Guatemala
In 2002, Drive-In agreed to become partners in Ministry with the Guatemala Bible Seminary (GBS) in Chimaltenango, which is about 30 miles from the Capital, Guatemala City. The Seminary began as a ministry of Central American Mission in 1923, sits at an elevation of 6000 ft., is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes and currently serves 150 students from several Central and South American Countries. While Guatemala City has a population of 3,000,000. Chimaltenango is home to about 50,000.
After purchasing a used mini-bus to be convened into a Mobile Unit, almost a year was spent trying to find a way to get the Unit to the U.S. for equipping. This unit was to be the first to be outfitted as a film unit on the outside and a medical clinic on the inside. After several failed attempts at planning to ship or drive the unit here, it was finally decided to build the equipment, ship it to Guatemala then go and install it on location.
In September 2003. a team was assembled that went to Guatemala and installed the equipment. However, because the school system there is different and the students were taking final exams the week we were there, we were not able to train the ones who would be using the Unit. We also discovered a couple of mechanical problems to repair and the Unit needed to be painted. So, it was decided that Mike Jones, the International Director and leader of the team would return after January, when school would be back in session and complete the work, train the teams and place the Unit into use.