Stories from Guatemala

To meet some young people in rural Guatemala who are fighting - and winning - against adversaries of hope click on the title above. I think they will be an encouragement to you as they were for me.

God is FAITHFUL!!!

"What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, leaning on the Everlasting Arms"

Today God provided the rest of our monthly pledges - thank you God for being faithful. All our one-time expenses have been provided for as well, so we hope to get plane tickets soon. We'll let everyone know when we have a departure date.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been praying for us during our time support-raising. We feel that we have been extremely blessed with a large and faithful prayer team. Thanks you, thank you, thank you...

Also thanks to all who have given financially. It has been so cool for Kallie and I to see peoples generosity and desire to sacrifice for the sake of others in need. We are so grateful that we are going to Guatemala not alone, but with all of you as a team.

There have been a lot of ups and downs for us during support-raising, but we have come to learn all the more what blessing, joy, and peace there is in "leaning on the everlasting arms". Praise be to God.

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise." Psalm 18:2

SO CLOSE

Thank you to all who have been praying that we would be fully funded by the end of February. God has been faithful. Though we are not quite there yet, we are still very excited to let everyone know that we are 92% funded in monthly pledges and close to the same with one-time gifts. Thanks again for the prayers and we hope to be in Guatemala soon!

Fun in Phoenix

Last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Kallie and I went to Phoenix for our final training and for FH's annual Summit Conference. During our time there we met some of the people that we will be serving under in Guatemala along with the Country Director, Victor Cortez. They all were great people with great vision for Guatemala and have made us all the more excited to get there.

One of the main things we have been learning lately that was fortified in Phoenix was the importance of understanding the consequences of worldviews that are shaped by one's culture, but not from the Bible. We all are affected by our culture, and without knowing it can buy into lies that are harmful to reaching the full potential God has planned for us. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transormed by the renewing of your mind". To be all that God wants us to be we must constantly be aligning our worldviews to scripture in every area of life.

The same is true for Guatemalan's as well. Often times we see poverty as a problem that must be fixed with physical resources. But poverty is a consequence of ideas and worldviews that are contrary to those in the Bible. To fight poverty we must attack the root of the problem, and that is the lies from Satan. To fight poverty we must always be allowing ourselves to be trasformed by Biblical truth and help others see these truths as well. For instance, Victor Cortez asked us, "When you see a young girl with no shoes and dirty torn clothes what do you see?" He went on to explain that instead of seeing a poor child in need of a lot we should see what she does have. We should see a child made in the image of God with tremedous potential. This has been a worldview change for me. I am learning that when trying to help the poor it is easy to want to change their way of living, but not want to take the time to change their way of thinking.

Light at the end of the tunnel!

We have 82% of our monthly support, praise God, and are still praying to be fully funded by the end of February. We know many of you are praying for us and we are so greatful. We had a great time speaking at Shepherd Bible Church last sunday. They were very warm and welcoming and helped minimized our nervousness, which was a big answer to prayer. We were able to share more about our ministry with a group that took us out to lunch after the service. Shane and I are now in Missoula for the next week or two meeting with people. We are running out of contacts quickly so we are relying on God to open up opportunities as well as to trust that he will continue to provide. God has been really good to us so far and we know he has our best interests in mind. It has been awesome spending lots of time with family in Billings, Bozeman and Missoula. This morning we had a phone conference with a gal in Guatemala that I (Kallie) will be working under. Many questions were answered regarding living conditions, road conditions, language school, cultural beliefs/attitudes, staff relations and current project progress. These conversations tend to fan the flame and with our funding needs down to 18%, finally the reality of relocating to Guatemala is setting in. Rather than causing fear and panic like some may suspect, our call continues to be confirming. Thanks so much for all your support and prayers.

Over 3/4 Funded!!!

A deep thanks goes out to all of you praying for God to provide for our financial needs. God has been so good! We are 77% funded with monthly pledges and our special gifts for start-up costs are coming in fast. Last Sunday we were able to share what we will be doing at Aliance Fellowship in Bozeman and this Sunday we are going to share at Shepherd Bible in Shepherd, MT. Please pray for calm nerves as we speak and for God to make this opprtunity fruitful. One more thing, on Monday, Feb. 1st KLOVE radio will be dedicating 24 hours to raising funds for Haiti earthquake relief through Food for the Hungry. Tune in to find out how you can help and to hear some FH staff on the ground give up-to-minute news.

Food for the Hungry in Haiti

No changes on our doughnut graph this week, that's is alright, we know God will provide in His perfect timing. Please keep praying for God's financial provision.
Also, as your prayers are going out for the millions of homeless and hurting in Haiti you can also specifically be praying for the FH staff on the ground working to provide relief. To learn what FH is doing in Haiti, how you can pray, and to give towards relief efforts go to www.fh.org.