California!

Dear friends and family, We want to apologize for not keeping you updated over the past couple of months, and we'd like to bring you up to speed on what's been going on with us lately. Here are the highlights: California! As many of you know now, Ginny moved back to the bay area of California about a month ago. No, she didn't get tired of Rene that quickly! We are now in the process of applying for Rene's permanent residency status in the US, and we believe this is the most efficient way to go about it. She has been blessed by the hospitality of many and the joy of seeing God make just the right connections to provide at each turn. She is currently training to drive a school bus to help counter expenses while in the US, especially with Rene still in Guatemala. A couple of weeks ago we were both very blessed to spend the whole week together again in Guatemala. Ginny with her Aunt Nancy in Berkeley, CA Us enjoying a couple's weekend away together at the lake Uth group: Rene has been preparing Micah, our co-leader, to take charge while he's gone. Please pray for wisdom and growth in this preparation process. The discipleship groups he has been leading are still going strong. One group (the band) is planning a week-long concert tour throughout the country during the week of Semana Santa (Holy Week/Spring break) in March. Rene will go with them to minister to them, as well as the concert-goers during that week, hoping for evangelistic opportunities. Please pray for safety in travel and for open doors to share the gospel, and praise God with us for these young men and their hearts that are so passionate for Christ and ministering to their country in His name! The weekend before last, we led a group youth and young adults, joining with the young adults from our next door neighbor church, Sion (Zion), in a community service project, to go out to one of the poorest communities in the dry region of Guatemala and minister. We were able to partner with Operation Blessing from Guatemala, who are already established in that community, to bring food, make home visits, pray for the people, and share some message of hope and encouragement through dramas and preaching. This project was 3-fold for us at Union: to encourage the people of this community in the micro-enterprises Operation Blessing has begun with them by helping provide for their needs, to continue to build our partnership with other churches in Guatemala, and to give the youth an opportunity to meet and minister to people in such great need, to reach out and be the light of the world to their own country. Reflecting with the youth the next morning, we were encouraged to hear how their eyes were opened by this experience. Please continue to pray for our youth, as the Lord challenges them beyond their comfort zones and as they have more opportunities to minister in His name here in Guatemala and beyond. Please also pray for the people of the community we visited, especially for encouragement beyond the provision of material needs. Some of the gals from Union and Sion packing food bags to distribute Rene and some of our Uth delivering the food to one of the families in the community Thank you for all your continued prayers and encouragement. Please continue to lift us up in this time, especially while we are apart, and as we seek the Lord's wisdom in both the large and small decisions we face now and down the road. Pray we will trust Him, though we don't know exactly where each turn will take us. We do want to clarify, as we have had a few questions on the subject, that we still need your financial support. We are currently maintaining 2 households, and although Ginny has been blessed with another income now, it is not enough to cover all our Guatemala expenses as well. We know that times are tough right now with the economy; however, we hope you will prayerfully consider striving with us financially through this time. For your reference, we have attached all the information on how to give towards our monthly support with Missionary Ventures. Thank you all for partnering with us, and may God bless you richly in all you do.

Happy December Everyone!

(We had fun putting up our first Christmas tree together!)

We hope you all has a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to see the many blessings the Lord has brought to your life! We were truly blessed here in Guatemala as we celebrated our first Thanksgiving together as a couple with a great gathering of friends and family here at our house. Having a place like our home here at the mission house, where we can host get-togethers like this and have Uth, friends, and family stay the night with us (that we have the room in our first home together!) is just one of the many blessings we have seen the Lord so graciously pour out on us!

With the Mission House & MVI:
We have been blessed with a couple of wonderful field directors, the Purcells, who have mentored us both personally and professionally, as we serve here together in ministry. We are so thankful for their wise and caring leadership. Additionally, we have seen a continued answer to prayer as our relationship with Blanca & Aura, who garden, clean, and cook at the mission house, has grown in trust and care more and more. Thank you for your continued prayers! Now even Blanca's son Marlon is helping with vehicle maintenance when he can. They are all such a blessing to us and this ministry!

As we mentioned in our last update, it has been fairly quiet here, as far as teams go, so we've had time to take care of more maintenance around the place. We did have one team come though a couple of days ago, staying just one night, but our next team does not arrive until January. Leading that team will be a couple who are interested in moving to the field, so please keep them in your prayers as they seek the Lord's wisdom and visit the field here to experience a glimpse of it firsthand.

With Uth & Union Church:
We have also been blessed with grace and favor in our relationships with the Uth, as well as with the greater Union Church of Guatemala family, particularly with parents of the Uth and with our pastor and church elders. One of the families from our Uth group even joined us for Thanksgiving! This family has been a true blessing to both our ministry and to us as a couple, with their hospitality, thankfulness, and friendship.

In our last update, we asked you to pray for wisdom for us as we sought to find the best way to manage our Uth group and try to work with a drop in attendance. We want to thank you for your prayers, as we have seen what a blessing it can be to have a smaller group of Uth, where we can reach them more individually and have more one-on-one & small group discipleship opportunities. We have decided to leave the main meeting night on Wednesdays, and actually had our last meeting of the year last week. Additionally, Rene has had the opportunity to meet with a small group of guys on Tuesday mornings before school. This opportunity was even more of a blessing, as these guys asked Rene to lead the group, seeking out discipleship! Praise God for this opportunity and for their desire to grow and have accountability! As far as any new directions are concerned, the main change is that, in realizing that some of our teaching was going a little over their heads, we decided to go back to the basics. Micah just began a series in Sunday School on our origins and why we were created. Our joy is that we've already seen the kids get a little more interactive with the lessons, and our prayer is that these lessons will meet them where they are.


On December 16th, 2 weeks from now, we will been hosting a Christmas party for an orphanage here in Guatemala City, Mama Carmen's, with which our Uth group has served in the past. With regards to this outreach, we have seen a number of blessings already, and we haven't even had the party yet! First of all, the Uth started asking if we were going to do anything with Mama Carmen's for Christmas, before we even announced the event. Secondly, our church is going through a major hit with the budget and giving, even now as we draw closer to the end of the year, to the point that we were concerned that even a fundraiser for this outreach might draw funds away from giving towards meeting the budget deficit. But God is much bigger than that, and He is seeing to it that His children be shown an extra dosage of His love this Christmas season! Another lady who has been involved both with our church and the orphanage was able to raise a significant amount for ministry with Mama Carmen's, and she has volunteered to front the funds, partnering with the Uth to make this outreach come together! Praise God for His provision! In addition to this, God has blessed Rene with many contacts who have been generous in the past and are giving again with their resources to provide toys, and possibly shoes and fabric for school uniforms for these children. God is so good! Some of these people also gave so that the prison outreach for Día del Niño could happen too. Join us in praying thanking God for their generosity and praying that He return the blessing to them.

Another new door we have seen start to open is the planning for small groups among the young adults of Union. This has been a much needed ministry, and now we are finding out that it was just a matter of connecting the right people to make it happen! Praise God for that discovery and for the blessing for us of Rene getting to help make those connections.


(Above: Guys from Rene's small group--Cooper (far left) is also our Uth Intern. Below: Dany & Naomi, both in the Uth band.)


Speaking of small groups, (we know, it's becoming a theme--but what a great theme!) we have seen yet another opportunity arise! Dany ("Chino") plays the drums for our Uth band, and he also has a band he's been playing with professionally (he's only 21,) who had the premier concert for their 1st album a couple of weeks ago. The band members are all Christians and have a great heart to reach people for the Lord through their music, which is of the metal core ("screamo") genre, so it attracts many who wouldn't normally come to your typical Christian show. It's funny how sometimes you have to be careful what you pray for, because God just might make you the point person to answer your prayer. Rene had been praying for the members of Dany's band, that they could have someone to be a type of pastor for their band, discipling them and going with them to concerts to give a short message to the audience. So...a few days before the concert, Dany asked Rene if he would be able to come and give a message during their concert! Pretty awesome, but it gets better! The concert went well, and Rene got to share a short message that even recieved some reponse, which we pray was not based solely on emotion. After the concert, the lead singer from another Christian band came up and asked Rene if he'd be willing to come and do the same thing for their concerts too! After talking with our pastor about these opportunities, what we'd really like for you to pray with us, is for wisdom in discipling the band members, as they reach out to their fans, many of whom do not yet know the Lord and may be very skeptical in any beliefs they hold about Him.

Casa Aleluya:
This has been another blessing for Ginny to be able to continue ministry with the girls at Casa. Ginny even had the blessing of attending the graduation of the first high school class out of the new high school at Casa! It was truly a proud day, getting to see all those girls accomplish such a long-sought-after goal! We have continued meeting on Monday nights, but just this week adopted a new approach for our study that is a lot more interactive and went over WAY better with the girls! Please pray for creativity, wisdom, and insight for Ginny as she continues to lead these girls, and for the girls that they would grow and desire the Lord and closeness with Him more and more.


Upcoming Transitions:
In our last update, we asked for you to pray for wisdom regarding decisions we had to make about the best approach for Rene's visa. After praying and seeking the Lord's wisdom and weighing our circumstances and options, we have decided it would be best to apply from the US. What does this mean? Well, it will basically amount to us taking a furlough in the US. In about a month, Ginny will travel to the States, start working, and send in the initial application for Rene's visa. After receiving a receipt for that application, she can apply for a temporary visa for Rene to join her while finishing the residency paperwork. We are hoping it will not be more than about 4 months time apart.

While in the US, we hope to reconnect with our current support team, as well as build new connections. Quite honestly, our purpose in building these connections is two-fold: we would love for more people to have the opportunity & blessing of sharing in this ministry, and we need to raise more financial support. Our reality is that right now, we are living on less than half of our budget.

We want to thank you for your prayers for us thus far, and ask that you continue to join us and hold us up, as we embark on this transition and new challenge. Specifically, please pray for a job for Ginny, an essential provision, in order to make this furlough possible, provision for living arrangements and network/community while in the US, for both of us during our time apart, favor with Immigration throughout the visa process, and for many renewed and new connections and partnerships for future ministry (specifically prayer and financial partners.)

On that note, if you have any connections, whether for housing, jobs, people who might be interested in partnering with us, or otherwise, please let us know!

Thank you all for your continued support and partnership. As we reflect on all these blessings we have reason to be thankful for, know that you are very much counted among them! (I know it may sound cheesy, but it's true!) Thank you for your faithfulness, and may our Lord bless you indeed!

Back on the Homefront

...in Guatemala, that is. After spending a nice time in Texas with family, and learning a lot in Orlando, Ginny arrived back in Guatemala on October 12th to a happy and much awaited reunion with Rene, as well as a very enjoyable team at the Mission House. Rene was so great and had handled all the details of getting the team's stay set up--a huge blessing to Ginny to not have to worry about it! (Thank God for great husbands!)

We had that team for a little over a week, then they were followed by a one-night pit-stop--a team headed out for a week of medical missions in Nebajc, Guatemala, where Missionary Ventures partners with the couple who run the hospital there. He is actually the son of a long-time partnering Guatemalan pastor with MV, and now he (Juan Pablo) and his wife (Carolina) are expecting a baby of their own next spring, so please keep them in your prayers.

After that team left, we had a team of auto mechanics here for about a week and a half (ARM,) who have been making an annual trip here for about 7 years now. They are a huge blessing and tons of fun to work with, so we've truly enjoyed our time with them here at the house. They take in cars from both staff and partnering pastors associated with MV in Guatemala and fix them up with anything from new tires, to a headlight short, to a brand new clutch (the last 2 of which we personally received and for which we are VERY thankful!!!) All of this is free of charge to the car owners, by the way. So as you can see, they have a great ministry indeed! One of the pastors whose car they fixed was planning on leading a mission trip about 4-5 hours from where he is, and said their ministry was a true answer to prayer, as it made the trip possible. Praise God for His provision!

The ARM team left this morning, so we are having a quiet night here at the house. We won't have another team until around Nov 19th, so we have a little down time in between.

In the meantime, we've been continuing with the Uth ministry at Union. Rene is teaching the book of Luke. Please pray for him in preparing the messages, as well as for the kids, that they would take God's word to heart and grow in Him. We would also like to ask for your prayers as we are experiencing a drop in attendance. One thing is that a new youth group has opened up about 25mins away, attracting many of the kids who were previously part of the Union Church Uth group. It's simply a lot closer for them. We're praying for wisdom right now in how to steer the current group, pour into the lives of the kids still participating, and still reach out, especially to new kids (who aren't yet believers.) One thought we've had is to possibly change the main meeting night to Saturday nights, as many kids have said they just have too much homework to come on a weeknight. Please pray with us for wisdom in how to move forward with this ministry and be good stewards of these kids.





A huge answer to prayer was that at the beginning of October, Rene was able to take a group of the kids to the women's prison in Guatemala City. (WHAT?!?!) Before you freak out...in Guatemala, when a women is sentenced to prison time and her child(ren) are under a certain age, they cannot be separated from their mother. So the children go to prison with their mothers--not exactly the most profitable way to spend your childhood. Also in Guatemala, October 1st is "Día del Niño" (Children's Day,) so in light of these things, the Uth made a trip to visit the children there in prison with their moms in order to celebrate Día del Niño with them. They took some cake and toys, which were in and of themselves a huge blessing, having been donated by the Union Church congregation, and had a sweet time with the children there. Even sweeter was the blessing it brought to their mothers, and now there are some women from Union who want to continue that ministry to the mothers specifically. Praise God for that series of connections, blessings, and opportunities to touch the lives of those hurting and in need. Please pray with us that we will be able to lead the Uth in more outreaches and community service opportunities like this one.



One more quick note: Ginny has been able to start a new Bible study with the girls at Casa Aleluya with whom she lived and worked while there. The idea is to meet with them right now that they are on vacation from school until the new year, and focus on how to study the Bible, exploring specific topics as we discover how to use study tools and search Scripture. We've had 1 meeting so far--they are on Monday nights. Praise God with us for this opportunity, and pray with us that the girls will be hungry for God's word and desire to grow in their relationships with Him, and that this study might help and encourage them in that direction.

In addition to all this "regular" activities, we are also working on the process of applying for a green card for Rene (rather than just throwing money at chance with the tourist visa.) Please pray for wisdom for us as we pray about and weigh the different options regarding how to proceed with this process.

Thank you all again for praying with us and partnering with us in all these things. It is truly a blessing to us to know we have you as part of our team! Many, many blessings to you all!

Hey Y'all!

I'm currently in Texas, so I had to give a little nod.
 
We just wanted to let you guys know how much we appreciate you praying with us over the meeting and youth group last Wed.  Knowing you all were standing with us gave us so much more confidence and encouragement as we faced what was ahead.
 
Uth went well and the kids enjoyed the ice cream!  Thanks for joining us (long-distance) in that.  Sorry we couldn't share the ice cream with you too!
 
The meeting with the Board of Directors (Personnel Committee) went well also.  We had a very positive interaction with them during the meeting and were told afterward that the discussions about us before and after the meeting were also very positive!  Praise God for that grace and favor!  They asked us some good questions and we were able to communicate to them our heart.  (More answered prayers!)  So, the results...we're approved!  Thank God for His mercy in this journey!  The board gave us some feedback as well, with the main item being that they want us to spend the next few months focused on praying for God's discernment, wisdom, and guidance regarding our future and His call on our lives, particularly regarding in what capacity we will be serving long-term with Missionary Ventures.  Please join with us as we seek Him and His vision in this time.
One other very positive and encouraging thing that came out of this meeting was for the board to communicate to us that they view the youth ministry as a main focus for us and as being in line with MV's philosophy of ministry (whereas before we had understood some tension there regarding whether or not they were fully on-board with our involvement in that ministry.)  Please pray with us as we continue to trust God for not only His provision in this ministry, as He has already equipped us for it and given us the great and honorable opportunity to serve Him and His people in it, but also for Missionary Ventures' continued full support and agreement with this ministry and our involvement and investment here.

Oh, I almost forgot...one more praise is for great favor with the Social Security Card Office in Orlando, who helped me the other day to get my name changed--so easy once I was there in person! The clerk was so nice and even congratulated me on getting married! On top of all that, the card arrived in time at my parents' house in Texas for me to take it back with me to Guatemala (as well as use it at the DMV to change my name on my driver's license--thank You Lord!)
 
Thank you all again for continuing to stand with us!  What can we say?  You rock!
We thank our God in all our remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in our every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now!  (Phil. 1:3-5) Thanks for living out His word and so being used by Him to be a great blessing to us!  Be encouraged!
 
Many blessings,

Live from Orlando...

Well, it's not Saturday night, but I just wanted to send out a quick little update. 

For those of you we haven't gotten the chance to tell yet, unfortunately, the tourist visa we had applied for for Rene was denied, so Ginny is making this trip solo.

I (Ginny) arrived safely in Orlando a week and a half ago and have been enjoying the training so far--lots of info--although it is sad to be away from Rene for so long.  I also want to share a praise for my hostess, Kathy, Missionary Ventures' bookkeeper here in the Orlando office.  She is so hospitable and kind, and I have totally enjoyed my stay with her!  Thank God for that provision!

We also just have a couple of immediate (events that happen today) prayer requests:

--At about 5:30 EST today Rene (via conference call) and I will go before the Board of Directors for official approval, and possibly any counsel they decide to offer as well.  Please pray for Rene and me, for unity in spirit, despite the physical distance, peace (no anxiety, but resting in the Lord,) and clear minds to be able to communicate clearly our vision and plan for ministry in Guatemala, as well as to answer with discernment, integrity, diplomacy, and sharpness of mind any questions they might send our way.  Pray for the Board, for wisdom, discernment, words from the Lord, and godly leadership towards us in any decision making that has to be made regarding us and our future with Missionary Ventures.

--On a slightly lighter note, tonight it "20-foot Banana Split" night for the Uth group!  Please pray for a sweet time of fellowship, especially for new kids to feel included, and for Rene and Micah (our co-leader) as they teach the kids (Micah will be leading the message tonight), as well as for the Uth band, who will be leading the group in worship.  Thank God with us for the youth standing up to serve the Lord and their peers with the gifts He has entrusted to them!

Thank you all for standing and partnering with us!  We couldn't do it without you!

Many blessings,

Uth Praises & Visa Prayers

Hi everyone,
Hoping a praying that you are doing well. This is just a quick note to share with you a few praises and a big prayer request.

First, we want to praise God for things going on with the Uth ministry at Union church. First we had a good turn out of students at our first fall meeting. It was a good chance to welcome back a ton of our students and to welcome a few new students to our group. We had a good time worshiping, and playing some crazy games! We have excitement and anticipation for what God is going to do this year with this group!
We also were able to take a good number of our students to the beach to close out the summer. We were able to enjoy a good time of fellowship - but more importantly it was a great blessing to look back and see how God had taken care of us driving in the roads of Guatemala considering how bad safety has been lately. Thank God for his protection! Please pray that we can continue to find favor in the eyes of the youth entrusted to us, and for wisdom, so that we can continue to challenge them to live out lives that please God, in an accepting fun environment. .

The next big thing we have going on right now is working on getting a visa for Rene.  This week we'll be going to an interview with the US Embassy to hopefully be approved for a tourist visa, so we can travel to the States for about a month during Sept-Oct.  During this time we'll be attending a mandatory training and orientation with Missionary Ventures in Florida, as well as taking advantage of our time in the States to visit with friends and family in Texas and California.  Being approved for this visa is vital to our ministry and ability to make this trip, so please join us in prayer for favor with the embassy and for all travel plans to come out smoothly.

Thanks again for standing with us!  May God bless you all!

In Him, by Him, and for Him,

Answered Prayers

Hey Team!

We want to start out by saying thank you to all of you who have been faithful partners with us lately, holding us up in prayer especially. We have seen God answer and provide for many of the things for which we asked you to join us in prayer.


With MVI: The Glasgow family: Bob & Molly, with their two kids John and Catherine, arrived here safely a little over a month ago. We were able to finish up the necessary details on their apartment, with the help of Bob, who arrived a week before his family, and have been enjoying having them as team partners and neighbors here at the Mission House. They are well settled in now, helping us out in many ways. They are actually getting a good taste of the task right now, as they tackle heading up a team here from their home church in Florida.



We returned safely from the trip with the Uncharted Waters (UW) team on July 8th. They brought their Bible-based sports camp ministry down here to Guatemala to reach out to some of the children in the communities of a few local pastors, brothers and sisters who are involved with MVI. The first place we went was a well-established feeding center, where the team was able to witness the product of many years of ministry to the children of the local village, now being educated, well-fed, and giving back with their attitudes of respect, obedience and gratitude, even with a song and cards, and of course smiles and hugs. From there we went to spend a few days in Guastatoya doing a camp with Pastor Soto's church and school, which MVI helped him build, when he had that vision several years ago. We were blessed there to hear word in the town that the school is well know for having a reputation as a quality place of education. While there, we also had the opportunity to take the team to Pastor Marco Antonio's feeding center. Just on the other side of the highway, yet the need of children there was much more obvious than the children coming to the camp in town. Rene and I were blessed to see the team work with the tiny space they had to play games and show love to those children there. It was near the end of the week, and I know they were tired, but you wouldn't have known it by the way they smiled and played with the children there. Overall, we were blessed with safety on the road and in the towns, health, good attitudes, opportunity to minister to children and continue to build relationships with some of our local MVI partners, and the chance to give Ginny an opportunity to translate for a lot of the sports camp material (a good challenge, but overall a success!)





Two days after we returned from the UW trip, another team arrived. They will be followed by 2 consecutive teams we'll be hosting here at the Mission House for at least part of their time in the country, so as you can see, July is a full month for us! Please keep us in your prayers as we work together to serve the Lord in this ministry, bless the teams, and try to stay both organized and still relationship- (rather than task-) oriented during this busier time of year.

We also asked you all to pray for the building of trust relationship with our staff here at the house, and we are delighted to share with you that God has provided many opportunities for improved communication and getting to know each other better as we grow in trust and appreciation! Even last night after the team dinner, Ginny had the chance to talk a long while with Blanca and Aura, a mother and daughter who have been our faithful groundkeepers, cleaners, sometimes cooks, and a few other tasks here and there, for some years now. It is sweet to get to have that time to just chat about life, not necessarily about work.



With the "Uth" of Union Church: We are going strong in our summer activities, from Saturday evening Bible study on the book of John, to paintballing, to the upcoming beach trip and volcano climb. (Don't worry, they're on different days!) There are a few newcomers to our church as well, and these activities have provided great opportunities to get to know them more and get them involved. There is one family in particular who just moved to Guatemala, with whom Rene and I have been able to spend a lot of time, getting to know them (2 brothers and a sister) and try to encourage them, as they're still unsure about their new home. I would like to take a moment to brag on some of the core kids in our youth group. A few of those who've been involved with the church for several years have lately been taking more ownership in the Uth program, helping out and working to make improvements instead of just complaining. Some of these girls took notice of this new family and took initiative to organize a lunch for tomorrow right by where the family lives, to make them feel more welcome. Hopefully, this spirit of initiative will catch throughout the rest of the group.



A new development for which we'd like to both give thanks and ask for prayer, is a small discipleship group Ginny started with a few of the older girls from Uth. We're trying to meet every week, as schedules allow, and starting with a basic study called "Who is Jesus?" Pray for depth of growth, both in their walk with the Lord, as we study more of what His word tells us about Him, and in our relationships with each other, in trust and friendship. Pray it would be a place where they feel safe being open and real.



Rene has been continuing to invest in the lives of 3 brothers who are part of the core group of our Uth. It has been sweet to see them grow to trust and respect him as an older brother in the Lord. Rene has also been heading up the Uth band and Uth Sunday. Once a month, we have the Uth take over all the details of the service, except the sermon, which encourages them to take an active role in the church body, while also reminding the adults of the church that these teens "are the present of the church," as our pastor says. Our desire is that in encouraging the Uth to take ownership of the church in this way, they will be better prepared and on board to take their place in church service and leadership when this generation passes them the torch.



Thank you all again for joining us in this adventure, for your support in the areas of prayers, finances, wise counsel and encouragement, and even personal visits! We are so thankful to have you all as our team partners! May God bless you richly in all things!

In Him, by Him, and for Him,
Rene and Ginny