Our First Week in Guatemala

We had a great trip here – the boys did well traveling!  We are so thankful that our friend Kimberly traveled with us and helped us get unpacked and get the freezer stocked, along with many other things.  Thanks to the Bunso’s for taking us to the store and showing us around.  Ben is already driving here and knows where things are at.  I, on the other hand, am still clueless and have no desire to drive yet!

Our home in San Lucas is very nice, but we are looking forward to living in Magdalena!  We had a special dinner with Carlos and Telma and the Bunso family on Saturday night.  Being with them feels like we are with family!  Sunday evening we had dinner with the Steed family and got to know them and their boys.  The Bunso’s and the Steed’s have been so hospitable and helpful with our transition to Guatemala! 

Today we visited a man named Cesar who has a disease that causes him to be in constant pain.  We are praying that God will ease his suffering.  We also visited an orphanage and played with the precious kids there. 

We are settling in well and trying to get into a routine.  We have been going a little stir crazy with everyone being at home together, ALL the time.  J  Ben has made a schedule to try to make things run a little smoother around here.  We are starting Spanish lessons with Julio tomorrow afternoon and are going to begin visiting families this week in Magdalena to work on building relationships with them. 

We are so thankful for your support and prayer during this time of transition!  It is going well, but is also challenging.  It’s been a little overwhelming for me, just the reality of being in another country and not being fluent in Spanish, juggling five rambunctious, (always hungry!) boys, missing family, getting used to cooking with a gas stove and different ingredients, no dishwasher, and having to be conscientious about using clean water, etc., you get the idea.  Although, surprisingly, I am kind of enjoying washing dishes by hand!  Thank you for your love and support!  We will do our best to keep you updated on the happenings here in Guatemala!

Let's Connect Before our Move!

We are only 8 days away from our departure to move our family of seven to Guatemala!  We are excited, overwhelmed, encouraged, happy and sad all at the same time!  It is a big time for our family and we have much yet to accomplish in the next 8 days, but what is more important is that we want to make sure we get to see as many people as possible before we leave.

One of the ways for us to be able to see you is to come out to our church, Indy Metro Church, this Sunday, June 17th at 10:30 where part of the service will be our commisioning as missionaries to Guatemala.  The Church meets at 401 E. Michigan St, Indpls in downtown Indy at the corner of Michigan and New Jersey Sts. We will also be having a gathering at a restuarant downtown at the Noodle Company at 903 Indiana Ave after the service at around 12:30pm. 

Another way for us to see you and for you to support our move is by coming to our massive moving sale this Saturday, June 16th at our home at 8216 Brambleberry Dr, Indpls, IN 46239.  We are going to literally be selling every item we own that won't fit into the 15 or so suitcases we are taking.  We have also had people donate quite a bit of stuff to sell as well.  We have a lot of great stuff including but not limited to: clothes, home decor, furniture, baskets, blankets, toys, a play grocery cart, huge geo trax train set, sand/water table, metal bunk beds, Mary Kay, Premier Designs Jewelry, tons of books, purses, kitchen items, Christmas decor, office supplies, scrapbooking supplies, and baby items.

We are grateful to all who have prayed, supported, gave, served and so much more over the last 9 months to get us to this point.  The best is yet to come :)

3 Weeks!

We are so excited to be leaving in just 3 weeks!  I can't believe it is coming so soon!  We are busy getting ready to move.  We are also preparing for a wedding this weekend.  My older brother Matt is getting married this weekend.  We are excited for him and his fiancee Emily and can't wait to see all God has in store for them!  We are surely going to miss them while they are gone!

We have been trying to take advantage of the time we have left here to not only prepare for our move but spend as much time as we can with family and friends.  We will be having  a few more gatherings and we would love to see each of you who are located here locally.  Our next big gathering will our send off service at our church Indy Metro Church at 401 E. Michigan St, in downtown Indy on June 17th the Sunday before we leave.  We will have a gathering after the service as well at a local restuarant.

Prayer Requests
2 Thessalonians 3:1
Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.

Please pray with us as we spend these next few weeks preparing to move and finalizing all logistical things.  We have a lot left to do.  Here are a few of the things you could be praying with us about:

1. We will get all the necesarry paperwork finished.
2. We will get our insurance finished and lined up.
3. Be able to find a reliable vehicle in Guatemala.
4. We will be able to sell our van here.
5. We will be able to finish raising the last $200 per month in monthly support we need. Click here if you want to commit and begin to support us monthly.
6. Safety and no issues as we travel.
7. That we can continue to learn Spanish quickly so we can share the Love of Jesus with the people of Guatemala.
8. That God will give us favor with our relationships there in Guatemala.

Praises:

1. We are at nearly 100% of our onetime expenses! Praise Jesus!
2. We have a friend who is going to travel down with us to Guatemala to help us with the kids!
3. We have housing lined up when we get there!

Thank You
Thank you so much to each of you who have overwhelmed us with your prayers, love and support!  We have been blown away by how God's people have come along side us during this journey.  Many of you have been so sacrificial in how you have given of your time, money and resources to help us!We look forward as we continue to partner with each of you in Loving Guatemala!

Article Written About Us:
A small local paper here in Indy wrote an article about us if you are interested you can read it here.

Grateful!

Psalm 118:29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

We have the privilege of being a part of something big.  All of us do.  Each and everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus has the privilege of being a part of something that is so much bigger than we are!  Our God is a big God!  He with His breath spoke all we see around us into existence. He is at work all around the globe. 

His Kingdom is expanding here in your neighborhood, your workplace, your church and in neighborhoods and churches across the globe.  Our role is to find out where He is at work and get invovled where He is leading us.  That is what we are doing.  We have seen the work that God is doing in a small village in a third world country in Central America.  We have seen God at work in the lives of the precious people of Magdalena, Guatemala and know without doubt that He has called us to be a part of it.

We have seen what He has done, what He is doing and all that still can and will be done.  And God has called us to play a small role in that.  We are honored and grateful to be a part of a movement of God in Magdalena, Guatemala!

We are grateful first of all for Jesus! We are grateful that He made salvation possible through the cross and His resurrection from the dead.  We are grateful that we can be carriers of this Good News!  We are grateful that we have so many friends who have chosen to come along side us and help us in this journey.  We feel like we are along for the ride.  We feel as if we are being carried along by Jesus through His people who have prayed, given, fasted, and supported us in so many different ways.

We are grateful and we do give thanks to the Lord!  He is faithful and His love does endure forever!

A Single Day

Over the last few weeks the Lord has continued to blow us away by the way He has provided and paved the way for us to move to Guatemala in just 6 weeks. Yes just 6 weeks!! I cannot believe it is only 6 weeks away. Here are a few of the things Jesus has been up to in our lives.

We got word that they began building the home that we will be living in long term. We were also able to confirm our short term housing as well. This will be a big blessing because it is fully furnished so we won't have to worry about buying all of our stuff right when we get there.

We found out last week that in April we had several large gifts given towards our one time expenses. One of our friends from another state had a yard sale with their small group and sent us all the proceeds. It was the largest sale they have ever had! We also had our own sale a few weeks back and raised almost $2,000! Crazy! Who makes 2k on a yard sale???

My mom also put together a concert to benefit our move to Guatemala. It was awesome! My Stepfather and his family put on the concert. We raised nearly $1200 at that event.

It has been one thing after another! It seems like everyday we find about another way the Lord has provided. Our God is so Awesome! The Lord keeps reminding me of this verse in Psalm 84:10 that says “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.” A single day in God's presence living the life God has called us to live is better than anything else.

God has clearly called us to go to Guatemala and we have experienced in this calling and journey that even in the difficult days and times it is much better then anywhere else and or anything else we could be doing.

Thank you so much for everyone who has been praying and supporting us! We are so honored that so many people have chosen to come along side us and partner with us in this journey.

My journey of surrendering by Jennifer

I want to go back a few years and share what God has done in my life along the way to prepare me for moving to Guatemala.

Our firstborn son, Luke was born with a moderate mental disability, I had a miscarriage, then our second son was born with a cleft lip and palate. After Levi was born my husband began taking classes at a Christian College and wanted to get into full-time ministry. He would often come home excited about going to New York City, Australia, maybe even Africa! He was ready for an adventure and ready to go wherever and whenever God wanted him to. Mind you, I was a bit stressed with taking care of two young boys at home, lots of therapies, surgeries, etc. I was very overwhelmed and stressed! While I don't think that the timing was right for us to begin full-time ministry, I used my children as an excuse to not be open to what God may be calling us to do. I told Ben he was crazy!

My husband took on a role as part-time pastor at our current church – Indy Metro about four years ago. Our church is in the heart of downtown. He felt strongly that we should live where we were ministering so we could connect with people/families better by living in community with them. I thought it was a good idea....but moving downtown....and raise five boys, ahhh!  Then we started an evening service on the east side of Indy and that was where my husbands ministry focus was. So, he wanted to move to the east side. He talked about it for a few years before he got really serious about it. I will never forget that night! He felt very strongly that the Lord was calling us to move and that we should both be willing and open to do it for the sake of the call. Remember, I have one child with special needs, who is in a very specialized program at an awesome school and one with cleft lip and palate that has to deal with teasing because of the way he looks and sounds. And my husband wants me to move the the east side and put my children in public schools! Aahhh! I literally went through a box of kleenex! I didn't think that God would want our children to be put in schools that they would struggle in, daily! I worried about their safety, etc. I felt like Ben was putting ministry ahead of his family. I agreed to think and pray about it, but let me tell you I WAS MAD! And I WAS MISERABLE. I knew that I should submit and allow my husband to lead our family, WITH a good attitude, but I felt it was impossible. I don't think I have ever been so mad at my husband or at God for anything. At first I just stewed and was very angry with Ben, but then I began praying and went to the Bible for answers.

I knew that God would want me to submit to Ben as the head of our family.

I knew that God had a plan for us and that that plan was to prosper us and not to harm us, as Jeremiah 29:11 says.

I knew that God would honor obedience as I honored Him and honored my husband.

I finally surrendered to what God would have for our family, and I felt so FREE. I can't explain how good it felt to be free of the weight I was carrying. My children belong to the Lord, not to me and I believe that He will take care of them and that I don't need to worry about their safety. We put our house up for sale and it remained that way for almost four years! I wasn't sure why after I obeyed what I thought God was calling me to do, that He didn't sell our house so we could move to the east side.

THEN I took my first trip to Guatemala. My husband really wanted to go, then he tried to talk me into going with him, but I thought that is would be way too hard to have people take turns watching the kids, juggle school schedules, etc. He wasn't guaranteed the time off, so he encouraged me to go. At first I thought he was nuts! I didn't want to go to another country and leave my family behind! Keep in mind that I have never been out of the U.S. and that I don't really like to travel. And if you haven't figured out yet - I HATE change! One of the projects on this particular trip was to help with a baking school. I love to cook and bake, so it was tempting. I finally decided to do it! I knew that I would probably enjoy the trip and the people, but I had no idea how God was going to work on my heart. It wasn't so much while I was in Guatemala, but more so after I got home. He burdened my heart for the precious people in Magdalena and I lost sleep thinking and dreaming about the people and how I could be a part of what God was doing there. By this time my husband thought I was crazy :) Not really, but he wasn't feeling the call just yet. He was very curious as to what God was doing in my stubborn heart! Remember he had to talk me into going and that I hate change :) He thought that is was a mission trip high that would eventually go away. Well, it didn't, and my desire to be there - move there just increased with time. I was willing to go if that was what God wanted for our family. Ben decided that he should take a trip there and figure out what God was up to. He visited in June and now, almost a year later, we are ready to move there!

People ask us if it is safe, aren't we worried about our childrens education, how can you leave the U.S. and move to a third world country, etc., etc. All I can say is that the Lord has done a work in my heart, a process that has taken about 9 years! Even just a few years ago I wouldn't have seriously considered doing such a thing, but when God calls you to do something, you have two choices – to resist and be miserable – I had done that and I don't ever want to do that again! Or to obey and leave the details to Him.

At first there were several things that we couldn't imagine how the details could be worked out, like medical care/medicines for Luke – but He is faithful and has worked what I call miracles! Luke has a seizure disorder and a growth hormone deficiency. He has been taking a growth hormone injection for the last ten years. It comes from Lilly, requires refrigeration, and is VERY expensive. When he first started on the medication we were told that he would have to be on it for the rest of his life. At our appointment last November the doctor said we could do a simple blood test to determine if Luke still needed it or not. He doesn't! His levels are all completely normal! Since he has been off of the growth hormone he has gained 9lbs. and grown an inch! We also took him off of an ADD medication and saw his personality come out like never before. When we leave in June, he should be down to taking only one seizure medication! Had we not been obedient to what God wanted for our lives, we may never have taken those steps and had our special Lukey like he is now!

A verse that God has continually brought to our minds is Joshua 1:9 - “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” I want to encourage you today to be willing to step out of your comfort zone and answer the call, God has a plan and a purpose for your life! Don't be miserable - say YES! Don't be afraid - BE COURAGEOUS!

An Answer to Prayer!

Thank you for your prayers about our housing situation.  The Lord continues to go before us and pave the way for us to have a place to live there.  Byron (the gentleman who us building us a home) emailed and is willing to add a couple more rooms and another bathroom at an affordable price!  We are so excited and thankful!!!  He told us the home should be done by the end of July which we are told may end up being the end of August but regardless we are glad he is willing to add the extra space.

We also were concerned about having water and a place to park and it seems that these issues have been resolved as well. We will need to find a house to rent for a month or two until our house is finished.  So please pray with us about that. 

The Lord has been teaching us from Luke 11 that we need to continue to pray with shameless persistence as it says in Luke 11:8b-10 "He will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.  And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.  Keep on seeking, and you will find.  Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰  For everyone who asks, receives.  Everyone who seeks, finds.  And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Another situation we have been praying about is our home here stateside.  We have been unclear about what to do with it and some of the possibilities we had fell through.  Jennifer's sister and her family have now agreed to rent our home for an extended period of time so this is a huge answer to prayer to have someone we can trust taking care of our home.
Thank you for praying and journeying with us!