March 2019
Since our last update many new things have begun at the base. The construction of the 3 story addition began December 17 and we plan to have it completed by the end of June. The new structure will have 7 more dorm rooms, a living room area and a meeting room plus a 3 stall garage. This will make possible hosting two different schools at the same time as well as provide for staff that want to live on base.
2nd Floor construction of the base addition
In January we hosted a team from Minnesota who conducted a dental clinic and built a home for a local family. The family was given a piece of land from the wife’s father so they could move from the high risk area they were living in. It took the team only 4 days to build the home and a three tiered bunk bed for the children. We have a couple more homes that we will be building through our Homes of Hope ministry. If your church or group would like to be a part of this ministry by sending a team to build a home please contact us. There are many families that have lost their homes in the volcano eruption last June and it will take many years to replace all that was lost.
The dental clinic treated over 90 patients
The construction team and family of 5 that received the new home
Each week we conduct the Bible Distribution ministry and have opportunity to give a Bible to families that do not have one. We also can share the gospel and pray with families that have needs. It is a blessing to be able to meet the people and find out what they need and present that need to the Lord. Those who have Bibles are given literature that will help them grow in their relationship with the Lord. We have been able to purchase complete paperback Bibles for about $2 each. Cam Townsend was the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators that have their origin in Guatemala. Townsend said that the Bible is the best missionary and we want to do all we can to eliminate Bible poverty in our area.
This July we will be offering the Summer Spanish School and Outreach from July 8-August 3. The course will include 4 hours of Spanish each day Monday-Friday as well as Discipleship training during the first 3 weeks. The final week will feature and outreach to a community in Guatemala. Please check out our website information under the “Schools” link.
Bruce Ahlberg
En el mes de enero, tuvimos la oportunidad de hospedar a un grupo de misioneros que vinieron desde Minnesota. Algunos de ellos prestaron su servicio en el área dental y otros ayudaron en la construcción de una casa. También pudimos contar con el apoyo de una doctora salvadoreña y un equipo de doctores coreanos con técnicas orientales que prestaron servicio médico a los pacientes de la comunidad. Además, los pacientes tuvieron la oportunidad de pasar al cuarto de oración para que se les compartiera de la palabra de Dios y a que oraran por ellos.
Por la naturaleza de la clínica, a veces los pacientes tenían la necesidad de esperar su turno. Esto abrió la oportunidad para que se les predicara la palabra de Dios. Algunos recibieron oración y hubo una mamá con dos niñas con quienes yo pude hablar personalmente.
Le compartí el evangelio y las buenas nuevas y ella decidió orar para aceptar a Jesucristo como su Salvador y Señor Personal!
Susy de Ahlberg
More than 20 people accepted Christ during the dental clinic!
This year began with many challenges ahead, ministry plans and also things that God was speaking to me about what would be the next steps to take.
Every year in January for the past years, a dental and construction team always come and spend a week in our base to help in out ministries and also to reach out people through the dental area. I had the privilege to be part of this amazing team as a translator but this year I was Dr. Ed (the dentist in charge) assistant and at first didn’t seem much but I knew God was going to use me in ways I never imagined. So we saw almost 100 patients during that week and even though it was at some point exhausting, we reached a lot of people and people were saved thanks to the evangelism strategies of Loui and Anna (friends of the base).
Now February started and with it the DTS in which I am part of as Staff, and with it, we partner with the Guatemala City Base to run this DTS. We have been going back and forth to each base. One week we do it here in Antigua and the next one we do it in G City. It has been a great adventure with God and also a good experience to see God work through us and reach the students and I can’t wait to see all the things God has prepared for them and also how he will continue to show me the way to lead these students to grow into a deeper relationship with Him.
Este año comenzó con muchos retos, planes de ministerios y también las cosas que Dios está hablándome acerca de cuáles son los siguientes pasos a seguir.
Cada año, desde hace un par de años, en enero un equipo dental y de construcción siempre nos visitan y pasan una semana con nosotros para ayudarnos en los diferentes ministerios y también para alcanzar a las personas por medio del área dental. He tenido el privilegio de trabajar con este equipo increíble de personas como traductora pero este año fui la asistente de Dr Ed (el dentista a cargo) y al principio no pensé que era gran cosa lo que hacía pero en el fondo sabía que Dios iba a usarme en formas que nunca imaginé. Atendimos a casi 100 personas durante la semana y aún que hasta cierto punto era cansado, alcanzamos a muchas personas y otras fueron salvas gracias a las estrategias de evangelismo que Louis y Anna (amigos de la base) utilizaron.
Ahora que febrero empezó y con esto la EDE en donde soy parte como personal, y también nos asociamos con la base de la Ciudad de Guatemala para dirigir esta escuela. Hemos viajado una semana aquí en Antigua y otra allá en la ciudad. Ha sido una gran aventura con Dios y también una buena experiencia el ver a Dios trabajar por medio de nosotros y alcanzar a los estudiantes en muchas áreas. Estoy tan emocionada por ver todas las cosas que Él tiene preparadas para ellos y también cómo el va a continuar mostrándome la forma de liderar a estos estudiantes en un crecimiento en una relación más profunda con Dios.
Brenda Roldan
The first quarter of the year has turned out to be a busy one for us as this is the first time we have been part of staffing a DTS.
We enjoyed joining with the other YWAM bases of Guatemala for our Staff Conference in January and have had some continuation in the theme of collaboration because we are doing this DTS in conjunction with the DTS of the Guatemala City base. By the time it came close to the start of the school we saw that we had two students and they had three students and so decided to combine forces. The school is taking place across both locations, alternating which one we are spending time at each week.
Our other responsibilities largely continue however, with Francis still running the Finance Office which is continuing to encounter changes that need to be made to the way things are run to bring us in line with the systems used here (the base became a legal entity nationally last August). The website has now been updated (as you should be able to see by the fact that you are reading this on the new site), but still needs to have it’s pages duplicated into Spanish, and Francis is still involved in leading worship somewhat regularly. We finished up the Staff Manual with a meeting together in January as all the staff of the base so that everyone could be involved, and now that and a few other administrative document projects have been finished.
As a part of the DTS we are all running the kids’ ministry together so that the students get experience in running but also planning kids’ ministries. This will be good preparation for the things that we may need to do on Outreach (the location of which should be announced soon), but is also good so that we can continue that ministry here.
Since starting the school we have been both involved pretty full-time, which has been a big change since Andrea is usually largely focused on childcare. We have our two kids at the base with us during the DTS (including eating lunches and dinners with the students) but have been blessed to have a couple of volunteers serving at the base at this time who have been a fantastic help in sharing the childcare responsibilities, which has enabled us to be more involved in everything than we expected to be.
We look forward to continuing to be able to share how the school is going as the months continue.
Francis & Andrea Frizelle
Mom´s ministry continues to meet every week and praise the Lord for the opportunity we have to connect and cultivate a close relationship with God!!
Many of the moms we work with were preparing to send their children back to school in January and Mom´s ministry was able to provide back to school supplies for some of our families that are unable to get what is needed on their own.
Also, we continue to assist the volcano victims with food baskets, blankets, shoes and clothing!
Our heart is to see the Kingdom come in this city through community development!!
Renzo and Emma Lopez