YWAM Antigua December 2017 Update

 Merry Christmas! 

The voluntary missionaries (VMs) with YWAM Antigua wish each of you the best from God during this special time of year.  It has been a remarkable year for our base and we are grateful to the Lord for the provision for the vision he has given our base.  I asked the VMs to write about some of their experience doing their ministries and what God has been doing in them as well.  Enjoy reading their comments and please continue to pray for us as we pursue God's call on our lives and ministries.

Angela Carey

Every week we go to a neighboring community and distribute bibles.  Some days it feels routine and I catch myself wondering how much good comes of this.  A couple weeks ago we went to a house with 2 sisters living there with their kids and their mom.  One of the sisters’ husband is in prison serving a 28+ year sentence.  They struggle to find work, have no money to feed their kids and the water in the neighborhood has been off for 2 months due to problems with the wells.  We were not only able to sit and listen and pray with this family but we were able to bring them food the next week and connect them with a local pastor who will follow up with them and assist however he can.  This last week we were able to sit with another lady who was overwhelmed with life.  We listened and we prayed with her and her kids.  Sometimes just taking that time with people means the world to them.  If it’s helping provide food or simply sitting with a family who is hurting and offering them comfort and support, it’s worth it.  If those are the only families whose lives are touched by this ministry, it’s worth it.  It’s worth every door knocked on, every bible given, every prayer offered to help one person in need.  

 

Emma and Renzo Garcia

We have implemented a new activity with the moms during our time of ministry with them. Each week after the Bible study, the women split into groups to prepare a presentation or skit that summarize what they have learned. And this has been quite fruitful because the women get very involved in planning what to present. We have even seen some women come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior after these lessons and activities and it’s evident that what they are hearing about is taking root in their heart.

Susy Ahlberg

God has been showing me how sovereign He is regarding Bible Distribution.  I have been distributing Spanish Bibles in Ciudad Vieja and in the towns around it for about 3 years.  This has always been a great opportunity to spread the Good News in every household.  According to my perspective, our Bible Distribution Ministry was limited to delivering Spanish Bibles to these communities in Guatemala.  However, today, I will have the privilege to deliver an Arabic Bible in El Salvador!  God has AMAZING plans beyond Guatemala for Bible Distribution!  

 About two weeks ago, I unexpectedly received an email from a dear friend who lives in the United States.  She told me that a friend of hers was trying to find a contact in El Salvador to be able to mail an Arabic Bible to a person in El Salvador who had requested it.  My friend, knowing that I am from El Salvador requested my help.  Knowing that the mailing system is not very reliable, I suggested to my friend that it will be better to find someone who would be willing to bring the Bible down from the United States or either El Salvador or Guatemala.  Using Facebook, I was able to find a precious YWAM couple who was traveling down to El Salvador from California the following week.  My friend´s friend bought the bible online and had it shipped to their home.  The bible needed to get there within 7 days before 5 p.m.  When the bible was bought, there was not an option to expedite the shipment and there was no way to know the estimated day/time of arrival in California.  Well, the day came when the couple was leaving their home to travel to a hotel closer to the airport because they had an early flight the following day.  We continued to pray.  I got a message from them at around 4:15 p.m. (California time) telling me that the Bible hadn´t arrived yet.  They mentioned that they had received their mail for that day, and no Bible.  They would probably have to travel to El Salvador without the Bible.  We started to message back and forth about other alternatives to get the Bible down to El Salvador.  Thirty minutes later they sent me a message telling me that the Bible had arrived!  They had a strong feeling that they needed to wait a little bit longer, so they were able to bring the Bible down to El Salvador.  

 

Since I had already planned a time for vacation in El Salvador, I am now here with the Bible.  I do not have an email address or a phone number of the person who requested it.  I only have a name and an address. I do not know the end  of this story, but I do know that God is spreading His Love, Truth, and Word to the world.  So, it is amazing to see His supernatural ways to orchestrate the spread of His Word! God has been showing me how sovereign He is regarding Bible Distribution! 

 

Bruce Ahlberg

Whenever we go on Bible distribution we never know who we will meet or what will happen.  We go making ourselves available to God to use us to bring his Word to people, pray for them, share the gospel and encourage them in their relationship with the Lord.    One family we met recently was in a financial crises as they had a lot of debt and were forced to sell their home and move into a home made of metal and a dirt floor.  The mom of the family poured out her heart to us and we prayed for her.  Afterward she expressed gratitude to our group for taking the time to visit her and encourage her. 

Another family we visited had two children who were so excited when her mom told her that "Gringos" were at the door!  They had never met a "Gringo" in person and they were happy to finally meet one.  The mom worked at a Retreat center and has met many missionaries from the USA whom she spoke very highly of.  I think we left a good impression with her children.

Another new thing God is doing at the YWAM Antigua base is the development of a Mobile Medical Mission.  We have Voluntary Missionaries with medical training and have connected with a Mobile Medical Mission in Costa Rica that is going to help us get started.  Donations are coming in and we are soliciting help with many of the medical instruments we will need to launch this ministry.

Another ministry that has blessed me is our visits to the dump in El Tejar.  We connected with a pastor who does some ministry there and he has helped us get into the dump for ministry.  We recently did a program for the children who come with their parents while they look for recyclable goods they can sell and get some income for the family.  The children according to the pastor don't get ministry like we gave them and they really enjoyed themselves.  We also gave out some food to each person and for many it was a true blessing.

When you make yourself available and go to the people, God opens the door for his love to flow through and impact people's lives!

 

Brenda Roldán

Han pasado 4 meses desde que comencé en JUCUM y hasta ahora, Dios me ha mostrado tanto de lo que él me ha dado. Como he estado a cargo del departamento de limpieza de la base, cuando hice un recorrido por las áreas y de qué tan limpias estaban, noté que muchas cosas solo se hacían por encima, no se limpiaba a profundidad y las instrucciones no eran muy claras, así que desarrollé un sistema de limpieza para cada área de 4 pasos fáciles de seguir totalmente bilingüe con imágenes como guía, los materiales a utilizar e hice un inventario de lo que ya teníamos para no volverlo a comprar. Se etiquetó todo lo que se utiliza el área en dónde se guardan y se capacitó a todo el personal para que pudieran saber cuál era el sistema que se aplicaría, los materiales y así tener un mejor control.

 

Además, con ayuda de algunos miembros del personal fuimos de bodega en bodega revisando todo lo que había y organizamos todo. Se limpiaron completamente las áreas y al sacar todo, se encontraron materiales para ministerios dispersos por todos lados, las herramientas del mismo modo y todo se colocó en cajas con etiquetas de qué contiene cada una.

 

 Y el área de la despensa de la cocina quedó como nueva. Al ver todo lo que se tenía guardado, se encontraron cosas que no pertenecían allí, así que se etiquetó cada espacio para colocar todos los víveres y poder tener un mejor control y evitarse problemas con animalitos no deseados.

 

Siento que el estar en un ambiente ordenado en donde todos sepan qué hay y a dónde pertenece, es una herramienta indispensable cuando se trabajan con un número grande y multicultural de personas.

 

Me siento muy satisfecha de todo en lo que Dios me está utilizando y yo se que aún falta mucho más y todo lo que está por venir, lo espero con ansias. 

 Joe and Karin Bedford

We always try to do a variety of kinds of ministries when we go on outreach with the students of our Discipleship Training School. But I love to see the students themselves are creative and plan their own ministry ideas. We were planning to go to the Plaza Mayor to evangelize. One of the students suggested that the girls could paint fingernails and talk and pray with women. So the girls had some good conversions there. And a couple of the guys would talk with their husbands and boy friends. It was a great idea.

Another day, we went to do a program with 100 children. We were all ready with songs, stories, games and crafts. When we got there, the leader of ministry told us the plan. We thought we already knew the plan, but apparently not. Our new role in the program was to do a couple of skits. But we only had half our team with us, since the other half had been invited to do another program. What now? Time for flexibility and creativity. We modified one of our skits and made up another one in a matter of minutes. It went great and had a super message for the children. It is so cool when the Holy Spirit helps us to touch peoples lives and lets us be His blessings to others. At the same time, we all learn more of God's love and power and wisdom.

Our desire is to bring God's love and salvation everywhere we go and see hearts change, and nations, too.

David & Juli Voncannon 

Since the last base newsletter, our life & ministry has experienced quite the rollercoaster with plenty of ups and downs. This year, we have been in charge of the DTS where we have had the privilege of working with 13 students (6 nations represented!) between our 2 schools. Over this last quarter, our fall DTS completed the lecture phase portion of the DTS before launching out to Huehuetengango, Guatemala and Bluefields, Nicaragua for the outreach portion. Unfortunately for us, we were not able to go along with our students on the outreach as David’s dad suffered a stroke and was in need of temporary in home care. So, with only a few days remaining in the lecture phase, David had to leave for the States, while Juli temporarily stayed back with our 3 children. Juli was later able to join David in Houston right before Thanksgiving, their favorite US Holiday. Though we are still in Houston with David’s dad, the DTS has had a very successful outreach and will soon graduate on the 22^nd of December. We are very proud of our students and look forward to seeing how God will continue to use them to shine His light all over the world!

Throughout this time, God has been teaching us a lot about trust, letting go, and letting Him use us in ways that we had never expected before. During our time in the States with David’s dad, David has had the honor of ministering to his dad by daily serving him practically around the house and getting him to all of his appointments. As a result, his dad has expressed interest in God for the first time in many years and has even gone with David to church a few times. His dad also continues to show marked improvement in his recovery process and as a result, we are expecting to be able to return to Guatemala in February 2018. We have learned in this time that though things do not always work out as we planned, they certainly do all work out for his glory.

Something really fun about our time that we have had in the States is that for the first time in the lives of our children, we got to see snow. Being that we are in Houston, Texas right now, having it snow like it did was a complete miracle! What makes it even more incredible for us was that both of our boys had prayed all year to see snow THIS YEAR. We originally had no plans to come to the States this year, but God saw things differently and responded to our boy’s prayers with an incredible display of snow! We just love how does things to captivate our hearts, even when the circumstance did not begin in a way that we would prefer.

Eder & Carolina Quiacain

Mateo 18:13

Entonces dijo: —Les digo la verdad, a menos que se aparten de sus pecados y se vuelvan como niños, nunca entrarán en el reino del cielo. 

Este versiculo me recordo estos niños en el basurero donde realizamos un ministerio esta semana.

No importando el entorno de la suciedad o los malos olores ellos en su mundo de niño eran felices.Y me puso a pensar de la basura que el enemigo quiere traer en nuestra vida, o quiere que seamos parte de la basura pero no es nuestro destino,. Porque nosotros debemos de estar enfocados en nuestra vida conectada a nuestro Dios, y nuestra identidad como hijos del Rey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DTS Outreach December 3-9

On Sunday we went on Captain Robert’s boat the El Bluff, an island about an hour away. At El Bluff we helped a church with the children’s ministry and preaching. There were about 15 adults and 30 children at the service. Half of our group helped out with a seminar for 2 days at Verbo church. There were 20 adults there both days. The seminar was on prayer and listening to the voice of God. The other half of our group went to the park for evangelism. On the first day they talked to 11 people and prayed for 10 of them. On the second day they prayed for 12 of the 15 people they talked to. We visited a children’s home in Bluefields were most of the children were familiar from church. There were 14 children. We spent the morning with them playing games , singing songs, and talking. After that we invited people in the neighbourhood to a church service we were having the following Sunday. One of the nights we had a movie night at the base. 9 youth came from a local youth group. We had a feeding program for children at the local fast food restaurant Tip Top. We got to ride the bus with the kids, play games, eat, and dance with them. There were 170 kids in total. In the evening we had a youth group with 12 teenagers and we got to pray for each one one on one.

DTS Outreach to Nicaragua Update

Tuesday 11/21/17-11/26/17

This week we visited the rock quarry and initiated conversations with people working there. We also helped them by working and breaking rocks alongside them. Many received us well and we had pleasant conversations with them all. We all left feeling tired and admiring the quarry workers for their hard work.

We also had the privileged of creating & leading a VBS at Verbo Church titled “Adventures in Missions.” Each day we created a scavenger hunt that held clues, obstacle courses and a fun lesson for the kids. We hoped the kids would have fun but would ultimately learn that God wants to partner with each one of us to accomplish his mission on earth. Each day after VBS was complete we helped serve the children in the comedor. The team was able to positively engage with the kids and be a blessing to them.

We were able to visit Captain Robert & his boat which is used for medical missions in the neighboring communities. We prayed for him & the boat, that God would bless him and continue to use him & the boat for the expansion of the Kingdom.

We also participated in Bible distribution. It was an encouraging time as most people invited us into their homes to pray for them and their families.

We also were able to lead youth group at Verbo which included games & ice breakers. The kids were shy initially but were able to open up and connect with the team via the games. Vanessa shared her testimony and William shared about overcoming insecurities with God. The youth were very attentive and we were able to pray for them.

Here are the stats for the ministry we did last week:

Sunday, Nov 19

Verbo, childrens church

taught and prayed with 30 children

Afternoon, visited Revival Tabernacle Church

Monday, Nov 20 - free day. 

Tues, Nov 21

Piedredra, rock quarry

prayed for 13 persons

Afternoon, VBS prep

Wed, Nov 22

VBS, Iglesia Verbo, 72 children

afternoon, talking with alcoholics on the street. Talked to 9, prayed with 7.

Thurs, Nov 23

VBS, 62 children

Afternoon, Talked with 7 alcoholics and others at the "Muella"(dock)' prayed with 4.

Fri, Nov 24

VBS, 81 children

At the same time, we had a seminar for he mothers about Child Raising. Joe and Karin taught, prayed for 15 women.

Visited the medical missions boat "Carribean Grace" from Dan and Donna Letto in the afternoon.

Sat, Nov 25

Bible Distribution, prayed for 30 people.

Afternoon, Youth Group at the Revival Tabernacle Church

Liz did the games, then we did the Clincher skit. William gave a talk after the skit. Andrea shared her testimony. Simon gave a 30 min. talk on missions.

Sun, Nov 26

Sunday school, teens. 

Liz lead games, Vane gave her testimony, William taught.

We prayed for 22 teens.

We visited the alcoholics on the street again. Prayed for 11, 1 reconciled with God.

DTS Outreach: Report on Outreach, Nov 5-13 in Huehuetenango

Sunday, we started early before the church service and walked the streets, inviting people to church. Not many were on foot, so we spent most of the time holding signs and yelling blessings while the dance team from the church danced on the sidewalk. In the service, we performed the Clincher drama and Josh gave his testimony. Then Vanessa preached about David and Goliath. We had children’s church in a house nearby and divided up the children into 2 age groups. William taught the younger kids, Simon the older ones. Afterward, while I brought the children back, William and some of the students ministered to the women of the house. We ministered and prayed with about 10 adults and 15 children.

Monday, we went to the Bus Terminal to give away the rest of the oatmeal we made the night before. We went through the market area and started giving it to children there. Josh took out his cards and did a few tricks and soon we had a small crowd of around 15 people, adults and children. After a few tricks, I talked about Jesus and the truth of His salvation and invited people to pray with us. A few of them were glad to be prayed for, but I am pretty sure they were already believers. We stopped and helped a lady set up her booth and she was very thankful. We prayed for her sick daughter and she cried and thanked us profusely. Then we prayed for two men from another tienda/booth who were both believers, but wanted prayer for healing. After praying, they said they felt much better. Then we gave out the rest of the oatmeal to children and went home. We talked to about 30 people total and 15 of them we prayed for.

In the afternoon, Karin, Delmys and Joe went to visit Bethany, who was volunteering at the Fuego Cafe and the orphanage, Fundación Salvación. Bethany and her husband, Uzi, are YwaMers and she needed some encouraging. She really appreciated our visit and prayer time.

In the evening, we held an evangelism workshop in the church. Andrea taught on the 1 Minute Witness and Lizz taught on friendship evangelism. We led the participants through preparing their testimonies and then praying and thinking about how to reach the people they see continually.

Afterward, we spent about a half an hour praying in the streets around the church, proclaiming God's kingdom would come to the neighborhood, families and the city.

Tuesday was our day off and we went to Ahuehuetl to just play around. The obstacle course was again a big hit and we had fun swinging in the net about 3 meters off the ground.

Wednesday, we had early morning prayer and intercession with the church and then went to pray for people in the park. We spoke with 6 people about Jesus and prayed for 16. That night, we went to church and Simon shared his testimony, while Andrea preached. Lizz and Delmys took care of the children. We prayed for about 26 people.

Thursday morning, we had drama practice for the dramas we were doing the next few days. After lunch, we went to pray for people who were waiting to get in to the outpatient clinic. We talked and prayed for about 20 people and had 4 conversations about Christ. That evening, we went again to the hospital, this time with the church. We prayed for about 70 people and had many conversations about Christ.

The next morning, we went early to give out bread and coffee to those waiting to go into the outpatient clinic. We parked next to a police car, greeting them and giving them some bread and coffee and we prayed for them. They told us we could go inside to the maternity house and pray for the pregnant/new mothers staying there. The nurses were glad to call the women into the seating area for us to serve and pray for them. They were very greatful and we had some good conversations. Then, we went out and around to the front gate and asked if we could go in and pray for people. They let us in to the outpatient clinic waiting room, and we started to pray for people sitting there. Many were touched and some felt better. Karin had the impression to go pray for the nurses. She talked to a nurse and she immediately gave Karin a list of all their names, doctors too, and asked us to keep praying for them. Then the head nurse asked Karin if she would like to pray for everyone in the room, using the PA system. Karin waved me over and I prayed for everyone. It was really neat. So we prayed for about 300 people altogether.

Afterward, we went again to Central Park. William had the idea to draw big circles with chalk and then write problems or areas for which we could pray. As we started, not many would stop or ask for prayer, but after a while, we got to talk to quite a few. I got to talk to a guy with Sirosis of the liver and pray for him. Afterward, I got to share quite a bit about the freedom God leads us into, when we really repent and ask for help. We prayed and it was a powerful time. Later, Simon shared that he was quite skeptical about the idea, thinking it was not going to work, nor did he like this kind of confrontative evangelism. But it turned out to be one of his best experiences in praying and talking to people, even in somewhat overcoming the language barrier by himself.

That afternoon, we went back to the Cafe Fuego, then to the home Bible study group, Casa del Reino Azul. We went door to door to invite poeple for the evening. Then in the evening, we had about 30 people come and 15 came forward for prayer. Delmys gave her testimony and Mary Jo preached. Pastor Jeremias gave an altar call and 1 man came forward to receive Jesus and salvation. About 15 people came for prayer.

On Saturday, we went to Fundacion Salvacion to play with the children. It was their free day, so we could not really get them together for the games we had prepared. But we had some good interactions and individual talks, around 5 were prayed for among a group of about 30 children.

That night, we went to an open air pavillion, a replica of a Greek temple called the Temple of Minerva, in the neighborhood of the same name. We spent an hour going door to door, inviting people. About 30 people came and 15 were prayed for. No conversions.

Sunday, church service and William gave his testimony, then Lizz preached. Mary Jo did the children, but this time the group was so small, we just kept them in one group. We prayed for about 20 people in the service.

That afternoon, we had a youth rally with about 40 people from the church (we thought it would be all youth, but everyone decided to come who wanted to). We broke into 2 groups, guys and girls, and talked about friendships, dating and sexual purity. Simon and Vanessa talked about friendship, Joe and Karin about dating and William and Delmys talked about sexual purity. It was really good, for teenies and adults. Mary Jo and Josh had the thankless job of taking care of the younger kids. We had a snack afterward and then went home.

Discipleship training School Outreach to Huehuetenango, Guatemala

DTS Outreach Fall 2017   Report for the Week of 29 Oct – 4 Nov 2017

We have had a good start this week and have had many good experiences.

We arrived on Sunday and met Pastor Jeremias and some of the church members in the church. After a snack, we went to the Retreat Center El Refugio and set up our stuff.

Monday was our day off, but we actually spent half of the day buying groceries and some other things for ministry.  We went to the ruins of Zaculeu, but they were almost closing, so we just drove around and then went back to the Refugio. Some of us took a hike up the hill behind the house and enjoyed the beautiful view.

Tuesday, we went to the park and had a time of intercession and talked and prayed with people. We shared Christ with 9 people, prayed for 7. Karin and Andrea led a man to Christ.

Wednesday:

We split up the group. Some stayed to prepare for the evening service and Simon was sick. The rest of us went to the park. We used the Soularium cards to start conversations and shared our one minute witness.  We prayed We talked to about 11 people and prayed with 7 of them. Again, one gave his life to Christ.

That night, we lead the church service. Vanessa gave her testimony and William preached about Gideon. We prayed with about 19 people that they, like Gideon, be used by God now, with whatever gifts they have to offer (“Go in the strength that you have!” said the angel to Gideon.) Andrea and Josh lead the children’s ministry.

Thursday, we went again to the park for intercession and evangelism. We had singing and worshipping, when William told us that he had talked to the person in charge of the Salon Municipal (municipal theater). He had been looking up at the concert shell on the second floor that overlooked the central park, thinking it would be great to worship from there, when he got the impression to go ask. Incredibly, the man simply let us go up there and we spent about a half an hour praising and worshipping and praying, using our portable speaker to fill the park with praise. We spent time proclaiming God’s Kingdom over the park, the city and the country. We really felt a change in atmosphere after that. We went back down into the park and did skit and Andrea spoke to the people who had gathered. We talked to 10 people and prayed for 9 of them. William and Vane talked to some Jehovah Witness missionaries, who were very nice, but not very open.

That night, Mary Jo taught the cell group leaders and Sunday School teachers on children’s ministries. The cell groups here have a children’s program during the cell group meetings, so the cell group leaders came with the people in charge of doing the program. It was a good message, especially encouraging the teachers to lead the children to hear from God and minister to others. Mary Jo also emphasized developing and realizing a vision for the children’s ministry, as a church and also individually. Afterward, William taught about using puppets and demonstrated with a short skit. Vane and Josh taught on object lessons. We then prayed for and prophesied over about 20 leaders. 

On Friday, we went to the “Vino” cell group at 4pm. We went out in the neighborhood to invite people to the cell group that evening. We started at 7pm and there were about 4 people besides the normal members who came. We did the “Clincher” skit and Mary Jo gave her testimony. Simon preached about freedom from the law and freedom to live and grow in Christ. About 6 people wanted prayer to follow Christ whole heartedly. Vane and Andrea lead the children’s ministry with 7 children.

Saturday, we woke up early to move to the hotel we stayed at until Monday. Then we went with many from the church to Cuchumatanes, a outlook above the city, to intercede for the church and Huehuetenanago. It was a powerful time of prayer, where we proclaimed God’s reign over the families, churches and the city. Our DTS prayed as representatives of the believers from our native countries for Huehue. Many had prophetic words. As we were finishing, Pastor Jeremias told me a church member who had stayed behind in Huehue had called and told him that many had felt a tremor, while we had felt nothing on the mountain.

When we got back, we were pretty exhausted after that and we stayed at the hotel.

Sunday morning, we went early to the church and danced and sang outside the church to invite people to come. We met some Christians in the neighborhood and blessed them as they went to their church.

We did the “Clincher” skit and Josh gave his testimony. Then Vane preached on David and Goliath. Since the church had only a children’s church for small children due to space limitations, we arranged to go to a house to minister and split the children in 2 groups. William and Simon led age appropriate lessons, craft and games.

Sunday night, we made oatmeal to bless the homeless at the bus terminal. Pastor Jeremias with some church members joined us. Unfortunately, there were hardly any homeless there that night. We did share with about 15 people and prayed for 10.

We have had a time of worship and intercession almost every day and that has been a real blessing.

September Update

Bruce Ahlberg
The summer months have been busy for the base as we hosted teams from the USA and Canada.  We also conducted our Summer Spanish School and Outreach in July and had 10 students

participating.  The SSSO is comprised of 3 weeks of Spanish language classes and 1 week of outreach.  The outreach was conducted in San Pablo La Laguna where we worked with Pastor Antonio church and Christian school. At the end of July we conducted a week long medical clinic that saw 360 people receive help.  In addition the team from “People Helping People” constructed part of a home for one of the voluntary missionary families serving at the YWAM Base.  Shortly after the medical clinic, students began to arrive to attend the YWAM-DTS which began August 3 and will end on December 22.  We have 7 students attending from the USA, Canada, El Salvador and Guatemala.

We are still in the process of getting all the legal papers to enable us to buy the property adjacent to the base.  It has been a long drawn out process but it should conclude in September and construction of the addition to the base will begin immediately.  We project that it will take 4 months to finish the construction.  Please continue to pray for the papers to be finalized and for the construction to be completed on time and done well.  We are still taking donations for the $20,000 matching gift given to the base.  Your donation will be double in value! If you would like to help us with funding please go to our donation page on our website for information.

YWAM Antigua is in the process also of becoming a legally recognized NGO in Guatemala.  Our legal name will be CEMAS (Centro de Entrenamiento Misionero y Apoyo Social) but we will still be known by groups and students as YWAM Antigua.  Once our legal papers are submitted it will take 1-6 months for approval. 

Susy Ahlberg

A Testimony – Bible Distribution Ministry

During this summer, we were able to facilitate ministry for several teams that came from Canada and the United States.  I mainly helped by driving them to different sites and interpreting for them.  One of the ministries that we did was going door-to-door asking families if they already owned a Bible at their homes.  During one of these family visits, we met a lady with her three children.  She and her two oldest teenage boys had already accepted Jesus Christ, but her youngest 9 year-old daughter hadn’t.  She told us that she was too young to accept Jesus Christ.  I translated the questions the team leader asked her regarding her knowledge of Jesus.  After listening to her answers, we asked her if she wanted to invite Jesus Christ into her heart as her Lord and Savior.  She said, “Yes!”  I led her in a short prayer and I could see how her mom was very happy for her!  There was a celebration in Heaven that morning!

David and Juli Voncannon

Bearing a Harvest of Good Fruit! 

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:7-8

The Fall DTS Has Launched

On August 3, we had the joy of launching yet another DTS school at our YWAM base in Antigua, Guatemala! We have 7 students from 4 different nations (Guatemala, El Salvador, USA, Canada) and we also have a team of 3 other staff members to help us out! Before the DTS began, we as a staff were praying for what God wanted to do in this school and had a strong sense that He wants to take them on a journey into the depths of His presence so that as they cross over the bridge into the calling He has on their lives, that they will bear much fruit! We felt that He is going to draw each of us into such a deep level of intimacy that there will be no form of darkness that will be able to snuff the light of Christ out of us as we minister on outreach! For us, this is a very exciting word and a very exciting season for us as a family and ministry!

Week 1: Hearing God's Voice!

The first week of teaching was with a dear friend and spiritual leader of ours, Pastor Ken Smith, as he taught on Intimacy and Hearing God's Voice. Hearing His voice is such a key element in growing in our Intimacy with the Father and there is no better person to model it before the student than Pastor Ken. All week long, we were constantly challenged in spending time in His presence and hearing what He wanted to tell us!  It was beautiful and powerful all at the same time!

On the last day of class, we went out to the streets to find God's treasures and minister the love of the Father with them! The only catch was to listen to His voice for clues as to where these people would be! So out we went and though we only got to be out for less than an hour, our DTS team was able to minister profoundly to 14 people that God specifically led us to!

One of the stories that came back was from the group that David was with. They had felt God show them a "White man" and a "bike" near a "soccer field". As they approached where the local stadium was at, they saw a man that looked white from a distance who just happened to be riding a bike. As he approached, they realized that he was not exactly a "white" man, so they hesitated for a bit. However, as he reached where they were standing he actually stopped his bike to talk to them! So they started chatting with him and told him what they were doing. He seemed very pleased that he was someone that God was highlighting to them and as they finished the conversation they prayed with him to bless him and his business. At first glance, there was nothing supernatural about the moment... just that he fit the description they were looking for and actually stopped to talk to them, as opposed to them stopping him. But as he went away, they saw the miracle that God wanted to do in him. It was clear that as he rode away, that he was no longer downcast, rather he was now riding that bike with intention and a huge smile on his face. God took this man and gave him a jolt of encouragement that we believe carried him throughout the remainder of his day!

Week 2: Intercession and Prayer

During this past week, David had the honor of teaching in the DTS on Intercession and Prayer. As always, it was an amazing week where we saw God take the teaching from the previous week and elevate it to a whole new level! Intercession is not just ordinary prayer, but a time of listening to God and praying or taking some sort of action in accordance to what He is showing us.

On the last day of class, we took a time to intercede for Huehuetenango, Guatemala. We spent a bit of time just waiting on Him to give us a picture and then once we had something, we would pray the image exactly as we saw it! The point of the exercise was to let God develop the picture as we prayed. What was amazing about the exercise was how precise the images became as we prayed and even more incredible was how the images confirmed our sense that the DTS outreach needed to begin in Huehue! So once we finished our time of intercession, we decided to go ahead and make the official announcement that we would begin our DTS outreach in Huehue. This was very exciting for the students to hear and for us as well! 

Eder and Carolina Quiacain

Queremos compartirles esta noticia.

Estas semanas estamos construyendo la casa para mi familia.

Estamos viendo la provision y fidelidad de Dios por medio de esto, que tambien es una gran bendicion.
Pero nos falta mucho todavia por construir, porfavor les pedimos sus oraciones, 
Y si tiene el deseo de apoyar para esta construccion sera de gran apoyo para nosotros.

Uno de los ministerios que tenemos a cargo es el ministerio con jovenes. Este ministerio lo realizamos cada vierne en la noche para los jovenes de la comunidad

esta semana en particular tuvimos la visita de los jovenes del lago fue de mucha bendicion al estar compartiendo con ellos esperamos que Dios siga obrando en la vida de ellos


Brenda Roldán

My name is Brenda Roldán and I'm from Guatemala. I recently started to be part of the YWAM Antigua staff in August and during this month, God has used me and my talents in different ministries. I've been helping with the DTS as a translator for the teachers for some part of the day and also, now I'm in charge of housekeeping and improvement of the base wich has challenged me to give and do my best so people always feel welcome when they come to YWAM Antigua. I'm excited to see what are God's plans for me in the future and see all of my gifts being used by Him.

Mi nombre es Brenda Roldán y soy de Guatemala. En agosto me uní a JUCUM Antigua para ser personal tiempo completo y durante este mes, Dios ha usado mis talentos en diferentes ministerios. He estado ayudando en la EDE como traductora para los maestros durante una parte del día y ahora que también estoy a cargo del área de limpieza y mejoramiento de la base que me ha retado para dar lo mejor de mi para que las personas se sientan bienvenidas cuando vengan a JUCUM Antigua. Estoy muy emocionada por todo lo que Dios tiene planeado para mi y ver cómo usará mis talentos.

Renzo and Emma Lopez

In our weekly discipleship group with the local moms, a movement towards prayer has begun. They’ve begun a prayer chain, where each day, 20 moms are praying for the same person. It’s been amazing to see the way this has encouraged them in their faith! We are also seeing amazing fruit from this.  The moms also been praying over teams and visitors that pass through, and it’s been a huge blessing.  Here is a glimpse of prayer over some recent teams and visitors during women’s group.

Stove Installations!

This summer, we were able to install 14 stoves! These fuel-efficient stoves continue to impact the lives of the families who receive them. They are dependable, safe ways for families to cook meals and reduce costs while doing so.   When a family receives a stove, they are so excited to start cooking on it. 

Please keep us in your prayers! We know that we cannot do this alone, and we value your prayers for our life and ministry. 

Angela Carey

Karin Bedford and I are working to build a medical ministry at YWAM-Antigua.  This month we launched our first nutrition class!  Our goal is to have monthly classes that discuss the importance of a balanced diet, the health benefits of different foods and to share recipes using these foods.  We are currently partnering with the pastors of a local church, Juan Carlos and Miriam.  We gathered at their house with about 8-9 people from the community.  We talked about the different food groups, individual foods that go into each group and the health benefits of each group.  After the short lesson we made naan bread and hummus.  Something made from simple, inexpensive and easily accessible ingredients. We then discussed what food groups these ingredients belong to.  We had a wonderful afternoon laughing, loving and sharing with each other.  We are very excited for future classes and to see what God does in and through this ministry.

YWAM Antigua June Update

We are gearing up for a very busy time at the base during the months of June through October.  We will be hosting 2 DTS groups on their outreach, conducting our Summer Spanish School and Outreach, serving 3 church groups coming for short term outreach, conducting a medical clinic, building a home and starting our next DTS. We were blessed to host a DTS from Chiriquí, Panama in May and also attend the Central America YWAM Conference in Guatemala City.

We anticipate construction on the next phase of our facility to begin in June.  The new construction will include garage space for 3 vehicles, a storage room and two large multipurpose rooms.  We are raising funds for this next phase and ask for your prayers to help us reach our goal of $40,000.

We are also in the process of securing legal recognition as an association in Guatemala.  This will give us the ability to receive donations, set up a bank account and help missionaries obtain visas to work with YWAM Antigua.

We are always looking for more voluntary missionaries who have completed a YWAM DTS to join us.  If you are interested in serving with us please contact us!

Our base is very involved in our community and the reports below are reflective of the work each of our missionaries is conducting to bring transformation to Guatemala.

Bruce & Susy Ahlberg

________________________________________________________________________________

Our DTS starting in Feb. kept us very busy during the lecture phase. In the beginning of May, we attended together the YWAM conference in Guatemala City.

Afterwards the DTS Team ministered another week in the capital with Joshua and Joe and are now serving in Huehuetenango, a big city about 5 hours from here. We heard great reports of their ministry in parks, a prison and in a hospital. They are working together with a church, teaching, preaching and helping with their home groups, doing children’s ministry and a program for adults.

Sarah and I have been home during this time, helping at the base, taking time to pray, visiting people in need, meeting with friends for prayer and sharing and planning for a future team to come in the summer.

Just last week we welcomed a new staff member, Angela and currently I am helping her to settle in and find her way around in Antigua. It is great to have her, please pray for her to learn Spanish and to find her place in the ministry.

 Joe and Karin Bedford

YWAM Antigua Base Update

Bruce Ahlberg
Thank you for taking the time to read our update on what is happening at YWAM Antigua.  We continue to move forward with the construction of the base and carrying out the ministries God has given us.  We moved into our new base at the end of January and it is a great blessing to all of us to have our own facility that truly meets the needs we have as a base.  We are in the process of buying the lot adjacent to the base and have plans to build a 3 stall garage and storage room on the ground level.  We will also construct a second level which will have two rooms that we can use for a variety of purposes.  We now have the capacity to house about 50 people comfortably. Pictured below on the left side is our base courtyard and dorm rooms, below it is our reception area.  On the right side is our classroom and below our dining room. We invite you to visit our base or better bring a team to join us in our ministries or help with the next phase of the construction!

                         

Courtney Bushway

 I have been on staff here at Ywam Antigua for nearly two years now!

I do a little bit of everything at the base. I wash a lot of laundry, and make a lot of beds, but I also get to work with some amazing people! I get to work with and help coordinate the volunteers that come from all over to help out at the base. They are a huge blessing to our base and bring their own talents and experience to help serve us.

On Tuesdays I get to take care of the kids that come with their moms to mom's ministry every week. We play games, sing songs, and learn a new Bible story each week. The students of our current DTS have been able to help me with this, and we have way to much fun!

On Friday afternoons I lead a girls Bible study. Anywhere from 4 to 15 girls come each week and we read the Bible together and do activities. We are currently studying the book of John. 

This year in May I am heading to France to do a Foundations of Counseling Ministry school with Ywam. I would appreciate prayers for continued financial provision as I prepare for this school, and for myself as I am going to miss out on life in Guatemala for several months. 

 David, Shawn and Zane King

We have kept busy these last few months celebrating Christmas, birthdays, being reunited with the team back in Ciudad Vieja, and establishing the prayer room.  We returned to Ciudad Vieja from Lake Atitlán on January 7.  We've found ourselves restored and with new strength now that we are part of a ministry team again.  We have spent time preparing a prayer room on the new base, so as to cultivate a culture of prayer.  David is once again found serving in the kitchen, and Shawn has planned a few events for the volunteer missionaries.  We are awaiting our residency (hopefully in July), and plan to apply for adoption immediately afterwards.

Photos:

Us with some friends

The prayer room

Us with our informative workshop certificate for adoption.

Susy Ahlberg

During the first week of our Discipleship Training School, I interpreted for two Guatemalan teachers, Karla and Carlos Garcia on the topic of “God’s Character and Nature”.

I have been posting pictures, videos, and announcements on our Facebook page. We have several ministries going on during the week such as Mom’s Bible Study, Youth Group, and Kid’s Club, so I take their picture or videos and post it on Facebook.  If you want to become our Facebook friend, our name is YWAM Antigua (Jucum Antigua).

 

We had a 1 week dentist clinic at the Base in January.  I was able to interpret for the dentist of the team.  He was able to work on children and adult’s teeth.  People were super blessed by his service to the community!

Joe and Karin Bedford

One ministry of the YWAM Antigua base is to go out and distribute bibles. We go from house to house, try to share Jesus with the people, give them a bible for free if they do not have one and pray for them! By the way a bible for a lot of people we work with would cost them 1-2 days’ pay and then they do not have food on the table. It is a big blessing, please pray for this ministry and if God puts it on your heart, donate some money for more bibles! We get them for a really good price buying so many.

Last June good friends of ours started a new church in a town close by and our team from YWAM decided to start giving our bibles there. We had a short term mission team with us and split up in little groups, Miriam the pastor’s wife was in my team. That day we met Edwin and Myrna, a young couple with 2 children. Edwin was alone in the house and invited us in, we shared from our hearts and he told us his story, he was struggling very hard with drinking, a very common problem here. He used to go to church but felt rejected, that made him stop going. We prayed for him and I challenged him to recommit his life into the hands of Jesus. He did and was really touched by God. Then his wife came home and we talked to her and prayed for both of them, she cried. Later on we found out that they never got married, very common here. We left, but Miriam and Juan Carlos went back to help them, especially Edwin needed a lot of encouragement to leave and overcome his drinking habit and Juan Carlos was a big help for him living just 2 minutes away. They joined the church and are very faithful and last December they got married in the church. We are so thankful to God and what he did in their lives.

This is just one story like many how we as a team from YWAM made the first contact and others followed up. It is a real joy to see their church grow so fast and working in unity multiplies blessings!   

David and Juli Voncannon

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" John 3:8

We are super thrilled to be able to share a little about what God has already done through us in the Discipleship Training School (DTS) that we just launched last week!

An International and Diverse School!
One of the things we love about serving in YWAM is how just about everything we do together has an 

international feel to it! This school is no different as all together, we have 6 students and 4 staff members representing 5 different nations! We also have the blessing and challenge of having 3 different generations represented amongst the group (Gen X, Gen Y, and Millennial). Sometimes it is mind blowing to see such a small group and see so much diversity, but at the same time, it is such an awesome privilege that we get to spend the next 5 months together, challenging one another to go deeper with God!

A School Born in the Spirit
Several weeks before the school began, we as staff were praying about this school and felt that the school would be a school that would not only be born in the Spirit, but also flowing in good works. As we prayed, we felt God highlight 5 keys areas that He is wanting to work on in the lives of each one of us involved. "Spiritual Food, Power, Peace, Intimacy, and Presence." We also felt that God was highlighting John 3:8 as well as Titus 3:4-8 as central scriptures for this school. Already, we are beginning to see this at work as this past week we had the honor of hosting some dear friends from the YWAM base in Guatemala City, Carlos & Karla Garcia.

Outreach in May/June
We invite you to pray for our students and staff as we seek His face about our upcoming outreach in May & June. This is an 8 week season of the school where God brings much of what we learned in the lecture into practice. As with all YWAM outreaches, our desire is to only go where He is sending us. Thus, we want to invite you to join us over these next few weeks in praying for clear direction as to where and to whom He is calling us

Eder and Carolina

2 Timoteo 3:15

y que desde la niñez has sabido las Sagradas Escrituras, las cuales te pueden hacer sabio para la salvación por la fe que es en Cristo Jesús.

Le damos gracias a Dios por un año más de ministerio, como muchos sabrán el año pasado fue muy difícil para nosotros como familia, por que dos personas que en su momento fueron un soporte espiritual para nosotros fallecieron, ha sido difícil entre otras dificultades que pasamos y que todavía nos afecta. Pero Dios ha sido fiel al traer Paz en nuestras vidas a pesar de la gran tormenta. Suplico sus oraciones para nuestra familia.

KIDS CLUB NIÑOS DE 2-9 Y DE 9-15 AÑOS DE EDAD

Y  es muy interesante para nosotros, que cuando empezamos este ministerio hace 6 años, con los adolecentes, algunos ya se han casado y tiene hijos ahora, nos alegra al ver que muchos de ellos ya asisten a una iglesia Cristiana y que también ellos les están enseñando a sus hijos el camino de la verdad a sus hijos y creemos que esto es el fruto de la semilla que sembramos hace 6 años y que Dios hizo su obra en la vida de estos jóvenes. Y esto nos inspira a seguir luchando en este ministerio.

Primer trimestre del año, los niños siguen creciendo y no solo físicamente sino también espiritualmente, gracias por sus oraciones, porque esto es muy importante para nosotros, los chicos que llegan a la base siguen recibiendo lecciones bíblicas juegos, manualidades, y una refacción, (atol, palomitas de maíz, sopa, pan,). Si usted tiene algún interés en apoyar con una donación para la refacción no dude en comunicarse con nosotros.

Tiempo de cocina.

En el momento que los niños pequeños están en su hora de kids club Carolina  enseña a las mamas  a cocinar algún tipo de postre, esto lo hacemos con el fin de que las madres puedan ayudarse económicamente ya que lo aprendido ellas lo llevan a la práctica. Y ya algunas salen a vender los postres que han aprendido a cocinar.

MINISTERIO EN LA ESCUELA

Otros de los ministerios en que nos enfocamos es, “la biblia en acción” y el apoya a la escuela “enséñame a pescar”.

Biblia en acción es una lectura bíblica que se imparte a los niños de preparatoria a 6to. Grado de primaria, agradecemos a Dios por esta puerta está abierta para nosotros y así lograr evangelizar más niños y que haya una generación temerosa de Dios.

Enséñame a pescar: es una escuela de niños con capacidades diferente, básicamente lo que realizamos con ellos son juegos, canciones, manualidades, y por supuesto una historia bíblica. estos niños a pesar de tener  limitaciones físicas y/o mental, ellos tiene una gran pasión por Dios y el apoyarse mutuamente.

Ministerio con los adolecentes.

En este ministerio nos dirigimos a los jóvenes entre las edades de 12 a 20 años de edad, lo que realizamos con ellos es impartir un devocional.  Muchos de ellos vienen  de hogares disfuncionales.

En este ministerio incluimos juego de fútbol soccer, juegos de mesa entre otras actividades.

CAFFE QUIACAIN

This coffee is grown, roasted and packaged in Antigua Guatemala where Eder, Carolina, and their daughter's Samantha and Valery serve as missionaries. When you buy this coffee, you are helping them to raise funds for their ministry.

Por favor sigan orando por estos ministerios. Si alguno le nace de su corazón apoyar a este ministerio económicamente siéntase en libertad de hacerlo. Para más información puede escribirnos al correo electrónico quiakain@hotmail.com fotos y videos de estos ministerios visítenos en nuestra página de facebook  Caffe Quiacain.

Renzo and Emma

Mom's Ministry

Now, we have more than 70 women attending group every week! Many travel from as far as an hour or more by foot with their children to attend our meetings. It's a blessing to serve these women and their children. 

The stove installations have also been a tremendous blessing to the lives of these families. Before their stoves, many of these women cooked over an open fire in the middle of their home - the ashes causing lung disease, asthma, heart problems, damage to their eyesight, and danger to the small children playing nearby. 

We are so thankful for your partnership through prayer and encouragement as we continue to steward this ministry as the Lord leads us. We could not do this without you! Thank you for reading along, praying with us, and sending your encouragement.