Serving and Celebrating in Guatemala

Las Capuchinas Ruins | Antigua, Guatemala

We are continuing to take in so many different experiences. It feels like we have been here for longer than almost four months. We have continued to have more ministry opportunities and we have ventured out more in the city as a family making new memories.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and has reached out and encouraged us as we prayed through schooling for our kids. The Lord definitely answered our prayers as we sought clarity. Although no one is excited to homeschool, we do all know it is the best option for each kid in our home right now. We are doing a mix of Veritas online classes and homeschooling.

We had the fun experience of renewing our visas in the city, because we had been here 90 days. Well, actually 92. We learned how they count the days you have been here and learned how to pay the fines and fill out the paperwork when you overstay your visa ;) Praise the Lord, our 8 hour trip was successful and we can stay in the country another 90 days. We are required to leave the country every 180 days. Thankfully, we have many cheap options like Costa Rica, Mexico, and other close Latin American countries.

A photo we found, thankfully not near us.

We experienced our first tropical storm a couple weeks ago. A level 1 hurricane hit Nicaragua, crossed Central America, and hit Guatemala with less intensity. We were expecting flooding and power outages, which we didn’t experience, but many villages around us did. We were so sad to see all the flooding and mudslides happening in the more rural areas. As we prayed for people's safety, McKenzie prayed that people would not be cold. It hurt our hearts to think of people sleeping in wet beds with wet blankets, cold all night. We talked about how horrible it would be to spend a lifetime suffering and then continuing to suffer for all eternity apart from Christ.

Men from the Church
Bringing a Stove to a Family

Our desire is to share the gospel with those who have either never heard or never understood it so that being apart from Christ is not their reality. We need help being able to do this because of the language barrier, but we have begun the process. We have plans in the works with our new friends, Luis and Neftali, to go into villages surrounding their home and church to take bibles, food, and share the gospel with the people in the rural areas. Luis and his family will be able to continue following up with the people we meet and invite them to attend their church. Dan’s parents are visiting the first week of December and we are excited to do this with them when they come. We are also making plans to do something similar near our church closer to Christmas. Dan’s mom has raised money for the bibles, but if you would like to help with purchasing food and hygiene items please let us know!

The Youth Group serving at the hospital.

We are thankful for our youth leaders, Yesenia and Andrée, who planned a great service opportunity that Jasmine and Seth were able to participate in. The youth group went to a city hospital to share devotionals and pray for sick people and their family members. They also visited a Ronald McDonald type house where they shared the gospel, prayed for, and made soup and bread for the family members of the patients. I love that they are teaching the kids to love in word and deed, meeting practical needs for the families and sharing the truth of God with them.

1 John 3:17-18 “But if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

We also had a blast this month celebrating Kaylee's birthday! Her friends from church and the missionary community came over. They played laser tag in the park in front of our house, ate pizza, and had cupcakes. It was really funny watching Kadi try to explain laser guns in Spanish, but thankfully our friend Liz was there to help.

Praises:

The Lord answered our prayer regarding schooling!
We are progressing in our Spanish and building relationships because we can communicate!
The kids are making friends and although they miss the states, they are adjusting and doing well.
We found a good orthodontist here in Antigua and Jasmine finally got braces on!
We are so thankful for our church here. The people are friendly and welcoming and we feel right at home. They are committed to faithfully following Jesus and we are spurred on in our faith as we spend time with them.
Dan sang on the worship team in Spanish for the first time! It was encouraging both to him and to the congregation as they were able to see his desire to serve them.

Ways to pray for us:

Homeschooling. Please pray for patience and for learning to happen and for us to manage our time well.
Mercy. Please pray that we would be merciful to those around us who have great need and that through that we would be able to share the gospel and see people saved.
Adjustment. Please be praying as we continue to adjust to a new culture and new way of life. Pray that we will pour the gospel into our own children so they don’t grow weary or angry, but desire to lay their own lives down in order to follow Christ.
Spanish. We are growing in our ability to communicate more and more, but still have a long way to go.
Preaching. Dan will be preaching at our church again the next two weeks. Please be praying for him as he prepares and teaches!
Outreach. Please pray for us as we start going into the villages around us with Luis and Neftali to share the gospel. We want to KNOW the people and be able to communicate with them. Please pray it would be a fruitful time of encouraging our new friends as well.
Holidays. It will be our first round of holidays away from family this year.

Keep scrolling for more pictures from the last couple months!

Jack at Soccer Practice

Jasmine loves holding little ones.

Seth learning to drive!

McKenzie making a turkey as we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving w/ our friends.

Kaylee enjoying some birthday ice cream! I can't tell if she likes it...

Jack and Seth gaming in the back yard, as you do.

Seth eating turkey.

Hanging out in some ruins.

McKenzie emerging from a crypt!

Seth serving at church by taking the offering.

Seth & Dan serving on the worship team at church

Dan preaching with his friend Ariel translating

We were invited to celebrate Día Del Niño (Children's Day) at the school our church is a part of. The kids and teachers dress up like Halloween in the States and have all sorts of fun.

McKenzie helping pass our food after a Bible lesson & soccer game given by our Guatemalan friends who serve the children in their community weekly.

Our Guatemalan friends showed us amazing hospitality having our huge family over to their house and feeding us a delicious Guatemalan meal called pepián.