Mission Trip Reports

Peten, Guatemala, Oct. 2007 - Gene & Pat Deiter and Gene Weber traveled to Guatemala October 31 – November 7, 2007 to help place a tin roof on a church that missionaries Andy & Betty Petersheim have a connection with. Thanks to each of you who prayed for them and gave a monetary gift to aid them in helping the church!

Gene Deiter reported…What I took away from this trip is the satisfaction I got from working alongside the local people and the worship experience without all the bells and whistles. The worship seems so heartfelt, and the people have so little. Our team was blessed to be able to experience this time together once again.

Here is an excerpt from Gene Deiter’s journal detailing one day of their trip - dated Friday, November 2, 2007: We are only about ¼ mile away from the church where we stayed overnight. To get started by 7am is not a problem. On Friday, we put the other three trusses together and set all six trusses on the beams and columns Pastor Paco and his men had already prepped. The purlins in prep for installing the tin were also finished on Friday and a center support on the bottom chord to tie all the trusses together. We were done by 3pm and packed up stuff for tonight and drove 1 ¾ hours back to Santa Elena for the night because we needed to get tin for the roof and cement for the footers.

The Unexpected! The team had the opportunity to stay in the village for a few nights in a native’s home, as they were in a very remote place and it was too far to drive to a hotel each evening! The team was very flexible and actually enjoyed this opportunity. Their bedroom was a 9x11 room. There was one light bulb hanging from the ceiling, a wooden door, and a wooden piece for the window. The shower consisted of four wood posts for corners with pieces of wood to hold them together. Plastic was wrapped around the outside and a garden hose went over the top and connected to a shower head that had water feeding it from a water tank. There was no hot water!

Excursion to Mexico: Andy, Gene D., Gene W., and five other men went to Mexico and crossed the river on a boat where there is no border patrol. It’s a gravel and dirt road all the way to Mexico, so they never traveled more than 25-30 miles per hour. But along the way, they did stop and watch six howler monkeys. The monkeys were no more than 25 yards away from the team as they moved through the trees. The town in Mexico was called Benemerito. Gene D. purchased tacos and drinks for all eight travelers. Each person had at least two (if not three!) tacos, and the total bill was only $14! This was an exciting day for Gene D. and the group.

Written by Amy Murphy with excerpts taken from Gene Deiter’s journal

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