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| The Finished New Bedroom for Marta's Family |
It can be a little difficult to write updates because we are continuing in the same work we have been doing so it feels redundant. We will give you some bullet point updates and then some pictures of the last few months in Guatemala.
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Alyssa Clark spent August through November with us. She and Seth served in the villages with us, served in an orphanage 3 mornings per week, and worked alongside teams with Tree Ministries.
• We have continued teaching Marta and her kids to count, recognize letters and numbers, and to write. We have also continued reading the Bible to Marta and Alicia's families each week and Dan started bringing his guitar to sing worship songs with them. We have also brought meals and eaten with both families a few times. Both families are professing Christians.
• Through generous donations we were able to buy every member of both families shoes and socks, which not everyone had.
• We celebrated Kaylee, Kadi, and Jasmine's birthdays and took our visa renewal trip to Costa Rica with Kadi’s parents.
• Dan has continued preaching at Campos De Sueños (in the Mayan village) once per month and leading worship twice a month for them. In November he preached for the first time in Spanish and without a translator!! He was really hoping to be able to do this before we returned to the states and he did it very well!
• For the Families that we, and the Adventures in Missions team, serve in the village of Parrojas we threw an outreach event. We transported them from Parrojas to the Adventures in Missions base where we served them a Thanksgiving meal, ate and visited with them, shared the gospel with them, shared a worship song about being thankful for Christ, and we spread out and prayed with them at their different tables. We heard from them that they felt very loved by our ministry and this special time with us. A sweet lady at the table Dan sat at to pray wanted to pray for all of the missionaries who have come up to their village and blessed them and their children. It was a very sweet time to serve and love on the people we've been discipling during home visits, teaching English, teaching the Bible, and providing a meal for every week. We were especially excited to have the town leaders present because in order for a church to one day be built there we need to continue building relationships with them.
• Marta's family has a very makeshift kitchen which is always filled with smoke. We had been saving money to one day buy property to build a church on, but with us coming home that freed up some funds. We offered to build her a new kitchen and she was elated! When the masons showed up to put in the new foundation, the family changed their minds and cleared a new area on their property for the kitchen. Halfway through the build, the family asked if they could make the building a bedroom instead of a kitchen. We didn’t realize the family of 7 was all sleeping in the same room and sharing 3 beds. They showed us the room and there was ONE mattress that was molding, one box spring with wood slats and one spring cot they were sleeping on. We were able to buy two bunk beds, a twin was donated, a new Queen bed for the family, their very first set of sheets, and a comforter they picked out. What a sweet gift to give a family in dire need. We visited them the next morning after putting in all the beds and Marta said, “No one wanted to get out of bed today because we were warm for the first time.”
• Marta's story reminds us of James 2:14-17. “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead.” We have been pouring into this family for months now and it was such a beautiful gift from the Lord to give them a warm bedroom and beds right as the cold months hit and NOT leave them without being warm and well fed.
• We celebrated Christmas with both Calvary and Campos De Sueños. Dan and Seth sang in the Calvary Choir and then led worship at Campos Thursday and Sunday after Christmas. Dan also had the privilege of preaching the last sermon of the year there on Sunday. We love being able to be blessed by these two ministries and to give back and serve with them. On Christmas night some fellow missionaries came for dinner and games, and it was a great time.
We have been very busy and thankful for all the opportunities to serve and love on the people here. We have also been very thankful to be served and loved on by so many people here. When you live in another country, you really comprehend that this world is not our own home and that we are sojourners. We have even more understanding of our need for the global body of Christ. We have sat at many tables over the past three years with 5-7 nationalities represented. The mission field has been, at times, lonely and hard and having brothers and sisters in Christ around us and a church to worship in is a gift that we have taken for granted in the past. It breaks our hearts that not all Christians have a church and family they can worship with and be built up by. We are praying a church will be built in Parrojas by the team we have been working with. Please join us in praying this and praying for the current ministries here that are giving people a place to worship in.
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| Worship Songs with Alicia's Family |
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| Seth Translating for a Missionary Video |
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| Visiting with Alicia's Family |
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| Prayer before Church at Campos de Sueños |
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| Seth with José who is usually kept in the house, but we were able to love on him. |
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| Seth Translating Miguel's Testimony at the Refuel English Service |
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| Our Friend Aderkee Teaching kids in the Village of Parrojas |
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| Kaylee Helping Serve in Parrojas |
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| Jasmine with her Tiny Tortillas |
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| Seth, Aderkee, and Alyssa Teaching kids in Parrojas |
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| Alex Leading Worship Music with Dan at Refuel |
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| McKenzie Getting to Know Gap Year Adventures in Missions Crew |
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| Marta's Son Benjamin Riding to Town with Us |
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| Homeschool and Online School |
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| Men's Breakfast at Calvary Antigua |
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| Our Friend Delfina Making Tortillas for the Kids in Parrojas |
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| Thanksgiving with Other Missionaries and Church Friends |
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| Kadi Serving at a Thanksgiving Outreach to Parrojas Families with Hannah and Anna |
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| A Thanksgiving Outreach to Families from Parrojas at Adventures in Missions |
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| Dan singing "Gracias Cristo" at the Thanksgiving Outreach for Parrojas Familes |
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| Parrojas Families and the Adventures in Missions team Thanksgiving Event |
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| We Had a Blast with Kadi's Parents Visiting Guatemala |
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| Nancy and Kadi with Marta's Family Going over Reading & Writing |
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| Mike and Jack Prepping Dirt for Finishing Concrete Work for Marta's Room |
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| Alicia and José Opening Christmas Presents |
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| Kadi & Nancy Setting up New Bed's in Marta's House |
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| Seth Sharing His Testimony of Living in Guatemala w/ a Gap Year Team |
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| New Beds in Marta's Home |
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| The New Room We Built with Birdhouse Foundation |
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| Kadi and Marta |
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| Games with Kadi's Parents in Costa Rica |
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| Kadi's Dad Mike Loves the Antigua Market |
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| Nancy with the Gardner's Sponsor child Alizon |
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| The Abso Kids with Santa at a Mall in Guatemala City |
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| Dan & Seth Singing in the Calvary Antigua Choir |
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| Kaylee Decorating Gingerbread Houses w/ the Contrereses |
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| Dan Preaching at Campos de Sueños in Spanish |
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| New Years Fireworks |
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| Jack, Aderkee, Paxton, and Dan Playing Pickleball |
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| Building a Chair with Extra Wood |
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| Elias learning to cut wood, who usually barely talks with us. He finally came out of his shell! |
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| Seth and Dan Cutting Boards to Length |
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| Marta's Kids Helping Nail Boards Down |
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| Marta's Kitchen |
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| Learning How to Put Sheets On Beds, Something New To Them |
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| Benjamin, Rosa, and Glendi in the Boy's New Room with New Beds
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