Emergency Needs

Some emergency needs to share with you:

• Many of you know we have two additions to our family.  Mayra and Wendy was abandoned by their mother and have been living with us for five months now.  They do visit their mother on occasion (almost every Sunday afternoon for about 3 hours), but she does not want them to live with her.  We have been solely responsible for them during this time, and plan to continue as if they are our own.  With this being said, we have been trying to get passports and Visa's for the two of them so they can come home with us for a visit.  We have no one to leave them with for a month.  Plus, we don't want them to feel any more of the abandonment feeling.  Wendy has her passport, but we are still waiting on the birth certificate for Mayra to get her passport.  We have not proceeded with getting the Visa for Wendy because it would not be right without her sister.  Kim and I are having to make a hard decision this year; which is us both coming home at separate times.  I will come home first with Brayden and Brianna.  I will stay for 2-3 weeks only.  When I return, Kim will come home and stay for 3-4 weeks.  Brayden and Brianna will be in the States the entire time one of us are there.  We feel we have to do it this way because of one of us needing to be with Mayra and Wendy at all times.  What we need from you on this is 'Prayer'.  This will be difficult on us all.  We will still proceed the best we can in getting the passports and Visa's for the girls.

• Airfare is very expensive right now.  The cheapest tickets are around $800 each for the 4 of us.  Carlos Estrada is also working on his Visa and may be able to come for a visit during the month of November as well.  This would be yet another $800.  I can not afford to pay for us all to come home for the visit this year.  I am asking for anyone that feels led to help us out in this situation to contact me and let me know.  November is coming soon and plane tickets are continuing to rise.  If we do not get any help in this; I will send Kim, Brayden, and Brianna only.  I can't deprive them from seeing family.

• This year's school year is coming to an end in October.  The new school year will begin in January.  Kim and I are wanting to pull Mayra and Wendy out of the local public school and enroll them in the same private school as Brayden and Brianna.  We are wanting to do this for several reasons:  the public school system in Guatemala is not a very good or high education, they would be receiving the highest of education in our area, it is a bilingual private school (Spanish and English), they would have the same schedule and off days as Brayden and Brianna, it would cut down on travel back and forth, Brayden and Mayra would be in the same class and be able to help each other with homework and projects, etc.  It would cost us around $250 per month the have them in this school with our kids.  My parents help us out with our children so they receive this high education and English classes.  We need to know if there is anyone that knows Mayra and Wendy and would like to help us in this situation.  If not, we will have to enroll them in the same school as before.  Oh, and we are pulling them out of the sponsorship program for next year.  That is important for you to know as well.  It's not that we don't need the help with them, it's because of how others view them being in a sponsorship program and living full-time with us. 

Lies

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5)

The devil’s major weapon against you is deception!

Jesus prayed to the Father for us, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). The truth will always point you towards God. But Jesus said about Satan, “He is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Satan’s strategy is to distort the truth, just like he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden, even with Jesus in the desert. He wants to make you question God. He attacks you through your reason. God’s reminding you today: fill your mind with the truth of His word if you want to be able to combat the lies of the Devil.

Let There Be Light!

Kim, the kids, and I have been having major problems with our electricity since the first of July.  When I say major problems, I am talking we have been without electricity more than we have had electricity.  That means many things: no washing or drying clothes, no cooking, no ironing, no television, no charging laptops or cell phones, no coffee, no hot water, etc., etc., etc.  Try and imagine living your life for over 2 months without having any electricity.  It's been very trying and complicated to say the least.  Most of the things in life we take for granted use electricity.  After reflecting on this, I looked at the life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He was and still is the Light of the world.  Without that Light, we are hopeless and have no future.  The hour or so a day our family has electricity we are so excited and hopeful.  When it goes out our attitude changes.  We are not able to do many things.  The same goes for people in the world that does not have Jesus in their lives.  They are missing everything.  Each of us need to be that Light of Jesus Christ in and out of our homes so that others may see Jesus in us.  All people are attracted to Light!  If you are in a dark room, and the tiniest light breaks that darkness you are attracted to it.  Be the Light of Jesus Christ so that others may come to know Him!

2014 Opportunities to Serve

2014 Opportunities to Serve!

December 27 - January 3
March 22 - March 29
April 18 - April 25
May 29 - June 5
June 9 - June 16
June 19 - June 26
June 30 - July 7
July 10 - July 17
July 21 - July 28
September 5 - September 12

If you or your church is interested in a trip to serve in Guatemala in 2014, please contact us through email at: dkblopez@gmail.com

Cost for each person is $400.  This includes everything for your week-long trip with the exception of airfare and construction projects.

May Update

We would like to first of all apologize to all for not keeping everyone updated as we should.  We have been very busy, as always, and have placed our priorities in other areas than email and facebook.  I would like to now give everyone an update as to what is going on in the ministry and with our family at this moment.

Brayden and Brianna are both doing very well in their school.  They have a month and a half left until their winter break of 2 weeks.  This past Thursday the school had a special day to celebrate mothers.  Brayden was one of three students throughout the entire school to be asked to get up in front of the school and all the mothers and say something.  He recited a poem and did an amazing job.  Brayden is also still translating for Kim when she teaches childrens church once per month.  Kim is doing well, but now has extra work to do in the ministry.  A couple of months ago, I put her in charge of being the overall director for our feeding center program in San Cristobal El Bajo.  She has taken this responsibility over and continues to make great improvements to the Bible lessons and quality and quantity of food that is given to the people that come.  This is requiring a lot more of her time throughout the week and weekends.  I am also doing well, and continue to add to my work each week.  There really is no way we can list or tell you all everything that we do.

One month ago, our ministry purchased a piece of land in San Pedro Las Huertas.  We have been looking for land to buy for some time without any luck.  All the land in this area has been over priced and very small.  We finally found a piece of property that we fill will meet our future needs in the ministry here.  It was purchased for $10,385 cash.  This new land will be the future site of our ministry office, mission house, and youth group meetings.  We will build as the Lord provides for us to.  Nothing will be financed.  All construction will be done with cash money.

The beginning of this month, we hired another full time worker to our staff.  Jonathan will be in charge of getting our sponsored childrens school grades up.  The majority of our sponsored children had very bad grades for the first 8 weeks of school.  Jonathan is putting in place an after school program to help each child bring up their grades for the remainder of this school year.  We did not have the money in place to hire another staff member, but through our faith God will provide.

There is much more to share and I will soon.  I need to get back to work for now.  Please continue to be in prayer for our ministry.  God bless you all.

Buena Vista

This is Haley again. I’m just going to talk about why I’m here and what I’m doing here. I had never considered leaving my family for two months to go to some strange foreign country. But sometimes God plans are a little – or a lot – different than ours. It started out with mom seeing where Danny and Kim needed a little extra help over their facebook page. So I get a phone call one night and mom (semi-jokingly) tells me about this and asks if I want to go. The second she told me about it I was already mentally packing my things. The only thing standing between me and some sweet precious Guatemalan kids was my dad. My dad was so not agreeing. He was telling me it was too dangerous and he didn’t want me to be gone for that long. He also said he didn’t want me to go because of school. (Because he knows that I hate it and I don’t want to go back.) BUT the next Tuesday I was taking a check to pay for my tuition and it started snowing so my classes were cancelled. That gave me one week to convince my dad to let me come here. Clearly I won the battle but he’s still not very happy about it. Every time I call home he asks if he needs to come and get me. I think it’s because I’m his favorite child but that’s a different story. 

There are 52 kids in the Buena Vista Project. My main job here is to make sure that the kids and the people back home are communicating. SO SEND ME YOUR LETTERS AND PICTURES PEOPLE. I scan pictures and letters to send to everyone and Carlos has to translate for me because... well... I can’t translate Spanish! I’m also here to love on these kids as much as a possibly can. And trust me; I’m pretty good at that. I would literally take home all of these kids if I were able to. My mom may kill me for saying that but I would LOVE to have them all be part of the Garnett family and I’m sure that they would fit right in. 15 or 20 more kids won’t hurt, right?

Jeferson meets his sponsors!

Hola! This is Haley here, Danny and Kim put me to worth writing a blog. I’m new to this. I’ve never blogged in my life so please be patient. I’m going to tell you what I’ve experienced just from being here since Tuesday afternoon and I’m always going to tell you about Jeferson getting to meet his sponsors!!! Exciting right? I’ll start by telling you about Jeferson and his sponsors. Jeferson is a little boy who is ten years old and it’s sponsored by a couple and their son. (I didn’t get permission to write the sponsor’s name in this blog so they can just be anonymous for now!) Jeferson also has a smile like no other, he’s adorable! Anyway, so on Tuesday night me, Danny, and Vilma headed to town to pick up little Jeferson and take him to the mission house where his sponsors were staying. Naturally Jeferson is going to be a little nervous. We drive across town which took us about 40 minutes or so? Then when we finally arrive it was obvious how nervous Jeferson is. The family then took us on a tour of their mission house that they stay in and it was very very nice, very big also! I should have already mentioned that his sponsors were here on a mission trip, but they were with about 35 other people. So you can only imagine how nervous little Jeferson was standing around tons of people that he can’t understand. (Trust me; I know how confusing it is.) Around 7 or so walked down stairs to eat, and I being from the states didn’t think anything about eating Domino’s pizza. Jeferson was so excited about that pizza, that’s the first time he has ever had pizza. He ate at least five pieces of pizza and then got to take a box of pizza back home with him too! Right before we started to leave his sponsors brought out a ton of new clothes and a brand new bicycle. You should have seen Jeferson’s face! Priceless! He was so happy! He started hugging everyone. Then Jeferson passed out on the way home, hahaha! He was one happy/ tired little boy! I saw Jeferson today at the feeding center with his brand new bicycle. He’s so proud! Thank you to Jeferson’s sponsors for everything! He’s still smiling ear to ear.

 

Now I’m just going to share a little bit about my trip so far! I arrived around 12:30 Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday we visited some of the kids that the Buena Vista Project sponsors. By far some of the sweetest kids I have ever met in my life. From the second I laid eyes on them I knew that I was where God wanted me to be. I just want to take every single one of them home and let them live with me. If adoption was open over here I promise that I would have at least 82 new brothers and sisters. (Sorry mom). Everything here is so different but so simple and so beautiful. These kids can go days with little food and water and they’re still much happier than any kids I’ve ever met. My name here is hard to pronounce so it’s like they call me Heidi. It makes me smile every single time. Tuesday night is when I went to the mission house with Danny, Jeferson, and Vilma! Wednesday was a very laid back day! I got to meet Evelin, which is the little girl my parents sponsor, and she was absolutely adorable. So sweet! Greeted me with a hug and so did her brothers and sisters. (I almost just wrote hermano instead of brother, I guess it’s getting to me.) She looks so much like my adopted sister Yuri, who is also Guatemalan, that it’s scary! Thursday we worked at the office some of the day then I tagged along and went to the feeding center with Danny! I don’t know why our kids in the state aren't as sweet as these Guatemalan children. I absolutely loved getting all the hugs and kisses. People here are so welcoming. There were probably about 30 people in the feeding center, so Danny covered a bible story and then the kids ate. Friday night I went to the youth night and got to be around a lot of teenagers my age. I really enjoyed that. I forgot how much I liked being around people my age! Saturday morning we went to the feeding center and in to town for some groceries. So far one of my favorite things was the church service on Sunday morning. It was just a blessing for me to get to watch other people worship in another language. It's something I never thought I would get to do. I never really realized how good I have it at home until now. Being here with these families make you realize that you take a lot of things in your everyday life for granted. I’m just glad that I’m getting to be here and experience all of this. Prayers are always appreciated and I think Danny and Kim would agree! Please say a prayer for Kim and her family. She lost her grandmother Thursday morning. Oh, and Happy late Valentine’s Day. :)

A New Year

This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!

Our father continues to bless our ministry and I want to continue to give Him all the glory!  Our feeding center in San Cristobal El Bajo has kicked off its second year of running.  We are feeding people from our center in a small part of the village 6 days per week, providing vitamins each day, and teaching them the Word of God each day.  Our youth group has started back up meeting every Friday night.  We feed the teenagers a small dinner, play games, and teach them the Bible each week.  We have been ask by a large non-Christian organization to bring our youth groups together for a special event on January the 26th.  This will be a great opportunity for us to share the Gospel with other teens in the surrounding villages.  Our ministry has already had its first mission team for the 2013 year.  A group from Fairview Church of God, along with Becca Bentley from Georgia and Nathan Hampton from Kentucky, came to work through our ministry December 27th - January 3rd.  The team had 2 dentists that served the local people of San Pedro Las Huertas and San Cristobal El Bajo.  The team also built a house for a large family that has a very close relationship with our ministry.  We hired another full-time employee on faith that the Lord will provide.  We now have a full-time staff of 4 people, including our cook for the feeding center.  Our ministry took on a small family to assist the children in being able to go to school this year.  The family consists of Carmen (mother), Myra (12 years old), and Wendy (7 years old).  The two girls would not be able to go to school this year if we would not have stepped in to help.  Myra has missed two years of school for having to help her mother work to supply daily needs for them.  She will be entering the 3rd grade.  Wendy will be entering the 1st grade.  Our ministry has already found sponsors for these two young girls for $25 per month for the 2013 year.  This will provide the girls with school uniforms, shoes, school supplies, snack money, books, etc.  We will also be looking to help improve their home with construction projects.  Our children, Brayden and Brianna, will be starting school January 14th.  Brayden will be entering the 3rd grade, and Brianna kindergarten.

Thank you everyone for your continual prayers and support!  God bless!

An Eerie Tradition

Traditionally in Guatemala, on November 1^st, loved ones visit the graves of those who have passed from this world into the next. They decorate their ancestors’ tombs with flowers and candles and eat fiambre (simply described as a traditional dish, served cold, containing a large and varied assortment of pickled vegetables and meats). It’s the Day of the Dead, and in Santiago Sacatepéquez, a town not far from Antigua, the skies fill with a myriad of colorful, handmade kites. 

 

Preparation for the Day of the Dead celebration in Santiago Sacatepéquez begins forty days before November 1^st, when young people form groups and begin the construction of the kites. Traditionally, young men did most of the work, but today young women also make kites. Together, they discuss and select themes for the intricately designed kites. Themes may be political, religious or cultural and often draw on events from national news.

All kite materials used are natural. The glue is made from yucca flour mixed with pieces of lemon peel and water. Ropes used for kite strings are made from maguey, the same plant from which tequila alcohol is extracted. The tails of the kites are made from woven cloth. The frames of the smaller kites are made by weaving the stalks of castilla, a plant similar to wheat, which is farmed near Santiago. And the largest kite frames are made from bamboo gathered on the coast.

Prior to the Day of the Dead, on the last Sunday in October, the people of Santiago have a competition to determine the best kite. Kites are judged based on their colors, construction, designs, and topics. The townspeople usually show the greatest appreciation for kites involving the most intricate and difficult details and favor themes from ancestral Maya culture.

On November 1^st at 4 AM, the cemetery of Santiago Sacatepéquez begins to fill with families carrying floral wreaths and branches of flowers to the tombs of their deceased. While cleaning, repainting and adorning their family tombs, people chat with neighbors, fondly reminiscing about the deceased. They pray together by the tombs and share food with each other. Outside the cemetery, vendors sell special holiday treats and the ever-favorite atol de maíz (hot corn drink). The bells of the church chime to announce mass, and groups of young people, carrying kites as banners, begin arriving at the cemetery. They wait for a strong wind to raise their giant kites to the skies.

The tradition of flying kites in the cemeteries of Guatemala on the Day of the Dead dates back at least 111 years. During this special time of year, when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead is believed to be most porous, people attach hand-written messages to the tails of the kites. These messages are intended to reach the heavenly spirits when the kites ascend to the sky, letting them know that they are wanted and guiding them on their journey from heaven to earth. The kites test the winds and signal the spirits until four in the afternoon, when they are lowered and families gather at home to await the arrival of the souls.

At 4 AM on November 2^nd, the townspeople begin moving back towards the cemetery with candles in their hands so the spirits who have been with them all night can return home. As the holiday winds down, smaller children demolish their kites as a signal to the spirits that their earthly visit is over and that they must now return to heaven. The giant kites, which have stayed in good shape, are raised to the air one final time. It is believed that the oldest spirits are the last to leave and the giant kites help lead them back to heaven. Later the kites are burned inside the cemetery in hope that the rising smoke will guide any vagabond spirits back to heaven.

October Update

Our children, Brayden and Brianna, are finishing up their last days of school for the year.  This week they have had final exams.  Next week will be practice each day for their end of the year program.  Their program will be October the 15th.  After that, they have summer break until January.  In January, Brianna will be entering kindergarten at Colegio Boston in Ciudad Vieja and Brayden will be entering the 3rd grade at Colegio Kayala in San Pedro Las Huertas.

Our family is looking forward to the visit home to Alabama in November.  All of us are very excited to see family and friends.  We are also looking forward to visiting with several different churches and pastors to share about the ministry here in Guatemala.  I will be in Alabama from November 1st through November 30th.  Kim, Brayden, and Brianna will be in Alabama from November 1st through December 13th.  I have to be back because of obligations with the youth camp and VBS with it being summer break here in Guatemala for the kids.

Our ministry has big plans for the new year.  We are continuing our Feeding Center program in San Cristobal El Bajo.  We plan to make the program even better this next year and have quarterly big activities.  Our youth group has grown tremendously over the past year.  So much that we had to split the group into two nights per week.  Our 12-14 year olds now meet every Thursday night and our 15-18 year olds meet on every Friday night.  We are planning to have even more big activities throughout the next year, and are planning to plug the group into the local church even more.  We will have 2 church services this next year that will be led by the youth.  There are so many new plans for this coming year that I cannot list all of them on here right now.  We plan to share most of the new plans at churches when we visit Alabama in November.

Broke Down

Our truck is broke down.  This past Monday, as I was on my way to the Tabitha House in Guatemala City, my truck broke down on the side of the road in San Lucas, Sacatepequez.  I had to have a wrecker pick it up and take it back to San Pedro for me.  The camshaft is broken in two pieces.  There are some other parts that are also broken.  I am searching for some used parts and hopefully will have it up and running by next week.  We had to call off youth group last night.  The teens that come on Thursday nights are between the ages of 12 and 14.  It is too dangerous for them to walk home at night.  We thought it best to just call it off for this week.  I am still trying to decide about the youth group for tonight.  They are all wanting to come really bad, but I think it is too dangerous for them as well.  They are between the ages of 15 and 18.  I am using my motorcycle to drive back and forth around Antigua and to the City for now.  Everything is going fine with that, I just can´t take the help that usually goes with me each week.  Please be in prayer that the truck will be fixed soon.  It is a crucial part of our ministry work each week.  It is used to carry people back and forth to church on Sundays, for the youth on Thursdays and Fridays, and for Tabitha House and Esteban House in the City on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Thanks for the prayers and have a blessed weekend!

September Update

It’s coming on the end of September.  The rain is heavy and long each day now as the rainy season is coming to an end as well.  Brayden and Brianna are finishing up school with only one month left in this school year.  Kim and I have been looking at some different options for Brayden for the new school year which starts in January.  The private school that they both attend is a very good school and it is bilingual, but it is also very expensive.  We are looking at some other private school options for him to attend next year that are about half the cost where he has attended the past two years.  Brianna still needs a bilingual school.  So we will send her another year to the same private bilingual school.

We are all ready for our visit home to Alabama in November.  We have had a busy year and are ready for a break and to see family and friends.  During our trip home in November we will be sharing at several churches.  We are not going to overbook ourselves as we did last year as we shared at ten different churches in a four week time period.  This year we plan to share at four or five churches and to get to spend a little more time visiting with family.  We will also be working on raising the needed support for another year in the field. 

Our ministry has many needs as it continues to grow.  We are in need of a 12 or 15 passenger van.  We have $8,500 saved so far towards this ministry expense.  We are looking at a goal of between $10,000 and $15,000 to get us the dependable van we are looking for.  This ministry van will be used every week to pick up and drop off families in our Sunday bus route.  Currently, we are using our pick-up truck to haul passengers back and forth.  It will also be used each week to pick up and drop off teenagers on Thursday and Friday nights.  Again, we are currently using our truck and making multiple trips on these nights for our youth group.  The ministry van would also be used to help the church when they need to make group trips to Guatemala City for conferences and association activities.  In addition, it would be used for all mission teams that come and visit from the States.  This would save us money in the long run with not having to rent a van each time a group comes to visit.

Our ministry is also in need of land to purchase for a future missions compound.  We are currently renting two houses to meet our needs.  Our vision is to purchase a piece of property large enough to build a mission team house, missionary family house, fellowship/dining hall (to be used for the youth to meet as well), and a work shed.  The first plan is to buy the land and then start building one thing at a time as the funds are available. 

We are very thankful for all those who partner with us financially.  You are the ones that pay our bills.  You send our kids to school, put food on our table, put fuel in our truck, support many families and provide improvements to many homes, and much more.  We know that without your help none of this would be possible.  In order for us to be able to continue to live in Guatemala as missionaries we need your continual support.  We need churches, families, and individuals to partner with us on a monthly basis.