August 2018 Newsletter

Hello August!  The year is passing quickly.  This month will mark six months since we returned from Stateside Assignment.   It has been a busy six months. We have seen a lot of progress in our work but have had a few set backs as well.  We have been continuing to make more home visits in our work area.  With that comes the sadness of learning more about the people and the problems they daily face.  There is so much sickness.  It seems like every house we visit has some type of medical need.  Families are being torn apart.  Because of continued problems, one of our faithful families from Porto Suelo moved away recently leaving everything they owned behind.  They live in fear and currently have no plans of returning. That has left a big hole in our Bible study group.

Another strong Bible study family is having some serious marriage issues.  The impact of that is hurting other families in the area.  A twelve year old girl that was a part of one of my children's Bible studies has been missing for a month now.  The family still does not know if she was taken or if she ran away.  One believer was told by his family that because he was a part of our group he could no longer walk the trail across their property that led up the mountain from his home.  He had to cut out a new trail that did not lead through anyone's property just to be able to leave his house. This is just a small glimpse of what we have dealt with over the past several weeks.  There is so much hurt and sadness taking place.  Would you pray for these and others in our area who need it?  Pray for us as we try to minister to them and show them God's love.

We do have some good news about a former pastor that we have been visiting for several years now.  About five years ago following a sickness he became fearful to leave his house. He quit his duties at the church and has stayed at his home ever since not leaving for any reason. He is in good health and to look at him you would never know he had a problem.  We have tried every way we know to encourage him to get out.  We have taken many teams by there to pray for him and encourage him. It seemed like a dead end street but we kept going.  Then, earlier this month, for the first time in five years he left his home and went to church.  We are rejoicing in that!  It is a small step but one in the right direction.  Pray for him, his family, and his church.  Pray that he can be fully restored.  He said our continued visits made the difference.  Sometimes our work seems so slow and repetitive but this showed us how important it is to not give up on people.

During July we hosted a team from First Baptist Church in Ozona, Texas.  The pastor there, Mark Fricke, led the team.  He and his wife Debby are former IMB missionaries in Guatemala.  The team consisted of three couples all of whom were so pleasant to work with.  We had a wonderful week showing them around our work area and introducing them to the people we work with.

We are so thankful for groups like this and others who come down and work alongside us.  We are able to step back and let others pour into our people.  The teams receive a blessing, the locals receive a blessing, and our family gets blessed as well.

They were our last team of the summer.

We started back to school recently and are off to a good start.  Cruz is in 3rd grade and Ben is in 1st.  Pray for the school year to go well.  Pray for me as I prepare and teach them each day.

This month we will mainly be focusing on our weekly Bible studies.  Pray for each of our study times.  We meet in Nearar on Sunday mornings and Wednesday afternoons.  We meet in Muyurco on Thursday afternoons.

In addition to that we are looking forward to helping with a one day medical clinic in Nearar on Saturday, August 11.  This will be a big outreach for the church.  The Baptist church in Chimaltenango that has helped with the work in this area will be coming over to do the clinic.  They are bringing a group of Guatemalan doctors and dentists with them.  Pray God's blessings over this event.  Pray also for the worship service the following Sunday morning that many from the village will come and be a part of it.  Mostly, pray for the lostness in this village and surrounding areas.  Pray that God would bring many to salvation.

We thank you for faithfully praying for our family and our work.  Your prayers keep us going, keep us encouraged, and help keep us focused on the task.  Thank you!