Maryl and I were joined by the worship band, Wake Up the Dawn, from Joy Christian Fellowship in Medford, Oregon (Jake Schmelzer on keys, Natalie Schmelzer on guitar, Matt Hall on bass, and Aaron Martinez on drums) as we returned to Guatemala City this month. Pastor Hector Nufio and his son Pastor Paul Nufio invited us back for a worship conference at Elim Central Church. They oversee hundreds of churches throughout Latin America and have a great church of thousands in Guatemala City. This wonderful church set in the heart of the capital of Guatemala is facing tremendous adversity too. Pastor Paul told us that they had 18 funerals in their church alone in a two-week period, many due to the increase of drug cartel activity! Please pray for the safety and courage of these great people.
We started the week off with a wonderful night of prayer and worship in their main sanctuary (a ‘small’ prayer meeting of a couple thousand people) and got a great dose of the powerful prayers and hearts of the Guatemalan Christians there! It was humbling to stand in front of this great group of saints and share the gospel of Jesus Christ both in song and in the Word – and what a great response at the end. We were exhilarated and stirred for a wonderful week together!
The next day we had the thrill of going to Antigua, the ancient capital of Guatemala, to see the sights, have an amazing breakfast looking over the valley with volcanoes hovering in the distance, and a little bit of shopping and bartering (Jake wins the prize in that category). Afterward, we went to a beautiful orphanage the church oversees, played with the children and had them sing for us – beautiful (and again humbling) – I also got a group of students from a local high school to sing the national anthem for us! Diego led them in a rousing rendition with hands over hearts, etc. You can see the video here: Guatemalan National Anthem
That evening we met with the Elim worship department before the conference started so we could stir them and encourage them for what God was about to do. Our team did some new songs in Spanish (they learned about 6 new songs in Spanish and sang and played them well – I was impressed!) and got everybody going strong in worship. They rented a cello for me for the week so I was in heaven! So I got to play along with Maryl on flute! Love it! Then I shared on healthy relationships, unity, etc. We had another great response with everybody praying for everybody. I love their responsiveness!
Thursday morning we started the actual worship conference called: Edificando Adoradores (Building Worshipers)
with over 200 attendees from many churches. After a great time of worship in Spanish, I taught on the Vision of Worship with the primacy of Jesus in our services (His name, His character, His death, His resurrection, His simplicity) and the activity of the Holy Spirit every time we worship Him. Then we broke into workshops: Keyboard (Jake), Guitars (Natalie), Bass (Matt), Drums (Aaron), Vocals (Tim) emphasizing flowing together with our instruments and voices. After that, we turned Jake loose on ‘Body-building Worship’ – building up the body in our worship. He spoke powerfully and out of personal experience – a great first day.
In the evening we had our team, with Paul Nufio on acoustic guitar and Marcos Cano on electric joining us, do an extended time of worship. It is amazing what you can do in worship even when you don’t speak the language (at least fluently) – worship is in His language! After the worship, I challenged the whole conference in the area of forgiveness: extravagant forgiveness; aggressive forgiveness; relentless forgiveness! What a great response as we all took care of any issues between us and others and the One who forgives us all! So many Christians neglect this huge area in our lives, allowing the hurts and scars of the past to cloud our worship and our relationship with the One who loves us most! Thank you Jesus, for such a great breakthrough in a hurting nation.
Friday morning began with more worship and then Natalie sharing on the Anointing in Worship. She helped us all see what the anointing in ministry is and what it isn’t! Such a challenge in personality-driven worship styles. Pure anointing always points to Jesus!! After that we headed to our workshops again for some fine-tuning vocally and instrumentally. The team really did great in articulating important issues to each part of the worship band! After the workshops I shared on creating a great rehearsal – giving them tools to create a good list and how to keep the flow of a good rehearsal going – basic leadership stuff but so essential to raising up strong teams. Friday night was Elim’s Youth Night so the band was in rare form and the excitement of God’s presence was everywhere! Then Jake shared on Choosing Praise – from Paul and Silas in the prison in Acts 16 – in life’s hardest circumstances! And then, once again, a great faith response of praise and release. We were honored to pray with and over so many people every night – tender hearts make for deep ministry.
Saturday was the final day of the conference. I had the honor of speaking to over a hundred pastors from all over Guatemala, hosted by Pastor Hector Nufio, while Maryl spoke to the conference. I spoke on releasing worship in our congregations – these wonderful pastors were so gracious and enthusiastic as I shared God’s heart and vision for their churches! I even had one missionary friend there give me ‘five stars’ and say he was going to use this everywhere he goes! Maryl helped the conference in the area of barriers to worship – taking care of important issues like re-engaging our enthusiasm, managing criticism, and healing from past wounds etc. I think this whole week was a ‘digging’ week as God worked on hearts from every angle to produce good fruit in each one of our lives. Pastor Paul Nufio then shared a brilliant word on the Responsibilities of the Worshiper – the choice: to be a blessing or an obstacle as leaders of worship. We ended the morning with a spirited Q&A with the attendees.
Saturday night after a rousing worship time, we anointed the whole conference with oil, separating and sanctifying them for the service of the King. It was a very holy time as the team spread out and anointed and prayed for each person there – young and old, singers, musicians, sound personnel, anyone who was called to the worship ministry! Many of us wept as prayed over each other and received the anointing that only the Holy Spirit can give. Powerful night – so we closed as only worship conferences can do so well – we danced and celebrated the rest of the evening – exhausted but full of the grace and power of the Holy Spirit!
Wake Up the Dawn had to leave early on Sunday (they literally woke up the dawn!) to get back for a youth camp in Washington, so that left Maryl and I to minister to the main congregation on Sunday morning which is an absolute thrill! You could tell the choir, singers and musicians and leaders were just at a worship conference! The worship was strong, exuberant, focused and faith-filled! I so love seeing God do His work among His beloved church! It’s His delight to sing and dance with us as we ‘join the everlasting song and crown Him Lord of all!’
We are home now but full of great memories and the knowledge that we planted good seed in good soil. God bless Elim and the churches of Guatemala – may you never worship the same!
We would like to thank the team at Elim for hosting this great conference with excellence and humility – special thanks to Pastor Hector and his wife, Marilyn; Pastor Paul and Katty; Alejandra (couldn’t have done it without you); Eduardo; OJ; Ingrid; Carlos; Carlos (2); Orlando; and the many others who made this moment shine with the love of Jesus! Thank you!!!!
Hello from Oregon! Just wanted to let you guys know we made it home safe. Thanks for inviting us! It was a life changing experience (in Guatemala) and we really appreciated being able to be with you and Meryl! God Bless and Safe Travels!
Jacob Schmelzer, Wake Up the Dawn, Medford, Oregon
Hello brother, I just wanna say its been a blessing having you guys and the whole band also with us this week, for me it’s a privilege sharing time with such people like you, I just wanna bless your ministry and your life, may God be the strength for you to continue on and on, and once again THANKS I really appreciate you and your wife and the band, Wake Up the Dawn. :)
Marcos Cano, Guatemala
in Him,
Dr. Tim and Maryl Smith – your worship missionaries
I will be putting some personal testimonies here from attendees as they contribute, so be watching: