DTS Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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