All posts by Brent

Guatemala

Meet Margaret Sophia!

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We are so excited to announce the birth of our daughter Margaret Sophia!

She was born yesterday at 1:26 in the afternoon, weighs 7 pounds 8 ounces, and is 21 inches tall. Both mother and daughter are doing great.

We named her Margaret after my grandmother who has always been an incredible blessing throughout my life. She is an amazing woman who is full of love and is always busy serving others. Yuli’s sisters first recommended the name to us for our daughter because my grandmother had knitted scarves for them, and we loved it!

God is so great to give us this incredible gift. We pray that He would bless her life, guide us as new parents, and use her life to spread His love as well!

 

Guatemala

Earthquake

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Guatemala this morning. We were visiting Casa Shalom at the time, and fortunately everyone there was fine. The epicenter was about 95 miles away, and we could feel the ground shake for about a minute. This was the largest earthquake in Guatemala since 1976, and there have been 48 casualties in towns located closer to the center.

Guatemala

Elias Graduates

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Yesterday Elias graduated from high school! During the ceremony he had the opportunity to share his testimony about God’s help and blessings in his life. It was a great day celebrating his accomplishment!

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Guatemala, Month Review

October in Guatemala

Elias finished up his internship that he started in August. He was hopeful that they might offer him a full-time position, but it didn’t work out. We would appreciate your prayers as he now starts job hunting. Saturday is his graduation ceremony from high school, and they’ve asked him to share his testimony at the ceremony. He’s pretty nervous right now as he prepares for it!

Edwin and Jenifer are siblings who stayed with us for Christmas last year. On Sunday their older brother Hugo died of complications from pneumonia. He had several medical conditions that had progressively worsened over the years, and lately he had been constantly in and out of the hospital. The most beautiful thing about his testimony was that in the middle of all his problems and pains, he always talked to everyone about God’s goodness. Well now he’s in the presence of his good God and isn’t suffering anymore, and we give God praise for that.

Out of this sad time came a new beginning. Hugo had left the orphanage years before I arrived, and his death reunited many guys who grew up with him and are closer to my age. We had an INCREDIBLE time meeting them and getting to know them. It was like a big extended family reunion! The common feeling with everyone was “I miss this family. We need to get together more often!”

On Monday I got sick, and I wasn’t able to get together with them. They responded, “No problem, we’ll come to your house!” God helped me feel better in the evening when they arrived, and He really blessed our time together. I’m very excited about the new relationships! Yuli and I really enjoyed listening to each of them share their experiences after leaving the orphanage and learning about the challenges that they faced. Yuli invited them all back over again in a few weeks so that she could cook for them all, but I think that she forgot that she’s about to give birth! (God really blessed me with an incredible wife!) We would really appreciate your prayers that God would allow us to continue to build these new relationships, and that we can encourage each of them to continue to seek God as adult men.

At the end of September we poured our cement roof! It was a pretty massive undertaking, and it used about 150 sacks of cement (about 6 tons), 14 cubic meters each of sand and gravel (around 23 tons each!), and lots of water. Coming from the United States, it’s a little weird thinking about all that weight above your head. I put together a quick and very shaky video of the process if you’re interested. The last few weeks we stopped construction in order to let the roof fully dry, but now we’re back removing the wooden mold that held it all together. It looks good!

Our family is going to grow in size very soon! Yuli is less than a month away from giving birth to our little girl, and we can’t wait to meet her! We work with lots of kids, but not with many babies, so it’s going to be a huge change for us. We’re so excited to soon meet our little gift from God! Last week we took advantage of the break in construction and snuck away for a little vacation to relax for a few days. Pretty soon our lives are going to become a lot busier, and so the time was so needed and refreshing. The doctor says that our baby is doing well and already over 6 pounds, but she has her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck twice. Please pray for our baby during these final weeks of pregnancy and as we decide if a C-section is necessary.

Verse for October:

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18 (NIV)

Please pray this verse this month for all the kids and men that God has placed in our lives. Edwin and Jenifer are going through a time of sorrow. The guys who live with us are affected by the rejection of their mother. Many of the kids at the orphanage suffer from the abandonment and abuse and brokenness that brought them here. We so desire to be used by God as a conduit of His love and healing. Please pray for us!

Thank you so much for your support and prayers for Yuli, myself and our ministry with these guys. We pray that God also blesses your lives and draws you closer to Him. We pray regularly for you, so please let me know if you have any prayer requests!

Brent & Yuliza

Guatemala

A few new friends

A bunch of old Shalom guys wanted to hang out together, but I was feeling pretty sick and wasn’t up to driving over to see them. They responded, “No problem, we’ll come to your house!”

God helped me feel better, and He blessed our time together. A few of them left Casa Shalom before I got there, and so I’ve just been getting to know them now. I’m very excited about the new relationships! Please pray that God would allow us to continue to build our new friendships, and that I can encourage each of them to continue to seek God as adult men.

Guatemala

Less than a month to go!


Our baby’s almost here! We took a short vacation this week and visited a BEAUTIFUL volcanic lake about an hour and a half away from where we live. It was really refreshing to relax for a few days!

It’s crazy to think that in less than a month we’re going to be parents! We work with lots of kids, but not with many babies, so it’s going to be a huge change for us. We’re so excited to soon meet our little gift from God!

Construction, Guatemala

Pouring the Roof

We now have a roof on our house! It took a lot of preparations, but on Saturday we were finally able to pour our cement roof. Here’s a quick YouTube video of the process:

Now we get a little break from the work in order to wait for it to harden.

Guatemala

Elias’s Internship

Elias finished his classes and finals at the end of August, and now in September he has an internship with a company as part of the graduation requirements. He’s working at a company that sells and services computers, and he works in the service department. It’s really not too different from my first internship. We’ve visited him at the store, but I resisted the urge to embarrass him by taking his picture. We’re hoping and praying that this internship might result in a full-time job after he graduates in October!

Guatemala

Volcán de Fuego is Erupting

The volcano Fuego has started erupting and has forced about 33,000 people to evacuate. We live about 13 miles to the north of the volcano, but all the smoke and ash is being blown towards the south. Here’s a picture from Yahoo News which was taken from another town much closer to it:

It’s been cloudy today, so I haven’t been able to see it. But I did see a lot of smoke coming out of it yesterday when I was working on our house. Here’s a picture that I took of the view from Casa Shalom a few years ago. The volcano to the left is Agua, the double-humped one to the right is Acatenango, and the smaller, pointy one in the middle is Fuego. If you click on the image to open it up, you can see a little smoke coming out of it.