PUC Missionaries Baptize 36 in Guatemala

This July nine missionaries from PUC—one professor, six current students, and two recent grads—journeyed to Guatemala for a 15-day evangelism drive organized by ShareHim ministries and sponsored by The Quiet Hour radio program.

The group stayed in the northeastern town of Flores from July 9-24. From that hub, the missionaries fanned out each day and each one preached a solo evangelistic series. It was a daunting challenge for the missionaries, many of whom were preaching for the very first time.

“It was scary when they asked me to be the leader,” says Charo Caballero-Chambers, a PUC modern language professor and official group leader, who had never preached before. “But I [prayed], and I felt like this was what God was really calling me to do.”

At the close of the trip, 36 Guatemalans decided to give their lives to God in baptism at a nearby lake. In addition, Caballero-Chambers reports that she has since received calls from pastors in the area who say that in the successive weeks many more decided to be baptized in response to the evangelistic efforts. “They tell me, ‘You have planted the seeds, and we will continue watering,” she says.

The mission provided an especially meaningful experience for one participant. Robert Abdul-Karim, ’10, who graduated this June with a degree in theology and is continuing on to ministerial ordination, was invited to perform the first baptisms of his pastoral career. When the series-finale baptisms outgrew the capacity for local pastors to perform, the East Guatemala Mission Conference asked him to step in and baptize some of the candidates—including several from his own congregation.

This is PUC’s eighth consecutive year participating in ShareHim mission trips. Last year’s group preached in El Salvador.