Grandma Jane's Visit

 

We had a great visit with Ben's Mom over the last few weeks. She got to meet her new granddaughter and enjoy time with all her grandkids. One of the hardest parts about being a missionary is living far from family and grandparents not getting much time with their grandkids. So we are grateful for the time we do get together.

We had a special Sunday while she was here dedicating Emma which you can read more about here.

Lots of snuggles with Emma Jane.

Three generations. This is Grandma Janes youngest and probably last grandbaby.

Snuggles at church too.

We celebrate Carlos' birthday while she was here.

She also read a lot of books to the girls and Luke.

And lots of walks with Luke and the girls.

We also got to visit Cesar our friend who has been bedridden for many years and has a great testimony. Jane enjoys visiting him while she is here. He is a blessing to many!

Dedication of Emma Jane

 "And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there." 1 Samuel 1:26-28

We are so grateful for the children God has blessed us with! Many call us crazy (definitely some truth there ;-) for having so many kids, but they are all gifts form the Lord (Psalm 127). And although life can be hectic, crazy, and challenging, it is a joy too. We are trying to raise our kids to love, know, and follow Jesus. We want them to be focused on one thing: The Glory of God being made known among all nations. "For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord." Habakkuk 2:14.

We know that our kids belong to God and has loaned them to us to love, raise, and send into the world to make a difference for Him and His name. So we always early on publicly dedicate our children to God. I love the story of Hannah who prayed for years and years before God gave her a child and she then dedicated him back to the Lord. Although different in our case, we want all people to know that we are committed to raising our kids to love Jesus and be his disciples and then make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:18-20) This brings other around us in our community to pray and help us in this endeavor. As someone once said...it takes a village to raise a kid.

It was special that we were able to do this dedication with another couple that we have discipled. They/we prayed for over 8 years for them to have a baby. The Lord gave them a baby boy just 11 days before Emma was born. His name is Selvin.

Please pray with us for sweet baby Selvin. Also we are grateful after many prayers for a baby girl we now have 3 baby girls! Pray for Jennifer and our family in this challenging and joyful time of infancy. May God be glorified in and through our family so that all may know of His Name and Glory!

We are also grateful Ben's Mom could be here for this special day!

October Happenings...

(Impossible to get everyone to look at the camera these days)

 It has been a busy month or so. October has two birthdays and last month we welcomed Emma Jane as I am sure many of you have seen on social media...more to come on Emma. We also celebrated this last weekend Caleb's birthday and we will be celebrating Jake's birthday on the 20th. We also had a visit from my sister in law Katie.

Here are a few pics from Caleb's birthday.

A little fun at the trampoline park and pizza.

Caleb turned 12. It is hard to believe that our youngest boy is 12. It is also hard to believe that less than 3 years ago he was still our youngest. We are super proud of the young man he is becoming. Caleb is sensitive, kind and caring. 

Here are a few pics from Katie's visit.

 

We enjoyed having Katie here. She spoiled the kids with gifts, time and lovings. She got plenty of baby snuggles too!

A few pics of Emma and family:

(Jennifer is going to post more info/pics on her blog)

Thanks for your prayers and support during this time of transition and joy!

Still giving hope and changing lives...

 We are grateful for the work the Lord allows to continue to be a part of at Love Guatemala...here are a few stories of lives being changed.

Meet Miguel who studies in our Middle School. In the picture he has made a display celebrating the 200th anniversary of Guatemala's independence. He had to leave studying as a boy to support his family but has a dream to finish his schooling so he can help his family out more. He has not yet missed a class this year and his goal is to not miss any all year. Join us in praying for Miguel and his studies.

 

Meet Rosa who is 11 and attends our feeding center. She lives in a town called Buena Vista. She along with her siblings are going through a tough time since their father lost his job during the pandemic. But because of the feeding center they have still had food.

(Sorry about the bad pictures)

Visit from Pastor Aaron

 

We had a great visit from a long-time friend, Pastor and mentor over labor-day weekend. He came down to help us celebrate Carlos installation and commission as pastor.

He also came to visit and see a young lady that he has supported and served since his first trip to Guatemala more than 10 years ago. She recently had a baby and he was able to spend time with her as well.

We were also able to honor him for his years of service to Love Guatemala. He served as the founder and board president for many years. Here is a fun video we made for him too.

We had some fun going to Antigua to eat dinner and climb the mountain above Magdalena as well.

Thanks for the visit Pastor Aaron!

New Pastor at Iglesia Nueva Vida

Yesterday was a very special day! We commissioned and installed Carlos Lopez as the Pastor of New Life Church Guatemala! It was a great celebration of God's work in the life of Carlos and Telma and also of God's work at New Life Church. We started NLC in January 2018 and it has grown to about 70-80 on Sundays and more importantly 50-60 in discipleship groups learning to reproduce themselves as disciples. 

It was a great day. We were able to have some special people that have had influence in Carlos life such as Aaron Story and another Pastor here in Guatemala. Several others sent videos and greetings. Thanks to all of you who have had influence in mine or Carlos life.

Carlos and Telma with Aaron Story

Pre-service Prayer time

This is a very special couple that the Lord has transformed and is using mightily here in Guatemala. Please join me in praying for them in this new phase of life and ministry.

Our family will now be able to focus on building a network of churches in Guatemala in partnership with New Life Network. Please pray that God will give us favor to build a network of churches that multiply disciples and churches.

Thanks for continuing to pray and support our family in this work of making disciples of all nations.

Transition Update for the Kunkel Family

 

It seems as if our family is always in some sort of transitions, such is life huh? But these days are bringing some pretty big changes to us as a family. My goal is to share major changes we are in the midst of or going to be entering soon so that you can pray for us more specifically. Thanks for partnering with us in prayer in this season!

Here are some of the big changes happening for us:

• New Baby - Yes we are having another baby girl. Jennifer is due September 23rd. Please pray for safe rest of pregnancy, healthy baby, safe delivery. Pray for strength and wisdom as we guide our older kids and take care of 3 younger ones at the same time.

• Transition from Love Guatemala to New Life Network - I hope you have already seen one of our communications here or a video here about this. But if not we announced about a month ago that we are transitioning out of Love Guatemala to focus more on developing a network of churches here in Guatemala. We are not leaving Guatemala just switching focus. We will still support Katy as she takes over the leadership but from the background to give way for her to lead. Please pray for all the details in this transition. Pray for Ben, Carlos and Katy. We are very excited about this but there are still a lot of details to be worked out for this transition.

• Transition to a new home - Another transition that we will be making later this year or early next year is to move out of the Love Guatemala facilities where we have been living for almost 7 years. Please pray that we can find just the right place for our family at the right price. Also pray for additional funds that need to be raised for this move.

• Transition of New Life Church to Carlos - We have come to an exciting place in our first church plant to transition our church to be led by Carlos Lopez. On September 5th we are installing and commissioning Carlos as Pastor who along with his wife Thelma and the leadership team we have formed will be leading our first church in the New Life Network, Guatemala. Pray for Carlos, Telma and the team in this transition.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support for our family!