January 2011 Newsletter

Greetings from Guatemala! Happy New Year! The year 2010 was a very memorable one for us. We welcomed a lot of change into our lives, but as they say, change is good. We began the year back in the States waiting for our big appointment day so we could return to the mission field. That day came on March 3, 2010 when we were officially appointed as career missionaries. We returned to Guatemala later that month and began some more language study. In May we welcomed our son, Cruz David into the world. What a wonderful blessing he has been to our lives! We finished language study in the fall and moved to our new place of service- Sayaxche, Guatemala. We just had our first Christmas as a family of three, and it was a very merry one. We are looking forward to see what blessings will come our way in this new year. We are excited to continue our work among the K'ekchi', and hope that many more will come to know the Lord this year as a result of our being here. Our prayer is that many new churches would be started, and that the existing ones would be strengthened.

Cruz turned seven months old in December. He is now 21 lbs. and 4 ounces. He is scooting around and trying to pull up. He has no teeth just yet, but we think they are coming (and praying they are coming, ha). He is still a happy, healthy boy and we consider that a great blessing.

Some activities we have planned for January that you can pray for are:
1) David will be doing a recording session for the "Institute of the Air" on Friday, Jan. 7.
2) We will travel to the village of Se' Tul on Sunday, Jan. 9 to attend a special service there.
3) Our mission will be having a Prayer Retreat Jan. 14-16 in Guatemala City. Pray for the team that will be coming down to lead it, that it would be a refreshing time for everyone, and that everyone would feel encouraged and renewed as we return to our places of service.
4) We will be attending the K'ekchi' Annual Meeting in Sayaxche' on Jan. 19-20.
5) We will be traveling on Sunday, Jan. 23, and Jan. 30 to visit two different works. Pray for our safety of travel on those days.

We recently attended the Mayejac service here in Sayaxche. This is the time of year that all the churches take up their offerings for the Association and the national missionaries. It is similar to our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. We spent the day with the pastors and leaders and had a great celebration service that evening. They will be announcing how much they took up this year at their Annual Meeting later this month. Please pray for the leaders of the K'ekchi' Baptist Association, specifically the President, Mateo. Also pray for the five K'ekchi' national missionaries- Marcelino, Matias, Javier, Domingo, and Josue.

We look forward to your being a vital part of our ministry this year by your faithful prayer support. We depend on it so much, and can't thank you enough for praying for us! Until next time...

Sending our love,
David, Regina, and Cruz
Your Missionaries to Guatemala