We were spending the day with the kids at Casa Shalom, and Yuli mentioned how wonderful an avocado would be. They have this tree at the home that’s really old and huge and has some of the best avocados in the world. Some of the guys ran over and started climbing the tree in order to get some, and other guys brought a blanket which they used to catch them. They picked a LOT of avocados, and they were delicious!
They’re waaaaaaay up there!
December has been an incredibly exhausting month for us. It began with the surprise from immigration that I had to leave the country immediately. So I had to drive to Mexico. About a week before Christmas Yuli needed an emergency appendectomy. Thankfully the operation was successful and she has been recovering quickly.
Edwin and Jenifer came over to spend Christmas with us again, and we celebrated in the traditional Guatemalan way with lots of fireworks and great food.
On the 26th Yuli and I celebrated our 4th anniversary! We’re so grateful that God brought us together. It now seems like a long time ago as we think back to all the different challenges and issues surrounding our marriage and problems with visas, but God worked everything out just perfectly. Thank You, Lord!
December was especially difficult for us because we lost Elias. He’s been with us for two years, and we really miss him a lot. Please be praying for him as he now lives in Guatemala City!
We sure do celebrate a lot of birthdays… Here’s the third one for the week!
Celia and her family came over to celebrate her birthday with us today.
For a few years we’ve been praying about opening up a girl’s home in order to help girls like Celia and her sister Estela. In Guatemala most kids don’t have the opportunity to go to school past sixth grade. Celia just finished sixth, and her village doesn’t have any further opportunities. So we’re hoping, praying and planing to open a new home for them in January. Please be praying for us during this time and important decision.
Today Benjamin turned 25, and it was great to celebrate the day with him. It’s been great having him here with us these past two years and watching him grow!
Our baby is one! We’re so blessed to have little Margaret and it’s been amazing to see her beautiful smile everyday. Thank you, Lord, for giving us such an incredible daughter!
Next year we’re going to be hosting our very first team!
A church from Florida is planning to visit us in February, and they want to do an evangelical outreach. We’re really excited by the idea, and we feel like Celia’s village would be a great place. Her family goes to church near where they live, and we’re getting to know the pastor to see if we can partner with him in reaching out to the community.
Check out these paintings by Edwin & Martin!
The school year is wrapping up here, and all the English classes gave a presentation to show their parents what they’ve learned this year.
My students shared the verses that they have memorized and what the verses mean to them. I’ve really enjoyed working with them, and these last two months I’ve taken over as their full-time teacher. I think that they’ve learned a lot, but I pray that they’ve also really taken to heart our conversations about God and His will and plan for their lives. It’s been a great experience, and I hope that I can work with them again next year!
Yuli and I are getting older! We both have September birthdays, and it’s a blessing to be able to celebrate them together with our family. God has been so good to us!
Sidenote: I guess that I really like that gray sweatshirt!
After waiting for over a year, today we got our electricity connected!
Here they are installing (by hand!) the posts on our road.