We hope this email finds you all well! We just wanted to give you a quick update of things going on with lately.
The Gonzalezes: That's us now! On April 25th, we were married and were blessed by many friends and family who were able to attend, as well as many who helped out. We are so thankful for God's provision in every detail, and even in a few unexpected ways! We were blessed with a beautiful and relaxing honeymoon by Lake Atitlan as well--a much needed vacation for both of us! We are getting settled now into a more regular routine.
The Mission House (MVI): The Glasgows are a family already involved with MVI but looking to take the next step to move onto the field. They will be joining us at the Mission House for about 8 weeks this summer to help out where they can and to be able to get a taste of real life on the mission field before making the jump to long-term. Pray they gain a realistic perspective of what it's really like and that the Lord give them discernment regarding their future. Pray also that we'd be a blessing to them in their time here. We also have several projects to finish up here at the house, some that need to be done before the Glasgows arrive in a few days. As I write, they are working on laying the carpet in the upstairs addition.
We are also working on planning and preparing for teams who'll be here throughout the summer. One that we'd like particular pray for is the Uncharted Waters (UW) Sports Ministry team who'll be here in about a month to lead children's sports camps in a few different areas of the country. This will be our first team to lead together, so please pray for all the details to be worked out, as well as for special grace for Ginny as she will be an official translator for the team (1st time!) so that Rene will be able to spend more time with local leaders building relationship with them.
Speaking of building relationship, please keep us in prayer as we continue building trust relationship with our staff here at the house, as well as for good communication within our whole team.
Youth ("Uth") of Union Church: We would like to ask for special prayer for grace in leading the youth of Union Church. We are praying for wisdom and skill to be able to balance well our dedication to this ministry and to MVI. Time and distance are big factors, as the church is at least a 30 minute drive from our house, but since we have ministry in both places, we are splitting our time between the two. Thankfully our car ("Herbie"--the girls at Casa Aleluya named it--and no, it is not a VW bug) gets good mileage--God provides for all our needs! (Phil 4:19) We've been blessed with great reliability of our little Herbie too--join us in thanking God for this, as well as praying He continue to bless our car with great functioning ability, so we can continue to be faithful in both ministries.
We are also looking at what is the most beneficial way to integrate Ginny into the Uth ministry, both for her and the youth and ministry at large. We desire to use her God-given talents, abilities, and desires to help her better serve and empower the youth at Union Church. Pray with us for discernment in this discovery process.
The weekend before the wedding, we took the Uth to Antigua for our annual retreat. It was a time of teaching, reflection, worship, fun, and fellowship. Ginny was especially blessed to have some quality time with some of the girls and get to know them more. We were blessed by a couple of the other leaders who've shown a notable commitment to the kids and this ministry, as well as by the very mature attitudes and behavior of the group of kids who went on the retreat. God also gave us a surprise blessing of coming in under budget for the weekend, even with giving a few scholarships. He truly does provide for all our needs!
With summer approaching, we'll be attempting to undergo some major changes to the Uth ministry program. Our hope and desire in to be able to transform the ministry into place where the kids can feel challenged to grow in their walk with the Lord, while maintaining the welcoming atmosphere we have now, where they feel comfortable coming to have fun and hang out with their friends.
As you can see, we have a lot going on in this season of life. Thank you for partnering with us as we strive to serve the Lord here in Guatemala. You all are one of His greatest provisions--we couldn't do it without you! May He bless and keep you in everything you put your hand to.
In Him, by Him, for Him,
Rene and Ginny
No comments:
Post a Comment