Guatemala Update #3: Thanksgivings

Since my last update we have been keeping very busy here at Operation Jabez. We are constantly being reminded that here in Guatemala, there’s never a dull moment!
We’ve had at least 9-10 seminars since the last update, teaching mainly Why Evangelism is Important, How to lead someone to the Lord, How to Share your Testimony and Divine Healing. We’ve been blessed with very receptive students who love hearing what we have to say and plus everyone gets copies of everything we teach so they won’t forget. And we get to go to some really cool churches- in the countryside, by the beach, on top of mountains, there is no where we don’t go!


Other than having seminars we have gone into 2 schools to teach the teachers how to do Children’s ministry. As part of the lesson we give each teacher a CD with over 500 Bible Lessons from levels kindergarten to adults and a CD with kid’s songs. The teachers love getting this stuff because they don’t often get a lot of material to work with and they love participating in our model class and getting to act like the kids!


Other than going out, we also host events here in our home. A week and a half ago we joined up with Casa de Refugio (a rehab centre for drug and alcohol addicts) and hosted a breakfast at our house for some of the prostitutes who work in the area. We had 16 prostitutes show up and we fed them a hearty Guatemalan breakfast (Tamales- which are usually only served at special occasions), there was a message and then we prayed for them. They were given paper and pens to write down any prayer requests they might have and we found out that 2 of them are pregnant and quite a few of them want to get out of this lifestyle. They all left with huge smiles on their faces.

Another event that we hosted here was this past Wednesday ( the 3rd) and we invited people from 2 or 3 churches who were interested in learning how to make puppets. We were blessed by the visit of Carol’s good friend Annie who came from the States to help us out with this day and with many other things! And get this, we figured we had enough supplies here to make about 5 puppets, so we invited one person from each of these churches so they could learn and go back and teach others how to make the puppets. Well…we had 14 people show up and we were able to make…14 puppets!! By the grace of God all our materials multiplied and everyone got to make a puppet!! And the people who came loved it!! Not only did they get to make a puppet but they got to keep the pattern and they got a CD with puppet shows and songs recorded on it and a few scripts for other puppet shows. Oh yeah…and it is all free.


Also this past week, Annie and I started teaching English classes at Casa Samuel. At first the kids weren’t too sure why we were there, but they enjoyed participating anyways. At one point one of the boys said “why are we doing this all English?” So I had to tell him. But they love playing the games and learning new songs and new English words, and then showing you the next time how much they remember. And then today, I received 2 new students, who are in their 20’s and who want to learn English, so I will be teaching them and our cook Irsa as well!! It’s amazing how God is really enlarging my territory, just like Jabez’s prayer.

October 1st is Children’s Day here in Guatemala and it is a VERY big deal. All the kids get presents and piñatas. So on the Saturday before we had a really big kids program held at Fe Viva World Missions with over 200 kids coming from around the neighbourhood. There were songs and dances and a puppet skit and 3 piñatas! Plus all the kids got a tostada, cake and juice as a snack.
As for other holidays, this past weekend was Thanksgiving and I was invited by my Fe Viva family for an entire thanksgiving meal! There was turkey, scalloped potatoes, stuffing, asparagus, peas, carrots, salad, fruit salad, jell-O and PUMPKIN PIE!! The food was absolutely delicious and we had an amazing time of fellowship afterward- well mainly because we all ate so much we couldn’t get up! It was a huge blessing!

And last Friday Carol treated all her Operation Jabez workers to a day at the beach. We were really blessed to have beautiful weather and everyone stayed safe in the ocean. So I guess we’re not all work here…

In lieu of this festive season, I just wanted to thank you all again for your prayers and for reading my updates. I love being able to recap everything that’s going on and going back through pictures…I hope you enjoy them too!

Dios les bendiga!!

P.S 76 Days until Christmas!