Rebuilding

As Servants 4 Him has continued to establish herself as a bona fide ministry in Guatemala, there have been some hoops that we’ve had to jump through bureaucratically. The latest process has been filing the paperwork to become a formal and recognized Association. Once completed this designation will allow S4H to have a local bank account as well as own land.

The slowness of the process is not enjoyable at all. However, the process itself has forced us to reexamine our vision and further define our role here in Guatemala. One of the initial steps in the process is designating a name for our association. The caveat is that the name cannot be in use in any way in this country. (Servants for Him was already in use.)

Therefore, we have tossed around dozens of names and in so doing further honed our vision. This is not easy because we are a wide-ranging ministry. We do dental care, teach English, build homes for widows, serve in the city, serve in the country, conduct inductive Bible study sessions and a whole lot more.

What we have landed on, is that in every aspect of our ministry, we strive to lay a foundation. We work to connect lost people with the Savior who knows how to direct them. We take every opportunity to introduce them to the God of the Universe. And we desire to empower the local church to keep on doing this long after we have all gone.

We are laying foundations where there have never before been foundations and we are rebuilding the walls that have fallen into ruin. We are, as far as Guatemala is concerned, officially “Foundations 4 Generations”, although most everyone else will continue to know us as S4H. It’s not about the name, it’s about God further defining our vision as a ministry as He did for Isaiah:

“Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.” Isaiah 58:12 NLT

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Utiles

Because of the generous giving of so many of you, every year we get to distribute school supplies (utiles) to students in both Santiago Zamora and in El Tizate.

The school year starts in January here and this was our week to help prepare students to return to school…

Thanks for helping to make this possible!

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Hope for Guatemala

“I want to go to school.  Can you help me go to school, please?”  Every time I would visit El Tizate Paola would ask me if I could help her go to school.

Paola is one of eleven children in her family.  She will be 16 in February and really wants to go to school.  Her family is poor and they do not have the means to send her.  She wasn’t able to go this year and longs to return.

Alejandra

Alejandra, 14, is the eldest of seven children.  She had a scholarship (with another organization) but her sponsor was unable to continue to provide the monthly funds.  She dropped out 2 months short of completing the school year.

Today, because of faithful givers, we were able to sign up both girls for the new school year.  They will have new school uniforms and the supplies they need to start school in January.  Today we paid their inscription (enrollment fees/$30), January’s tuition ($31) and for their uniforms ($25)…$86 total for each girl.  Their costs for the rest of the year will be $31 monthly (plus some extra for special projects) about $300 for the year.  Can you imagine sending a child to a private school for $400 a year?  We can and we need your help to do it!

 

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¡Feliz Navidad!

Last night we had our team Christmas Party and it felt like family….without the excess baggage! We ate well, laughed loudly, prayed specifically and then played a raucous game of Greed (Yankee Swap, White Elephant…)

Our festive time together reminded each of us that God has  woven together a strong and competent Servants 4 Him team heading into 2012 and we are all expectant for him to great things both in and through us.

Our hope is that we would be like the shepherds in Luke 2. That we would listen, not be fearful, respond enthusiastically, seek out Jesus, and ultimately glorify God.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:20

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School Canceled in Zone 18

It is nothing for School to be canceled for one reason or another. No water, volcanic ash, teacher strike, demonstrations in the street, or the swine flue. This year there was a different reason school ended early in the community of Renacimiento. A gang from outside the community threatened to enter the school and take one of the children (for what reason we don’t know). The rival gang from inside the neighborhood showed up and prevented that from happening. A few shots were fired but no one was hurt. The event shook everyone up and the principle closed school for the final week.

The gangs are a sad reality in these communities. They demand store owners and residences to pay a protection tax. They fight over territory they can control. The incident last week was a fight over territory and it didn’t matter to them if it affected the school. At one of the schools where we work the teachers are extorted for the protection tax. Imagine what goes through the mind of these kids as they see these gang-bangers having power over their teachers. We thank God for the hope in Jesus Christ that has the power to keep these kids from being lured into the gangs.

Two children that are on the path to saying no to the gangs are the two we baptized Sunday. One of these is named Diana. Diana now 14 has been one of my students since 2nd grade. In the past months She has grown in her faith in Christ. She began working in the AWANA club and has become one of my most faithful leaders. So it was with much pride that I had the privilege to personally baptize her. Rejoice with us over the life of Diana and that in an ugly part of the city like Zone 18, Jesus Saves.

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¡Bienvenidos!

Welcome to Servants 4 Him’s brand new website. We think it is simpler, cleaner and easier for you to use. We’ve included necessary info like how to connect with the team or to give online. You will also find info for teams as well as some of the more minute details of our doctrinal statement and articles of incorporation.

We also will be blogging regularly here so that you can keep up with stories from the field. In fact, check out our first one from Dan below.

We don’t want a static site, but rather one that you’ll bookmark and then come back to time and again. We’ll keep the welcome mat out front and be sure to leave a light on for you.

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