From mail at berkshiremission.org Mon Mar 9 19:34:56 2009 From: mail at berkshiremission.org (Berkshire Mission) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 19:34:56 -0400 Subject: [News] Guatemala mission rest of the story Message-ID: Friday, March 6, 2009 The rest of the story. Happy Sabbath dear friends, It has been a week since the first of our group arrived home. We had split up in Tikal with Bob leading the first group and Eric leading the 2nd group which was to leave 5 hours later. We were not able to get the entire group leaving together after they changed the return schedule. Eric's group ended up being held over in Guatemala City after their first plane was delayed an hour and causing them to miss all connecting flights. We were all concerned and feeling sorry for them having to stay over one more night. Well, that was until some of us were able to see the pictures of the hotel the airline put them up in! No reason to feel a bit sorry for them:-) We had packed up all our crates on Monday evening and were ready to leave Machquilla by 8 a.m. on Tuesday. As the bus and van pulled out I was able to see Flubia crying as she held the hand of her husband Placido. This is a fine Christian couple and I have no doubt that we will see them in Heaven. They will be wonderful neighbors. We must have made an impression on them too in order for them to cry like that at our departure. We were a little early for our reservation at Tikal so we stopped at some fantastic souvenir shops that were on the side of the road. When entering Tikal National Park we had to show our passport and also receive a stamped ticket with the time of our entrance. If at the end of the park entrance we were found to have gone over the speed limit by the time stamp we would be fined heftily. There were many various animal crossing signs all along our drive. And the park itself is a dense natural rain forest jungle. Here is where the Maya Temple ruins were discovered in 1848. The Temples were magnificent in structure and the tale of their civilization and daily routines were amazing. And to think they built all this without use of metal tools or beast of burden is almost unbelievable. Besides the incredible architectural design and the way of life of the Maya people the jungle itself leaves a nature lover in a state of awe. Personally I was in such a state of adrenaline rush that I felt as if I could" leap mountains with a single bound". There will be nothing in my life that will thrill me more than this experience. Unfortunately for a few of our group the closeness with nature was more than they signed on for and it ended up in being a time of fear. Guatemala is the bird watchers paradise, and along with the Howler monkeys that are aptly named as their howl can be heard for 6 K. to the spider monkeys that swing from tree to tree over your head there is never a dull moment going on. There was a pond with many crocodiles. And our guide told us they just had to kill one of them after he killed 3 people. He also told us that in the evening the jaguars, puma and ocelot come down to that pond to drink. It was only a short distance from where we were staying. The resort was well kept and the rooms which were clean and nice looking were without constant electric or hot water. There are no electric lines that come into this park and the resort is powered by solar and generators. Lights went out in the park at 10:30 and didn't come back on till morning. Hot water was available for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. The food was very nice and the creature sightings were amazing. Our teens made use of the pool and then the soccer ball for a good part of the day. This was an incredible mission trip with many people being blessed in many different ways. What an honor it has been to be part of it, especially knowing that this is not the end, that we will meet many of these people in heaven and will be able to continue our friendship with each other and with Jesus who made it all possible for eternity. If you have never been on a mission trip my friend, let me take this moment to invite you. It will be a life changing event and you will never be the same. Your eyes will be opened to what is real and important in life. And if you have ever felt poor, you will never feel so again. After leaving Tikal with the early team I had the pleasure of meeting a man that told me the most fantastic story that I feel compelled to tell you about. I was sitting by myself when I man came up to me and asked where we were going or where we had been. I said we had been in Machaquilla doing missionary work and he said that he was from a Poptun I was surprised that he had not heard about our team being in the area as we had advertised so much. He told me that his wife had some dental needs and wish she could have been seen. I am thinking that perhaps his wife was seen by our dental clinic and he had not been home yet to hear about it. He then pulled down his bottom lip showing me a full set of beautiful teeth which surprised me greatly. Both of the fact that a stranger was showing me his teeth and then the fact that they were so perfect. He then told me that in 1999 Harrison Ford had come to Tikal to work on a movie. And that because of his extensive knowledge of Tikal that he wanted to work as a tour guide for them. But it seems my new friend did not have these beautiful teeth at that time and in fact all of his bottom teeth were rotten. Those in charge of hiring tour guides told him he was an "ugly, smelly mouthed man" and they did not want him there and to go home. He then said "I was so disgraced that I went home and locked myself in the bedroom. I could not even face my wife to tell her what was wrong as I was so embarrassed that I could not even support my family because of my teeth" "I would not come out of that room for 12 hours as I cried in disgrace and pleaded with God for help. The next part of the story brought tears to my eyes as I recognized the hand of God. It was 22 days after this prayer that he met an American dentist named Eduardo Pardo Ayou who gave him his card and said "call my office, I am going to help you"! As Antonio Diaz told me about this man I knew immediately who he was as I have seen him on TV and know he does mission work in 3rd world countries. Well Antonio did call his office and after 8 hours of anesthesia he woke up to having 15 perfect implanted teeth in his mouth. That would be about $65,000 worth of dental work for free! The next part of the story is the best. The doctor explained to him that he had implanted 15 teeth rather than the full 16... and the reason why? So that he will always be reminded where he came from and how God had come to his rescue! I was overwhelmed with gratitude to God for what he had done for this man and for making men like Dr. Ayou who allow God to use them to relieve suffering. I then had prayer with Antonio and asked the Lord to continue to bless him and his family. So what does this clean, well dressed gentleman do now for a living? He is a tour guide for Tikal and supports his family well. With all the folks in the airport wearing our green mission shirts that day why did Antonio feel compelled to tell me his story? I feel sure it is because I was the one that had the ability to tell his story to thousands of people. Antonio and I had an appointment set up by the creator of the universe and I am so humbled to have been there for it. Praise God for His tender mercies and for hearing the crying prayers of His people. As I sat on that chair before Antonia came I had been thinking that this would have to be my last trip, I had been so terribly hurt in the fall I took. But after Antonia left it was almost as if I could hear the Lord saying, hang in there kid, I am still in control of things. He never told me the path would be without falls, just that He would be there waiting for me at the end of it. My prayers are that you have enjoyed reading these updates as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Lets us all hold fast until He comes. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God. Hebrews 12:2 Smiles as always,, Jennifer Young Mission Reporter -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mail at berkshiremission.org Sun Mar 15 19:27:05 2009 From: mail at berkshiremission.org (Berkshire Mission) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:27:05 -0400 Subject: [News] Mission Trip Meeting Message-ID: <7758B6E9F2FA49E8A11D8CD19D4AD2EE@eric> Hello everybody. Now that we are all back and rested up, we would like to share our experience with all of you! We will have a program at the Berkshire Hills Church on March 21 at 10:45am. We will have lots of pictures and stories to share with you about the mission trip. If you would like to share a thought about your experience, please call Bob at 413-446-2214 and we will save time in the program for you. We will have photos and stories from all aspects of the trip including, travel, work site, medical team, Vbs, evangelism. The program will start at 10:45am and a potluck will follow. Please being your pictures on cd/laptop to share with others during the potluck. I would like to encourage everybody to attend, I know that for some of you it is a long travel but we will have a lunch after and you will enjoy the testimony of those who went on the trip. We also have updated pictures from past projects to Chile and Honduras that we will share with you. If you are planning on attending please email me back and let us know so we can plan for lunch. Thanks for all of your support of Berkshire Mission and we look forward to seeing you next week. Eric Ps. Please bring some of the items that you purchased to display for others to see. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mail at berkshiremission.org Thu Mar 19 20:39:29 2009 From: mail at berkshiremission.org (Berkshire Mission) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:39:29 -0400 Subject: [News] Bird List Message-ID: Below is a list for all you bird lovers. The birds listed below were spotted by Dwight Taylor during our last mission trip to Guatemala. Guatemala Feb. 11, 09 Great tailed Grackle, cattle egret, scissor-tailed flycatcher, Buff-throated Saltator, Turkey Vulture, Crimson-Collard Tanager, Green-breasted Mango, Blue-crowned Motmot, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Wood Thrush, Rufous-naped Wren, Black and white Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Wilson's Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Collared Aracari, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Euphonia, White-collared Seedeater, Blue-black Grassquit, Bat Falcon, Red-lored Parrot, Vaux's Swift, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Mangrove Warbler, Palm Warbler, American Redstart, Clay-colored Robin, Beryline Hummingbird, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Grown Jay, Grey Catbird, Olive Sparrow, Blue-grey Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, Ruddy Ground Dove, Grey-headed Dove,. Southern House Wren, Black-headed Siskin, Tropical Pewee, Yellow-winged Tanager, Long-tailed Hermit, Grooved-bill Ani, Great Egret, Agami Heron, White-bellied Wren, Black Catbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Red-legged Honey Creeper, Bronzed Cowbird, Bullock's Oriole, Great Black Hawk, Yellow-headed Parrot, Aztec (or Olive-breasted) Parakeet, Mealy Parrot, Black and white Hawk-Eagle, Rock Pigeon, Eastern Meadow Lark, Rufous -tailed hummingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Summer Tanager, House Wren, White-bellied Emerald, White-fronted Parrot, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Melodious Blackbird, Grey-breasted Martin, Masked Tityra, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Rufus-capped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Chachalaca, Indigo Bunting, Red-billed Pigeon, Vermillion Flycatcher, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing, Yellow-olive Flycatcher, White-breasted Wood Wren, Vermiculated Screech-Owl, White Hawk, Ovenbird, Roadside Hawk, Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, American Coot, Northern Jacana, Little Blue Heron, Green Heron, Neotropic Cormorant, Spotted Sandpiper, Royal Tern, White-throated Swallow, Mangrove Swallow, Northern Roughwing Swallow, Yucatan Flycatcher, Purple-crowned Fairy, Grey-necked Wood-rail, Ringed Kingfisher, Ocellated Turkey, Yellow-billed Flycatcher, Keel-billed Toucan, Plain Xenops, Montezuma Oropendola, Common Moorhen, Lineated Woodpecker, Scrub Euphonia, Barred Forest Falcon, Dusky Antbird, Couch's Kingbird, Yellowish Flycatcher, Barred Woodcreeper, Bare-throated Tiger Heroon, Violet Saabrewing, Crested Guan, Slaty-tailed Trogan, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Black-headed Trogan, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Hepatic Tanager, Tufted Flycatcher, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Chestnut Woodpecker, Emerald Toucan, Violaceous Trogan, Hooded Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler. This making 127 birds with 34 lifers for me this trip. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: