Ana's Minute for Mission

Two years ago a group of 17 members from our church traveled to El Estor, Guatemala; this beautiful and cool weather place in Guatemala! Well, I guess that’s a little off description but you can ask the people that went what the weather was like; I bet they would love to retell their stories. In that trip they started to build up a relationship with the Estoreño Presbytery in Izabal, Guatemala. A year after, 2 members from our church went to Amatitlan for a partnership meeting with Guatemalan folks and other Americans who have partnerships as well. Then a couple of months after this, 6 people from our church went back and they created an agreement with the Estoreño Presbytery. In this agreement it was made clear that we needed to keep building our relationship.

As Jane told us this morning, face-to-face is the best way to do so because it is really hard to maintain a relationship without that face-to-face interaction; and even though we do have our monthly conversation with pastor Gerardo and we exchange emails sometimes, it isn’t enough. It’s hard to keep up without in-person contact and it is of great importance to have such interaction at the beginning of a relationship. This is why we are planning a mission trip to Guatemala this summer; to have that face-to-face interaction with our fellow brothers and sisters in Guatemala and because it is something we agreed upon.

This mission trip will include Bible study, partnership planning, leadership training and cultural tourism. It is a great opportunity for new folks to meet our Guatemalan brothers and sisters and help build our relationship with them. This mission trip will be taking place in a more comfortable location and much cooler zone of Guatemala. Which once again, if you ask the people who went on the previous trips is really good and exciting news! But to know more about our partnership with the Estoreño Presbytery and our upcoming trip to Guatemala; I would like to invite you to a short informational meeting next Sunday, March 7 in the Education Building after church. This meeting will go more into detail about our next trip. But its not just for those who are considering going on the mission trip—but also for those who may want more general information for possible future trips or simply are trying to get involved in a supportive way.

So this is an invitation to all of you to learn more about the commitment we’ve made with the Estoreño Presbytery and for you to find a way in which you can get involved in this partnership because it is not just a small group of people who have this partnership with the Estoreño Presbytery it is all of us as CHPC. So please come to next week’s meeting and learn more about the mission trip will be having this summer and our partnership with the Estoreño Presbytery as a whole.

-- Ana