Author: kenny phillips

Guatemala Relief Trip July 11-20-2014
Day seven  7-18-14

Not much different than the other days. Up early and and headed down the mountains for my last day at the church worksite in San Pablo. Pastors Santiago and Juan and I went around the town looking at a few projects that seemed to take precedence over other projects. We have a limited amount of resources at this time so we had to be very cautious on our commitments. We came up with 5 projects that fir our budget. Two for widows and three for families with multiple siblings. All very needy but again there are many in need. Maybe the Lord willing we can get back soon and continue to help some other families and churches. The bummer about this part of the work is as you go from place to place looking you bring this feeling of hope. In reality we can only do so much for so few. I know this puts the pastors in a bad situation because they will have so many people saying what about me.

We waited all day for materials to be delivered so the workers could continue work on the support columns. All the rebar is set and ready for concrete. We just need sand and rocks. The material finally showed up at almost dark so the work will continue in the morning without our presence. We packed up and headed for San Marcos. A very productive week for CI and myself.

Kenny
GMSM

Guatemala Relief Trip July 11-20-2014
Day six  7-17-14

As usual it was up early and on the road. It’s about an hour drive. We finished the cables and tightened them up. The concrete dudes dug the footers and then worked on the rebar cages and columns. Both pastors and I went and looked at a few potential  projects. The quake did do a lot of damage to homes and other buildings. Like the Haiti quake it’s funny how the damage is random. I guess a lot has to do with how well you prepare your structure. Proper size rebar and concrete mixture along with a deep footer is key. There have been several tremblers over the last few days but only minor. It has been such a joy working with the folks and being in my element. There is much work to be done and so little of resources at the moment. The church will be taken care of and I think one or two homes will be able to be repaired. We will have to reach out to more people to be able to continue. Gods grace is sufficient and He will provide as He see a fit.

Kenny
GMSM

Guatemala Relief Trip July 11-20-2014
Day five  7-16-14

We were up at the crack of chicken and loaded up the materials for the church job in San Pablo. The earthquake shook this church enough to do some unsafe damage for the congregation. The two side walls had began to separate from the rafters and lean to about 10 inches out of plumb. This happened on both walls. The plan is to drill through the support columns and top bond beam and run cables from each outside wall. The cables will run through metal plates into the church attached to tension brackets. Once the cables are installed and tightened then will dig footers at the columns and use rebar to make a new support for the existing columns. Sounds complicated but it’s really not. The cool thing about working in countries such as this is if you can’t find it you make it. The prime example were the metal plates. We bought a 3/8 inch 4×8 sheet of metal and had it cut into the proper squares. We almost completed the cables today and tomorrow we will star preparing for the new support columns.

Kenny
GMSM

Guatemala Relief Trip July 11-20-2014

Day four  7-15-14

 

Jeremy split about two this morning to catch his flight out of Guatemala City. That leaves me here to see the projects through. No problem with the task but it will be fun with my limited spanish. Actually all the spanish I thought I didn’t learn in high school is coming back to me. We are gathering materials today so we can get started early in the morning at the San Pablo church. No pics today, just a lot of running around. Tomorrow will be a different story.

 

Kenny

GMSM

Guatemala Relief Trip July 11-20-2014
Day three 7-14-14

Up early and on the move. Jose, Santiago,Jeremey and I went to the top of Guatemala today. It took about three hours going straight up the mountains driving on some of the most isane roads at a most insane speed. The beauty of the mountainside keep my mind off the possibility of potential danger. This was part of the go see journey. This area was probably hit hardest from the earyhquake. You go from typical local people to a more Indian influence up there. We met a local pastor who showed us around the area. Most of the homes are made out of the indigenous adobe brick which is mud mixed with straw and dried. As you can expect there is a lot of damaged homes. The only problem with this spot is logistically it will be hard to mobilize to work there on this trip. It’s so far away and our work scope is in the opposite direction. Some of the homes can not be repaired, they need to be totally rebuilt. Money would have to be raised and a specific trip planned would be the only option. The team may have to be hand picked. It would be tuff up there. Only the Father knows if this is an area that He would have us go. The work is certainly there. As we came down the mountain I think Jeremy and I both had the same feelings that this is not an option at the moment. The drive down the mountains was quicker but equally as sketchy.

Kenny
GMSM

Guatemala Relief Trip July 11-20-2014
Day two 7-13-14

As always point A to point B went off without incident. Point B being the destination in San Marcos. We kinda just hung out for the afternoon getting to know the pastor here and taking a look at this little town. It seems quiet here and is a very pretty place. It’s in some altitude so it’s actually very chilly here. Jeremy and I got to bed fairly early because tomorrow would start the beginning of a very busy 8 days.
We arose early with the pastor and a driver and drove down the mountain to warmer climate. Our destination was San Pablo. There we looked at a church named Iglesias Bautista Monte Moria, pastored by Juan Lopez. This church is in the same association as the one in San Marcos where we are staying now. This church collapsed in the 2012 quake and during the rebuilding stages it suffered further damage from this recent earthquake. The two side walls shifted as well as the footers on these two walls. My job for CI will be to lead the effort to repair and make this structure safe. There are other projects but this is the main one. Home repairs will be made also. Jeremy will leave tomorrow night leaving me here by myself to do the work with the locals. My Spanish is a little on the rusty side since I’ve been in Haiti the last seven years. I’m excited and looking forward to the challenge.

Kenny
GMSM

Guatemala Relief Trip July 11-20-2014

Strange how the Father works. Maybe it’s stranger how we work. He always has a plan were just allowed to tag along. So what brings me to San Marcos, Guatemala. I’ll try to make a very long story extremely short.
Once we set our Haiti school plan in motion four years ago I knew GMSM’s involvement would be semi temporary. The plan all along was to set it up in hopes that we could instill in country ownership. This is a hard concept for this country but to me it’s the only hope of sticking your hand back in the pocket and quite holding it out for a freebie. So I really began to pray and meditate that doors and new territory (Jabez) would open. I have always been patient but will admit as the years began to roll by I became a little antsy.
Then in November 2013a typhoon of all typhoons blew through the Philippines. When this happened an incredible burden fell on me. I made a few calls but all some organizations wanted was cash because ” were not mobilizing at this time”. Well most of you know I’m not about not mobilizing but about attacking the issue if it’s the Fathers will. The only southeast Asia connection I had was my buddy Clint Akins. I gave him a call and we made some calls and from that point I stepped back. A week or so later a man named Jim Jennings from Conscience International ( CI ) called me and said we are mobilizing and you come highly recommended to us. So I made my first trip with CI. I liked how they work and they liked how I worked and fit in.
Conscience International is a first response for natural disasters, humanitarian relief, peace keeping and community development organization in a nutshell. Started in the early 90’s they work all over the world where ever Father leads them. They have asked if GMSM would partner with them as part of an international relief coordinator plan. So here I am in Guatemala.
I was scheduled to fly down to Laredo and spend some time in Nueavo Laredo with pastor Felipe. We are hoping that door will reopen along with CI to do some relief work. Well two days ago a 6.9 earthquake hit along the border between Mexico and Guatemala. CI has been in this area before so they do have a few connections down here. As part of the first response on the ground we will start repairing some of the 1500 homes and churches that were damaged. CI asked if I could gaff the Mexico trip and get down to San Marcos, Guatemala ASAP. Felipe understood so I now sit on a bus in the middle of Guatemala headed to an unknown destination. Things will be in place when I arrive but I’m just not sure who I’ll be meeting. CI sent a field director down one day ahead of me so I know I’ll eventually run into him.
We have set Pastor Harry up with a great working school. We also have set him up with CI to help with strategies on how they can become self supporting. They have great experience in this area, community development. So it’s really gonna be up to Harry to be an example of keeping his hand in the pocket. Our new adventure begins with these pictures.

Kenny
GMSM

Oh how I wish I could stay another day and play with my new friends. But for whatever reason I feel I must get back to the place where I want to be the least. God knows and He has answered a prayer. Harry has to get back anyway. So we have another travel day. Over the mountain in reverse. From rags to riches to riches to rags. All is good though. It’s all familiar territory and feelings. Not much will happen today except having to deal with the hustle and bustle of crowded dangerous Port Laogane “bus depot”. Roney awaits us to take us to safe haven. All the way over the mountain all I could think about was the few hours of water time I had with the kids. I do feel like I accomplished a lot with Harry but as I said, time will tell. Once I got back to the guest house Sem had set up his TV so I could watch some real football. This is another first. I was able to watch what ESPN had to offer and keep up with the scores. This was another first for me in Haiti. He told me your part of our family we want you to be happy. He did not know how happy I already was having spent precious water time with the coconut grove crew. Lila prepared grilled fish with veggies. How much more of this can I stand ? Fish on the grill, football, wow this has been an unexpected time down here. To those who are close to the happenings down here will say I deserve it. But I know deep inside that I deserve nothing. I guess this is Hebrews 6:10 at it’s finest. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny
GMSM

Today went much as planned. A whole lot of discussion left over from the previous night. I can not say for sure if any of this truly reaches home. I guess time will tell. The most difficult part of mission work in a place like Haiti is the cultural part of it. “Thats Haiti” is not acceptable to me. Christians are new creatures and should be able to be the example to the cultural tendencies. Although we here in America are bad examples of this ourselves. Thank God for His grace and mercy. I was beginning to feel like an old record where the needle hits a scratch and your stuck on the same half word until you get up and move the needle over so you can carry on with the song. It was time for a break so we took a taptap ten miles or so down the beach to see if we could find my new surf bros. We sat at the spot and waited. Before long they were coming out of the coconut grove with boards in hand. This experience for me has been a long time coming. Going on my eighth year and here it is, a secret answered prayer. We spent the late afternoon with the boys in the water and what a revival to my soul this was. I can only hope and pray that this is the first of many times that God will allow me to share His love on a common ground in a very strange country. Even Harry got in the water but he would not let me take a picture, not sure why, I guess “that’s Haiti”. When we got back to the guest house I was like a kid on Christmas morning. Funny how God works. I’m glad He works this way. We had supper and I went to bed early. I did not want anything to have an opportunity to mess this day up. It was a great day and tomorrow I have to leave again for the rat race of the city. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny
GMSM

I’ve said this in the past, ” Haiti has many faces”. Today will be a day where one goes from absolute chaos to serene. I left Sem’s guest house around 7:30 to go deep in Port au Prince to a place called Port Laogane. This is where Harry and I will have to catch a small bus to go over the mountain to the Jacmel area. The place where all the vehicles are is a verrrry sketchy place. You cannot go there to early or to late at night. Good people do not hang out there all the more reason why we need to get a vehicle down here ASAP. The bus place is a necessary evil until this happens. I will be able to avoid these places and have more freedom to move about safely when we have our own transportation. Harry and I are going to Jacmel to get away from his busy schedule at the church and school. We have many things to discuss about GMSM and our future in Haiti. Jacmel is a nice place on the coast, it’s cheaper to stay here and I can take Harrys phone away from him so we can have quality time for our discussions. Besides that I’d rather have these discussions at a nice place by the water than on the loud, dusty streets in Tabarre. We have good connections now in Jacmel and it is virtually hassle free. Going from Port to Jacmel is like going from total chaos to total peace.
Like always Jackson our taptap driver was there to intercept us from the drop off point and take is to the guest house in Cydavier. As always he takes me for a ride down the coast to look at the beautiful remote beaches. I saw several kids in the water surfing on boards left by an American. He stole my dream. We stopped and chatted with the young boys and watched them surf on the small but very playful waves. It was getting late in the day and the boys asked if I could join them tomorrow. I was stoked at the invitation and said “of course, what time”. They told me to come in the afternoon when they got out of school. We went to the guest house, got settled in and spent the rest of the night talking about GMSM, our vision, Harrys vision, accountability, stewardship and many other things. Tomorrow will be more of the same until I go to meet the young surfers. I have a headache now. I have to really be on my game when I have these kinds of conversations with Harry. I have to keep him focused. That’s why this is a good place for this. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny
GMSM