Guatemalan Children’s Ministry

Dear Supporting Team: 

We are really enjoying Annie’s time with us.  We are blessed by her report on how God helped her to serve the Lord in the Dominican Republic by teaching English as a second language and being a witness for the love of Christ.   To all of you who prayed and financially supported her in this service, we want to thank you for your commitment  to the work of God.  We are very thankful to the Lord because in the Fall, Annie will begin her senior year at the Master´s College.  It is hard to believe that she will soon enter her final year there and yet the faithfulness of God has been obvious in providing the finances for her studies.  

In ministry, we are at a fork in the road and we need to ask you to pray for us in regard to the children’s ministry.  Since 2004, we have been engaged in this ministry;  we know we have touched young lives for Christ thru the years but our problem has been the lack of ministers for the children. We always have had good workers but not ministers.  What we desire are people who come along side the needy children and minister to them outside of the classroom activities.  We would like to invite you to pray with us in this regard, our request is to find those ministers or discontinue this ministry.  The need is great but the workers are few, (Matt. 9:37).  

Youth ministry is going great especially because David, our son, has really taken the pastoral activities seriously. He has befriended the boys by visiting them or calling them during the week.  Many have opened themselves up to him.  He told us one day, “these kids are good kids; it is the parents who are messed up”.  His observation is correct in many cases. One of the phenomena that we have discovered is the fact that many Quiche fathers are oblivious to the needs of their children, because they are physically absent from the home.  Either the father is illegally in the USA  or he is with another woman in the same town.  We also have discovered that many fathers feel inadequate to guide their “sophisticated” children who use internet and their cell phones daily.  This is a lie that the enemy has used in this culture.   On the other hand, God is using David to make a difference. Last week a mother of a young man that attends the Saturday meeting went to Jorge’s house to thank him for what we are doing here is changing her son.  She is very grateful especially because she says that her husband is “useless” in rearing their son.  Besides this problem,  Ginny has discovered the young people have a hard time reading.  They are semi-literate people.  They read syllable by syllable so they cannot understand the Word of God when they read it.  

The training of the pastors is going really well. Right now we have nine centers in progress. The two advanced groups in Nahuala are really catching up in their understanding of the Word. In Jorge’s group, the pastors are translating into Quiche the chapter of Scripture to be studied in class. This homework has really excited them. This excercise has taken them into a new level of understanding the Scriptures. The other course, “How to become a Biblical Leader”, that Isaias is teaching, has brought out their shortcomings as leaders of the church. There are only 6 people left in the class, but Isaias is encouraged by their response.  

A. MINISTRY GOAL FOR AUGUST 15 THRU SEPTEMBER 15 

1. August 16 to 19, for Jorge to attend another Translation workshop, this time he will be trained to use a special computer program for translation. 

2. August 26 and 27, for Isaias and Jorge to attend a meeting with Vina Recordings, the sister organization that is helping us with our recording studio. 

3. August 26, for Annie to go back to the Master’s college to begin her Senior year.

4. September 2, for Isaias to hold a half a day of prayer with his class in Nahuala. 

5. September 9, for Jorge to hold a half a day of prayer with his class in Nahuala. 

6. September 14, for the library staff to hold a special celebration for Guatemala Independence day at the library. 

B. PROGRESS TOWARDS MEETING LAST MONTHS GOALS: 

I want to apologize for not reporting the progress of last month’s goals, the computer that I used has crashed and I did not make a copy of that report. I hope I learned my lesson and make copies of the reports in the future.

C. PRAISES AND THANKSGIVING: 

1. We praise God for Annie’s ministry accomplishments in the Dominican Republic. 

2. We praise God for David’s involvement in the young Quiche boys who are responding to him and to God. 

3. We praise God for his care for us as we travel to the different dangerous areas. This year the rainy season has really damaged the roads even the paved ones. All the main highways have damaged parts so only one side of a two lane road is used. The problem is that the signs are not that clear and many crashes have been registered. 

4. We praise God for the way that the pastors are gaining a new understanding of the Word of God. 

5. We praise God for Ginny’s discipleship class every Friday morning and afternoon; the girls are opening up and she hopes for them to come to know God in a closer relationship. 

PRAYER REQUESTS:  

1. Please pray for David’s health. He is experiencing lack of energy. The doctors have pointed out that this is not normal for a young man like him. 

2. Please pray for Annie as she goes back to the USA. She has to report for Jury duty immediately, pray that she won’t be selected as she has to attend classes and does not know her way in downtown LA.

3. Please pray that we will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to continue or discontinue the children’s ministry at the end of the year. 

4. Please pray for Ginny as she continues to develop the special discipleship program for Girls.

5. Please pray for Jorge as he continues to translate the book of Genesis. He is in the 6th chapter. 

6. Please pray for Isaias as he continues to lead the six pastors in Nahuala to become more biblical in their private lives. 

7. Please continue to pray for traveling safety as we go to the different places to minister. 

8. Please pray for Ginny’s healing from a thyroid nodule that has been growing.