Geber Derek Boys' Ranch, Guatemala

I’ve just returned from an exciting week in Guatemala, where I had another amazing chance to see God at work, seeking to redeem people from a dire situation. The missionary we were working with, Nathan Hardeman, grew up in Guatemala, where his parents were church planters among one of the tribes of Mayan descent. Nathan now works with Shalom Church serving in one of the poorest areas of Guatemala City, ironically named “Paradise”, and is now opening the Geber Derek Boys’ Ranch, meaning “Way of the Warrior” in Hebrew, after the mighty men of David in 2 Samuel 23. (See more at http://www.geberderek.org)

Our first day there, Nathan took the team to meet some of the families he has built houses for. We walked from his car down a dirt alley, which opened up to a dirt soccer field. Houses crowded the field, pouring back into a huge canyon. Some kids from the field recognized Nathan and ran up to meet the visitors. We continued into the mass of houses, at first sturdy block, but giving way to corrugated tin over wood posts the further down we went. We noticed some conspicuous retaining walls which Nathan had built around the houses of some church members to prevent further mudslides from washing into their houses. Our visit received several reactions, from silent disregard to a warm welcome. Many had been helped by the church’s programs, such as food, tutoring, medical, and house building. The notable absence was the lack of men. The dysfunction in this neighborhood has made it a breeding ground for gang members and drug addicts. It was sobering to think that the young boys following us would soon hit an age where all kinds of pressures would begin hitting them. Their education is woefully inadequate, as schools cram up to sixty of them into a room that often lacks in desks and books, the work available for them is low paying and inconsistent, their living conditions couldn’t get much worse, and few of the fathers stick around. All of this makes escaping through gangs or drugs a temptation to even the most resilient kids, and perpetuates the cycle. Nathan’s vision to remove the boys themselves from this environment, while keeping the families connected through the local church, sounded exactly like what was needed.

With this experience fresh in our minds, our team put our experience to work. Nathan had bought some land in the safest part of Guatemala for the boys, near the city of Antigua. At the beginning of the week, I spent most of my day with the surveyor, providing a very necessary topographic map. With land around Antigua also being some of the most expensive in Guatemala, the most affordable site Nathan could get was much steeper than what we would be used to in the US, with slopes between 3:1 up to almost 1:1. Being the crazy person I am, I actually enjoyed scrambling/sliding across the slopes to get the survey. Later in the week, I helped translate for our structural engineer, who was learning about differences in construction and investigating what was available in the hardware stores, so that our design would be cost effective and attainable.

After our team presented our final design to Nathan, we were delighted to hear his praise for our design. Having done so much construction in Guatemala and having dreamed of this with his wife for the past eight years, he was full of ideas, and we were able to catch his vision and improve it, providing not just a shelter, but a place the boys could call home and be proud of. I myself was grateful for the chance to meet another son of missionaries, hear his testimony, and see how God has been using him.


As we return to work on the design, would you pray for:

• The boys in Paradise to choose freedom in Jesus, not slavery to gangs and drugs
• Shalom’s ministries, spreading not just physical aid, but bringing people to Jesus
• Finances to supply the construction, which Nathan wants to begin this summer

Again, thank you to all my supporters for enabling me to be part of this and contribute my small part. I love how EMI works with ministries with big visions, growing in fantastic ways thanks to God’s faithfulness.


More pictures:



One of the kids had an Argentina soccer jersey!

Houses range from concrete block to corrugated tin on wood posts:
Some of the homes we visited:


Keeping my balance during the survey:
And getting a chance to run the total station myself

Parcel #1Parcel #2
Brad Hoy, the structural engineer

Conceptual layouts

Missions: Not Just For Gringos

Many American churches participate in missions. From high school trips to Mexico, to sending long term missionaries, there are a lot of Americans in missions. But wherever God’s people gather, He burdens some with a heart to carry the gospel to other countries, other people groups, and other cultures. My dad has seen much of this first hand, and it certainly made me think. Many Latin American churches aren’t there yet, but at my church here in Atenas, Costa Rica, I’ve been able to witness it first hand.

Pastor Yeremy of the Baptist church here loves missions. It started small: he left San Jose to come to Atenas because there wasn’t a Baptist church here. Now, for a church of maybe fifty people, he’s encouraged the people to do more for missions than many larger churches around here. There’s always a missions offering, while his family lives week to week off his salary; yet he will tell you that God is faithful. He put on a missions conference for the church, bringing in four missionaries to speak to the church about what they do. Now, he’s gearing up the church to start saving for a mission trip to Uruguay next year.

Some of the youth leaders also have a heart for missions. My own host sister, Maria Fernanda, left studying law at the University of Costa Rica to study at a nearby Bible Institute. Two of the high school seniors, Brayan and Ariel, are being mentored by Yeremy and are interested in ministry. Brayan even gave a sermon while Yeremy was out of town last week. Brayan’s younger sister, Tania, has a passion beyond her years and loves people and sharing the Gospel with them. These four students spent a couple of months raising support to go to a missions conference in Guatemala, where the many things they learned only burdened their heart more for the lost.

These people’s passion for missions is both encouraging and challenging to see, but the most incredible story is that of Jose Pablo. The first thing you’ll notice about him is his height: just above four feet tall. He’s extremely warm and friendly, fun to be around, with a bit of a mischievous spark in his eye. A couple years ago, he started feeling a serious burden for Japan. He didn’t just pray for Japan or learn about it, he started learning Japanese. For about two years, little by little. In February, a missionary team from Mobile, A

labama, came through and visited the Baptist church here, among others. Pastor Yeremy, just conversing with them about missions, mention Jose Pablo’s story to them. That very next Sunday, pastor Yeremy made a stunning announcement: the church from Alabama was going to bring Jose Pablo with them on their next annual, short term mission trip to Japan in two months. For Jose Pablo, and the whole church, tears flowed as God provided a completely unforeseen answer to prayer.

That was about three months ago; Jose Pablo just got back a couple weeks ago. The country left him in awe, but the people left him broken hearted for the lost, and only more determined. One highlight for him was meeting another little person just like him who had just accepted Christ! (isn’t God amazing?) Jose Pablo’s Japanese and expressive personality combined to make communication possible, and his joy was a testimony for Jesus to people whose lives are severely lacking. He came back realizing how hardened Japan is toward the Gospel, but more determined than ever to keep pursuing it. I can’t tell you where Jose Pablo’s story will go, but God is surely preparing something special and unpredictable.

In EMI related news, things at the office have been progressing steadily. A church/seminary project in Haiti and a camp in Mexico have been completed. The Haitian Children’s Home orphanage I described last month has been delayed a little as we added some water supply elements to the design, but should be out this month. Because we got these projects out, some of the other interns and I have been given the unusual opportunity to go on a second project trip. I’m excited to be going to Guatemala on May 14^th, where EMI will help design an orphanage campus called the Geber Derek Boys Ranch. Geber Derek’s mission is to rescue boys from dysfunctional homes who would be likely to join gangs, without intervention, and raise them into mature, God-centered community leaders, something lacking in Guatemala. To all my supporters, I want to repeat my sincere thanks and ask for your continued prayer support—the work EMI is doing will make a difference in people’s lives.

Please pray for:

• Preparations for upcoming projects in Guatemala, Haita, and Honduras
• Focus and a sense of the big picture for me during day to day routines
• A heart for missions to spread among Latin American churches

In Christ,

Jim Flinchum