The situations we are facing now days has our hearts shattered. As Christians we cry out to God for those who are ill, those who are hungry, those who are facing injustice. At times we pray for Christ to come and take His children, then we pray for more time as there are still so many who need to hear the Gospel! As Paul said, “ For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain ” Phil. 1:21. Seems like many of us are feeling this way. So, let’s live as Christ would, standing up for those who have no voice, caring for the sick, and loving each person around us in Christ’s love. Let us remember what the Word of God says, “ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus .” Gal. 3:28 | | We continue to ask you to lift San Juan in prayer, the number of COVID-19 cases is growing. Remember, this is a town that has no oxygen, respirators, ventilators, and some may not be able to afford acetaminophen. Pray for the families of those who are ill, that God will keep them healthy and that they are able to help nurse their loved ones back to health. Impacto is asking God for wisdom and knowledge to know where we are needed the most and trying to help as best we can. We have faith in God and know that this won’t last forever. We are so grateful to all of you who have given for food bags, in total this month we gave almost 200 bags of food! We pray to do the same in June and continue to bless many families. Impacto is working hard on how to adjust some ministries so that we may continue helping and sharing about Christ as much as we can. We hope to share many new things with you soon!
Thank you, for your giving heart, for the love you have for the people of Guatemala, for your prayers, and selfless contributions. | |
“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. John 15:5 [The Message] | | Solution for a Crisis
Without a doubt a very common word nowadays is ‘crisis’. You see and hear it every day on television and on the radio. You’ve said it or have heard it in daily conversations. But the entire world is facing a crisis. It’s a crisis that thousands of people are suffering. Some think it’s one of the worst crisis we’ve seen in our lifetime.
I wanted to look up the meaning of the word ‘crisis’. Crisis comes from a Greek verb; whose true meaning is ‘separation’. Of course, this crisis has brought us separation. Separation from our job, separation from our loved ones. In my case it’s been about 90 days since I’ve seen my dad, my daughters, my grandchildren, my sons-in-law, the Impacto staff and workers, the students from the Bible Institute, and the pastors from our churches.
Yes, crisis is separation. It has separated families and so many more things. But the worst crisis we are facing is not Coronavirus; the worst crisis is being separated from God. God tells us in His Word what medicine He has for our crisis. John 15:4-5 says,
“ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing .” [NIV]
I hope we can apply this medicine to our crisis. Jesus is the medicine because apart from Him we can do nothing.
God bless you. | | Missionary Minute
We would like to share with you how each of our staff felt and obeyed the call to work full time in the ministry. In each newsletter that goes out, starting with this one, we will include the written testimony of one of our staff members. We hope you enjoy! | | Since I was 18 years old I knew God was calling me to ministry. When I was 20 I had the privilege of being the president for all the Christian youth in Guatemala. Then God provided so that I could study in Seminary. That's when Impacto started. It began with a friend from Argentina when he invited me to join his ministry efforts which was preaching on the radio. So, for a long time I preached on the radio. At first, there were 25 stations that played our sermons. Eventually we were being heard on 700 radio stations in Spanish-speaking countries around the world.
My friend had a group of pastors who dedicated themselves to preach at evangelistic crusades. I was always a huge believer in evangelistic groups. I have never liked to work alone and have always felt that when you work in a group you have accountability. After ministering alongside him for quite some time God called me to focus on the ministry effort in Guatemala. God surrounded me with amazing people, not only in Guatemala but in the U.S.A., too. I don't want to make this too long so I can't tell you every single name nor every blessing God sent through each of them. It's a fact that to be a good leader you need good people surrounding and working alongside you. Moses had a work group, Joshua had one, and, of course, Jesus had a group He worked. To this day, I'm a firm believer in group work and God has given me a great group to work with. A group that, during this pandemic, I have seen their walk in God stand firm as well as their desire to continue sharing about Christ with others.
In the 1990's Dinora and I moved our family to the U.S.A. We planted over 7 churches and I started traveling to Guatemala with mission teams. We didn't know the magnitude short-term mission teams would play in Impacto Ministry. Back then Impacto was a small part of our ministry and we didn't know we would establish such long-term ministries and projects. I know God has many who are willing to share the Gospel full time and I am humbled and honored that He called me to do it in the beautiful country of Guatemala. | | 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 AmazonSmile. | | | | | | | | |
