Guatemala- Day 4

Today was super good! We started off with another early morning before heading over to the church in San Mateo. We were greeted there by two dozen or so smiling kids. After going and gathering all their friends, the total number increased to about 80 kids! Because one of the cars carrying our supplies broke down, we decided to change up the schedule a little today. Instead of breaking up into three groups, we did the Bible lesson about Joseph as one big group. After that, we split up into doing crafts and recreation. My natural inclination was to go to rec, but Michelle challenged to stretch me by going to do crafts. The kids made bandanas with different stuff on them. It was neat to help them paint stuff on their bandanas! After the groups rotated, we came together for one big worship time. It was neat to see the kids participate and really getting into it. After lunch, we took the rest of the day building a chicken coop for a family. My team (team Gaillos) built it for a widow and her family of seven, two of which were married and lived there. These people lived up far away from the village in an even more rundown area of San Mateo. There were dozens of kids running around, and it was cool to see the mother's appreciation after hours of us working. After I prayed for her and her family, we got back on the bus and went home... After chilling for a bit, we ate a burger dinner including McDonalds fries! We had devotions where we sang Mighty to Save and I Love You, Lord and we talked about today. After some reading, we made bandanas and went to bed. Thank you so much for following me so far and please pray for the kids as Brian will share the Gospel message with the kids at the conclusion of tomorrow.

Until Next Time,
Rob

Days 1, 2, and 3 (Guatemala)

Hey there everyone! Things have been busy so I apologize for the delay on the update... Things are going great in Guatemala! We got up at 3:30 AM on Saturday to fly out from Knoxville. After falling asleep on the way to Newark, Brian decided to put his already-chewed gum in my mouth (pictures I'm sure are to follow). Anyways, after chillin at the Newark airport and grabbin some lunch, we hopped on the 4 hour flight to Guatemala City. I got a little bit of sleep and read up a ton! After landing and going through customs, we got to the missionary family's house. We relaxed most of that day, and at night we did devos. I played Mighty to Save during that time, and brian talked to us from Romans 10:14-15. Day 2 was super exciting. We set up a block party for the people of the mountain village of San Mateo. I dressed up as Roberto the Firefighter Clown (pictures to come as well). I found a little neat cube called an Evangicube. On it, it shared the whole gospel story through pictures. I carried that around, and as God would have it, a little girl asked me what it was. Because of that, I got to share the gospel with that little girl and she prayed for Jesus to forgive her sins and come into her heart! I got this same opportunity with 2 boys as well! Well, the block party was a huge success and as today would show we had a lot of kids come. After lunch, we went to the local "evangelical" church in San Mateo (it's called this because of it not being Catholic). The church service was neat because for Palm Sunday the villagers literally brought their "first fruits" for the church to sell and make money. The music was a little shaky, but it was very heart-felt. The pastor spoke out of Deut. 8 about not forgetting God in times of prosperity. Woe be to you, oh reader. For chances are you take advantage the computer you use and the roof you sleep under and in doing so can easily forget God. After church, we came back and debriefed after a sweet spaghetti dinner. After dinner, we sang Jesus Messiah. We also took communion, something that was great on Palm Sunday. Day 3 was super cool too! Today was the start to our VBS program, and originally about 30 or 45 kids came. We asked them to go find their friends and bring them back, and about 150 kids ended up attending! Me and the worship/teaching team did exactly that! It was cool to see stuff happening there. We also opened a "tienda" in the church where poor families had the opportunity to get clothes and toiletries and toys for their kids. At the end of every trip, a student that was with the family gave them a Bible and shared the Gospel with them. Over 10 people got saved today, including an entire family! God is working in huge ways down here. Please commit yourself to prayer- the fuel that empowers missions and the advancement of the Gospel!

Until next time,
Rob

Travels...

Yesterday was quite the day by my standards.... Went to the airport around 3 and barely got on the flight due to overbooking. On the flight from Manchester, NH to Detroit, I read a lot of the book of Acts. I figure if I want to be a great missionary, I might as well start looking at the original missionaries. I sat next to a soldier, a signal officer whose name I later found out was Will Martin. He was asleep next to me most of the flight, but when he woke up we talked for a good 25 minutes about his life, family, faith, etc. It was really neat to see a guy so commited to his country. After thanking him for what he does and telling him I'd pray for him, I was off to the next gate.... which was one gate over! So after walking around and grabbing a Baconator from Wendys, I sat at my gate and finished off reading Acts. It truly is amazing how bodly Paul and his companions preached the good news of Christ crucified. It also was amazing how well Paul could preach to his specific audience. Anyways, on my second flight I sat next to an Albanian man named Sokol. When I asked him his views on God, he told me growing up in a Soviet state that religion altogether was outlawed. We carried on an hour long conversation about his life, God, and a good discussion on creation. I'm so thankful for Coach Atkins and UTT class because I caught him off guard a little using terms like "irreducible complexity" and using the "design inferenece" argument. Basically, I had the knowledge to hold an hour-long intellectual discussion with an Albanian neurophysicist (yeah, he has his PHD in neurophysics). Praise God! Landed safe and sound and came back to Laura and Brian's house only to be greeted by 3 of the most beautiful little girls in the whole world! Please continue to pray for the group that God's work will be done and that He'll get more and more GLORY daily!!!

Until then,
Rob Lauter

T-Minus 1 Week and Counting...

Hey there once again! This time, I'm live from North Hampton, New Hampshire on the front end of my spring break. This Saturday I depart for Guatemala! I figured out I'm doing Worship and Teaching VBS while I'm down there, so please pray for God to soften the hearts of the people down there in order for our time to be made useful! Also, we will be doing various construction activities down there. Please also pray for travel safety going down and while we're down there. One of my favorite verses and my good friend Jordan's favorite verse, Romans 11:36- "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen."

Until next time,
Rob Lauter

Another Dumb Name? Really Rob?

Well, to all those who don't speak Latin, I absolutely love the new name for this blog! The meaning is literally "cross truth"! What a lovely name for the greatest truth I know! Just an update: Lord-willing, I'll being going not only to Brasil for all of June, but also to Guatamala in the end of March! Please continue to pray for Jordan and the work God is doing for my dear sister in Christ. Also, please pray for me, that God will work through me here at home and soften my heart and mold it into whatever it needs to be, so that, at the end, He is most glorified! Gloria Deus!

Your brother in Christ,
Robert Lauter
1 Cor. 9:16

Final Update (for this site)

It's been along time since my last post and God has grown me intensely since last summer! Because of the change of year, i'm changing my blog name. it now will be held at cruxveritas.blogspot.com. Hope to see you there!

Rob Lauter
Gal. 2:20

Let Go and Let God

Once again, I find myself in a humble place when God works and He uses me to help. I woke up and had my shower and was eating breakfast by 7:15. I am thoroughly convinced that God sustains people and literally gives them the strength to do what He asks of them.
At little kids time, we had amazing time loving on the kids. By then time the pre-teens rolled in, Jordan talked to 3 or 4 of them, each time it ending with tears and a big hug. I'm so glad to see God being able to work in major ways through Jordan! Carlyn and talked about the disciples and how they followed Jesus. It was amazing how quickly the 12 dropped their entire lives: their family, job, friends, and former life... all to follow Christ.
We then took the pre-teens to the basketball court and played 1 on 1 (kids vs. lakewood players) and 3 on 3 (Nate, Jo, and I vs. 3 kids) and we won pretty easily. Unfortunately, we mishandled the ball or missed a shot and the kids ended up winning a few times (sorry Coach). We then passed out the candy as their prize and prayed. It's so cool to see the enthusiasm to pray in these pre-teens. They all grasp the concept of prayer in its most basic and beautiful form: Talking to God.
I then got the opportunity to speak at night. I wasn't prepared, but Jordan gave me a few ideas of what this community needed to hear. One of the things she said, which I saw a need for as well, was forgiveness. Fortunately, God blessed me with some experiences that helped me prepare (Jacob Rose's lesson on forgiveness and the week after that when I taught about the Good Samaritan).
Anyways, after lunch we got time with the teenagers. We got to tell the kids what we enjoyed about our time here and what we learned. I taught the lesson about Saul/Paul again. I also confronted the kids on them never wanting to pray. Every day, we'd ask "Who wants to pray?" and no one would raise their hands... So I confronted the problem. They said that they were afraid of what people would say and that people would distract them during prayer. So when we prayed, I made sure they realized that it's one thing to disrespect us, but another thing entirely to disrespect God. We then messed around with basketball for a while. Then came soccer time. I took soccer time to prepare for the lesson. It's amazing how God gives people the words to say.
Following a delicious hot dog dinner, we went over to Groupo CEO. After some good worship time, I spoke. I used the kids to act out the parable of the unmerciful servant and the good samaritan. I truly believe God worked through me during that time, and much more than even before! For the first time, I believe I spoke God's Word more boldly than ever before. After the message, everyone hugged each other, and I mean everyone! Erica and I got to talk about missions and her life. It was a blessing to hear about how God was working in her life.
I'm really going to miss these kids, miss this place that I've fallen in love with, but this time I realize what I didn't last time: the need for God is different, but still present here AND at home. Also, God works at home JUST AS MUCH as He does here. Please pray for these kids, that as we leave that they will continue to stay strong in their faith, and that when trouble comes, they will stand firm in God's love for them.
Until next time,
-Rob
Gal. 2:20