November 2024 Newsletter

 

Lottie Moon Season

Lottie Moon season is quickly approaching!   The Great Pursuit is our unwavering effort to reach the nations with the gospel. From the Great Commission to the Great Multitude, God invites all of us to join Him in the Great Pursuit. Consider the power of uniting in this Great Pursuit as you give towards the Lottie Moon Offering to support your IMB missionaries. Stories featured in this year’s resources show how missionaries are part of the Great Pursuit. Resources for the 2024 offering are available at: LOTTIE MOON RESOURCES.   Southern Baptists observe a Week of Prayer for International Missions each year before the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering emphasis. Will you join your heart with others to pray for missionaries around the world who are faithfully sharing the gospel? Mark you calendars. This year’s Week of Prayer will be December 1-8.   Resources are available at: WEEK OF PRAYER 2024 As always, you can give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering through your local Baptist church or anytime online at :GIVE TO LOTTIE MOON

Team Leader Training In early October David spent a week in Lima, Peru attending a Team Leader training for leaders all throughout the Americas.  It was a fantastic week of learning and growing!    I was not able to attend in person but took part in the event virtually.  You might notice my photo on the top screen in the background.  It was showing each of us who were participating online.  Here is David giving a report for our Team Guatemala's plan for the new year.  By the end of the week each person had to write out a plan and present it to the group.  Overall, it was a great training and left each one feeling better equipped to lead their local teams. Thank you for your support of the IMB.  Because you give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, trainings like this can take place.  Sadly, he returned home and within hours became ill and spent much of the following week sick in bed. It took a while to fully bounce back, but he is doing much better now.  For those of you who knew he was sick, thank you for praying! Church Connections We were invited to a special celebration service at the Baptist church in San Rafael.  Here is David preaching the sermon. A part of our role is encouraging not only the local pastors but the congregations as a whole.  Many of our churches are small and struggling.  This church is a prime example of that.  We love to worship with them and encourage them to stay in the fight for their communities, their families, and their neighbors. Would you pray for the Baptist churches all throughout Guatemala? Our desire if for each of them to be healthy, strong, and growing. Pray especially for the pastors who lead them.  Pray that they would daily seek the Lord, continually stay in His word, be strengthened and encouraged, and lead their churches well. Indigenous Conference 2024 The annual Indigenous Conference will take place the first week in December.  Just this past Saturday there was a meeting to finalize plans for this year's conference.    The conference is a yearly event for indigenous pastors and leaders who serve all throughout Guatemala as well as a few from Honduras. It is always uplifting and encouraging to each one who attends. Begin praying now that this year’s conference will be just as impactful as in years past. Team Guatemala Update We said "see you later" to the Robinson family as they finished their first term and headed to the States. Pray for them during these next several months while they are in the U.S.  Pray that their time there would be restful and that God would give them a clear vision for what ministry will look like in their next term of service.  We look forward to their return to Guatemala in 2025. Family Update In mid-October Cruz took part in the Guatemala Academy of Performing Arts production of Little Women.  He played the role of young Theodore "Laurie" Laurence.  Here is our family with him after the final performance.  Both boys recently auditioned for the Spring performance of Romeo and Juliet and will both be part of the cast.  We are thankful for the community and friendships that this has provided for them. If you would like to see more photos of Cruz in the play, you can read a blog post about it at: LITTLE WOMEN. Sending Celebration IMB hosts Sending Celebrations throughout the year to worship together, pray and send out Southern Baptists’ newest missionaries. The next IMB Sending Celebration will be this coming Sunday, November 10, at 7pm ET. Want to watch the live event and see your newest IMB missionaries being commissioned to the field?  You can watch on the IMB Facebook page, the app, or on the website at SEND.  Service Anniversary On October 24 we celebrated eighteen years of missionary service with the IMB.  Many of you have faithfully prayed for us from the beginning and others have come alongside us throughout the years.  We could never put into words what your prayers have meant to us!  Because you pray, you have not only impacted our lives and ministry, but have most likely kept us safe, healthy, and encouraged to stay on the field. You have had and will continue to have a part in everything we do because you pray.  THANK YOU!  Our family is so blessed by each and every one of you! Did You Know? One of the more appealing facts about Guatemala to water lovers will be that you can swim in both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. And, unlike much of Mexico and all of the U.S., the drive between these two bodies of water can be conquered in less than a day. This fact plays in to the Guatemalan flag.  You will notice two blue sides with a white stripe in the middle.  The blue represents the two bodies of water and the white stands for peace.