Our Friend, Manuel

Recently we had a family that saw the need for our friend and ministry partner, Manuel, to have his own transportation.  They sent enough money for us to purchase him a brand new motorcycle.  I took Manuel to look for motorcycles in Antigua, and we bought a new Yamaha 125!  Manuel was so overtaken by this.  He is 30 years old and has never had his own transportation. 

Manuel doesn't have work very often.  He does side jobs doing construction or carpentry when they are available.  He works for the local church we are a part of here in San Pedro as the song leader and occasionally preaches.  He does much outreach work and home visits through the church, but doesn't receive a dime for his work and long hours.  Because of recent visitors that saw first hand the heart and passion that Manuel has for the lost, we are now able to support Manuel with $150 per month.  I would like to up this amount.  I would like for Manuel to be supported 100% through our ministry.  He then would be able to continue working and giving his time to the church and towards outreach.  He would also be able to continue helping us with missions teams and with many of the different ministries we are involved with.  Right now, Manuel goes with me to serve at ministries I am involved with that are outside of the local church and what he is familiar with.  Manuel, is a true servant of God.

I will bless those who bless you,
Genesis 12:3

"Let the Little Children Come to Me"

I must be very careful on the wording and the entry of this blog.  Many of the situations we see and hear about everyday amongst the Guatemalan people are so horrid that we cannot describe and do not need to.  However, I would like to share with you about an extreme need among many of the children we minister to each week.

We have 2 children that we minister with each week that have been kidnapped by their father 3 times in the past 2 months.  The mother has had to search for the children in another country through relatives of her separated husband.  When she finds the children she then has to steal them back and cross the border through the mountains illegally.  The reason she must do this illegally is because her children do not exist to the government.  The reason that she believes he is kidnapping them is to sale them on the black market because they do not have papers.

We have a vision to start a new program in our ministry to assist families on getting papers for their children, and help them to be able to attend school.  Many of the children we see daily are not able to go to school.  They do not have the simple papers, or birth certificates, that are required by both public and private schools here in Guatemala.  For whatever reason when the child was born, the parent(s) did not register the child.  Therefore, the common title these children are labeled with is "They do not exist".

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."      Matthew 19:14

Be watching our future newsletters for the opportunity to help little children such as these.  We have to work hard to put this assisting ministry into place before the beginning of the new school year in January.  Be in constant prayer for the lives of these unknown children and the will of God to be done.