Do you realize that Christmas is only 208 days away?!? To be honest, we are not sure if time is dragging on or flying by! Nevertheless, as the days pass by we continue plans for the future. One of the ministries we are planning is our Christmas Festival. Last year we were not able to hold a festival due to COVID restrictions. Yet, with the help of your support we were able to give larger Christmas baskets along with a live chicken to each family. The baskets were full of staple food items as well as Christmas treats like, cookies, marsh-mallows and lollipops, all common Christmas food here in Guatemala.
This year we plan to continue our newfound tradition of giving large baskets and live chickens to each family. However, we think that this year we will also be able to hold our festival! The festival is very important to us because with every group we celebrate with, the Gospel is presented. We have seen many kids, mothers, Abuelitos, and our own workers come to Christ through the Christmas festival. During our celebration we have games, songs, food, and of course, presenting the Gospel by sharing the true meaning of Christmas.
If you would like to join us to make this Christmas a little more special for over 200 individuals, we need to raise $8,000. To help with this event, you can donate to our Compassion Ministries on our website. We would like to thank you beforehand, as we know you will be a big part of this year’s Christmas!
Construction at XEJUYU is really rolling along!
Plans are to begin first duplex in June.
"You don't have because you don't ask"
James 4:2 [NIV]
Ask Jesus to Fix Your Problems
In John 2:3 we can see Jesus manifesting his first miracle in a wedding; the wedding at Cana in Galilee. In Biblical times it was customary to offer wine to the guests of a wedding. This was also a sign of respect to the guest. But to be without wine or to run out of wine, it would have turned into chaos; a tragedy to the point of bringing shame to the hosts. We can see how Mary, being one of the guests, handled this situation the right way. Instead of blaming the hosts, she simply went to where she needed to go and brought the problem to Jesus saying, “they have no more wine” (v.3). It reminds me of a hymn that we used to sing so many years ago, “what a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.”
Jesus asked the servants to fill the jars with water and then to draw some and bring to the master of the banquet so he could try it. When he tried it, the Bible says that the water had turned into wine. Let’s highlight the fact that the miracle happened after they had obeyed Jesus and not before.
A married couple shared with me that for many years they had been arguing and fighting. This happened until one of them said, why don’t we pray? There are two main reasons why we pray: [1] It is our last resource instead of the first one because we like to think we are capable of fixing all of our problems; [2] because we feel unimportant and say “of course Mary went and talked Jesus, He was her son, but maybe Jesus has more important things to care for than my problems” which is not true. God cares for your problems! He delights in you when you ask him! Jesus says that God knows our needs (Matthew 6:8) but “you don’t have because you don’t ask” (James 4:2).
Jesus gets so happy when we ask him, just like a father gets happy when his son asks him for help. You are always very Important and significant to God, so ask Him for help, learn from Mary. Identify the problem, bring it to the feet of Jesus in prayer, do what he asks you to do, and then see how he handles your situation. Let Jesus fix your problems.
Reviewing building plans and making decisions
Friendly Reminders
- Please remember, when doing your online shopping you can find Impacto Ministry Inc. on Amazon Smile! Every little bit helps! We will also share our Impacto Amazon shopping here you would like to donate any of these items to our ministries we would be tremendously grateful.
- We are now scheduling teams for 2022! Yay! We think 2022 is the year of hope! We have seen so many families take a huge hit from COVID. It is crazy to think of all the blessings teams bring. One of the big ones that people do not notice is the number of jobs teams provide for many locals. If you had to cancel during COVID and would like to reschedule, please email Andrea at [email protected]. Hope to see many of you in 2022!
Above working on window in Abuelitos Building.
Below more decisions to be made
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36