I know its been a while and I'm sorry about that!!!
Its been a busy month and I am so excited about what God is doing. This is going to be a longer post so bear with me please!!!
Here are some things that have been going on:
Mi Tesoro Especial Girls Home
Since I got here, our team has been praying about a ministry that we could involve ourselves in. We were looking for a childrens home/orphanage and we really wanted to find one that was run by Guatemalans. Our heart is to support the work of the local people here and raise up leaders here in Guatemala. After checking out some homes, talking to some folks, and praying, the Lord led us to Mi Tesoro Espcial (My Special Treasure). Mi Tesoro Especial is a girls home run by a christian Guatemalan couple who have 3 children of their own and felt led by the Lord to open up a home for adolescent girls. They rent a property in a town called Chimaltenango, which is about a 35-45 minute drive from where we live. Its not a huge space, but big enough for them for right now. Currently, they have 11 girls in the home, ages 10-17. Most have come from abusive homes, or had been living in the streets before they got to the home. 2 of the girls are there temporarily until January, then they will be transferred to another home as Mi Tesoro Especial can really only comfortably house 8. Currently, the home is only supported by an organization called Orphan Resources International. They provide staple food items once a month, and occasionaly help financially. Their other income is rent that the directors recieve from the house they own, and occasional one-time donations. Orphanges here do not recieve any support from the government. Needless to say, they still have some needs! Carol and Cesar (the directors, house parents, spiritaul leaders, care givers, cooks, etc....) have done an excellent job with these girls but are aware of the fact that help is needed. Last month, we met with Carol and Cesar and discussed some ideas we had about some ways we would like to serve them. I wish you could have seen the way their eyes lit up when we told them we wanted to work with them!
In January, we are going to start teaching English to the girls. This will help them in many ways...because they are teenagers, most are just a few years away from aging out of the system. The parents are committed to keeping them in the home as long as they need to be, however, learning English will help them get jobs (being bi-lingual can open many doors here and expand their choices).
They have a nice sized spaced in the back where we would like to help them plant and grow a vegetable garden. This way they could grow their own vegetables which should lhelp them with the cost of food.
We also want to do some jewelry making with the girls. We'd like them to learn how to do that on their own so they could sell it and help provide income for the home. We'd like to be able to provide ways for them to have opportunities to become self sufficient. Victoria (my roommate and partner in crime here!) have been looking at different ways to make cool jewelry with some recycled items. We've seen some pretty cool things, we just need to learn how to make them so we could teach the girls!! So if you have any ideas or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!! :)
Those projects are all for the new year. In the meantime, we wanted to get to know the girls and start building relationships with them. So, last week, we went to the girls home to have a "fun day" with them. We had a couple here from the States that were here on a missions trip and we took them along! It was a great day and we really got to know the girls and hear their stories!
Next month, we are going to have a Christmas party with them. We will be taking everything we need to make Christmas cookies and will bake and decorate with them and just continue to develop our relationships with them. We are hoping to have gifts for all of them as well.
I am so excited about working with these girls. I know God is going to do amazing things! I also believe working at the home is going to open some doors to work with the rest of the community. And those of you that know me well know my heart for community development!!!! So thats exciting!
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| Some of the girls during our fun day! |
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| Girls dormitory...a Canadian team came this past summer and built this for them...the girls painted the outside |
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| Bathroom and shower....there is one out here and one inside...for 11 girls!! |
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| Backyard area where we would like to build a garden |
MK Youth Group.....Now called "Outlanders Youth Group"
Working with the MK youth has been an incredible experience for me. The kids are great and alot of fun. One thing that I noticed and more so recently, is that although these kids are the children of missionaries, go to a christian school, and are inundated with christianity, no one (at least for a good percentage of them) is really ministering to them. For many of them, this is the only "youth group" they know, and I'm convinced that most of them, don't even fully understand that. Doing youth group here is so different than from what I know in the States, but God is giving me such a burden for these teens. As a team, we are trying to challenge them and most imprtantly, create an enviornment for them where they can have true, deep encounters with God. I believe that God is stirring something in these teens...I can see it and that makes me excited! This past weekend, they had a lock in that was sponsered by the school. Victoria and I were asked to be sponsers and unfortuanlaty we couldn't go and stay because we had to leave at 5am the next morning to minister somewhere else (more on that later). However, Vicotria was asked to give her testimony (early in the schedule, so we could go) and I went with her because I really wanted to go and pray with the students. She gave her testimony and a word of encouragement. She then asked who needed prayer and so many students raised their hands. It was such a privallage for me to be able to pray for them. My desire is that when they leave the field to go to college or to go back to the States, or wherever, that they can say...."I encountered God in Guatemala like never before!"
Visitors from the States
Last week, we had some guests come ans stay with us. Victoria has a friend from high school who wanted to come on a missions trip with her husband. They came specifially for the skate ministry since her husband is an avid skater. Last year, they had been praying for an oppurtunity for a trip, and thought....it would be even cooler if there was a ministry that had something to do with skating (they had no idea skate ministries existed!). The next day they recieved Victorias newletter which talked about Altitud (Altitude,the skate ministry John founded here). A year later, they came and were able to do some skate ministry themselves. It was an awesome time and we got to see God work in Josh and Rebecca's life while they were here.
During their stay, we went up to Coban (about 4 hours north) where it was cold!!!! I felt like I was in Chicago again!!! Ok, well it was only cold the first day! Anyway, there is a missionary that lives up there who started a skate ministry about a year ago. We were able to spend some time there. Josh shared his testimony with the skaters and Josh and Rebecca blessed one of the skaters with a brand new skateboard.
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| Josh sharing his testimony with the skaters |
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| Skaters who came up for prayer |
Ministry in Mazantenango
Yesterday, we had the oppurtunity to minister at a youth conference in Mazantenango. Mazantenango is about 3 hours away and close to the coast, so it was nice and hot!! :) The weather here can change from one city to the next because of the difference in altitude. I love living here!!
Anyhow, there were about 200 youth there from different Assemblies of God churches. During the first session, John conducted a workshop for the leaders and Victoria and I "tag teamed" a sermon. It was my first time preaching in spanish! God helped me! We spoke about being a witness for Christ, no matter the cost. Many times, we say "I would give my life for God if someone put a gun to my head" and that may be true, but are we willing to give up things in our daily life to be a witness for Christ. Are we willing to give up our time, relationships, our popularity? We challenged the youth at the end and many of them came to the front. We were able to pray with many teenagers and we were blessed by it. In the second session everyone stayed together. John preached a very powerful word and many students came up to recieve the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Its so exciting for me to see God move in the lives of teens!
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| Preaching the Word |
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| Victoria challenging the youth! |
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| Church we ministered at...has been under construction for 4 years |
Next week in Thanksgiving and I am looking forward to that......the day after....no black Friday here....just black sand....we are going to the beach!!! Thats right...be jealous!!! Now that wasn't very godly huh!!! Im just teasing!
God is doing incredible things here in Guatemala, every day. Not just through our ministries, but through ministries all over the country. These last 2 weeks I have gotten to hear about what God is doing in so many places throughout the country...from Coban to Xela.....from the countrysides to the inner city slums...God is moving!!!
Praise Reports
God has provided and I have a vehicle. Its a Honda CRV (or as my BFF Madelynn would say...a Cicely Rosario Vehicle) and she is great....its a girl and I still need a name....I'll take suggestions
It was really a blessing because it was in my price range, and the seller told me if anything went wrong withing the first month or so, he would fix it at no charge (thats unheard of here!!!!) God is good!!!
I'm so thankful for the way God is moving in the youth group here....
God has kept me safe......I have been close to shootings and I have seen car accidents that had we been there 5 minutes sooner, it would of been us! Thank God we were stopped by the traffic police (just routine stops..we didn't do anything wrong!) who kept us from getting there right when the accident happened...
God has shown himself to be my protector
Prayer Requests
Please continue to pray for our team (John, Dina, Victoria, and myself). Pray that God would lead us in everything we do and for continued safety
Our ministry at the girls home
Financial support...currently my support has dropped almost 30%...Please pray that God would provide in abundance!
Also, some of you may know that before I left, I had this abscess on my leg that became very painful and eventaully, I had to go to the ER, have an incession done to drain it...It was not big, but it was all very painful. Well, lately, I have seen signs of the same thing on the same leg.....I literallt lay hands on myself and pray that they don't grow to the point of me having to go to the hospital. Its worked! Now there is another one starting to come out. Theres no rhyme or reason to them, but apparently once you get one, you are prone to get them more....Please pray that they just stop coming up.
I know I say this in every email and blog, but thank you all sooo much for your prayers and support. I can't say it enough. I feel so incredibly blessed to have the support that I do! I love you all!
Pa Lante y Pal Cielo!!!
Cece
Support:
If you would like to make a donation in my name, you can send a check with Acct. # 2949329 written in the memo and send the check to
Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 North Boonville Ave
Springfield, MO 65802-1894
If you would like to become a monthly contributor please email me for furthur information
For automatic credit card withdrawal you can print off and fill out the form with my account number (2949329) on the website below… then send it to the AGWM address posted above.
http://ag.org/contributorservices_PDF/CRCDAUTH.pdf
Contact Me!!!
Here is my contact information
Email: cro1780@gmail
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=726036343
Skype Name: Cicely Rosario
Home Address:
9A Calle A 8-59 Casa 14 Condominio Las Mercedes
Zona 8 de Mixco CD. San Cristobal
Guatemala, C.A.
