Friday, March 9, 2012
How Mark and Alicia spent their Wednesday.
So this past Wednesday Mark and Alicia spent the day up in an indigenous village not far from Antigua working in a free health clinic. That evening we showed 2 movies to the people of Santa Maria de Jesus as well.
What kind of person goes to church in a dump?
Ummmm...that would be us!
Last year we started something called Street Church with our homeless people on Sunday nights. It's one of those things where you can't really plan what will happen but it's always good! We usually have testimonies and sharing of the word as well as prayer. We've just started bringing food as well because it's been so cold that it's good for them to have something hot and nutritious before bed. Mark also decided that it would be fun to bring somekind of game to play with them afterward so we bring an old Viking game (because we're proud Minnesotans!) that we learned from his brother called kuub. It's been so great! The guys love playing the game and eating the food--it feels like something just natural for them, something that men just do. It's a time to just hang out and relax and fellowship with them. We love it!
Last Sunday night I met "Juli". When I looked at this person dressed in a woman's sweater and slacks all feminine and pretty I new that he wasn't a woman. I started talking to him and he asked if we had any food left. We didn't so I offered to take him across the street to get some pupusas (stuffed taco-like things) and salad. He came with Lorena and I. (Lorena and her husband, Fernando, work with us at street church) We ordered the food and then stood outside to talk. That was when "Juli" admitted that his name was Julio and that he was gay. I just asked him about his family and he broke down. He hasn't been living on the streets long. He came out to his mother that he's gay and she went crazy. She kicked him out and threatened to kill him. He has since found out that his brother is looking for him to kill him as well. He was just broken. He asked Lorena and I to pray for him and we did. He sobbed.
Please pray for Julio.
Here's some photos of our time at street church!
Last year we started something called Street Church with our homeless people on Sunday nights. It's one of those things where you can't really plan what will happen but it's always good! We usually have testimonies and sharing of the word as well as prayer. We've just started bringing food as well because it's been so cold that it's good for them to have something hot and nutritious before bed. Mark also decided that it would be fun to bring somekind of game to play with them afterward so we bring an old Viking game (because we're proud Minnesotans!) that we learned from his brother called kuub. It's been so great! The guys love playing the game and eating the food--it feels like something just natural for them, something that men just do. It's a time to just hang out and relax and fellowship with them. We love it!
Last Sunday night I met "Juli". When I looked at this person dressed in a woman's sweater and slacks all feminine and pretty I new that he wasn't a woman. I started talking to him and he asked if we had any food left. We didn't so I offered to take him across the street to get some pupusas (stuffed taco-like things) and salad. He came with Lorena and I. (Lorena and her husband, Fernando, work with us at street church) We ordered the food and then stood outside to talk. That was when "Juli" admitted that his name was Julio and that he was gay. I just asked him about his family and he broke down. He hasn't been living on the streets long. He came out to his mother that he's gay and she went crazy. She kicked him out and threatened to kill him. He has since found out that his brother is looking for him to kill him as well. He was just broken. He asked Lorena and I to pray for him and we did. He sobbed.
Please pray for Julio.
Here's some photos of our time at street church!
Things that are crazy.
There are a lot of things that are just plain crazy. Things that you can't explain but it all intersects to make something happen that you never expected to work. This Sunday one of those things happened.
When we first started working in the streets we ran into a guy named Gregorio. He was a violent, angry, bitter person. He had spent time in prison and had even stole some money from Mark at one time. It was one of those situations where whenever we saw him he was causing problems or was completely in the middle of something not good.
Over the past 2 years we noticed a few little changes, nothing too major just little things that made us notice that something was happening. He wasn't as bragging about his past as I remembered him once being, he was sleeping the the shelter and not causing problems there, he seemed less angry. I have to admit though, I didn't know if he was just putting on somekind of show or if something was really happening in him.
Last Sunday I saw Mark talking to someone in church off to the side and I was surprised when I saw that it was Gregorio! Shocked! What was he doing there? I also looked over the congregation and realized that our friend Jose Eduardo was there with all the students from Teen Challenge in Guatemala City! They only come to our church maybe twice a year. This was unusual.
When I talked with Mark about what was going on, he said that Gregorio was telling him he was sick of his life and wanted a radical change. It was a crazy God thing that Jose Eduardo was there that same morning! After church we introduced them and Jose Eduardo asked Gregorio how he was doing and Gregorio said, "Bad." Jose asked him why and he said that it was time for a change. Jose looked at him and said, "If you're really ready for a change why don't you come with us right now to Teen Challenge?" Gregorio mentioned that he felt bad because he needed to pay back the money he had stolen from Mark first. Mark told him to forget about it for now, we can deal with that later.
End of story? Gregorio went to Teen Challenge that day with Jose!!! Crazy.
When we first started working in the streets we ran into a guy named Gregorio. He was a violent, angry, bitter person. He had spent time in prison and had even stole some money from Mark at one time. It was one of those situations where whenever we saw him he was causing problems or was completely in the middle of something not good.
Over the past 2 years we noticed a few little changes, nothing too major just little things that made us notice that something was happening. He wasn't as bragging about his past as I remembered him once being, he was sleeping the the shelter and not causing problems there, he seemed less angry. I have to admit though, I didn't know if he was just putting on somekind of show or if something was really happening in him.
Last Sunday I saw Mark talking to someone in church off to the side and I was surprised when I saw that it was Gregorio! Shocked! What was he doing there? I also looked over the congregation and realized that our friend Jose Eduardo was there with all the students from Teen Challenge in Guatemala City! They only come to our church maybe twice a year. This was unusual.
When I talked with Mark about what was going on, he said that Gregorio was telling him he was sick of his life and wanted a radical change. It was a crazy God thing that Jose Eduardo was there that same morning! After church we introduced them and Jose Eduardo asked Gregorio how he was doing and Gregorio said, "Bad." Jose asked him why and he said that it was time for a change. Jose looked at him and said, "If you're really ready for a change why don't you come with us right now to Teen Challenge?" Gregorio mentioned that he felt bad because he needed to pay back the money he had stolen from Mark first. Mark told him to forget about it for now, we can deal with that later.
End of story? Gregorio went to Teen Challenge that day with Jose!!! Crazy.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Photos!!!
Carlos
3 wishes!
Remember when you were a kid and you pretended you had 3 wishes and they would all come true? What would you wish for? Money? Vacations? 3 more wishes???
Some of our supporters through the years have occasionally challenged Mark and I to put a wish list on our newsletters. We really haven't a lot and I'm not exactly sure why! We just didn't. Maybe it's because we are just so appreciative of the fact that people send us money every month and it seems extravagant to ask for more! But this last newsletter we added 3 things to a wish list that we were needing/wanting. A new laptop--the one we have is extremely overworked and there's just too many people needing to do school and work on it and there aren't enough hours in the day for everyone to get done what needs to be done! A new camera--ours broke about a year ago and we haven't been able to replace it and haven't been able to take any photos. And a kitchen aid stand up mixer--I do a TON of cooking and baking for our family and others and even though it isn't truly a need it is something that would make my life a lot easier!
A week after we put it out someone wrote to us that they felt God leading them to give us all 3!!! Praise God! We are so thankful and we are truly enjoying the blessings! Our new camera is amazing! It is more than we could have ever expected. I am LOVING my new mixer--I call her Julia since Julia Child is one of my cooking heroes. And we are getting our new computer in about a week or so.
The lesson in all of this is that God is faithful! He is faithful with our needs and He is faithful with our wishes. He wants to bless us! What are your wishes?
Some of our supporters through the years have occasionally challenged Mark and I to put a wish list on our newsletters. We really haven't a lot and I'm not exactly sure why! We just didn't. Maybe it's because we are just so appreciative of the fact that people send us money every month and it seems extravagant to ask for more! But this last newsletter we added 3 things to a wish list that we were needing/wanting. A new laptop--the one we have is extremely overworked and there's just too many people needing to do school and work on it and there aren't enough hours in the day for everyone to get done what needs to be done! A new camera--ours broke about a year ago and we haven't been able to replace it and haven't been able to take any photos. And a kitchen aid stand up mixer--I do a TON of cooking and baking for our family and others and even though it isn't truly a need it is something that would make my life a lot easier!
A week after we put it out someone wrote to us that they felt God leading them to give us all 3!!! Praise God! We are so thankful and we are truly enjoying the blessings! Our new camera is amazing! It is more than we could have ever expected. I am LOVING my new mixer--I call her Julia since Julia Child is one of my cooking heroes. And we are getting our new computer in about a week or so.
The lesson in all of this is that God is faithful! He is faithful with our needs and He is faithful with our wishes. He wants to bless us! What are your wishes?
Give Us This Day...
It's interesting to me how we can learn the Lord's Prayer as a kid and not really know what it means until we grow up and live out a life of faith.
I remember praying "Give us this day our daily bread..." and thinking as a kid how much I like bread and that it's just so cool that God gives us bread every day! YAY God!!! It wasn't until we moved here on the mission field that I truly understood what that phrase meant.
When we lived in the US and things got tight we went out and got an extra job. Sometimes it was a less than glamorous job--but it got us through the tight spots. We struggled a little but could truly make things happen when we needed to. Thank you God for providing jobs and the opportunity to work and provide for our needs. He was giving us our daily bread.
Moving to Guatemala where we can't just go out and get a job (we don't have the right visa for that) if things get tight has really opened my eyes to what this means in our lives. Sometimes God provides daily--not ahead of time.
I have the American mentality that a savings account and a bit of a cushion is a good thing and a desirable thing to have. It's irresponsible not to have some extra little bit put away in case of an emergency. I have been under a lot of self-condemnation because that doesn't happen for us! It's been a tough thing for me to see. I often wonder why I can't save. Then I think about it a little and realize this: maybe God wants to provide DAILY.
We get our offering and it seems to be more than enough and I think "NOW we can put some away." Only to find that our car needs hundreds of dollars of more work than we realized or there's a medical situation to deal with or one of our homeless people needs some meds or one of our guys in rehab needs shampoo and eye glasses or our electric bill was figured wrong and now we have to make up the difference! This is a part of daily life here in Guatemala. Sometimes we can't plan ahead--and just when we think we have it's all gone!
I find it interesting that it's taken me this long to realize that daily means day by day. We may not be able to plan for tomorrow we just have to take God's provision as it comes--daily. This is faith! This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where we trust that He is our daily provider as we are faithful with what He provides.
So now when I pray "Give us this day our daily bread..." I smile because I realize now what it means to actually live completely and totally dependent on God for every. single. day. Not easy--but always worth it.
I remember praying "Give us this day our daily bread..." and thinking as a kid how much I like bread and that it's just so cool that God gives us bread every day! YAY God!!! It wasn't until we moved here on the mission field that I truly understood what that phrase meant.
When we lived in the US and things got tight we went out and got an extra job. Sometimes it was a less than glamorous job--but it got us through the tight spots. We struggled a little but could truly make things happen when we needed to. Thank you God for providing jobs and the opportunity to work and provide for our needs. He was giving us our daily bread.
Moving to Guatemala where we can't just go out and get a job (we don't have the right visa for that) if things get tight has really opened my eyes to what this means in our lives. Sometimes God provides daily--not ahead of time.
I have the American mentality that a savings account and a bit of a cushion is a good thing and a desirable thing to have. It's irresponsible not to have some extra little bit put away in case of an emergency. I have been under a lot of self-condemnation because that doesn't happen for us! It's been a tough thing for me to see. I often wonder why I can't save. Then I think about it a little and realize this: maybe God wants to provide DAILY.
We get our offering and it seems to be more than enough and I think "NOW we can put some away." Only to find that our car needs hundreds of dollars of more work than we realized or there's a medical situation to deal with or one of our homeless people needs some meds or one of our guys in rehab needs shampoo and eye glasses or our electric bill was figured wrong and now we have to make up the difference! This is a part of daily life here in Guatemala. Sometimes we can't plan ahead--and just when we think we have it's all gone!
I find it interesting that it's taken me this long to realize that daily means day by day. We may not be able to plan for tomorrow we just have to take God's provision as it comes--daily. This is faith! This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where we trust that He is our daily provider as we are faithful with what He provides.
So now when I pray "Give us this day our daily bread..." I smile because I realize now what it means to actually live completely and totally dependent on God for every. single. day. Not easy--but always worth it.
Friday, October 7, 2011
It's been How Long?
I couldn't believe when I looked on here that it had been since June the last time I wrote something! Time flies when you're having fun!
So what has our family been up to? Well here's a little run down:
Alicia: She spent the summer at Chico YWAM doing their summer program. It was a great experience for her and she has decided to go back in the fall to do her DTS before she heads off to college to pursue a degree in nursing. She is currently enjoying Guatemala and finishing her senior year. She is also working hard on translating a Spanish book on values used in the school system here from Spanish to English to be used in African schools.
Bailey: She is working hard on her sophomore year of high school and enjoying music and art. She wants to go to Chico YWAM next summer to do the same program Alicia did this past summer. She just turned 15 and is already talking about the time when Mark will teach her driving!!
Christopher: He is now in 8th grade and attending youth group and having fun with his friends. He is still really gifted at all things technical and I am constantly amazed at what he knows how to do. It blows my mind! He has been teaching at our church's kids classes on Sunday mornings helping to translate.
Soup Run
We have been working with the homeless doing soup run for almost 2 years now. This year it has really grown and we have also been blessed with a few teams who have gone out with us. Previously we paid for the soup and food that we brought to people and recently we have been blessed with a LOT of dried soup mixes with veggies and beans. It's been such a blessing since we are regularly feeding about 50 people! We are looking forward to working with more churches in another city nearby to start doing some soup runs there as well.
Evangelism/Street Ministry
We've been busy getting the bus ready to use and have even used it a few times to show movies and do outreaches. The most recent one was in September with our Discipleship Training School students in Chimaltenango. We were there all day doing children's ministry and evangelism near the central square. We were able to partner with a church there and pray with many people. We are hoping to take the bus out more once rainy season ends!
Mark still does street ministry every Saturday night and has had great talks and times of prayer with people in Central Park in Antigua. He is continuing to go out and bring others with him to share the gospel.
Discipleship Training School
On July 24th of this year we began our DTS with 12 students from Canada the US and Curacao. It has been a busy time!!! Mark is working with the 3 guys and I am working with 3 of the girls. We've been doing one-on-ones and small groups as well as coordinating activities for the weekends. It's been a lot of fun! They leave for 5 weeks in Haiti and then return to Guatemala towards the middle of November to do their last 3 weeks in different locations here. Mark may be joining them for the last 3 weeks of outreach but he will remain at home to work on outreach here and a team that will be arriving in November.
Prayer Requests
--Please pray for the 6 people that are in their rehab programs that God will work in them.
--Pray for our family to be able to have some time off for a little relaxation in the next few months. It's been
2 years since our trip to the US and even though we can't return there we would like to take some time off
here in Guatemala.
--Please continue to pray for our street people that God would continue to move in their lives.
--Pray for continued financial support for us to do the work we have here in Guatemala.
--Dayle
So what has our family been up to? Well here's a little run down:
Alicia: She spent the summer at Chico YWAM doing their summer program. It was a great experience for her and she has decided to go back in the fall to do her DTS before she heads off to college to pursue a degree in nursing. She is currently enjoying Guatemala and finishing her senior year. She is also working hard on translating a Spanish book on values used in the school system here from Spanish to English to be used in African schools.
Bailey: She is working hard on her sophomore year of high school and enjoying music and art. She wants to go to Chico YWAM next summer to do the same program Alicia did this past summer. She just turned 15 and is already talking about the time when Mark will teach her driving!!
Christopher: He is now in 8th grade and attending youth group and having fun with his friends. He is still really gifted at all things technical and I am constantly amazed at what he knows how to do. It blows my mind! He has been teaching at our church's kids classes on Sunday mornings helping to translate.
Soup Run
We have been working with the homeless doing soup run for almost 2 years now. This year it has really grown and we have also been blessed with a few teams who have gone out with us. Previously we paid for the soup and food that we brought to people and recently we have been blessed with a LOT of dried soup mixes with veggies and beans. It's been such a blessing since we are regularly feeding about 50 people! We are looking forward to working with more churches in another city nearby to start doing some soup runs there as well.
Evangelism/Street Ministry
We've been busy getting the bus ready to use and have even used it a few times to show movies and do outreaches. The most recent one was in September with our Discipleship Training School students in Chimaltenango. We were there all day doing children's ministry and evangelism near the central square. We were able to partner with a church there and pray with many people. We are hoping to take the bus out more once rainy season ends!
Mark still does street ministry every Saturday night and has had great talks and times of prayer with people in Central Park in Antigua. He is continuing to go out and bring others with him to share the gospel.
Discipleship Training School
On July 24th of this year we began our DTS with 12 students from Canada the US and Curacao. It has been a busy time!!! Mark is working with the 3 guys and I am working with 3 of the girls. We've been doing one-on-ones and small groups as well as coordinating activities for the weekends. It's been a lot of fun! They leave for 5 weeks in Haiti and then return to Guatemala towards the middle of November to do their last 3 weeks in different locations here. Mark may be joining them for the last 3 weeks of outreach but he will remain at home to work on outreach here and a team that will be arriving in November.
Prayer Requests
--Please pray for the 6 people that are in their rehab programs that God will work in them.
--Pray for our family to be able to have some time off for a little relaxation in the next few months. It's been
2 years since our trip to the US and even though we can't return there we would like to take some time off
here in Guatemala.
--Please continue to pray for our street people that God would continue to move in their lives.
--Pray for continued financial support for us to do the work we have here in Guatemala.
--Dayle
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
