WHAT IF EVERYONE LIVED NEXT DOOR TO JESUS? by Gary Stone, a friend of ours & fellow missionary here in Guatemala. This is his first book published through Hannibal Books & available online at www.hannibalbooks.com or can be ordered through Barnes & Noble or Books A Million. Gary is a great storyteller and weaves great tales of his adventure in this book. He has devoted more than 20 years to a life of missionary work in Ecuador, Australia & Guatemala, leading he & his family into remote jungles, beautiful barrier reefs & mountain villages. He is adept at bringing important lessons & truths that will tie the everyday to the spiritual. A really down-to-earth book from a really down-to-earth guy that I know you can relate to & enjoy. Good reading!

Our last team was from Alabama and we worked in Boliva near Mazatenango, Guatemala with a wonderful church group who will be doing the follow-up in that area. They already have property and soon hope to have enough from those visits to form a church. We were given many excuses just as those people in the parable of the Great Supper, but, just as someone said from the Alabama group "you don't always know what you do as a worker, but you thank God you are a part of it & just watching Him work is a great blessing!" This team was a great blessing to us as well.

Kids from La Paz; there are around 18,000 children and only room for 8,000 to go to school. The team was able to go into 3 schools and take some supplies along with the Gospel.

This is our last group 08/16-23/08 that came from Alabama with the Marshall Baptist Association. Three churches were represented: South Sauty Bapt Ch in Langston; Mt Vernon Bapt in Boaz and Shiloh Bapt in Leesburg, AL. We worked in La Paz for 5 days, witnessing, praying with the people, inviting Bible Studies in their homes and passing out the book of Luke. As a result, there were 3 homes for Bible study, 32 professions of faith and 13 rededications; God tremendously blessed the efforts and they had a wonderful time. We appreciate all the hard work and their great attitude for it!

This was a small team from Clarke County Baptist Association in Alabama. They did a tremendous amount of work in Zacapa. We stayed in Santa Cruz, which made us about a 40 minute trip to and from there every day, but it was well worth it to work with Pastor Rolando and his church. They were ready every morning with at least 3 to 4 of their members to go out with us. The people were very gracious and listened; we had at least 24 who prayed to receive Christ. The church of Zacapa will do the follow-up on this.

This is the sun setting over Guatemala City taken from El Portal del Angel Restaurant; where we take a lot of our teams. Seeing this picture reminded me of how short life can be, from the rising to the setting of the sun. My brother Frank's life seemed that quick after it was over. He was only 51, but he seemed to have lived it to the fullest with a joke and a smile constantly. His life spoke volumes to many people; this we found out at his funeral last week. Frank played in a gospel group with his wife, Angie, and when not out with them on Sundays and Wednesdays, he was at church. That comforts my heart to know and, he showed great faith in the peace he experienced at his death. I want to express my thanks to all those who prayed for us during this time. There is another void in my life, but heaven seems a little closer now. Keith & I are back in Guatemala now and life will go on as before - the LORD will strengthen our hands and our heart!

Prayer Request

My younger brother, Frank, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. The results from all the tests indicate this mass has spread to his bones, liver and cranium. Frank is 51 years old. He and his wife, Angie, have no children; they live in Kingsport, TN. On July 1st they gave him his first radiation treatment. He is very weak because he cannot eat anything. We appreciate all the prayers and support we have received. Keith and I are in Kpt at this time. If you want to keep up with his progress, you can access the website http://www.caringbridge.org/ and where it says 'enter website name' type frankbaker. Continue to pray for wisdom and peace as we continue this journey. We know God is in control for we have seen His Hand in all that is happening. Pray He may receive glory through it all.