The Wedding Day

Over half of the students at the institute are single. The lady they choose for their wife is crucial. We care about them so much! Besides having a happy life, we want them to live out the purpose God has for them. Their partner in life will be their partner in ministry too. We want them to have God's very best for their lives. We feel the same about the young ladies in our youth group. It's stressful at times watching all of these relationships unfold!

All of us on a boat tour last month. We might have teased them a little bit for sitting together!

Angelina was the cook at the farm and now is a student. We love her! She is such a hard worker and has a genuinely sweet spirit. Sometimes it is really hard to get to know people when they become part of the institute and I have to really work in the beginning at building a friendship with them. She wasn't like that. It's so easy talking with her. It's a delight! She has always been a comfort to me.

 Giovanni is a second year student. He was voted Best Christian Character by his peers last year. He is the fourth from the right, holding his plaque. We were excited for them both when they shared their intentions of getting married with us!

 They were married legally at the courthouse on the last Wednesday in February

The day of their civil wedding.

and then their church wedding was the following Sunday. All of the students helped prepare for the ceremony. I thought it was sweet that even the guys helped!

 

Hilda and Bonnie spent lots of time helping me build flowers!

Angelina was a beautiful bride!

Angelina with her parents

Both of their families were there to celebrate with them.

We were honored they wanted to have the ceremony at the church here. Giovani is not originally from Petén, so his family had to travel a ways.

  

Jimmy performed the ceremony. It was all beautiful! In a culture that pressures girls to start living with the first guy that gives them any attention, these two followed God's plan. They waited and honored God with their decisions. I feel like He is blessing them for it. We wanted to celebrate that!

 Afterwards Angelina's family had prepared caldo for everyone.

That part was a lot of fun! 
We just love them and can't wait to see what God had planned for them! The next semester started the following Tuesday. Pray for them as they continue with their studies and as they begin their life together!

My Baby Girl is 6!

This year we decided to have Eden's party with her friends at school. It is common here to have parties during the school day.

  She has a wonderful teacher, Maestra Norma. This is Eden's second year in her class. The assistant teacher is wonderful too. I never posted this on the blog but Eden finished K-5, first in her class. I think that has a lot to do with having such a great, patient teacher!

She wanted a baby doll theme this year of course, she LOVES baby dolls. She picked out every detail. She is very opinionated... and I like that so far, haha!

Invitations

We played lots of baby doll games. There were prizes so I don't think the boys in her class minded too much!

 I love this picture of Titus. He was determined to get a seat next to Eden. Once everyone started eating he kept sneaking snacks off all of her friends' plates!

Eden with her best friend, Emily

Eden's teacher told her that she could wear a party dress that day instead of her uniform since it was her birthday! She must know Eden very well!!

 

  

Eden wanted a baby doll cake with pink ruffles! 

 I'm just so thankful Eden has the opportunity to go to this school with these sweet ladies as her teachers. It has helped her so much with her Spanish (I think she speaks better than her brothers, but don't tell them;)

The party was on the day before her birthday since her actually birthday was the first day of the next semester at the farm and both Jimmy and I had a class that day. I thought it was sweet for Jimmy to come too. He and Eden have a very close bond! Since the next day was her birthday we had a little celebration that night in Santa Elena, at Pizza Hut with more of her friends that don't go to her school. We are very blessed to have so many sweet people in our kids' lives. 

I think the girl was thoroughly celebrated! 

For her birthday present from us, Jimmy and I made her some beds for her Barbie dolls. It was so much fun!

I am so thankful that God gave us a daughter. She is an absolute delight, just like her name means! I hope we stay close to each other and even more importantly that she stays close to God. 

 

This photo was from the day back in August when she put her faith in Jesus for herself!  

 Then she was baptized in October. So this was a big year for her! We are so thankful for God's great care for our little girl!

We'll Find Out When We Get There...

That's what Gerson told his friend Alfonso on their long trip to the institute to come study last year. Alfonso wanted to know exactly what they would be studying. Gerson's dad, who is a pastor, wanted him to come so Gerson invited Alfonso to come too. That's how he ended up here. 

Night church services are tough because people have to walk so far and thieves break into their houses if they know they left for church, but we really wanted our church family (Iglesia Bautista Ak' Yuam) to have fellowship with each other during the week, something besides just Sunday morning. We have a youth service on Wednesday but we wanted something family oriented. So, this past Thursday was the first house church services. We had 5 families volunteer to host in the 2 villages next to the farm. 5 second year students will rotate to a different house each Thursday to facilitate a service.

Friday during class I asked the students how it went as I knew they had put a lot of work into it. They immediately lit up! (As soon as new "first year" students arrive the now "second year" students gain much more confidence and get a whole lot more talkative, haha!) Alfonso started sharing about his house church experience. One of the men who attended his service had not ever been to our church. He put his faith in Christ that night. The man said, "I have never heard this message before!" 

This is exactly a year after Alfonso himself put his faith in Christ during his first week of classes at the institute. He was right where God wanted him to be! He finished his first year with the highest grades overall. He has also killed more snakes on the property than any other student! (if you don't count the 15 baby pit vipers Gerson killed in one day...)

 I wish you both spoke the same language and he could tell you himself because this is his story and he was super excited! This is the whole purpose of the institute. I am so grateful to God for bringing Alfonso to the institute to hear and then for putting in him the desire to tell others!

The Most Difficult Part

This time of year is the hardest for me in the area of faith. I feel like we have so much control over other things... things once students arrive and even a little bit once they graduate. Jimmy and I both like having control, it makes us feel safe. Let's say it's an area where we are growing! But the temporary confidence we have from feeling in-control is not as durable as the peace that comes because of faith. What is obvious that we have zero control over is bringing student to the institute. That is all 100% a work the Holy Spirit does in the hearts of the ones He has chosen to use to reach the rest of Petén. 

First day of the last semester of the year

 The existing students have done an excellent job sharing about the institute. A current Kekchi student's personal experience goes much further than a foreigner's word. They have done lots of live announcements in Petén and Alta Verapaz and then recorded radio announcements for stations that reach different places around both departments. 

Celebrating the cook's (who's also our friend;) birthday

 Our goal, which we feel we can handle well as teachers is 15 new students each year. Several men have called in and Jimmy has been able to talk to 13 men personally that have reserved their spot. 3 of them have families with kids. The semester starts in January and we have seen in the past as soon as someone says they are moving their entire family to go study at the farm they start being attacked. Anything the devil will do to discourage, bring doubt, or distract, he will do.

Celebrating October birthdays

 I wanted to share some of the conversations Jimmy has had with these future students:

One asked several times exactly what he would be learning at the institute. Jimmy said that after he finished he would know how to study the Bible for himself to be able to find the answers to any of his questions. He replied, "Good, because I don't understand the Bible and I want to be able to read a Bible verse and know what it means for myself."

Another said today after calling again to confirm, "I want you to know this isn't a decision my wife and I made today based on a radio announcement, it was born in our hearts 8 months ago to be a pastor."

God laughs at our radio announcements! We have no control. This isn't our institute. We didn't come up with it, it was God. We didn't provide for it or protect it... all God. It's His possession. Please pray for these 13 men, the 3 wives, 4 children (under age 4) and any others He is calling. We'll be here waiting!

Rodrigo sharing his testimony

Rodrigo, a first year student spoke for the first time in youth group 2 weeks ago. He shared his personal testimony. He said, "I was so glad when I came here and learned that Salvation is for everyone and that it's for forever."

Our First Annual Singing Competition

One of the students at the institute took the initiative to plan a singing competition. It what such a great idea and turned out to be a lot of fun! 

 

It brought many people onto the property that I think would normally be too shy to come.

 This was an outreach of our youth group. Our heart is to build relationships with people, especially teens, who do not know Jesus Christ. 

 

Besides, the messages in the songs, they did such a good job sharing the truth of Jesus Christ before they would even start singing. I was so proud of their God given boldness and clarity!

There's my Momma! She was with us for this event!

Jimmy and I got to be some of the judges. It was very difficult! 

I was shocked by the poise and confidence that many of them had. It made the competition a very tight one!

 

Jimmy did a great job MC'ing and announcing the winners!

 

There was a finals round where the top 3 competed with new songs. Then we had trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place!

 It was so well received that we have decided to make this an annual event for our youth group!

 It was a very memorable night!

Our Ministry Overview Video

Last December/January a very talented couple from our home church in Wichita, KS came to Petén to put a ministry video together for us.

This was unexpected and such a beautiful gift! We are more than thrilled with how they told our story and what we believe God put in our hearts for the work here.

We were saving it to share with churches on our furlough back in March, but then I forgot to post it on here once we got back in April. So now it has its own page and you can watch it here if you would like!

 

We enjoyed having Jonah and Grace here and celebrating New Years with them! We had our traditional fondue/game night for New Years Eve, so they will forever be a part of our family memories.