Guatemala (MNN) — Christians dream of being able to share Christ with people for the first time. That dream came true for a team from Michigan as they were helping Paradise Bound Ministries in Guatemala.
Paradise Bound President Dan Smith says their Guatemala staff did the investigative work on their village. "They made it into the village–which was a feat in and of itself. There's really not even a road going into it."
Smith says once they arrived, they discovered the villagers were scared. "After the vehicle made it in, they actually blocked the road off with a lot of wood. They felled some trees so that if something bad happened, our vehicle wasn't going to be able to leave. So, that already brought up some red flags that this was going to be a little different situation."
While the villagers were fearful because they had never seen North Americans, Smith says they were willing. "They have no water and no electricity there. Therefore their need outweighed their fear about us coming in. We always let them know that we were going to share the Gospel. They really didn't know what to do with that. In fact, some voted not to come in."
Because of the lack of water, medical needs were great. Smith explains how they're able to get into just about every village. "We do the medical clinic first and see everyone who needs to be seen in the village. After that, we show the "JESUS" Film, share the Gospel, and present villagers with New Testaments."
Smith says their Guatemalan pastor was able to present the Gospel more clearly "so that they could see and understand that what they saw [in the film] is something they can also experience. It was just a beautiful night. And yes, we had some people that came to Christ that night."
The doors are wide open now, and Paradise Bound has already been invited to return. Smith hopes to provide water filters for the entire village. Click here to help support that effort.
