2013

It's been awhile since we've spoken. My fault. Life got so incredibly busy after we came home from the hospital that we had to make time just to breathe, and eat, and sleep. The long-awaited steel structure was finished in mid-November, praise goes to Jesus. We had crews out there every day and had to keep a tight watch on them to make sure things were done right, and for the most part, they were. So now we have this HUGE, red, totally out of place looking, covered soccer field?? sitting on our property out in the middle of a bunch of banana trees and mountains in this poor indigenous community. It is a strange sight indeed, but it is a beautiful reminder of the Lord's provision and faithfulness....and people come to our gate nonstop in the hope of finding a job with us.

We had to continue Mary Charis's respiratory therapy for a couple of weeks after we left the hospital which took up large amounts of our days. Once she was well enough, we took her to get her four month vaccinations. We had to go back to the dreaded place where she caught pneumonia the first time, and we asked the nice nurses to please give the vaccinations to her outside so we didn't have to bring her in where the sick people were. They were kind and understanding and came to our car to give them to her. So before we came to the States, we made them some peanut butter cookies to say thank you.

Baby has not been sick since and we are super thankful. We have learned the importance of frequent handwashing, sanitizing, and staying away from sick people.

Shortly after bragging to Geoffrey about not acquiring any new dog-children the whole year, we passed by a suffering dog being kicked to drag himself out of the street. He couldn't walk for both his back legs and hips were mangled. He was emmaciated to the point of death and suffered from fleas and mange and infections that were ravaging his body. So we stopped and scooped him and took him home. He is getting lots of physical therapy and we are hoping that upon our return to Guatemala he will be able to walk and we will find him a forever home. We named him Guapo which stands for beautiful, handsome boy :)

2013 was full of patient waiting upon the Lord, learning to find contentment through hardship, and reaping the blessings of loving on the poor. We continued our ministry at the dump and have plans to do lots more with them this next year.

 We continued sponsoring people living in extreme poverty like Henry and the family of four and many others.

 

 

 We sought out ways to build relationships and become genuine members of our community.

 

We shared Jesus with many people who came through our doors including lots of mormons and Julio and his wife who accepted Christ into their hearts for the first time. We made friendships with other missionaries living near us. And we gave birth to a beautiful blue-eyed Guatemalan girl.

 

 

We also completed a driveway thanks to a group of awesome people giving us access to the road from our property and were given an extremely beautiful sign that hangs on our front gate reading "Casa Gloria de Mision Vida Nueva".

 

 

And the grand finale was the completion of the steel structure.

We are ready to take in those orphaned, abandoned, abused, HIV, Street children, and child mothers that are waiting on us. Legally, all we lack is a home inspection. Physically though, we lack the rest of the home. What we need for 2014 are teams of flexible, generous, hard-working people that can come down and pour our foundation and frame the house. And more people who can come in and wire the house, lay the pipes, and do sheet rock. And more people who can come and paint and do the finishing touches. I want this 6400 square foot home to be ready to go by the end of this year. It's dreaming big....but we have a big God. We need the volunteers to help us because they help absorb some of the materials and labor cost. We need volunteers also because we know they know the value of this home and they will make sure to do it good and right. We need you to help us build Casa Gloria, and if you can't go....give! 

Everyone who wants to be a part of this can be a part of this.

One year from now, I will be sitting here writing how by God's grace and through His provision we were able to complete a very big task and how I can't wait to get back to Guatemala so we can get that home inspection done by the government and start bringing in those sweet babies and loving them in the way that God intended them to be loved. 



We love you all and for your generosity and prayers that are making an eternal impact on the lives of so many, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. May God bless you as you seek to bless Him!

Love,

 

Geoffrey, Jenna and Team Mision Vida Nueva

 

www.misionvidanueva.info 

 

 

May God be glorified and magnified in everything we do!