Some very special people from rural Guatemala

Francisco
During one visit to Guatemala, Thali and Randall needed some items from a local pharmacy while serving in rural and semi-rural parts of this country.  It was at this pharmacy where they met Francisco, the owner.  As Thali shared their vision with Francisco, a loving follower of our Lord, he knew “just” where the Isaiah House could be built…on some land near some old Mayan ruins.  Francisco was such a tremendous help during our visit; he introduced us to his mother who provided some wonderful meals; took off work for a week to accompany us every day to the site; helped when we were stuck in the mud; connected us with concrete suppliers (who donated many supplies – which he shared was unheard of); and introduced us to a very capable construction superintendent, Abelino.

 










Abelino
Abelino was able (with translation help from Thali and Francisco) to take a very rough sketch from a notepad and figure out exactly how much material, and what crew members he would need to build the water storage tank building; which became the priority project so that tanks and equipment would be secured from theft.  Abelino was a very hard worker; he is paid $12/day as supervisor; and has the respect of his crew.  He and I were able to review the working drawings for the Phase 1 building before I had to fly home and I had full confidence that he will have the foundation laid once the rain letup.  Abelino’s “right hand man”, Cristobal.




Cristobal
Cristobal is one of the land donors that made building the road possible.  He was sent a vision from God in his dreams.  God told him exactly where to scour the land to find a viable water source to pipe into the Ezra Project home.  He awoke with a vision…He directed his son: “Gather something to eat – we are going to the land.” Cristobal walked to the exact spot that he dreamt of; which he was astonished to find.  He had Abelino’s full confidence when it came to construction, and was willing to sleep at the site once valuable materials arrived to prevent them from being stolen; even in the torrential downpour – such a wonderful servant of our Lord.

Local Landowners

In order to build a road to the Isaiah 58 home local land owners had to be convinced to donate a portion of their lands for the road.  These land owners signed an agreement for construction of the road during a previous visit, and were present at the site to provide a wonderful meal and greeting for us when we arrived on site. These men and women hiked down a very steep mountain to investigate the water supply source; and many of these folks participated in the water project, as well as the shelter construction project over the ensuing days.  We were able to honor them with a feast on our last day during this visit, and the rain held out long enough for these wonderful days of celebration.