en doors throughout the trip and direct our paths. Prior to the trip, Paul had contacted many sources to get information on who to contact and where to stay. Not one of them got back with us, so Eric offered emailed a friend named Christina who lives in Guatemala City. The day before we left, she emailed back saying she would love to have us stay with her and her family and that she would pick us up at the airport. She also mentioned that her boss' relative has been to Almolonga many times and would be willing to go with us. The picture above is at Christina's house, as her family served us breakfast. After eating, the group split ways, with Paul and I meeting up with Tom and Brooks who were already in Antigua for Jim's wedding. The picture below is at the wedding. 
It was in an ancient convent ruins. It is too bad the picture is so dark because it was beautiful. The other group went straight to Almolonga with our guide, Ivan. Once they arrived in Almolonga, Ivan ran into a friend who he had not seen in 7 years. He explained to his friend why we were there, and this man explained that the person we should see is Pastor Mariano. The group went to his church service the next day and met him after the service. They found out all kinds of amazing things God has done in their city for the last 33 years. If you would like to hear the stories give us a call! They are powerful and it would be easier to tell over the phone than email. The Lord even provided an interprteter for us, who was Mariano's guest speaker for the weekend. Tom, Paul and I met up with them that afternoon and found out what they had learned. We were excited to go to the evening service that night and see for ourselves. While we were there, the pastor had Paul get up and speak. He did a great job saying how excited he was to be there and see what God has done in their city. Then after the pastor's message, he had those of us from our church come up front. They annointed us with oil and prayed over us, explaining that many who return home take the anointing with them to their city. We were very excited about this.
The next day, we found out about
prayer mountian because Pastor Mariano came to our hotel to take the interpreter there. We just happened to be in the lobby at the same time. Pastor Mariano is the one wearing the hat in the picture, the interpreter/guest speaker is next to him, and Ivan our guide is next to Paul. Many people from the church still go up to fast and pray on this mountain. We spent the morning up there worshipping the Lord. Then we went to the markets in town and saw the huge vegatables. It was amazing to see 
the women carry almost anything you can imagine on their heads as if it was nothing. That afternoon, Susan, Eric and Tom left to go back to Guatemala City and then home. The 
four of us - Paul, Lauren, Mark, and Jessica - stayed and pursued the Lord for His plans for our city of Merriam. They all did a three day water fast, while I (Lauren) feasted on protein bars primarily. In that time, the Lord downloaded many things about our city and how He wants us to go about transforming it. The first thing we feel lead to do is form a House of Prayer for all the churches in the area to use to seek the Lord and pray for revival in our city. We were excited to find out that when we got back to the US, we had a message from the pastor who had previously given us permission to use his building 6 days a week. He was offering for us in the near future to come tour his building to see if it is a good fit for our vision. We are excited to see what God is going to do. Thank you so much for your prayers.
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