Trip to Guatemala Feb 2026

Ben had the chance to travel to Guatemala with one of the Pastors he serves with here in RNV USA, Abraham Barron. We mainly went to help put on a Pastors Retreat for the pastors at RNV in Guatemala. Ben was also involved in some meetings at Love Guatemala with Katy and Amy Goldsmith, the LG Board president. Check out some pictures and videos below.

The first few days we visited with the different pastors now involved with RNV Guatemala. Above is Pastor Salomon who serves in a community called Santa Maria de Jesus. The 2nd picture is me with a Bible he gave me that is Spanish and Cakchiquel. He helped work on a version of this translation. This language was the very first translation that the Wycliffe Bible Translators started years ago before it was Wycliffe.

Above is Pastor Josue from a community called Sumpango.

Below is Pastor Yosimar who serves in the church we started in Magdalena.

The next few days were spent loving and serving this group of pastors and leaders below. This is the team now in RNV Guatemala.

Below was a beautiful time of ministering to them at the end of our retreat.

You can watch a 2 minute video of the retreat here.

We had lots of good meetings with Love Guatemala too. The one above was with the LG board in Guatemala and Amy and myself who are on the board here in the US as well.

I always have to visit the nutrition center when I am there.

This is the LG board in Guatemala.

We had a dinner with the staff our last night there as well which was fun to catch up with everyone.

Amy, Katy and I spent 2 days in meetings talking about all the happenings with LG and talking about the future. Katy is doing an amazing job and we have some amazing plans for the coming months and years. I am more excited than ever for the future of LG!

Here is another video of the whole trip. 

Join us in Prayer in 2026!

Ben is serving as the National Coordinator for Red Nueva Vida. One of our goals for 2026 as a Network of churches is to continue growing in fervent prayer. We desire to see a movement of people praying for spiritual encounters, discipleship, multiplication, new church plants etc.

Would you join us in praying? We know that without a prayer movement (multiple people praying in multiply places consistently and fervently) we will not see a discipleship movement. Here is a description of one such prayer movement that led to a missionary movement in the 1700s.

We are meeting regularly with our pastors to pray. We meet both online and in-person. We pray when we meet, we pray alone, we pray with our teams and families. We are praying for a move of the Lord in the USA among the hispanic population. Would you pray with us? If you desire to be a part of this prayer movement send me a note (ben@rednuevavida.org) and I will keep you updated on the prayer needs.

Thankfully we have begun to see groups multiply in some of the churches we are serving. Join us in praying.

This is one of our churches that prays during their Sunday morning services in different ways to grow in fervent prayer.

One of our many times of prayer at our Pastoral Retreat

Christmas & Birthday Celebrations and a Trip to Kansas City

 

Here are some pictures and narrative from our celebrations over the holidays. The picture above is from our trip to Kansas City to see Levi and Alanna.

Here are pictures from Grace's 7th birthday.

These are some activities from the girls school. They had a holiday celebration also a Christmas Concert.

These is from our Christmas celebration on Christmas Morning.

These pics are from our trip to Kansas City. We celebrated Christmas and Levi and Grace's birthday too.

Aprons that Alanna made for the girls.

Lots of park time since the weather was good there.

Emma loves giving gifts! Many times it is regifting of stuff that is her sisters ;-)

Dirt pudding for Grace's second celebration at Levi and Alannas.

Unfortunately, this trip didn't end so well. We broke down on the way back and we are still in the process of trying to get our van fixed. Please pray for this as it looks like we need a new motor and it is in Columbia, MO. So that makes it more complicated.

Thanksgiving, Jake's Visit and Family Stuff

We were so grateful to have our older kids home recently. Levi and Alanna were with us for five sweet days, and Jake was here for almost two weeks. What a gift it was to have the house full again—for meals around the table, late-night conversations, and those simple moments you don’t realize you miss until they’re back.

Being far from our kids is one of the hardest parts of this new season of life. Jennifer and I were talking about it just last night. In some ways, this chapter feels lighter—living in the U.S. again brings many comforts we didn’t always have before. But in other ways, it’s more challenging, especially with our kids spread out and beginning their own lives far from home.

All of that makes the time we do get with them even more meaningful. We’re deeply grateful for every visit, every hug, and every day we get to share with our adult children. 

Here are some pictures from these times together:

Welcoming Crew

Thanksgiving

Decorating for Christmas

Pacers game with the boys.

Quick trip up to Indiana Dunes to hike in the snow.

Christmas with Jake

Lots of game time with Jake and boys

Year End Offering

 

We just finished a lovely time having all our kids here for the first time in a year. It was a great time together. Unfortunately, this will be the new norm for our family since Jacob is in Germany and Levi and Alanna in Kansas City. It will be that way for at least 3 more years. I hope that you and your family enjoyed some time together this last week.

As we look back at 2025 we have seen God's faithfulness again and again. He has been with our family in all the changes and transitions, he has helped the girls grow in their schooling, the teenage boys adjust fairly well to life and school and new jobs and driving. He has been with our adult kids in their challenges and successes. God is faithful. "For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness." Psalm 33:4

We have seen God's faithful provision financially as well. However, our monthly support levels are still not at 100%. We are still short about $500 a month. We did have a bit of reserve built up to start the year but now those are dwindling and we need to rebuild them to be able to make it through 2026. 

God has been faithful in helping us build up the ministry of RNV USA as well. We have seen some progress in 2025 and we have a big vision moving forward for 2026 and beyond as well. You can read more about this here if you desire.

Another fun and exciting part of Ben's ministry is leading the missions efforts with Red Nueva Vida. Right now we are working with two Colombian families God is raising up to go as missionaries. There are some other exciting doors that God is opening as well. Ben has been working with developing processes, training and sending efforts for Red Nueva Vida.

Would you consider a year-end gift to help us continue serving the Lord in these various areas of ministry in 2026?

Any amount is helpful. You can donate here online or send a check made out to Red Nueva Vida to 7010 E Thompson Rd, Indpls, IN (Kunkel Support in memo).