The big one…

What’s been happening over the last few months? That’s a fantastic question take a look at some of the beautiful things that have been happening over the last few months.

 

 

 

Dance ministry has started. That’s right, we started a dance ministry for the girls who work in the central park. Our goal is to give them an outlet to just be kids, learn some fun dances, and have an opportunity to really speak into the identity of who these girls and how much they are loved.

 

 

 

 

Missions conferences: Last year we got to take a group of Guatemalan missionaries to Honduras on a short-term missions trip. This year we are taking 4 groups out to the C-4 (Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador). I am blessed to be part of the group training people in the Lake Atitlan area to go to Honduras this year. It really has been such a blessing, we have an awesome group of people we are training to go out to Honduras.

 

 

 

Worship Nights: We get the amazing opportunity to host a worship night once a month in our house, this is a time where Guatemalans, North Americans, and some times a British friend come over for a night of worship and prayer. Its been so fun having these nights of worshiping the Lord in both English and Spanish. We are excited for our night coming up this week.

 

 

 

Hosting Short Term Teams: Another cool part of my job is getting to help host teams that come from the states to Guatemala, sometimes they are here for a week, a few days, or a month. We had 4 one week teams this summer, right now we have a World Race (one month) team staying with us, and at the end of the month we will have a team for four days. Its such a cool thing that the Lord lets us be a part of other people’s journeys. Its such a blessing to get to walk this life out along side of so many awesome people.

 

Costa Rica/ Honduras: In July I got the awesome opportunity to travel to Honduras and Costa Rica, I was gone for a month visiting good friends and awesome ministries. I went on a trip to learn more Spanish and reconnect with some awesome people. It was a super blessed trip, I am so thankful for the chance to go and Learn.

Playing with the church band, holding a huge dead snake, hanging out with the kids, sharing my story in Spanish, Loving on some awesome friends, hiking, beach trip, and lots of laughs. This was a blessed and awesome month!

 

Mafer is going on the Race: One of my beautiful friends and sisters here in Guatemala is going on World Race Gap Year, we are all so incredibly proud of her and the decisions she is making in life. She is one of those people you just know will change the world in amazing ways. Its been so cool to watch her grow over the last year.

 

 

Stove Installations: Did you know in Guatemala, most people cook over an open flame in their homes? This means that smoke fills the tiny homes and that’s what the moms and children breathe in all day long. Did you know that many children will end up with mild to sever burns because of these open flames? We have head many stories of moms falling asleep with a child in their arms to wake up to the child screaming as they have fallen and caught on fire. The life expectancy of people is way lower than it should be because of these open flames in homes. But did you know there is great news? Well there is, in Guatemala some really smart people figured out a way to make stoves that will go in peoples homes that are similar to use as the open fire but it pushes the smoke out of the house. These stoves only take about thirty minutes to build and cost $150 per stove. Over the last few months we have been helping to install stoves in the houses of some of the woman from a widows group we work with. Not only do these stoves allow us to meet a physical need but they also allows us to build further relationship with these beautiful women we meet with each week.

 

Elections: The first round of Elections are over and they will vote between two candidates in November. Quick history for those of you who don’t know much about Guatemala. About 20 years ago Guatemala ended their nearly 36 year civil war, this is a very dark part of Guatemala’s history, thousands upon thousands of people died or went missing and were never to be seen again. This made Guatemala one of the most dangerous countries. Guatemala since then has been known as a very corrupt and violent country. In the beginning part of this year it came out that both the vise president and the president were super corrupt and involved in things they should not be, so the young people of the country started a movement of protests, but all of them were to be peaceful. The young people knew that if they became violent it would give the president and vise president reason to flea the country, meaning they would never be tried for their crimes. So they stayed peaceful in the protests, then the church stepped up and across all denominations they held a 40 days of prayer campaign. In May the vise president stepped down and was arrested, Just a few days after the end of the 40 days or prayer and right before the first round of elections the president stepped down. Its been amazing to see how peacefully the country has been coming together to say “enough is enough” and take a stand for their country. Please be praying as they elect a president in November that this person would be full of the Lord, of wisdom, and will not allow corruption to continue in this country.

 

Rainy season: It is here! It now rains almost every afternoon from about 3pm-5pm. You hear the thunder rumbling and a few cracks of lighting later comes the down pour. I really kind of love this season, even though it makes it really hard to go out in the afternoon, there is just something about it that’s so peaceful.

 

 

Family adventures: Its always fun to take some adventures as a family, in the past few months we have been to one of the coolest water parks in the world ( I have only been to I think two parks in my life time… so it was really cool), we went to the Guatemalan Ballet, and the beach. Guatemala has so many fun and cheap things to explore, we are learning more and more about what this beautiful country has to offer.

 

 

Saying our “see you later’s”: We have a lot of people come though our base, in the past month we have said see you later to one CGA apprentice and two staff members. We are always excited to see people go and step into what the Lord has for them but at the same time its always hard to see people leave. Please be praying for these three as the transition.

 

 

 

Thank you for reading this short update of things that the Lord has been doing here in Guatemala. We are excited for this next season and all that the Lord has in it.

 

 

 

Oh! One more update, Misha! Our dog Misha is doing great! She is as happy as ever chasing all the birds out of our yard.

 

 

 

 

Enjoy a few of these pictures of the Beautiful and amazing Guatemala!