July 3, 2006
Today God called us to visit Renee and his family up in the jungle of Tikal in northern Guatemala. Once again I thought
I knew why I was going up there and this time, once again, God had a different plan.
Reneé had told me about an opportunity up there and God opened
the door for us to go. We left at 2:30 in the morning to catch the 6 a.m. flight and arrived at about 7:00 a.m..
We finished our two days work on the first day and I remember thinking about how I wished we had only booked the flight for
one day. But we had booked it for two and would not be returning until 5 p.m. on the fourth. Oh well, we'll make
the best of it!
July 4, 2006
I woke up this morning before the other two guys and thought
about many things. As I prayed and contemplated the events of the day before I thought about the book of Romans that
I had read waiting for Hector and Rani to return from the ruins. And somehow I got the 23rd Psalm in my mind.
But not all of it.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...
I kept thinking about the simplicity of this verse. The
Spanish version says, "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing." And I began to realize the amazing and the immense
lesson contained in that one phrase. Anyway, I'll write another paper about that. Suffice it to say that I just
was blown away by this phrase "I shall not want." Most of my problems come from my wants anyway, don't they?
When we got up we went down to the restaurant to have breakfast
and I couldn't help but think about the 80 year old man two years earlier who had taken my wife and my mother and I on
a ride around the lake in his boat. I remember marveling at the fact that he could handle such a job at that age, the
small man that he was. I wondered if he was still alive. I remembered his name... Michael. And then, looking
down on the beach I saw...
Michael!
I couldn't believe my eyes! There he was, just like he was two years ago! I looked at the guys and then motioned
to him that we would be down shortly.
We entered the boat and I told the guys who this was. I didn't know if he would remember me but I sure remembered
him! We pulled up to the shore and allowed Hector and Rani off the boat so they could go see the animals in the park.
Since I had already done this several years ago I opted to stay in the boat with Michael.
After the guys left I began talking with Michael and he remembered
me from several years earlier. As he talked I remember thinking about him being 82 years old and wondering if he was
a Christian and thinking that I needed to say something to him. At that very moment he made the statement "All of my
friends are dying." I immediately asked him what he thought was going to happen to him after he died. And to my
amazement, he began telling me all kinds of things. Like a well oiled machine just waiting to show what he could do,
he began quoting verse after verse and telling me stories from the Bible. At one point he actually went to the back
of the boat and produced a black plastic bag, tightly wrapped to protect its contents from the water. Inside was another
plastic bag, again tightly wrapped around what turned out to be a badly worn New Testament Bible. I was amazed that
he had it but I was even more amazed that he could read it at the age of 82. The writing was so tiny!
We shared so much during that time! For over an hour we
talked back and forth about God and Jesus Christ. It was very cool!
When the guys came back I told them about him. We sat and talked and then he took us to his little
church in the boat. The church's name was Agua Viva or "Living Waters" in English.
Suffice it to say that we had a great time visiting with him
and seeing his church. He took us back to the hotel and we had a sort of Bible study until Renée came to get us.
We checked out of the hotel and learned of a tragic event that had just happened.
A bus coming down a steep grade lost its brakes and hit several
cars including one of the three wheeled Tuk Tuks. The driver of the three wheeler was thrown from the vehicle and run
over by the bus, killing him instantly. This had just happened about 30 minutes before we arrived on the scene.
There was still blood in the street although the vehicles had been taken away.
I asked Renée if he knew about the driver of the three wheeler
who'd been killed and he replied that he did not. But he promised to get the details for me.
We took a tour around the lake and then flew back home where
we got our truck and began the 2 1/2 hour drive back to Panajachel. We stopped about halfway home at a little restaurant
that had just opened up. We went inside and were amazed to see the following plaque sitting on a table next to the wall:
Wow, what a coincidence! The owner turned out to be a Christian too! What a coincidence. In two
years in this country I have never seen a church with that name. And today I find a wonderful little man, a man who is
a strong Christian and is ready to see his Lord who has a church with that name. And a few hours later I got into a
restaurant that displays that plaque!
God or coincidence; you decide!
