2015 Year in Review (abbreviated version)

We have had so many responsibilities and several major challenges this past year.  So please forgive us for only giving a brief overview for now.  God is so good in the midst of all the hardships we go through, and we will be writing more when time allows.  For now here is a snapshot of what the Lord has allowed us to accomplish in the past year.  In 2015 we spent 10 months in Guatemala, with just a brief visit to the U.S. for Christmas.  Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  As always, you are in our prayers.  

2015 Praise Reports

• Early in 2015, the Lord directed us to begin construction of a playground on the vacant lot next to the mission house (owned by the ministry).  The purpose will be to bring children who live and work in the Zacapa city garbage dump to our mission.  We plan to give the children Bible lessons, reading lessons, lunch and play time.  It will provide a very special way for us to connect with the most needy kids and teach them about the Lord’s love for them.  
• We have made new connections with the poorest neighborhoods in Zacapa.  We are thankful that the Lord has provided opportunities to minister to extremely poor families, single mothers, and children in Conevisa (behind garbage dump), Puente Blanco and Pueblo Modelo.  We have also joined the church in Conevisa.  Working alongside the Pastor and his family has allowed our ministry to be more effective, and more capable of reaching those in the most need.  This includes helping single mothers establish small businesses in order to generate their own income.  
• Life of Promise held mobile medical clinics for the first time in 2015!  As we welcomed a team of student doctors from Midwestern University, the Lord put all of the many details together.  We were able to treat more than 200 patients in two of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Zacapa.  
• Guatemala was thrown into political and social unrest back in March of 2015 when the story broke that President Molina and Vice President Baldetti were the ring leaders of a huge money-laundering scheme.  The people began holding weekly demonstrations at the Presidential Palace to protest against decades of political corruption.  More than 700 churches throughout the country joined in prayer for their nation, and God moved mightily.  The results:  Molina and Baldetti were sent to jail, the leading candidate in the presidential race (a corrupt politician backed by druglords) sunk in the polls and eventually dropped out of the race, and an evangelical Christian, non-establishment candidate won the election!  These events were true miracles never heard of in Central American countries.  

Prayer Requests for 2016 

• Guatemala is entering the fourth year of a major drought.  Most corn, bean and rice crops have failed, so there is no work for the men who have supported their families as farm laborers.  The drought is affecting most of the people we serve in the poorest areas of Zacapa.  Please pray for an end to this debilitating drought that is causing malnutrition and many deaths.  Children under 5 are dying at an alarming rate.  
• Hospitals all over Guatemala are severely lacking in supplies and food due to the political corruption and money-laundering schemes by government officials.  Many are dying without access to basic medical care.  People come to our mission daily asking for medicines and requesting that we fill prescriptions or pay for private medical testing.  We help when we can, but the real need is for the medical infrastructure to be greatly bolstered and brought back to a basic level.  
• Please pray that we are able to prepare our house in PA for sale, and also that the Lord provides a buyer for our home.  
• Please pray for finances for Life of Promise Ministries.  We are asking for the Lord to move on the hearts of individuals and church leaders to partner with us in helping the most desperate and afflicted in Guatemala.  Needs include funding to build a secure playground (walled in for the safety of the children);  funding to install windows, steel security bars and doors on the second floor of the mission house;  and funding to finish the second floor.