Our Girls

We have the privilege of continuing to work with these wonderful girls. Karla’s been with us for the past 7 years and turned 18 in June! She is a junior in high school and is studying computer programming. Ana is 20 now and has been part of our family for 6 years. She is also a junior and is studying business administration. Mary is 21 and has been with us for 3 years. She is studying to be a preschool teacher, and she is also a junior. And Liseth came to live with us two years ago and is 18 years old. She is also a junior and is studying business administration. Last year she had an exciting year to be able to reconnect with her father for the first time in over 10 years. And since then she has been able to meet a sister, cousin and other family members which she has enjoyed greatly. She is our busiest girl and recently opened a taco shop in our town.
Schools have continued to be shut down because of the pandemic this year, with all the girls connecting to virtual classes everyday. In August the government reopened the schools, and our girls are very excited to finally be back in school after two and a half years!
Celia and Sandra came back to live with us this year in order to be closer to their jobs. Celia started to live with us 9 years ago and Sandra 5 years ago. Both graduated high school and had moved back to their homes which are in small villages. They came back to live with us for about 6 months this year for job opportunities in our town.

Welcome Anelcy!

Last month we were delighted to receive a new girl named Anelcy into our home. She’s 19 years old and is incredibly sweet and shy. We’ve known her since she was 10, and she’s quickly become part of our family. Isabella’s first question in the morning is now, “Where’s Anelcy?” as she loves to be with her. We are excited to see what God has in store for Anelcy in the future.

Welcome Nathaly!

Nathaly is a 18 year old senior in high school who we started supporting. She has been living with her mother and needed help with her final year of school. She will be graduating in October with a nursing degree. For most of the year she has been studying from home but with schools reopening this month, she’s come to live with us as her mother lives 2 hours away from the school.

Construction

In April we broke ground on construction of a new building beside our house. It is a two-bedroom apartment that will provide much needed space as our family continues to grow! Apart from our girls we have had missionary interns living with us and often have another 3 to 4 visitors staying with us on the weekends which means that even our couches are being used for beds.

The apartment is a cement block structure with a flat cement roof as is typical in Guatemala. This style makes it easy to expand the house in the future by adding onto the sides and on top of it. The foundation and the walls were built in May and June, and the cement roof was poured in July. This month we’ve been finishing the walls and floors. We hope to complete everything by October. 

As for how we’ll use it, in the beginning we’ll probably start to use the space for overflow as our house gets so full. But we would like to use it for girls who have finished school and are working to have more independence from all of the high schoolers in our house. We have also thought about using it for guys  as we haven’t had the space for them. Mostly right now we’re praying that God would lead the right young adults to us that need a place to stay and whom we can make a great impact in their lives.

This year has also been challenging because we’ve faced consistent problems with receiving enough water at our house. When we first bought the land it was just a small piece of a large cornfield, but now the farm has been all split up into different properties and turned into a big and busy neighborhood. The result is that there’s not enough water pipes for everyone. Our dirt roads are also now in the process of getting paved, and we have to walk about a quarter mile from our house to get to where we can park our car.

Mission Teams

One of the most exciting things this year has been seeing lots of the restrictions due to the pandemic be lifted in the country. And this has reopened the country to missionaries and mission teams. This summer we’ve had two interns come down from our church to live with us. Celia came for a month, and Emily has been with us for over 4 months. They have been a huge help to Yuliza and me with all the constant craziness of our home and ministries. They’ve been building relationships with our girls and leading devotions in our house. Emily returns home in early September, and we’re all going to miss her greatly.

Another new opportunity this year has been helping to translate for mission teams that have been visiting Guatemala this year to work with the organization “Filter of Hope”. They partner with local churches in Guatemala and bring small portable water filters to families that don’t have access to clean water. Along with the water filter they also evangelize to the family and try to connect them to the local church. It has been wonderful to work alongside them as translators, and it’s been great to get our girls involved.  Karla now is able to go with a group of Americans and do all of the translation back and forth between English and Spanish. Even Margaret has enjoyed going to the homes and being part of the ministry. 

I especially love to be involved in ministries like this because they give our girls opportunities to serve others, and these experiences show them how blessed we all are. I’ve seen how many children coming out of orphanages have very low self-esteem and feel lost and forgotten in this poor country. These opportunities show them how much God has taken care of them, and it gives them the opportunity to serve others and share their testimonies about what God has done in their lives. Even for me, it has been great to be a witness and to evangelize to so many families. It has helped me to grow in boldness in sharing my faith.

DBO Ministries

We continue to partner with DBO ministries in reaching out to our community of the poor and homeless in Chimaltenango through feeding programs, kids activities and Bible studies. The ministry was started about 9 years ago from a desire to reach out to shoe shiners, street vendors, homeless and street children in our town. Sunday mornings we pass out 100 breakfasts in the central park of our town. We use the opportunity to get to know people, pray for their needs, and help them. Monday nights we have dinner and a Bible study together. It has become more and more of a family night together as we love one another just as Christ Jesus loved us. 

This summer we’ve been reading through the gospel of John together, and I have a deep passion to help each person seek the Lord in their personal lives. Our girls lead Bible studies with the kids and teens while I’m sharing with the adults. Our group continues to grow and we’ve have about 50 attend each week. It’s also been great to see Margaret become great friends with the other kids that come. She’s such a sweet girl who loves making new friends with the children that come.

Our girls are also involved with a kids club meeting on Saturday mornings where they lead Bible studies, play games and eat breakfast together with the kids. Emily and I held a weekly workshop in the month of June to teach all of the volunteers how to better share the gospel and their personal testimonies. DBO ministries is much better than I am with updating Facebook with pictures and news about all of the different activities that are going on, which can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/dboministeriosgt

Thank You!

It’s such a privilege to be able to serve in Guatemala. My first trip to this beautiful country was over 21 years ago, and it feels like home! We can’t imagine doing anything else. I apologize for taking almost a year in writing this letter, but I’m grateful for your continued prayers and support for us! 

This year has honestly been the busiest one yet as we homeschool, take care of all of our girls in our full house, build the new expansion, work with DBO ministries, serve on the board of directors at Los Gozosos orphanage, and translate for the teams that visit. It can seem like a lot at times, but we’re so blessed to be able to serve here in Guatemala. God has been so incredibly good to us, and we hope to make as big of an impact as possible for His Kingdom and glory.

Margaret is finishing third grade, and she has found a love of reading about history. She is always working on a new art project, and she loves making new friends. Isabella is a very energetic and happy three year old! She’s very social and loves having lots of people in our house. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your continued support for us!

God bless,

Brent, Yuliza, Margaret & Isabella

Prayer Requests

• That Anelcy would feel secure in her position in our family, and for her decision about what she would like to study next year.

• For Nathaly as she graduates in October, that she would follow the Lord’s will for her life as she prepares for what’s next.

• That we would be able to finish the new apartment soon and for the finances as prices continue to rise.

• That the apartment would be a great blessing to some new young adults that need a little assistance in their lives.

• That we would figure out what to do about our water shortage.