss them already. Our DTS Outreach was spent in Belize, El Salvador and Guatemala conducting ministry in a variety of setting to a diverse group of people. The students had many opportunities to share the gospel and teach what they have been taught in the DTS.
Our base will now be preparing to receive teams who will be joining us for short-term outreach until we begin our next DTS on July 25, 2010.

DTS Update

2009-12-29T09:39:00.002-06:00

Friday: we had off in Belize again
Saturday:
On this day we went out to evangelize to some kids (and adults) in the park with balloons. The swords were somewhat of a hit with the rest of the animals. We also gave a service to people at the workshop again. Youth. After that service we preached and gave a program to the Hispanic church in the area. We were planning on a Youth service but there was just a few youth. Instead attendance was like a typical Sunday morning type service. They had us perform our Drama. This went well. which went well.
Sunday:
We attended an English church in the town of San Pedro. The church is more modern and for a few years has been broadcasting their services on TV throughout Belize. During this morning service we performed a drama, shared a testimony, and Jeff (our guide from the Belize base) shared a message. That evening we returned for a youth service where we did a drama, played a game, shared a testimony and message! We ended up not getting home till late.

Monday: we left for travel. After two boat rides and a sizeable bus ride to Flores, Guatemala we arrived. Bruce went on to Guatemala city while the rest took it easy. where Flores is located. We had planned on visiting Tikal since we were in the area. About 3 hours late, due to a strike, we still hadarrived in time to see the main sights from Tikal. This took most of the 4 hours. After Tikal we bused all night to Guatemala
Wednesday: Another travel day, We arrived in Guatemala City about 6:30 or 7. We chilled in Guatemala for a few short hours then went to the next bus station. The bus was late, but we got on it 2 hours late still. We finally made it to El Salvador around 9-10ish. We ate pulpusaspupusas
(you can’t go to El Salvador and not have pupusas!) and then headed to bed sometime after 11.
Thursday was a kind of a day off. The morning started that way but we went to the mall in the afternoon and helped set-up and cleanup with a presentation. We also started to get packed again because we found out around noon that the next day we would be leaving again.
Friday: This consisted mostly of getting ready and then leaving for another town in El Salvador about an hour and a half away. After we got there, we ate and then drove off to a small church group. The church likes to set up small meetings that a leader will guide. This is for mostly non-believers. So a team of three or so people will have the open air preaching. They often also give out a small snack. Interestingly the volunteers are often quite committed and dedicated. The pastor said that they have 57 cell groups.. We preformed a couple dramas for this one, and then the pastor preached.
Saturday:
In the afternoon we went out to pray for a slightly older lady, maybe mid 50s. She had a tumor in her chin that appeared to be the size of about 2 small papaya fruits (The tumor was maybe about 6 inches long and 3 inches in diameter). She had been in pain some earlier but now I think I believe now that she wasn’t feeling the pain. Still I believe everyone felt sad for her. She is a believer but her husband said that he wasn’t. While we were there, he prayed to receive Christ after we prayed for his wife.
We went to a splinter, or outreach group from the churchThat night we went to a place where they were building another church.. I (Jordan) Preached for about half an hour except that it was translated, so only really needed to be about 15 minutes long. The rest of the group worked with the kids. At first we were not expecting to have to perform any dramas for this service. We didn’t bring anything, but the pastor asked us to do a couple of dramas anyway. Thanks to Edwin we still preformed a couple unplanned, but potentially impactful dramas.Instead
Sunday
This day was a little more busy than our other days there. The day started out with a youth service. Our group lead 2/3rds of the service. Carlos had a game called Mathew 7:12. This went quite well. After that Edwin preached for a good half hour or more. After eating and a little rest we went back to the church for the next service. This one lasted 1.5 hours. The first part consisted with us sitting through the worship service. The next hour we had a plan to keep the kids in two classes entertained and teach them. This actually went quite well despite a hiccup or two.
Monday: This was another day that we kind of had off. We were going to go on a tour, but I think that most of the group was too tired to get up around 6am. Instead we sat around a little in the morning. Suzy and I took a walk with the pastor. After that we ate and Julia and Francisco came and picked us up.

DTS Outreach Update

2009-12-05T11:00:00.002-06:00

10 1st Impressions of Belize:

Tropical Paradise
Breathtaking
Beautiful
Kalissa: “I figured that the place was beautiful, but I thought the pictures had been touched up until I actually arrived.”
Kalissa “It is hard to take an ugly picture”
“Still kind of Hot” Jordan
Is this really where they are sending us?
Mark “It would be hard for missionaries to raise support after seeing all of the beauty here”
Maryann was also discussing the differences
Bruce “It is a blessing for the group to be here”
Travel Here:

Tired traveling

Very Very nice going through the customs, we had hardly a 30 min. wait between the borders
Mark witnessing to a crowd of people
Dozens of people wanted the giant money tracks, we walked away briefly and came back and about 10 guys were listening to his performance.
Immigration also asked for tracks so that they could pass them out.
At the Bus Station almost everyone reading tracks, Thanks Mark
The trip was Long, by the way, What is Sleep? Still I think most people had a fair amount. Still it seemed a lot like 2-3 hours.

Day 1: Finding Paradise

After traveling all night and arriving at 2 in the afternoon, most of the group was tired. That is except Jordan. The food was good. I think everyone went to sleep early but I (Jordan) decided to swim in the “cold” water instead. The base was surprisingly nice. Three buildings are located along the water front. Several other cabins and a second swimming pool reside empty behind the ocean front property.

Day 2 Orientation: Paradise Island?

We biked into town. It turns out that the water taxi is the best way to travel, but also the most expensive. Rates for the base are $6 per person for a round trip. The prices are quite higher than even in the US. Chips and cereal often sell for $5 a bag/box. Fruit is also extremely expensive especially compared to the Guatemala prices. Actually it is hard to find much of anything as far as fruits and vegetables. Still the cook here manages quite well to make some incredibly tasty food. Lots of tourism and construction still continues. I met a neighbor lady; she said that Ambergris has a great façade, a beautiful front, but that it still needs Lots of work. I knew very little of what she was talking about.

Jeff briefed us:

Alcoholism is prevalent
Many kids have families lacking a father figure
Kids are quite frequently abused
People don’t want to think that “their paradise“ has a problem
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Working at the Base

Carlos and I dug a couple pits for the wastewater from the shower and sink. We had to put a couple buckets of sand about a foot or 2 below the surface. Pipes went to the buckets. The buckets then had rocks and holes drilled to disperse the water in multiple directions.

Crew 2: Worked to cut back a bunch of saw grass. Saw grass is a type of tree, maybe an alternative to razor wire. The saw grass required gloves and machetes to trim back. Maryann came out with multiple cuts or rashes on her arms.

Crew 3: Cleared brush from the ground. This helps with keeping the skeeters low and also helped with the appearances. Speaking of skeeters, I doubt that anyone has been untouched, and I already have about a dozen bites.

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Local Evangelism: Poor and Poorer

We had the opportunity to bike into town again. This time we went to a less well off area. Striking is the difference between the poor and the rich. One lives spaciously with million dollar mansions, with thousands of dollars on landscaping or large concrete walls. Alternatively, the poor are quite poor. Pushed to marshland, they have their houses, some with dirt footings, most however are built with on stilts. Connecting the houses are usually connected by wooden boards that are spread across scaffolding about two feet high. In most places the marsh is about 2-3 inches deep with other places quite a bit deeper. Garbage is thrown into the marsh with the idea that land will maybe be formed more quickly. At some point, maybe a layer of topsoil can cover the marshland.

The day went really well however. Many people were open to having us pray for them. We passed out bibles, tracts, and solar powered radios tuned only to the local Christian radio station. Mark’s group had two people who prayed to accept God. We also went into the town of San Pedro. We shared tracks, gospel messages, etc with them also.

DTS Outreach

2009-12-03T19:54:00.002-06:00

The classroom phase of the DTS ended last Saturday and now we are on the 2 month outreach to Belize, El Salvador and Guatemala. We will be in Belize until December 14 working with the YWAM base in San Pedro. From there we will travel to Flores, Guatemala to take a one day trip to Tikal to visit the Mayan Ruins and then travel on to San Salvador, El Salvador to work with the YWAM base for about 3 weeks. Our final 2 weeks of the outreach will be in San Pablo Guatemala where we will work with two churches in the area.
Please keep our group in your prayers as we travel and minister. We will update this blog with stories and photos so stay tuned!

Week 7 of the DTS

2009-10-20T11:25:00.002-05:00

Our 7th week of the DTS is focusing on Spiritual Warfare. Don and Barb Johnson, the base directors of YWAM Nicaragua are our teachers for the week. Their teachings and personal experiences in their years of ministry in Central America are helping the students prepare for the daily warfare as well as what we will be facing on our outrech to Belize, El Salvador and Guatemala.

Adios to Higher Grounds

2009-10-16T14:53:00.005-05:00

Today marks the final day of business for Higher Grounds Coffee House. The Coffee House was started by Rob Hastings 8 years ago and has been in its present location for almost 6 years. HGCH served as a place for Christians to gather in a peaceful atmosphere and enjoy great cakes, cookies and other sweet things that you do not find in Guatemala especially if you are a student living with a local family. Beyond that it has been a connecting point for people who are in Antigua for ministry, study or just being a tourist. The last year has been financially very difficult for us as business has slowed because of the economic problems. Our base does not have enough staff to run it and do all the other ministry that we are doing so we have decided to place our focus on those things and pray that God will raise ups someone else to run a coffee house ministry. We thank the Lord for the many lives that have been ministered to through the coffee house and believe that it is still a needed ministry in Antigua.
We will still continue to host the Thursday night worship service in English. Abner has been our worship leader for the past year and he will be getting married next week and leaving for the USA. He has been a vital part of the ministry at Higher Grounds and will be missed by many. We pray God's blessings on him and Katie as they start their new lives.

DTS Week 6

2009-10-14T19:21:00.002-05:00

We are fast approaching the midpoint of the lecture phase of the DTS. This week we are blessed to have Judy and Frank Guasca ministering to the students on Inner Healing or what Ywamers call"The Plumbline." Judy comes from Colombia and serve with here husband Frank as base directors of YWAM El Salvador. The students are learning a lot about themselves and what has made them the way they are today both positive things as well as negative things. We will end the week with a time of personal ministry to each student to help them be set free from anything of the past or present that is a hindrance to their walk of faith and the freedom God wants them to enjoy.
We are firming up our plans for the 8 week outreach and are planning to do ministry in Belize, El Salvador and Guatemala. We are looking forward to all that God will do during the next 6 weeks of the lecture phase to prepare us for the outreach.

DTS Week 5

2009-10-06T11:44:00.003-05:00

"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us..."
We are now in our fifth week of the DTS and it has been a great time of learning, bonding and seeking God. So far we have had teaching on these areas:
Week 1: Intimacy with God
Week 2: The nature and character of God
Week 3: The Father heart of God and His family
Week 4: Intercession
This week we are learning about Supernatural ministry and it has been awesome. God is moving in our hearts preparing us for the ministry he wants us to be involved in on a daily basis.
We are praying into our outreach and waiting for confirmation of destinations in Belize, Mexico and Guatemala.

Our next DTS will be July 25-December 11, 2010. If you want to be a part of a life changing experience we invite you to go to our website and download our application.
www.ywamantigua.org

DTS 2009

2009-09-10T18:50:00.004-05:00

We have just completed our first week of classes for the 2009 Discipleship Training School. Dale Harrison, the base director from YWAM Chico, CA taught on "Intimacy with God" and challenged the students to draw near to God during the next 5 months of the DTS.
We have 5 students attending the DTS from Guatemala, El Salvador, England and the USA. We are blessed with a wonderful group who are hungering for more of the Lord and setting aside this special time to draw near to Him. Please pray for Kate, Kalissa, Carlos, Jordan and Marleni as they make this journey of the heart.

August Update

2009-08-09T19:42:00.003-05:00

We are less than one month away from our DTS and we are excited about the students God has given us. We have been praying for 10 students and it looks like we will have 9 coming in September. Four of the students are from Guatemala. They speak Tzutujil as their first language and Spanish is their second language. We are blessed to have them be a part of this life changing experience. Please keep all the students in your prayers as they make final preparations to come.
We hosted a group from Knoxville, TN this month who came to do a construction project with another ministry. They put in some long days of work and accomplished a lot in the short time they were here. We are blessed to be able to have a facility that can accommodate teams comfortably and it is always good to fellowship with believers from different parts of the world who come here.
We will be hosting a group of artists from Pepperdine University on August 14 for a week or so. They have shipped art supplies here and will be distributing them and doing ministry using the talents God has given them.
We are looking for a new ministry site for Higher Grounds Coffee House as we will be vacating our present site at the end of October. We are working with Seeds of Hope Ministry as they will be taking over the operation of the coffee house and will be focusing on ministering to the Guatemalan youth. Please pray that God will open up a perfect place for the ministry to be established and for all the helpers that are needed to carry out the ministry.

July Update

2009-07-27T13:04:00.003-05:00

DTS News: The summer is cruising by quickly and we are preparing for the DTS that will begin in September. We have students from the USA, England and Guatemala registered as well as student from Ghana who would like to be here if a visa can be procured. We are excited about the students God has sent our way and look forward to working with them during the 5 months of training. We have some great teachers coming and we believe that God will speak through them to all us, both students and staff. The Word of God is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword and as we sit under anointed teaching it changes lives.

Summer in Antigua: We have hosted groups from Chico, California and Knoxville, Tennessee this summer along with several individuals who have come to Antigua to study Spanish or conduct ministry. The Lord has been faithful to keep the base occupied and has sent volunteers our way to help us with the work. Currently we have a young lady from England working with us for a month. She will be assisting with the teams coming and teaching ESL. We were blessed to have the World Race group pass through the coffee house, all 90 of them! Business has been slow so their visit really helped us financially.

Future of Higher Grounds Coffee House : We have made a decision to close the doors of the coffee house at the end of October when our lease expires. The current owner of the property wants to increase the rent substantially and we are not able or willing to pay what she wants. In addition we will do not have the staff needed to properly run the coffee house with the DTS coming this fall and we want to focus our efforts in other areas. We are praying that God will raise up several people who will carry on the ministry at Higher Grounds. It is a unique ministry and really there is no other place in Antigua that serves the needs of Christians who are passing through or are staying for an extended time and are looking for a safe and pleasent place to study, fellowship and worship in English. Please join us in prayer as we truly desire to see the ministry continue in the hands of another ministry.

Wedding Bells: One of our staff members, Abner, is getting married October 24! We are happy for Abner and Katie and pray that God will bless their union and place them in the ministry he desires for them.

May Update

2009-05-31T09:48:00.003-05:00

The month of May has been a great month of ministry. We hosted the CDTS students from Chico and set up ministry for them in Antigua as well as ministry in San Pablo La Laguna. The CDTS is a small group of 4 students so each of them get to be involved in every aspect of the ministry. They have conducted the Thursday night English worship service at Higher Grounds Coffee House and have introduced some new things that have been really good. We will take advantage of their different approach and use it in some of our meetings. The leaders of the team had to return to Canada due to the death of Dawn's father who died suddenly and unexpectantly from a brain aneurism. The entire family of 5 returned for the funeral and the CDTS was left without a leader for a few days until help could be sent. The students continued their ministry and have done an excellent job. They will be returning to Chico on June 4 to complete their training.
May 18-21 we hosted a seminar on Financial Support Raising. It was attended by 30 people who really benefitted from the teachings of Andy Huddleston and John Ray. Their timely and practical advice along with testimonies of God's provision for their ministries was a huge encouragement to all of us. Everyone was given tools to use to help them raise the support they need to continue the ministry God has given them.
We also conducted a seminar on prayer with the ladies of the Assemblies of God in the Lake Atitlan area. Over 200 women along with as many children and a few pastors were in attendance. We had simultaneous ministry going on for each of the groups. We plan to do more of this type of ministry in the future in addition to conducting seminars in Antigua.
We are recruiting students for the September DTS. We are offering 5 scholarships to help Guatemalan youth attend and have 3 applications submitted. It will be a tremendous opportunity for them to participate in the DTS. Please pray that God will supply all we need to make the DTS a reality this September!

April News

2009-04-07T16:35:00.004-05:00

We are in the middle of Semana Santa, Holy Week in Antigua. It is a big celebration in the country and Antigua will have thousands of visitors coming to participate in the events. It is a colorful time as people decorate the streets with alfombras which are like rugs made of colored sawdust, flower petals and fruit. Some are very elaborate and take hours to make while others are pretty simple. The processional will walk over them and completely destroy them in a matter of seconds and then the city cleanup crew follows behind to dispose of all the material. It seems like an awful lot of work to have it destroyed so quickly. Higher Grounds Coffee House will be open all night Thursday as this is the big night of the week. At 3 a.m. Roman soldiers will come riding on horseback and the proclamation of Jesus being sentenced to death will be read in various places in town. The entire week places most of its focus on the suffering and death of Christ and in the past the day of the resurrection there is very little celebration and the town returns to a silent state. YWAM Antigua will be conducting a sunrise service at Cero de la Cruz which is on the side of a hill overlooking Antigua. It is a beautiful setting and a great way to begin the most important day of believers in Christ. Without the resurrection our life is being lived in vain. But thanks be to God who raised Christ from the dead and through him we have the promise and assurance that we too will one day rise from the grave and be clothed with immortality!
We are presently hosting a Crossroads DTS group from Chico, California until June 4. They will be doing a variety of mercy ministries and some ministry to children, youth and adults. We are blessed to have them with us and look forward to all that God will do in each member of the team. Please pray for them and pray for the activities we will be involved in during Semana Santa. We want Jesus to be glorified and for people to embrace the resurrection life that is only available through a personal relationship with him.

Outreach teams

2009-03-17T15:23:00.003-05:00

Our 2 teams, one from Laramie, WY and the other from Austin, TX are busy with a variety of ministries this week, that include construction, food distribution, drama presentation, music, and evangelism. They will both leave at the end of the week and then we will be hosting a Crossroads DTS from Chico, CA for part of their outreach.
The weekend activites of Lent have begun in Antigua and the city is expecting large crowds. We are looking forward to the ministry opportunities.

March news

2009-03-02T13:49:00.002-06:00

During the month of March we will be hosting 2 teams from the USA. One team will be doing a variety of ministries and the other team will focus on constructing a home for a Pastor and establishing a feeding program for children in the mercado. We look forward to working with them and pray that God will give them a great experience while they are here.
The Lent period in Antigua with all of its processions started last Sunday. Each weekend until Easter there will be at least one procession. Thousands of people will be coming to Antigua to watch these activities. It is a time of year when people are open to the gospel message and we ask that you will pray for the believers here to take advantage of these opportunities to share the gospel message.

Construction Project and Prayer Seminar

2009-02-15T08:27:00.006-06:00

During the first week of February we joined forces with a group from Canada to help with the construction of a health clinic in San Pablo La Laguna. We began work at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning and finished pouring the roof at 3 p.m. Over 40 men from the community and church came out to help. The clinic will be completed in the next couple of months and will meet a great need for better health care in San Pablo. We also constructed a home for a family of 7. Their small two room adobe style home was replaced with a block home that will be much more comfortable for them. We made a triple bunk bed so the 4 boys will have a bed with a mattress instead of a board or the ground to sleep on.
On February 14 we hosted a seminar on prayer at Higher Grounds Coffee House which was attended by 45 people. It was a great day of learning and practical application on prayer and worship. Our desire is to use the coffee house meeting room to be a place of regularly scheduled prayer as well as personal prayer throughout the week.

Miracle at San Pablo La Laguna!

2009-01-09T13:58:00.002-06:00

The YWAM Chico, California DTS students have been ministering in San Pablo La Laguna during the past week. Last Sunday they witness an amazing miracle that our staff member Sue reported in the following:Just wanted to send an encouraging and exciting email! Tonight I
(indirectly) witnessed God do a real live miracle! ... I am here at Lake Attitlan, one of the most beautiful lakes of Central America, translating for a group of 18-25 year olds, who are on their 2 months outreach in Guatemala, as part of a 5 month training school they are doing with YWAM...

anyway...

Tonight whilst I was translating for one of the canadian lads who was preaching in the local church, someone came to the pastor and all of a sudden he had to rush out... then about 15 mins later he came back and got 2 boys from our team who were sitting in the congregation.... then another 15 mins later he came back again and got the rest of the team... all whilst I was up front, interpreting...

Turns out that the 3 month old baby of a couple in the church had died! They rang the pastor... he went..prayed.... felt a block in his prayers... hence he got the lads to go with him to pray... they prayed... with faith.. as they prayed, asking for the Lord to breathe new life, (as they demonstrate in the dramas that they do), they felt the true, living breath of God breathe through them and past them and onto the baby. The baby´s skin, which had been so cold, became warm again, and his eyes started to move, although still closed.... then, suddenly, they popped open and he stared straight at the lad who had been praying... and started smiling! WOW! PRAISE GOD! ... as soon as the lad I had been translating for, finished his preach, the pastor whipped us out of there to go and pray too... when we got there... we saw a happy smily baby.... and a very teary, greatful mum and dad.
Wow! Amazing!

Christmas Caroling

2008-12-22T12:27:00.002-06:00

Saturday night YWAM Antigua held its 3rd annual Christmas caroling party in Antigua. It was a great night to sing the familiar Christmas songs to the many people who were walking the streets and in the Central Park of Antigua. We met up with a band comprised of young people who were also playing Christmas songs so we joined in with them and had a wonderful time. It was totally unplanned but nonetheless a blessed time for everyone and an opportunity to truly give praise to the Lord.

Feliz Navidad!

2008-12-15T14:46:00.004-06:00

December news

2008-11-29T06:40:00.003-06:00

Sue Lawrence from England has recently joined our staff. We are blessed to have her serving with us. Sue has a passion for prayer and will be developing this ministry as the Lord leads her.
We celebrated Thanksgiving at Higher Grounds Coffee House and had 42 people attend. It was a fabulous meal prepared by our staff. The coffee house has hosted a special Thanksgiving meal for the past 5 years. There are many Americans in Antigua who appreciate the opportunity to participate in this meal and invite their Guatemalan friends to be a part of it.
We will be hosting DTS teams from Chico, CA and Sacramento, CA durng December. Both teams will be here to celebrate Christmas. We look forward to their arrival and the ministry they will bring to reach out to people here.
On December 19th we will be showing movie at the base and inviting our neighbors to view it. We will have special Christmas message for them and an invitation to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.
On December 20 we will have the annual Christmas caroling party in Antigua. We will be walking the streets to sing Christmas songs to bless the people and remind them of the real meaning of the celebration.
On December 24 we will host a special Christmas Eve service at a local homeless shelter. There are 80-90 people who come each night for a meal and spend the night in the shelter. We look forward to ministering to them.
Have a Merry Christmas!

Movie Night at the Base

2008-10-05T10:22:00.004-05:00

Saturday night we showed the movie, "The Cross and the Switchblade" at the base. We had almost 100 people from the neighborhood attend. This story is timeless as it demonstrates the power of God to reach what some may consider the most difficult and hardened people. Gangs are very powerful in Guatemala and the audience could relate to the story of Nicky Cruz, the gang leader. He has come to Guatemala on several ocassions to host crusades. At the end of the movie a local missionary presented the gospel message and gave opportunity to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. To God be the glory!

Kid's Club

2008-09-22T21:59:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday we hosted Kid's Club at the base for the children living in our neighborhood. About 50 children participated in the program which we will host on Saturdays. It is a great opportunity to extend the love of Christ to these precious children. They appreciate having a place to go to where they know they will be safe and have fun. Many of the children come from families without much money and have problems that stem from alcohol use and abuse. A local newspaper reported that 66% of Guatemalans drink alcoholic beverages which makes them #1 in the world. It is not a statistic to be proud of and the devasting results are witnessed everyday in the live of neglected and abuse children. Please pray that our outreach to children will have a life-changing impact on them and their families.

Prayer Room

2008-09-15T10:48:00.002-05:00

We are in the processes of making a portable prayer room at Higher Grounds Coffee House. The Lord has put this in our heart to do and we want to get it done as soon as possible so people can begin to use it. We feel that this is a critical time in Guatemala for people to intercede for this nation as well as for the USA and other countries that are facing important decisions. We will be posting pictures as the prayer room develops as well as prayer concerns that we invite you to pray along with us.

Soul Patrol

2008-09-13T10:41:00.003-05:00

Every Friday night we meet at the Higher Grounds Coffee House to pray before heading out for "Soul Patrol". Soul Patrol is our evangelistic outreach to the community and more specifically Central Park in Antigua. The park is the gathering place for youth and adults who often are just sitting on a bench waiting for someone or just enjoying the evening. We ask the Lord to direct to people whom he wants us to talk to and we try to follow his leading. It is always an adventure as we never know what we will encounter. I have had a variety of experiences as have other members of our staff as well as people who join us for the outreach. Last night I talked with a young man, Juan Carlos, who is 22 years old. His father died when he was only 10 years old. Juan's father was only 36 at the time of his death which was caused by drinking too much alcohol which is a common problem in Guatemala among men. His father's death was tragic and Juan was in a state of depression for 3 years. I asked Juan if he had accepted Christ as his personal Savior and he said that he had and that without his faith in God he never would have been able to survive the hardships he has faced in his life. We had the opportunity to pray with Juan that the Lord would help him find a different job. He works the night shift at a nice hotel, 6 days per week and does not have the opportunity to attend church on Sundays because of his work schedule. He would like to go to the university to continue his studies. He has been trained as an accountant but has not been able to find a job in this field. It was a privilege for us to be able to talk with him and encourage him in his faith walk. God has people waiting for us to minister to if we will only take the time and trust him to guide us to those he cares for and desires to bless.

New staff arrival

2008-09-07T11:04:00.002-05:00

YWAM Antigua has a new temporary staff person, Dayna, who comes to us from YWAM Chico, California. She and her daughter Sierra joined us last Thursday and will be with us for 3 months. Dayna will be helping at Higher Grounds Coffee House in Antigua. We are grateful to the Lord for sending her our way at this time as we will be expanding the hours of operation at HGCH as well as instituting some new ministry ideas. Please keep Dayna and Sierra in prayer as they make the adjustments to the new work in Guatemala.

The night the lights went out...

2008-09-01T09:47:00.003-05:00

Each Sunday night at 6 p.m. YWAM Antigua hosts a Bible study at Higher Grounds Coffee House. We are currently studying the book of 1 Timothy. The electricity went off in Antigua some time in the afternoon and when it almost time to start the study and no one was at the coffee house, I was ready to close the doors and go home as I did not know if the lights would come on or if anyone would come. Five minutes before 6 p.m. people started arriving and we lit candles so we could read the Scriptures. It was one of those experiences that I will always remember. I thought of the song, "The Lord is my light and my Salvation whom shall I fear?" His presence was with us and we had a wonderful time looking into His Word to receive instruction in our walk with Him. We studied chapter 5 which deals a lot with relationships within the church. Dean Sherman is a popular teacher in the YWAM circles and in his series on Relationships he made the following statement, "Every problem in the world is a problem with relationships." I have to agree with his assessment as I have seen many people leave the church or the mission field not because they do not like the work they are doing but because of problems with interpersonal relationships. Paul gave Timothy several pieces of advice on how to maintain peace and harmony within the church. I encourage you to read this chapter and reflect on how you are doing and how your church is doing regarding relationships among the members and the leaders.

video tour

2008-08-31T09:09:00.003-05:00

During the past month 5 members of the World Race have been working in Antigua doing a variey of ministries. They have put together a video of some of their experiences which include activities with YWAM Antigua. Here is the link to the site where the video as well as some pictures are posted. http://jennifercrane.theworldrace.org/?filename=4B9A83A284C446F39B7EBE0BA0A1A7

Welcome to YWAM Antigua!

2008-08-30T13:27:00.001-05:00

Thank you for checking out our blog for YWAM Antigua. We will be posting blogs at this site on a regular basis along with photos, videos, etc. of the ministry that is happening in Guatemala. Our base will be taking in teams for ministry during the next year and we want to encourage you to contact us to set up outreach dates as soon as possible. We have a variety of ministry options available for groups.
We are also looking for more YWAMers to join us on staff and specifically we are praying for 5 people who have a passion and calling to coffee house ministry. If this is you please contact us at brutcho@hotmail.com or ywamantigua@gmail.com