January/ February 2023 Newsletter

 

Happy New Year!  We hope your year is off to a great start. We began the year by receiving a volunteer that arrived on New Year's Day.  Terrie is here volunteering through late February. She is a retired Spanish teacher and is using her gifts and talents to be a blessing to many.  It has been a joy having her here with us so far.  She is a great example of someone who wanted to serve but without having to be on a volunteer team.  If this sounds like something you would be interested in doing, let's talk. Welcoming Terrie to Guatemala Encouraging Pastors David attended his first regional Pastor's Conference of the year.  This one was held down near the Pacific Coast.  He will plan to attend more of these throughout the year in different regions of the country. Pray that his presence would be an encouragement to the pastors and leaders who attend.  Pray that he would make good connections with them and be available to them for support. In early February he will be traveling to Coban to attend the annual Kekchi Baptist Convention.  Our hearts are overflowing with joy for the opportunity to return and gather with them.  We spent our first five years on the field working with the Kekchi in both the Alta Verapaz and Peten departments.  They will always be near and dear to our hearts.  Pray for a great meeting and fellowship time there. New Role On February 1, we will begin a new role with the IMB.  Our new job title will be Associate Cluster Leaders for the Northern Indigenous Sub-Cluster.  This work area will include Guatemala and Mexico.  Our role will be supervising the families who serve on Indigenous teams in these countries. We will be helping them implement strategies for reaching their people as well as offering encouragement and support to them.  We are incredibly humbled to be offered this position and are excited to see how God is going to use us in it. The role will involve more travel, meetings, and administrative duties. It comes with a huge responsibility and task.  You have prayed us through every transition we have made thus far on the field and now we especially ask for your continued prayers as we step into this new role.  More than ever we are depending on God to do the work through us and depending on your prayers as well.  Our first travel trip will be this upcoming week.  Pray for us as we go and meet with other leaders to plan and learn more about our new role.  Pray for Terrie as she will be graciously keeping our boys while we are away.  Pray God's protection and peace over all of us.

Mission Family Part of our new role will be visiting all the families that serve in our sub-cluster. This past weekend we made a road trip to Quetzaltenango (Xela) to see the Stones and our journeyman Lauren.  This part of our new role we are going to love!  We had a wonderful time with them and enjoy serving as a team together in Guatemala. We are looking forward to meeting the families serving in Mexico later this year. We are currently seeking a family to join our Guatemala team and take over the work in the Stone's area when they retire late next year.  Is God calling you or someone you know to an Indigenous church planting role?  We would love to talk and share more about that opportunity with you.  Giving On behalf of all IMB missionaries serving around the world we say THANK YOU for your generous support to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year.  Because you gave, lives will be impacted and changed. Please know that you do not have to wait until the Christmas season to give.  You can give at any time throughout the year by visiting www.imb.org/give.  100% of the money given goes directly to fund overseas ministry expenses.  You can give yearly, quarterly, monthly, or even weekly if you wish. Did You Know? Would you pray for lostness in these major cities?  Pray for the missionaries who are there building relationships and sharing the gospel.  Pray that they would not grow weary but would be encouraged and filled with new and creative ways to share the gospel where they live. Pray that they would see fruit this upcoming year and spiritual growth among the believers. Want to come serve in the Americas?  Visit this LINK to see current opportunities that are available for short term trips. We thank you in advance for partnering with us this year in prayer.  Your prayers matter!  They make a difference not only in our lives but in the lives of those we are working with.  Thank you for praying!

www.imb.org