“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in his love, He will joy over thee with singing.” --Zephaniah 3:17
Praise the Lord brothers and sisters in Christ for His faithfulness, power and love!!
October 10, 2016: Over the past 18 months, we have experienced everything in this scripture and much more, as the Lord has expanded the scope of the mission He gave us in Guatemala for the very poorest of the poor. Back then, God called us to work with a church in a village of 220 families (500 children and 400 adults), which is adjacent to the Zacapa city garbage dump. It was a very clear calling from the Lord, and we have been honored to work with Iglesia Shalom Jireh ever since. We are the only missionaries in that village, and we work very closely with Pastor Rolando Cruz and his family to show God’s love and help meet the needs of the people.
Through the church, we are helping to run discipleship classes, youth meetings, children’s Sunday School, Bible studies, hot breakfast program for school children, and a women’s sewing group. Tom is also on the praise and worship team playing bass guitar.
Zacapa is now in it’s fourth year of drought, and the consequences have become very serious. The water table has dropped dramatically, and many water wells need to be dug deeper or moved to other locations. In this extremely hot desert climate, it is a death sentence for many in our village of Conevisa. They have been without their well since April, and they must go to the contaminated Zacapa river for all needs related to water. Currently we are working to raise funds to dig a new well and purchase a new well pump.
Many of the people in Conevisa, including children, work in the Zacapa city garbage dump next to their village. They labor 6 days a week in the scorching hot sun, searching through trash for recyclables. The local sanitation company pays them just 8 quetzales a day (a little more than a dollar). Children who work there do not attend school, and most of the villagers do not know how to read and write. There is also a severe lack of work for farm hands due to failed crops that have resulted from the drought. So our latest project is to help families start small businesses in the town and surrounding areas. For just $200 to $300, we can help families open a tienda (convenience store); sell refrigerated or frozen food; make empanadas, tortillas, or corn on the
cob to sell on the streets. We are especially focusing our attention on single mothers with several children to feed. Many of these precious women have escaped abuse by men in the mountain villages above our town. Imagine escaping abuse in an extremely poor mountain village, to go live in a garbage dump!! Their circumstances break our hearts.
Our mission house playground is coming along well, and we are still raising funds to pay back a loan we took to build it. It has a high cement block wall and metal bars for security, because of the dangers of kidnappings in our area. We are bringing the children of Conevisa to our playground in small groups for Bible studies, reading lessons, lunch and playtime. God has done many miracles in presenting this idea to us and allowing us to build a secure place for the children to play and to learn about Jesus. We also have an awning covering the play area because there is not one place for children to play in all of Zacapa that is shaded from the hot sun and temperatures of 100 to 120 degrees!
God is doing so much more than we can say in these few paragraphs. Still, as you can imagine, this has been absolutely the most difficult 18 months of our ministry. We began building the mission house in 2011, after incorporating as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2010. We are continuing to raise funds so that we can complete the second floor of the mission house, which will enable us to open our doors as a crisis pregnancy center. Please pray for all of these needs, plus the very difficult financial situation of the mission at this time. We honestly have no idea how we will continue our work in 2017 due to lack of finances. But we know that God gave us this calling and He is faithful to continue the work that is so close to His heart.
Please see our website -- www.lifeofpromise.org for more information and photos. Would you prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible donation on our website or by mail? Thank you so much for your prayers, your financial support and your love for the beautiful people of Guatemala. Many are coming to Christ because of your prayers and the love that you share with them through giving. God bless you and your families with His peace, joy and strength.
In Christ,
Tom and Arlene
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