It has been one crazy time in Casa de Annand! We have enjoyed the DTS (discipleship training school) students being here since the end of July. 4 of those students were from the Lake Atitlan area of Guatemala. Spanish was actually their second language since their families are indigenous. They were awesome! We also had 3 students from the USA who were a blessing to us and our kids--our kids miss them now that they are all in Haiti on outreach! It was a lot of fun to have them over for dinners, game nights, movies, whatever. We are so grateful for the opportunity to work with people like that. Truly a blessing for our family.
There have also been some changes as far as our home schooling journey goes. As many of you know, it's been a lot of years of praying for friends for our kids. We had some friends, many who lived far enough away that we couldn't get there on a regular basis for one reason or another. It's been a lonely time sometimes! But, this past spring several new families moved into our area with kids our kids' ages! So awesome! Since they are all homeschoolers as well, we decided to start a learning co-op. So now, on Thursdays, we do art, music, and science at our co-op in our church building here in Antigua. We have 12 families and about 23 kids! It's just a huge amount of fun and a great ministry to missionary kids and their families.
Since then, we've had movie nights, dinners, parties for the kids in the co-op to get together outside of Thursdays. Also, our church now has a youth group and we are so thankful! So many opportunities opened up in the past few months for our kids to have friends and activities that are so important!
We are so thankful to be living in Antigua doing what we do. Even though there are a lot of daily challenges, we wouldn't want to be anywhere else!
New things that are coming up is Mark's potential trip to Haiti to meet up with our students while they are on outreach. We are hoping to raise another $1300 to help pay for the trip. Please pray! We need to have the money raised in the next few weeks as he is hoping to be gone by Thanksgiving for 2 weeks of ministry and outreach into Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It's not a cheap trip!
We also are still plugging away at raising money for our car. We want to get it completely paid off by the end of December. We don't know what we'd do without our vehicle, it's become really important because of soup run, and so many other ministries that we do. It's also going to hopefully allow Mark and a team of other guys to do more outreaches into outlying communities coming up next year. More on that later!
Soup run is going well. We continue to go out once a week and hand out food to between 30-40 people on the streets of Antigua. During that time, we can also pray with them and minister to them. Through this ministry we met Jason, a 16-year-old boy who lives on the street and is addicted to glue. We have found a place that is willing to take him despite is addiction and help to rehabilitate him--Teen Challenge in Guatemala City. Jason and Mark visited last week and after filling out all the paper work and touring the facility, Jason got scared and decided not to go in. Mark had to bring him back to Antigua and drop him off on the streets again. Please pray that Jason stays safe until he gets the help he needs.
Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. We couldn't continue to do what we do in Guatemala if it wasn't for the faithfulness of all who believe in what we are doing and support us! You are a blessing to us!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Rescue Mission
It was one of the most inspiring news stories I’ve ever seen: 33 miners from Chile were recently rescued after being buried alive for over 2 months nearly ½ mile underground! During the first 17 days of their nightmare they had no communication with the outside world and they had almost nothing to eat. A team of people finally discovered them and then worked to get them supplies and drill a hole to rescue them. Rescue workers were sent down to the miners and all 33 were pulled up one-by-one in an escape pod barely big enough for them to stand in. The rescued miners were embraced by friends and family and surrounded by a crowd of cheering people. Finally, the rescue workers were brought up as well. There are some things about this story that parallel our experience as Christians:
1) We were also rescued from a dark pit.
We were lost in our darkness until the light of the Gospel came to us.
2) Now we are the first-responders sent to rescue those who are still in the darkness.
We are the only preachers God has.
Romans 10:14 “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and
how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear
without a preacher?”
3) There was only one way for the miners to be rescued- through a very narrow passage. For us there is only one narrow way to salvation also, through Jesus Christ.
Mat 7:14 “…strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it.”
Joh 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
4) Those being rescued couldn’t do anything to save themselves. All they could do was get into the pod and trust it to carry them to the surface. All we can do is trust Jesus to raise us up from darkness to light. We can’t do any work to contribute to our own salvation.
5) The rescuers worked as a team, each having their part to play. Each of us in the
church have a part to play in the rescue of lost souls. Some preach, some provide
support to the preachers, but all need to consciously work toward the same goal. Ultimately it’s
only Jesus who saves people. But he chooses to use us to preach the good news to others so that
they can accept or reject His salvation. We don’t save anyone. We “rescue” people by pointing
them to the only way of being rescued.
6) Each saved miner was celebrated.
Luk 15:10 “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner that repenteth.”
7) The rescuers needed to be rescued too. As a believer, we too face dark times. Sometimes it’s because of disobedience (like Jonah running from the call of God to preach). Sometimes the darkness comes as a test while we are actually obeying the Lord. Either way, we need to trust our lives to the same Jesus Christ that the sinner does. Maybe God gives us dark times to help us remember the hopelessness of people without Jesus.
We’re here on a rescue mission!
Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
It only makes sense that we would have the same mission as our Master. Have you been
seeking those who need to be rescued from the darkness? There are MORE than 33
trapped people waiting for you this time!
-Mark
1) We were also rescued from a dark pit.
We were lost in our darkness until the light of the Gospel came to us.
2) Now we are the first-responders sent to rescue those who are still in the darkness.
We are the only preachers God has.
Romans 10:14 “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and
how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear
without a preacher?”
3) There was only one way for the miners to be rescued- through a very narrow passage. For us there is only one narrow way to salvation also, through Jesus Christ.
Mat 7:14 “…strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it.”
Joh 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
4) Those being rescued couldn’t do anything to save themselves. All they could do was get into the pod and trust it to carry them to the surface. All we can do is trust Jesus to raise us up from darkness to light. We can’t do any work to contribute to our own salvation.
5) The rescuers worked as a team, each having their part to play. Each of us in the
church have a part to play in the rescue of lost souls. Some preach, some provide
support to the preachers, but all need to consciously work toward the same goal. Ultimately it’s
only Jesus who saves people. But he chooses to use us to preach the good news to others so that
they can accept or reject His salvation. We don’t save anyone. We “rescue” people by pointing
them to the only way of being rescued.
6) Each saved miner was celebrated.
Luk 15:10 “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner that repenteth.”
7) The rescuers needed to be rescued too. As a believer, we too face dark times. Sometimes it’s because of disobedience (like Jonah running from the call of God to preach). Sometimes the darkness comes as a test while we are actually obeying the Lord. Either way, we need to trust our lives to the same Jesus Christ that the sinner does. Maybe God gives us dark times to help us remember the hopelessness of people without Jesus.
We’re here on a rescue mission!
Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
It only makes sense that we would have the same mission as our Master. Have you been
seeking those who need to be rescued from the darkness? There are MORE than 33
trapped people waiting for you this time!
-Mark
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