Dear friends, mission partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,
Recently, a few of us went out evangelizing again in the barrio closest to the church. Please pray for several people who heard the Gospel that night.
The kids at the school are catching on fairly well with English, and there are several opportunities for evangelizing to the staff, students and the parents. There are plans for a new bible study which would be held there at the school. I had a meeting with the director and there will be some teachers and students attending. But I also intentionally throw in Bible for english lessons sometimes. Pray for all of that and for Trinity who is in Malaysia serving now for a while.
In Hato Mayor, right now there is a rotation of preachers from churches we fellowship with for Sunday mornings. There are several the Lord has raised up in a few churches we know of, and they have been very gracious and helpful to us. They are coming in to help as I step back a bit from the leading pastoral role there.
This also allows me the necessary time to focus on some other very important areas, like my personal physical and spiritual health, the family´s and other needs, and future ministry plans. If He wills and as He leads of course. We are still present, supporting, serving and helping in many other ways.
Others are stepping up and assuming responsibilities. Brother Carlos has really stepped up and is leading meetings and the evangelism. It is good to see that the core, is very united and committed to the continued growth of the church. Praise the Lord for that and the work he is doing in Carlos.
So we will be on a sort of ¨in country/on the field furlough¨ at least until we get Yeison’s visa. We are due for a break, some tell us way overdue for a break, but our situation with Yeison is very unique and unfortunately hinders us from all being able to travel as a family together. So limiting some things we do for a while gives us a chance to get some much needed rest and to pray for and tend to so many other things that have unfortunately been unintentionally thrown on the back burner.
Some of you who have supported and followed from the beginning may remember when we got here and hit the ground running with pastor Jose and the three churches there , because I already spoke the language. Those who have followed us know we have stayed pretty busy, many times too busy for our own good. More than a handful of well meaning brothers and sisters have told us to slow down for a while.
In fact, we hit the ground running in 2012 since we were familiar with the culture, after many prior visits and our established relationship with Pastor Jose and the churches in and near Esperanza. But all that running hard over time takes it´s toll,…. has taken. This August will be seven years on the mission field by God´s grace. Many of you know how in the beginning we came here with almost nothing and very little support. The Lord has sustained and blessed us beyond what we imagined over and over again through the years.
But just as many enlisted soldiers serve for 4-6 year deployments , missionaries very similarly usually come home on furlough between extended times on the mission field. This is for several reasons. For their health, (spiritual, mental, physical,) for their longevity on the field, for much needed rest and healing and encouraging.
And usually, even when on furlough in the states, a missionary must often work hard reporting to churches and supporters, fundraising for much needed support for family and ministry needs. Which usually means much traveling for necessary speaking engagements (whether it be preaching, reporting, teaching,) which is expensive and an added financial strain. It can be exhausting and stressful traveling with children and constantly living out of a suitcase, and many times literally only trusting the Lord to provide a vehicle or place to stay.
Our little budget doesn’t cover all of it. As a matter of fact we need to get back soon to do some fundraising. We still need new mission partners to be able to continue the work. There is still much we want to do, to help ESPECIALLY in the area of coming alongside and making available help and resources for men called to the ministry. We still need funds for projects, an emergency fund (currently non existent) etc. For this to happen, we need more churches and individuals, willing to partner with this mission. Please pray about giving or sharing the needs here with others.
We certainly pray and need more than ever more prayer and support during this time of attempted rest, spiritual recharging, and honestly some healing. We still have many needs, our family´s, as well as the church. We want to continue supporting in every way possible, and we have some special individual cases of brothers and sisters with special needs we wish to continue helping with. There are no shortage of those here.
The christian life is very much an intense battle, every christian must fight and knows it. But be sure that the battle is fiercest for the minister and those closest to him.- unknown
Please continue to pray for Yeison’s visa to be approved. Please also pray for us as we will be switching very soon, (Lord willing) to Christian Missionary Clearinghouse which a ministry that helps independent missionaries like us for a very very small fee and they presently help hundreds of missionaries like us. We have been told to be patient since this is a very busy time of year for them.
Please be aware but do not worry, we will be emailing everyone immediately as the switch takes place officially so that your donations can be sent to the new address.
The same tax write offs will be available to donors and the processing of checks should be much quicker and smoother.
Our paypal account for online giving, you can reach on our website and still functioning the same for quick online giving or one time gifts. There should also be a click and give button on the website of Christian Missionary Clearinghouse for us as well once we have officially switched.
We do apologize for any inconveniences this may cause, and we are eternally grateful for Romeo and the support and love they have showed and continued towards our family. They will always be a very special group of brothers and sisters to us, especially since the Lord saved us there, I was ordained there and we were commissioned out of there. Pray for Romeo, Pray for Pastor Rob, pray for our family, pray for the church here . Pray.
Praying and hearing updates is such a blessing to our ears. Although there will always be needs, we pray for grace and mercy upon the mission fields.
We are so grateful for all that you do Brothers and Sisters!!
By God’s love and prayers, we pray for all your needs to be Met.
Lord Willing,
Brother and Sister Guajardo