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Guatemala UBF
May 7, 2014

"JESUS AND I"

Then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say I am?” “You are the Christ,” Peter replied. Mark 8:29

Part I
This Easter conference, was held at Camp Shama, in the municipality of San Miguel Petapa, south of Guatemala City on April 18 - 20 2014, with the participation of 41 people, including three delegates from Washington: Missionary Missionary Jacob Lee and his wife Esther Lee, as well as shepherdess Sara Brown.

The opening message was given by Shepherd Edwar Ti, entitled, "Who Is This", based on the Gospel of Mark 4:35-41 where we experienced resurrection faith, as we saw how Jesus calmed the storm. We learned we should not fear anything if He is with us. Shepherd Saul Lopez prepared a message based on gospel Mark 8: 27-38, entitled, ‘Who do You say I am?’ We need a continuous genuine repentance through confession and recognizing Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah our Savior. We had a great lunch. All the participants were happy to receive the word. Then there was time to write and share our testimonies. Everyone shared with great joy, recognizing who Christ is. Afterward, in the afternoon we enjoyed water sports in the pool at the conference center. After dinner, Cesar gave the message. We learned that Jesus bore our sins and our sorrows based on Isaiah 53:1-12. That evening was the World Mission night, and we prayed for the Caribbean countries such as Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica.

On the second day of the conference we ate Daily Bread at 6am in the morning with three beautiful messages by Shepherd Ivan Sanchez on the morning message "Your Heavenly Father Knows." (Matthew 6:25 -34 )
Reading II was given by Missionary Jacob Lee, "I am the Vine; you are the branches" (John 15:1-17) with the beautiful testimony of Shepherdess Sara Brown from Washington, and the last message of the night was given by Shepherd Abraham Salazar: "I 'm with You Every Day” (St. Matthew 28:16-20), in which we also shared our testimony on Reading II. We learned that apart from Jesus everything is futile and meaningless, and that the fruits come from persevering in the word and Jesus. Also, at night we had talent night, which was nice to see all the gifts God has given to all of the second-generation missionaries, who prepared dances and songs as an offering of worship to the Lord, and the beautiful testimony of Brother Raul Munoz, Rebecca Ham 2nd generation and Sister Jacqueline Perez, a sheep from CALUSAC (a Korean Language course).

The third and final day, we heard the message by Shepherd Dimas (John 21:15-25) prior before Bible study in groups, entitled: ‘Do you Love Me More than These?’ We learned that loving Jesus more and more every day is the key to bearing much fruit in Jesus.

Part II
This conference was largely guided by the Holy Spirit, since we felt a strong anointing in the messages and prayers. It was very spiritual, and this time, we saw the voluntary and cheerful baptism of Yuri Munoz, mother of Raul Munoz, who invited her to this conference; she made a decision to fellowship together with her son through the testimony of her son’s changed life. She was a person who participated even in her youth in the internal armed conflict of Guatemala, but now her situation has changed, acknowledging Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and Savior for Guatemala. Only Jesus can change this country, not human force. Also thanks to the battle of faith to invite the sheep, God worked greatly in the lives of Brother Mario Fajardo and his son Mario Fajardo, who joyfully attended this conference and participated actively in it. We coworked well and were all blessed by God. Also, it was surprising how the brothers overcame by faith the language barrier, translating messages into English in order to serve the representatives of Washington. Dr. Isaac Lee, a KOICA volunteer, also attended.

We also had the opportunity to listen to the experiences of Jacob M. Lee, after the conference in a dinner with all the UBF local shepherds.

Through this conference, we had a personal relationship with Jesus; we had rest and strength to make the decision to remain forever in Jesus, as the branches, and the new force to serve the Central American Conference. Now personally, I have taken the direction of challenging to invite sheep by faith rather than by my abilities, and prepare to be servants of the Central American Conference 2015 in Guatemala.

PRAYER TOPICS
- 60 participants in Sunday worship
- 60 Bible Studies 1:1
- Faithful planning and preparation with the guidance of God for the Easter Central American Conference 2015.

Report by: Cesar Toledo