Rachel,
I am so glad you decided to take this adventure with Abby!
I will be praying you through this week as you go out as the “Hands & Feet of Jesus”!
Message:
As I write this I’m sitting on an airplane way high in the air above the clouds over Tennessee. Thankfully I’m not as scared as I thought I’d be although there was a bit of turbulence for a little bit. Not too bad but enough to notice it. All is well now though and we’re flying smoothly. I want to thank everyone for praying for me and supporting me through this process. It means so much to me and I really appreciate it. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to serve and I pray this week goes well despite any obstacles we may face and that we may accomplish all of our goals in addition to creating connections and building a community down in Guatemala
-Rachel
Praying for you this week. “The Lord bless you and keep you…” Remember, the Lord will give you the sleep and energy that you need this week.
Love you, Mom
So relieved to hear you made it safely to Guatemala!:)
I hope you were able to get a little sleep.
I can’t wait to hear how your first day went! 🙂
~Patty
It has been so much fun to see the pictures of you from the past couple of days!
Praying that this dedication day will be life changing for you as well as for the family you have been building an earthly home for!!
Praying daily for you Rachel! I hope you are having a great day today! Praying for this special dedication day, that the Holy Spirit’s presence would be felt and that the enemy would not interfere with the wonderful work that is being done this week! I hope you are remaining healthy and that you are making wonderful connections with the family you are serving!
Love,
Leah Vonk
Hola family and friends! I’ve been so busy I haven’t had the chance to write since the first day. Thanks again for everyone who has been praying for me. Over the past 3 days my team and I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet and build a house for Luis and Maria and their little boy. While we were there building a house for them, they gave more generously than we did, offering us delicious bananas as a snack and picture of themselves when we left. While the work was hard it was all worth it. The rain held off for all of the building days and the dedication day (minus a sprinkle of rain at the end) yet almost as soon as we arrived at the base after dedication the houses the rain has begun to POUR and I’m so glad that Luis and Maria can get out of the rain in their new home. Luis and Maria also accepted Christ today which was amazing. It’s hard really to put it into words and while I know it won’t be easy for them I’m happy that they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. Besides that all has been well and your prayers back home are doing wonders. Like I mentioned before the rain didn’t hinder any of our work even though when we looked at the forecast before coming there was almost 100% chance everyday. In addition, no one has gotten sick as of now which is great because we can focus entirely on our work. The next 2 days we’ll be doing medical clinics and the day after that we’ll be going to Antigua and then we’re heading home again. It seems like we just got here yet our trip is almost half done. Thanks again for all of your prayers, it means a lot!
-Rachel
Rachel, it sounds like you’re having an amazing time. How exciting that the family you helped build their house accepted Christ today! Its been great to see pictures of you working on the house. Have a great rest of your trip and can’t wait to see you.
It sounds like an amazingly rewarding experience! So happy for Luis and Maria. Their lives are changed forever! I will still pray for good health and strength. Enjoy the medical clinics. I’m sure you will meet a lot of people. We miss you and love you. See you soon. Mom and Dad
Thanks for your update! Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Praying God’s protection over you tonight, and that your good health will continue and the weather will cooperate!
Leah
Rachel, I am so glad that you are there experiencing so many amazing things. Thank you for your willingness to serve others and to look for ways your gifts and talents can be used. Praying that tonight at your second med clinic God continues to show Himself to you.
Carol and Dan and Family, This is Tim Brummel. I am writing on Rachel’s blog to let you know that she is well and I have been on her work crew and Bible Study group this week. God really wanted me to keep an eye on her, but more than likely, He wanted her to take care of me. She has not only taken care of me, she has helped other members of her team with her quiet and caring spirit. It has been great knowing that I have had a solid and secure Christian young lady on my team. You would have been proud to know that she can handle physical tools that have come her way, but more importantly she knows how to handle spiritual tools like the Bible and a prayer journal. We know that she is mentally prepared for what come or way and she has been the quiet compass in the middle of some some spiritual battles that we have faced in Guatemala. I hope she can share with you some of the great relationships that she has fostered not only with the family that we built the house for, but also some of the great ministering she has done to the people at the medical clinic. God’s blessings to you and your family.
P.S. Dan- if you want to fix my mower before I get back, some of the tools are in the garage, but most of them are in your truck. 🙂
Thank you, Tim for letting us know how Rachel is doing. I’m glad that she could take care of you. We did learn to use some tools last summer.( All God’s prep for this summer.) Have a great day. We’ll see you all tomorrow.
Both medical clinics went well. The first one I spent the day playing with the children and the second I spent putting together medicine bags for the clinic. I have to admit I did feel way more comfortable working behind the scenes in the clinic than talking to the children but I’m glad I could go outside my comfort zone and experience both. Last night I prayed that the rain would hold off while Pablo was speaking to the villagers so that they would be able to hear all that he was saying clearly. The Lord provided and the rain held off. As soon as we finished handing out Bibles after Pablo was speaking the rain began to pour. I realized I’ve never stood outside in a downpour before. Normally back home if it starts to rain you go inside but all we had was a couple porch overhangs. It just reminds you of how blessed you are to have a nice warm and dry place to go home to when the weather is bad. Today we’re off to Antigua and then tonight we head home. I’ve had such a wonderful trip and I can’t wait to see you all soon and tell you about it.
-Rachel
Team Hillcrest 2016 
Have a safe trip! I’ll be praying for you.
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Rachel,
I am so glad you decided to take this adventure with Abby!
I will be praying you through this week as you go out as the “Hands & Feet of Jesus”!
Blessings,
Patty Brummel
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Name: Rachel Bredeweg
Message:
As I write this I’m sitting on an airplane way high in the air above the clouds over Tennessee. Thankfully I’m not as scared as I thought I’d be although there was a bit of turbulence for a little bit. Not too bad but enough to notice it. All is well now though and we’re flying smoothly. I want to thank everyone for praying for me and supporting me through this process. It means so much to me and I really appreciate it. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to serve and I pray this week goes well despite any obstacles we may face and that we may accomplish all of our goals in addition to creating connections and building a community down in Guatemala
-Rachel
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Praying for you this week. “The Lord bless you and keep you…” Remember, the Lord will give you the sleep and energy that you need this week.
Love you, Mom
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Profe here,. Puedes y Dios va a estar contigo.
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So relieved to hear you made it safely to Guatemala!:)
I hope you were able to get a little sleep.
I can’t wait to hear how your first day went! 🙂
~Patty
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Hi Rachel!
It has been so much fun to see the pictures of you from the past couple of days!
Praying that this dedication day will be life changing for you as well as for the family you have been building an earthly home for!!
Blessings ~Patty
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Praying daily for you Rachel! I hope you are having a great day today! Praying for this special dedication day, that the Holy Spirit’s presence would be felt and that the enemy would not interfere with the wonderful work that is being done this week! I hope you are remaining healthy and that you are making wonderful connections with the family you are serving!
Love,
Leah Vonk
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Hola family and friends! I’ve been so busy I haven’t had the chance to write since the first day. Thanks again for everyone who has been praying for me. Over the past 3 days my team and I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet and build a house for Luis and Maria and their little boy. While we were there building a house for them, they gave more generously than we did, offering us delicious bananas as a snack and picture of themselves when we left. While the work was hard it was all worth it. The rain held off for all of the building days and the dedication day (minus a sprinkle of rain at the end) yet almost as soon as we arrived at the base after dedication the houses the rain has begun to POUR and I’m so glad that Luis and Maria can get out of the rain in their new home. Luis and Maria also accepted Christ today which was amazing. It’s hard really to put it into words and while I know it won’t be easy for them I’m happy that they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. Besides that all has been well and your prayers back home are doing wonders. Like I mentioned before the rain didn’t hinder any of our work even though when we looked at the forecast before coming there was almost 100% chance everyday. In addition, no one has gotten sick as of now which is great because we can focus entirely on our work. The next 2 days we’ll be doing medical clinics and the day after that we’ll be going to Antigua and then we’re heading home again. It seems like we just got here yet our trip is almost half done. Thanks again for all of your prayers, it means a lot!
-Rachel
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Rachel, it sounds like you’re having an amazing time. How exciting that the family you helped build their house accepted Christ today! Its been great to see pictures of you working on the house. Have a great rest of your trip and can’t wait to see you.
Love, Auntie Amy
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It sounds like an amazingly rewarding experience! So happy for Luis and Maria. Their lives are changed forever! I will still pray for good health and strength. Enjoy the medical clinics. I’m sure you will meet a lot of people. We miss you and love you. See you soon. Mom and Dad
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Thanks for your update! Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Praying God’s protection over you tonight, and that your good health will continue and the weather will cooperate!
Leah
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Medical clinics are a very different type of ministry. Praying for safety while you travel.
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Rachel, I am so glad that you are there experiencing so many amazing things. Thank you for your willingness to serve others and to look for ways your gifts and talents can be used. Praying that tonight at your second med clinic God continues to show Himself to you.
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Carol and Dan and Family, This is Tim Brummel. I am writing on Rachel’s blog to let you know that she is well and I have been on her work crew and Bible Study group this week. God really wanted me to keep an eye on her, but more than likely, He wanted her to take care of me. She has not only taken care of me, she has helped other members of her team with her quiet and caring spirit. It has been great knowing that I have had a solid and secure Christian young lady on my team. You would have been proud to know that she can handle physical tools that have come her way, but more importantly she knows how to handle spiritual tools like the Bible and a prayer journal. We know that she is mentally prepared for what come or way and she has been the quiet compass in the middle of some some spiritual battles that we have faced in Guatemala. I hope she can share with you some of the great relationships that she has fostered not only with the family that we built the house for, but also some of the great ministering she has done to the people at the medical clinic. God’s blessings to you and your family.
P.S. Dan- if you want to fix my mower before I get back, some of the tools are in the garage, but most of them are in your truck. 🙂
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Thank you, Tim for letting us know how Rachel is doing. I’m glad that she could take care of you. We did learn to use some tools last summer.( All God’s prep for this summer.) Have a great day. We’ll see you all tomorrow.
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Have a fun day today! Sounds like you did good work at the medical clinics. What a powerful experience! See you tomorrow. Love you.Mom
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Both medical clinics went well. The first one I spent the day playing with the children and the second I spent putting together medicine bags for the clinic. I have to admit I did feel way more comfortable working behind the scenes in the clinic than talking to the children but I’m glad I could go outside my comfort zone and experience both. Last night I prayed that the rain would hold off while Pablo was speaking to the villagers so that they would be able to hear all that he was saying clearly. The Lord provided and the rain held off. As soon as we finished handing out Bibles after Pablo was speaking the rain began to pour. I realized I’ve never stood outside in a downpour before. Normally back home if it starts to rain you go inside but all we had was a couple porch overhangs. It just reminds you of how blessed you are to have a nice warm and dry place to go home to when the weather is bad. Today we’re off to Antigua and then tonight we head home. I’ve had such a wonderful trip and I can’t wait to see you all soon and tell you about it.
-Rachel
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