Life Lately October 2026

We began the month completing our first nine weeks of school.  To celebrate, we drove into Guatemala City for some fun family time.

 

The boys chose Top Tee for their outing. 

 

 

 

 

The following week we welcomed a volunteer team from Leavell College in New Orleans.  We had a fantastic time hosting this group!  I wrote a separate post about our time together.  You can read about it here:  Leavell College Mission Team.

 

Ben had some fun outings with friends.  Here they are at a local mall.  They enjoyed a sushi lunch and then time at the arcade. 

 

They also attended a local soccer game together. 

 

Cruz attended two birthday parties for his friends in October, but I have no photos to show for it. 

 

 

We all had our annual eye exams. 

 

 

We enjoyed a night out with the Hootens.  They were in town following a week of leading a mission team.   

 

 

A beautiful sunset view from our terrace. 

 

 

We celebrated twenty years of service with the IMB.  You can read how we spent the day HERE. 

 

 

David spent several days in Quetzaltenango helping our teammates with a volunteer team.  They did an overnight retreat for the leaders in that area.  It was a great time of fellowship for all of them.  

 

 

I love fall baking! 

 I made these apple cider muffins for breakfast one morning. 

 

I also baked one of my favorite pies. 

 

 

It has been a fun month in science.  Cruz had his first dissection of the year- a sheep heart. 

 

He also did a fun experiment on clogged arteries. 

 

 

Ben's International Cooking Class continues to be a highlight.  During October he studied Canada and made poutine. 

 

 

For Brazil he made pao de queijo.

 

 

For South Africa he made Bobotie.

 

 

Lastly, his final recipe of the month was Kefta & Couscous from Algeria.

 

I cannot believe it is November already!  

This year has flown by! 

 

Celebrating 20 Years of Service with the IMB

On Saturday, October 24, we celebrated twenty years of service with the International Mission Board.  We are proud of this accomplishment and thankful for the Lord's calling on our lives to serve him here. 

 Here is a look at how we celebrated.

 

Of course, we started the day with pictures.

 

 

We then drove to Alotenango to serve alongside Pastor Carlos at his Saturday morning kid's club.

 

View of Fuego volcano and Acatenango volcano on the drive to Alotenango. 

 

I always love seeing this mountain.  It looks like a patchwork quilt to me. 

 

 

David with Pastor Carlos 

 

 

The weekly kid's club consists of games, music, Bible study, crafts, and snack.  Pastor Carlos and his wife are doing a fantastic job of teaching these kids each week.  We are thankful to get to partner with them and assist them in this ministry.

 

 

David helping with crafts. 

 

 

me passing out snack 

 

 

Afterwards, we stopped at Tribu Terrace and enjoyed a delicious brunch meal. 

 

 

volcano view from our table

 

We then returned home and spent the rest of the day watching college football.  That is one of my favorite things to do! 

 

When we look back over these twenty years, we are filled with gratitude for the way God has allowed us to serve throughout Guatemala. We are thankful for the many people who have walked alongside us, the churches who have prayed for us, the volunteers that have served with us, given financially, and encouraged us.

  

The years have passed, but God has remained faithful through every single one of them. And if we had it to do all over again, we would still say yes to His call! 

 

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see:

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! 

 

We look forward to many more years of being on mission!

Leavell College Mission Team October 2026

Last week we hosted a mission team from Leavell College in New Orleans, LA.  We had a group of nine young adults and two leaders. We always love getting to host students and expose them to missions.  It brings us much joy.  

 

our group 

 

 

We spent Saturday morning helping out with a kid's club in Alotenango with Pastor Carlos, our new ministry partner. 

 

The morning was filled with a lot of singing and movement.  

 

We played a lot of games. 

 

 

games with the kids 

 

One of the students led a devotional on Following Jesus, and then they had snack time. 

 

 

After snack was craft time. 

 

 

 

They were proud of their work reminding them to follow Jesus.

 

Saturday morning kid's club in Alotenango 

 

 

We spent Saturday afternoon and all day Monday making home visits.  Saturday afternoon was with Pastor Apolinario in San Andres Itzapa.  Monday was back in Alotenango with Pastor Carlos. 

 

 

home visits 

 

In the homes we listened to the needs of the people.  Different ones then shared scripture and words of encouragement.  We end each visit praying for the families. We also give them small gift bags of beans and rice.

 

 

 

On Sunday we split into two groups.  One group went to the Baptist church in Jocotenango and the other group went to San Rafael.  Both leaders preached in the services and several students gave testimonies. 

 

 

On their last day they hiked Pacaya Volcano.  That is always a fun thing for guests to do. 

 

We absolutely loved hosting this group!  They were fun, energetic, and came ready to share and serve.  They were a blessing to not only the people here, but also our family.  As with all teams, we were sad to see them leave.  

 

This group is part of a gap year program called Serve NOLA.  As part of the program you will strengthen your walk with Christ through weekly mentoring.  You can earn college credit while spending a year doing mission work.  You will engage New Orleans with local churches.  You will help reach the nations, locally and globally.  You will volunteer at local outreach ministries.  And, you will earn your first year of Leavell College course credit.  It's a wonderful program!  To learn more, visit https://leavellcollege.com/serve/.  If you know someone who might be interested, share this information with them. We are very grateful they chose us to be a part of their international mission trip exposure.