February 2009 Newsletter

February 17, 2009

Dear Friends,

“Cock-a-doodle Doo”, the rooster crows the news that the sun is up and it is time to rise and shine. And a day in the mountains of Guatemala begins. As we have been sharing with people about our upcoming great adventure of ministering at the Home of Life and Nutrition in San Andres Guatemala, the most common question seems to be “What will you be doing there?” To be totally honest, we don’t know exactly because day to day life in Guatemala is ever changing and the proverb, “Blessed are the flexible” is applied daily. There is never a dull moment. We do however have a general idea what we will be doing and would like to share that with you.

Our main purpose in going is to encourage and uplift the national Directors of the home, Sebastian and Oralia, and to raise up the children in the home to love the Lord and to have a positive influence on their own people. We will be two extra sets of hands in the daily chores of caring for a family of 30+ children! Since we aren’t quite ready to take on the title of “Grandparents” (even though if we weren’t in denial we would admit that we are now old enough to be grandparents) we like to refer to ourselves as an Aunt and Uncle there to help. We will be doing some mentoring, tutoring, teaching life skills, and most importantly loving and nurturing the children! In addition, Norman will apply his “jack of all trades” skills in the upkeep and daily functioning of the home and Vickie will apply her accounting skills in working with the financial end of the ministry and also in managing the sponsorships for each child in the home.

Currently the orphanage is set up in a traditional format with all the kids together in one building with several rooms. It is a dream to set up the home in more of a family home setting with houses and house parents and a few children in each home. We are hoping to be a part of this dream coming to fruition. Also, right now once the kids turn 18 they can either be employed by the home or they move out and find a job. This can be very difficult. We would like to help the kids continue their education or become trained in a specific skill. We are also praying for better job opportunities in the area and whether God would want us to be a part of making this happen.

So these are the tasks and dreams before us as we prepare to head to language school the end of August. You are an integral part of this ministry through your prayer and financial support. The Lord has truly blessed us in the last couple months by raising up some wonderful ministry partners and we look forward to adding more partners to the Lord’s mission and also to being co-laborers with you in furthering the Lord’s kingdom! We only need a total of 50 people to give $50 per month and 10 people to give $100 per month (or a combination thereof). If you haven’t already done so, please pray and ask the Lord if He wants you to be a partner in this ministry.
Thank you and God bless!

~Praises~
-We have accepted an offer on our house and are waiting for final inspections to be completed.
-Our daughter Heather was accepted into Medical School.
-We have commitments for 12% of our monthly support.

~Prayer Requests~
-That our house passes inspection and the sale goes through without a problem and also that we find a good place to live in town.
-For final selection of language school and housing in Costa Rica.
-That the total monthly need of $3,500 will be raised in time for us to head to language school the end of August.