Happy February! The month of love. Here in Guatemala Valentine’s Day is just as romantic as in the US, however, we also call it friendship and affection day. See, here we celebrate all love! Between a husband and a wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, between friends, classmates, co-workers, and neighbors. Some say that Valentine’s Day is a “Hallmark” holiday. Well, here at the lake we don’t have Hallmark! It’s true, we should show love and appreciation daily, not just on a holiday, but it’s nice to have a day earmarked to show our affection towards those around us.
Our entire staff would like to take this opportunity to let you know how much we love and appreciate you. God has called us full time to this ministry. We know He doesn’t need us, but He’s asked, and we’ve obeyed. We are constantly reminding each other how much harder this would be if we didn’t have your love, prayers, and support. So, Happy Valentine’s Day to you; you are loved and prayed for often. | | Below we are sharing with you a few Praises we hope will have you rejoicing and praising God alongside us. Also, we’re sharing a few Requests we ask that you bring to God in prayer and maybe He’ll lead you to contribute towards the needs. | | PRAISES
- Praise God from whom all blessings flow, for a small car bought for the ministry. It was a joy for Impacto to partner with Larry and Carlotta Walsh and together be able to buy this small vehicle we know will be used for the ministry.
- Join us in praising the Lord for Juanita. We’ve been told she’s responding well to her treatment and the tumor has shrunk tremendously! Praise Jesus!
- We praise God as He provided the funds for both Happy Tummies to get much needed maintenance! We were able to do a deep clean and get a fresh coat of paint as well as a few other fixes! The staff, kids, and teachers are so excited to see both locations looking so nice!
- Next week is the first class of Stitches of Blessings for 2020! We are all so excited! We are having a class of 15 ladies and they are thrilled! Our class is a bit smaller this year because when we go to Zacapa in November for VBS, we are planning on having an intensive 1-week course with 5 women there. That will bring us to a total of 20 machines being gifted this year. This means 20 ladies will have an extra way of supporting their families by the end of 2020!
- We praise and glorify His name as our calendar this year is looking so full! He is doing phenomenal work here in Guatemala. It’s been an exceptional joy for us to see teams who are sharing weeks working so well together to plan their trips! This is a huge blessing for our staff and it makes our in-country logistics a million times easier. Also, it’s so wonderful to see many sons and daughters of God working together towards His Kingdom. What a marvelous glimpse of heaven!
| | “ I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty — and I will meditate on your wonderful works. ” Psalm 145:1-5 | | REQUESTS
- The construction in Xejuyu is coming along, our staff has so many dreams and ideas for this land. We see many ministries growing, as well as new ones! Won’t you prayerfully consider gifting towards this construction project? We know sometimes it’s hard as you don’t see immediate results. Know that we are seeking the Lord’s guidance so that when Xejuyu is completed it will be a place where the Gospel will be shared. A place where many will be trained and discipled to go out and share the Gospel. A place where many will find peace and healing. A place where many will find rest as they work hard for the Kingdom.
- As you read above, we are delighted to have such a full calendar this year, it truly has been an answer to prayer! We do ask, however, that you lift in prayer our entire staff, drivers, workers, translators, pastors, and everyone involved. Pray specifically that God will give us wisdom, discernment, energy, and rest during such a busy year. But, most of all pray that we never lose sight of who we are working for: God.
- If you are planning on coming with a team this year we ask that you take a look at the list of needed items on our website. We donate and gift a lot of thing to schools, churches, organizations, and individuals here in Guatemala. Therefore, we are always in need of peanut butter, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap, small toys for gifts and prizes, and much more.
| | COMPUTER CLASSES
As the year has started and we are finding our pace, and everyone is settling in, we also have begun our weekly computer classes for the Happy Tummies kids. We’ve shared before about the computer classes and what a blessing they have been! We have classes on Saturdays from 8am-noon. We’ve divided up the grades by two, including pre-school. Each group gets 1 hour of class. This is completely free, and the parents are so thankful since most of them don’t know how to use computers and aren’t able to help their kids in that area. In the past years we’ve had many donate laptop computers, some used and some new; and they have become wonderful tools for the children.
As to be expected, the computers have suffered their share of wear and tear and we are to the point where we need new computers. This time, however, instead of asking you to bring them from the States we are trying to raise funds to buy new laptops here in Guatemala. We have many reasons for this, a few being: a warranty, taking them to the shop to get fixed, and the fact that they’re all originally programmed in Spanish. We are hoping to have each computer installed with an anti-virus, Office, plus a couple of programs that will come in handy for the teacher, and finally, one for kids who can read and one for our pre-school and kindergarten kids who cannot read.
Each computer, fully equipped with what we mentioned, will cost US$325. We ask that you prayerfully consider funding a laptop fully or partially and provide a much-needed learning experience for the kids. It will be something that will help them with the rest of their education and for some, even in their careers. | | When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36 | | | WANT TO STAY IN TOUCH? check our website or e-mail us for more information. | | | | SUPPORT OUR MINISTRY Support Impacto by shopping consciously through Amazon Smile. | | | | | | | | |
