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.
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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
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