Go Forth in Boldness!

The recent medical team to Nearar with the partnership of Iglesia Canaán and Brainerd Baptist included a young man whom Pastor Victoriano has been discipling.  Upon his return home, Antonio was so burdened about the lostness of the people there that he told his wife he had to return.  The church dedicated him, collected money for his trip and for his family (wife and two small boys) who remained at home, and confirmed his call.  Kinda of sounds like the first missionaries sent out from Jerusalem, doesn't it?

Antonio left on the 10th and traveled by bus to the area and then by pickup truck up the mountain to Nearar.  He stayed with Reyes, the strong believer/leader and went out daily visiting door to door, helping Reyes and being a witness in the community.  Last  Friday as he and Reyes were visiting in a home, the man said he accepted Christ.

Our fellow missionaries, David and Regina White, live in this area and each Sunday morning have Bible study with Reyes, his family, and any other believers who will join them in his home.  As a result of the medical team and the salvation decisions that were made at that time, they also return each Sunday afternoon to led a Bible Study in another family's home.  This past week, Regina and the two boys remained at home for the morning study.  As David was teaching, Reyes received a phone call, interrupted David with the message that someone had been killed, and as a community leader, he had to go to the site.  David completed the lesson with the others and then returned to his car.  The man had been murdered right behind David's car.  It was the man to whom Reyes and Antonio had witnessed on Friday and who prayed to receive Christ. 

We are glad that Regina and the boys had remained home that morning and were not subject to the scenes and activity.  We are very saddened by this latest death in Nearar.  There is definitely a spirit of evil that rests heavy among the people.  They have little value for life; when there is a dispute, the chief method of resolution is murder.  It is really sad, but the reality.  We pray that the man had indeed accepted Christ.  He left behind a wife and several small children.  Please pray for them.  David and Regina and planning to visit the wife and children sometime in the coming days.  Pray that God would give them just the right words to encourage them and that would lead them to Christ.

Pray for the spirit of the evil one to be bound.

Pray for hearts to be open to the Gospel of Jesus.

Pray for salvation to come to that area, that many would come to know the Prince of Peace.

Pray for the believers to walk under the covering of God's protection being bold in their witness.

David and Regina were able to return to Nearar that afternoon for the Bible study in the other home.  Although the men were out looking for work, the women and children were ready to listen.

 

Pray that they hear and grow in their understanding of the Word of God

which is able to change their lives.

Pray for the Spirit of God to reign in their hearts, minds, and lives!

And that's a wrap!

This week we took a vision team for a new partnership across Lake Atitlán to Santiago. We have befriended a couple of ladies over the past couple of years and have posted photos of them on our blog. One of them is a widow of many years. She makes trickets to sell in order to live. We saw them at the park and then later they arrived at the portico of te church where we usually visit with them. Since then lady did not have her hair properly attired I was able to video as she wrapped her hair in the traditional hair attire. As you watch, pray that she will come to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

You just don't know 'til you don't have it...

You just don't know how dependent you are on the internet until you don't have it.

We left the states January 13th to return to Guatemala.  We spent the first weekend in the capital at our annual mission prayer retreat before coming to our new home here in Antigua Sunday afternoon. Welcome to the WORLD of boxes!

In a perfect world of thought, while I unpacked boxes Monday, David would go to town, complete paperwork for cable and internet (we already had telephone service for use in country) and by nightfall, in our almost completely unpacked home, we would be able to call the children and my mom and chat for awhile.  hahaaa - pardon me while I laugh some more - haaaahaaaahaaahaaa.  Should have known better, but it was a dream, or was it a fantasy?!  Anyway, reality hit quickly!  But in one way, it was probably better (? don't know if that is the appropiate word) that we didn't have internet because we were able to work on making our house a home...it's not there but definitely on the way...without checking emails, or facebook, or chatting on the phone.  But now thanks to Claro, we do have cable and internet - only a week and a half later, but really quite quickly in latin terms.  David was able to get the "official" (had to be signed by our LC here in Guatemala, even though we are the ones responsible for the bills) signed papers back to the office on Friday afternoon, and then we had cable Tuesday afternoon and internet Wednesday afternoon...really not too bad.  Wow! how dependent we are on these technologies.  But we are so thankful for communication...just remembering the years when missionaries went for weeks, some even months, before being able to communicate with family, friends, and co-workers.  Thank you, Lord, for this gift.

I haven't taken pictures of the finished product of making a home for us; we still need a couple more pieces of furniture - cabinets for the office (didn't realize how much storage we had in the other office/bedroom), another bed for the third bedroom (enough space for you to come visit) and a few other odds and ends - and yes, the stuff sitting in our crate there in the states waiting to be released.  I promise I will get some updated shortly but I will leave you with these...

view from the upstairs door to the patio, Volcán Agua

It's been inactive for hundreds of years, Wrena.

 

view out the front door downstairs

along the railing of the patio

atop our front gate

Come sit a spell and enjoy the view!

October Breezes

Yes, it is finally October...pretty days, cool nights, maybe the "endish" of rainy season and KITES. Such a joy to sit at our desks and listen to the squeals of children as they flew their kites.

But alas, this little fellow went home sad.  Time to make another kite to fly tomorrow.

It's that time of the year...

It's that time of the year when the fields are burning, getting ready to be planted. It thickens the air, dusts the air, blows in all the windows, and falls where ever it desires. How soon to the rainy season?! Sweet promise of rain.