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H  I  S  P  A  N  I  C      C  H  R  I  S  T  I  A  N      M  I  N  I  S  T  R  Y   
A Ministry of Covenant Reformed Church of Toronto in Partnership with
Faith United Reformed Church of West Olive, Michigan

Report on Trip to Guatemala – March 15-21, 2010

Introduction This was a trip filled with blessings in spite of some difficulties. Things don’t always go as planned. However when God is in control everything works for the good for those whom He loves. I started this ministry trip by visting Byron Velásquez in Guatemala City. Later I traveled to Quetzaltenango in the North of the country. Finally I went to Huehuetenango, also in the North.

Monday, March 15 I left my house about 6 am and arrived in Guatemala City about 2 pm. However I had to wait for Byron till about 4 pm since my cell phone didn’t work with the SIM card of El Salvador. I spent the night in Br. Byron’s house. That night when I called my dear wife, she told me that my son, Steve, was in serious condition with asthma and fever because of an infection in his throat. What a profound trial it was with me being so far away. “Lord, help me!”, I exclaimed.

Tuesday, March 16 Early in the morning Br. Byron drove me to the Marquensita bus terminal. I left at 9:30 and arrived in Quetzaltenango (Xela) at about 2 pm. Br. Rafael was waiting for me there. After a warm welcome we had lunch and he gave me the agenda of activities for the next several days. After visiting with Br. Rafael, my wife sent me a text message saying she had taken Steve to the doctor and after a medical treatment, he was feeling better. “Thank you, Lord!”. I exclaimed.

Wednesday, March 17 I spent the morning reviewing some of the term papers of the students of the Centre in Huehuetenango. I must say they were not well written, no so much for the content, but for the style. Some had no index, or the pages were not numbered. In some the introduction and/or conclusion was combined with the main paragraphs. The truth is that I’m not sure if I’ll get into problems, but I have to make the appropriate corresponding observations.

The first conference started at 9:30 am. In this conference I took at least one hour to review the style of writing term papers that MINTS expects of its students. What I have seen so far is that the students are content to receive the correction that I recommended regarding the errors in style. The conference ended at 4 pm with much emotion and dynamism. I believe the students left the class satisfied with the conference so far. The only thing that I was concerned about is that I still had 40 term papers to review.

Thursday, March 18 I finished reviewing the term papers at 11 pm Wednesday night. This day there was only four hours of conference, from 9 am to 1 pm. Everything went well and we ended on time. However half hour before ending some Americans from a Presbyterian Church arrived. We had lunch with them and I had an opportunity to explain my ministry and the vision of the ministry that we have in the seminary, including a vision for social ministry. The brothers gave me good news that there is a medical doctor in their church who is developing a mission among third-world countries. They also told me that this brother is working in Nicaragua and is interested in extending his ministry in other Central American countries. I gave them my ministry card and asked them to put me in touch with this doctor to see about the possibility of them working in El Salvador, particularly in Las Majadas.

Friday, March 19 We started the conference in Huehuetenango at 2 pm and it lasted till 6 pm. After a long trip of three hours we started and ended on time. There is no doubt that this is a very dynamic group of students. The four hours flew by. We got into a delicate topic because most of the students are from the Central American Mission churches and from Pentecostal churches. They asked me about spiritual gifts and it got a bit difficult when one student explained that God had blessed her with the gift of prophecy. After explaining what prophecy is, the student understood that prophecy is not what she understood it to be.

I had the opportunity to travel with Br. Martín on this trip since he was my guide. It was a pleasure to travel with him and he told me a lot about Quetzaltenango and Huehuetenango. The bottom line is that this was a great trip in every way. As we entered Huehuetenango, the bus we were riding on was stopped for inspection because in this department there is a fly that has been damaging fruit. All the fruit that was being transported on this bus had to be reviewed and sprayed. Personally I have never seen anything like this in any Central American country!

Saturday, March 20 The conference started at 8 am and ended at 1 pm. There were about 20 students present. Without a doubt this is a great group with much potential. The best thing about the students is that they come from different churches, but there is a respect for opinions among them.

Sunday, March 21 I left at 6 am from Quetzaltenango and arrived at home about 6 pm. It was a difficult trip, but thankfully all went well and I arrived at home safely. My children and my wife were very happy to see me and I was happy to be home again. Without a doubt God is good and in His mercy He allowed me to see many blessings on this trip.

Without a doubt there is much to do and there are few who are doing it. I praise the Lord that He has seen fit to use me in His work. But I’m also thankful to those who have given me this opportunity to walk in the ways of the Lord. Also a big thank is in order for those who are praying for this ministry, those who are supporting this ministry and those who will be supporting it. Without you it is not possible to accomplish what is being accomplished. Quetzaltenango has 15 students and Huehuetenango has 20 students. Isn’t this a wonderful blessing?

For the Glory of God,
Profesor José Jesús Ramírez
Missionary of Covenant Reformed Church of Toronto
Miami International Seminary (MINTS) El Salvador Coordinator

Canadian Donations: Hispanic Christian Ministry MINTS—El Salvador, c/o Covenant Reformed Church, 265 Albion Road, Toronto, Ontario M9W 3P1
US Donations: Hispanic Christian Ministry MINTS—El Salvador, c/o Faith United Reformed Church, 8270 120th Ave., West Olive, Michigan 49460