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. 

A New Beginning

Our new base is finally completed and we have moved from the house we rented for the past 11 years.  We are grateful to the Lord and for all the people who contributed money and donated labor to help us construct the new base.
Our DTS will begin on February 11 with students arriving a day or two before the starting date.  We have 6 students from Guatemala, Panama, USA and Poland, a truly international group.  We are excited to have them with us and look forward to working with them to see God what God will do in each of their lives.  Please pray for our students, teachers who will be spending a week with them as well as our voluntary missionaries as we labor together.
In January we hosted a dental clinic at the new base.  Over 100 people came to receive care!  We were blessed to have a team from Minnesota working with us as well as a Guatemalan dentist who volunteered his time to help us.  We now have some dental equipment that will stay at the base that we can use for future clinics.
In March we will be hosting West Coast Christian School during their spring break.  It will be a new experience for these students and we pray that it will open their eyes and heart to see the world in a new way and understand their part in reaching people with the gospel message.
We are still receiving application for our SSSO that will be hosted in July.  The Summer Spanish School and Outreach is a great opportunity to learn and practice Spanish as well as participate in ministry.  Please check out our information on our website if you are interested.

YWAM Antigua October Base Newsletter

Our base has had a very busy summer hosting a DTS and several teams as well as starting a new program:Summer Spanish School and Outreach.  All of the staff have been working hard to take care of all the students and lead them in the ministry experience we offer at the base.  Our last team of the year finished on October 14 and now we have a break until the New Year.  The timing has been great as we will be moving into our new facility within the next month but that depends on if the city gives us permission to connect to the water and electricity.  We have done all we need to do to get the services and are ready to do the final part of the construction once we are approved.  We still have the electricity to install with all the lights and outlets etc. and the bathrooms will need to have sinks, toilets and shower heads.  Our last group helped to paint the bedrooms and a group of men from San Pablo La Laguna have installed all of the tile on the floors on both levels.  It was a big job and we appreciate the work they did for us and for the Lord.

Currently I am attending a Leadership School in Leticia, Colombia.  It has been a great experience and I am learning many things I will put into practice when I return.  The school will end on November 12 and I will return to Guatemala.  Many of our staff will be traveling to the USA during the months of November and December to visit families, supporters and churches.  We are gearing up for hosting teams in January and then our next DTS will begin February 11.

My biggest news that I am thrilled to share is my marriage to Susy Ayala on September 24! We were married in her home church by her pastor who was a missionary to Spain for 17 years.  Susy is joining me at the Leadership School and we are happy to be together to go through this training.

Several of our voluntary missionaries have submitted articles and updates on their ministries they are conducting at the YWAM Antigua Base.  I hope you enjoy reading their stories and will keep everyone in your prayers.  We welcome teams to come and work with us at our new facility as well as YWAMers who are interested in joining our team.  God has blessed our base in many ways and we are excited about the new things that he will do through our team.

Bruce Ahlberg, Director YWAM Antigua

We went to Kansas City to the YWAM Together Conference and I was impressed! It was all about God’s vision, what He wants to do through those who, in prayer, humility and obedience, catch the vision. Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM, said God is calling YWAM and other organizations to end Bible poverty, that is, get God’s Word to as many people as possible and translate the gospel into every language so that everyone can hear it in their heart language by the year 2020! Many leaders also shared that God has been calling YWAM to build God’s Kingdom in every sphere of society. Chris-tians should not be content to belong to a religious club on the fringes of society, rather we should bring the Kingdom to every sphere of influence in our culture—family, business, arts, government, education, etc.

I was also impressed be-cause God had given Loren and the other leaders this vision many years ago and they have held on to it, praying and getting ready. Now they believe that God will bring it to fulfillment.

God also reminded me, that He has given us a vision to spread His Word and see people saved and transformed! God has been good and I have seen Him working in the lives of many people here, but I know there is more to come. So I will keep listening to His voice and reaching forward to know how we will continue in the years to come. Pray with us, that God will lead us and that we do His will and build His Kingdom.

We are also thankful that another vision is being ful-filled: Samuel has arrived in Australia and has started his YWAM School of Counseling in Perth. We are proud of him, that he is going with God and wants to serve Him.

What vision has God given to you? Go after it in God‘s grace and power!

Thanks to all of you, who have been partnering in our vision to serve God and love Him more. God bless you all!

Joe and Karin with

Samuel, Sarah and Josh Bedford

I have been reading the “Biblia en Accion” with 10 children this year.  These children are in first grade at “El Pilar” School a few doors up the road from our current facilities.  I am very happy to read with them every Wednesday morning for 30 minutes.  I also include some songs with motions during my class and they seem to really enjoy this time of worshiping God and learning Bible stories.  A few weeks ago, before I left the classroom, I asked them if there was anything I could be praying for them individually.  Most of them asked me to pray for the relationship between their mom and their dad.  They said, “Please pray that my mom and dad will get along and they won’t be mean to each other.”  I told them that I would pray for them. I felt very happy to see how open they were to share their prayer requests.  I did not know if they would know what I was asking for.  They are sweet kids who have a very high capacity to listen to God.  I hope to be able to continue to read the Bible with them next year in the second grade.  They are on their annual vacation now.  We should meet again in January 2017. 

Mat_19:14  but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."

Susy Ayala de Ahlberg

We are so excited to share with you all that God is continuing to do in our community of Ciudad Vieja, Antigua. Our moms' ministry - which began with 10 moms in early 2014 - has now grown to 90 women. We've continued installing water filters and stoves in homes around Ciudad Vieja. By the grace of God, about 40 families have received stoves and about 50 families have received water filters! We love the way serving families through this gift that shows them the love of God. We've begun to introduce a time of worship during our Tuesday afternoon meetings - the moms love it.  Bible study continues on Tuesday afternoons, as well as home visits during the week.

Keep us in your prayers,  we know that we cannot do this alone, and we value your prayers for our life and ministry. Here are a few specific points for prayer in this next year: Our health, our finances, guidance and wisdom in decision-making 
and our ministry as it grows.

Renzo and Emma Lopez

Hello! Here at the base my jobs include keeping the base clean and helping with the kid’s ministries! Every Tuesday, I get to hang out with the kids that come with their moms to the Mom’s Club Ministry. We read a Bible story, sing songs, and do a craft. Last week we read the story of John the Baptist and made doves. Every Friday I get to hang out with an awesome group of girls for our Girl’s Bible Study. We are currently finishing up studying the book of Esther. The girls enjoy playing games and baking. We have pancake parties, make cookies, and last week we played pictionary charades. Please keep these girls and I in your prayers as we continue to study God’s word! I would also like to ask for your prayers for an opportunity I have this coming year. This May I will be heading to France to do a Foundations of Counseling Ministry School with YWAM Champagne. I would appreciate prayers for peace of mind, and finances as I pursue this opportunity!

Courtney Bushway

Greetings!  Over the last few weeks, we have had the honor of serving the YWAM bases in Guatemala City and El Salvador by teaching in their Discipleship Training School (DTS) schools that are currently in session. Teaching and training the young people of today is one of our greatest passions, so when an opportunity comes to teach, whether it is here in Antigua, or at another base around Central America, we are very quick to make sure it happens!

The YWAM base in Guatemala City currently has  7 students (6 Guatemalans and 1 Honduran) in their DTS school and David had the privilege of teaching on the topic of Spiritual Warfare! We had the quite the week with these students and learned a great deal about the enemy, his kingdom, his strategies, and how those strategies affect us individually and corporately. We also learned quite a bit about ourselves as the Lord began to reveal areas in all of our lives where we had allowed the enemy a place to rule through us. This group of students were certainly a special group, one that we believe is going to have an immense impact on North Africa on their upcoming outreach phase of the school. We would like to invite everyone to join us in praying for them, for their finances, and for their courage to step out into a Muslim world and bring forth the light of the Kingdom!

The YWAM base in El Salvador currently has 6 students (3 El Salvador, 2 Nicaragua, 1 Columbia) in their DTS school. David got to teach them on the subject of Evangelism with the Holy Spirit. It was a very refreshing week with the students as we got to spend a lot of time sitting in His presence and allowing Him to teach us and challenge us. During one of the final classes where ministry through healing and prophetic words was taught, a nearby pastor came to the base as he was in need of some urgent prayer. He had recently been given a very bad report from a doctor and was suffering from a lot of pain and weakness. As we were praying for him, one of the students received a word from the Lord of some issues in his childhood that was still poisoning him today. At first he could not think of anything, but then another word came from someone else about his childhood and quickly a memory came to his mind of a terrible situation that happened to him as a little boy. We then began to pray with him as he began to forgive not only the person who had hurt him, but himself as well. With that, tears began to flow from his eyes as he began to not just forgive, but also repent of some habitual sins that he had allowed into his life since that day. As we finished praying, you could see a very different look on his face as he not only felt substantially better physically, but emotionally & spiritually as well! We then began to speak words of life to him (prophetic words) and allowed the Holy Spirit to use these words to give him the very “kisses from heaven” that he had been longing for. The next day we received a report from him that he was definitely feeling much better and was at full strength once again! Praise the Lord for what He did through the students of the DTS for this pastor! God is so good!

In closing, we want to announce our next DTS school that will be beginning in February 2017. We are expecting great things from God in this time as He has continuously been showing us that this next school is going to be about “Going deeper with Him”. We are currently accepting applications for the school and would love for you to join us in praying for the students who will be coming, as well as for the teachers who have already committed to helping us in this school! If you would like more information about the school, please get in contact with us at dts.ywamantigua@gmail.com

Many Blessings!

David and Juli Voncannon

Hi everyone. I’m Claire and over the past 2 years I have been working mostly with the DTS here as a one-on-one and outreach leader. Recently, though, I had a change of responsibility and now I am in charge of the kitchen and do a lot of housekeeping at the base. I have spent a lot of time making cakes for birthdays and helping our cook Florecita. Also we are beginning to prepare to move to our new base so I’ve been doing a lot of inventory and deep cleaning to get ready for that. Until last week I was going to a school to read the Bible with the students, but they are on break now until the new year. I also participate in Bible distribution once a week. Right now life is pretty relaxed, but we are all preparing for teams that will be coming and the next DTS in February.
Claire Whitmer

Summer Spanish School and Outreach (SSSO)

 Our SSSO is in the 3rd week of classes.  The students meet each morning from 830-1230 for intensive Spanish language instruction.  Each afternoon they are involved in ministries of the base or in Discipleship classes.  They are also spending time learning dramas, preparing testimonies, ministries for youth and children to be prepared for the final week of outreach to San Miguel Chicaj, Guatemala where they will be working with the YWAM base.  If you are interested in attending the SSSO next summer please contact us.

DTS Outreach to Greece Week 3 update

Update from Graeme 

Week 3 started out as a rough week emotionally for many of us. We were told that Euro Relief (the organization we are working under) would no longer be working in the refugee camp. We were all startled at the news and had no idea what caused such a huge decision. They told us that it was an indefinite decision due to “alarming news” that had been discovered. All we could do was speculate about what had happened and pray that we would be allowed back soon. 

During this week we praised God for His timing and wisdom, and put the situation in His hands. We had faith that we would be allowed back into the camp (that we had been called here to work inside the camp), and so we praised Him for what He had done and what He was going to do. 

We also sang praises to Jesus and interceded on behalf of the refugees, specifically for safety on behalf of the Christians we had met in the camp. So often we take for granted that we have the freedom to be a follower of Christ, but public declaration of faith for a refugee can mean persecution and even death. A testament to the power of Jesus in our lives could be seen in the life of a refugee we met the first day we entered the camp. This young man used to be a successful Muslim rapper in his previous life. A few of the volunteers were able to develop a relationship with him. One day we heard he had accepted Christ into his life and had been baptized. A few days later he had the opportunity to lie to get himself out of the camp and onto the next stage in process of going to Europe. Instead of taking this opportunity he decided to tell the truth which made it so that he wasn’t accepted to this next stage. We asked him about that and he said he wanted to do things the right way and that Jesus is in control of his life. If he had to stay in the camp longer he would do it because it was the will of God. He said he was willing to die in the camp if he had to. We were amazed but also very encouraged to hear such dedication from such a new believer. The best news was when the next time we saw him he told us he got his papers to go to Athens. That means he is that much closer to being able to start his new life, in a new country.

We were so happy for that news, but sad that we will not be able to say goodbye to many of our friends who are already leaving for Athens. It is a bittersweet feeling, but we are just happy to see so many people turning to Christ.

In the meantime, Bruce has done a great job finding things for us to do. We did beach clean up which is exactly what is sounds like. There is so much rubber from the dinghies that need to be cut up and taken to the dump. Our job was to cut the rubber and make a

human chain to bring the pieces up the beach to an area where a truck can take them away. The volunteer organization in charge of that project wasn’t used to having lots of people to help, because every day we were there we did way more than they expected us to do.

We also went into town where the refugees like to hang out. It was a great experience as we got to play soccer with greeks and refugees and there were people to worship in the park with us. It was a great day and to cap it all off we got to bring a refugee friend back to the hotel with us. We swam in the pool with him and had a

worship session with him. We got to pray for him and Chloe gave him a drawing of him she had made. He seemed overwhelmed with joy and told us that day was a gift from God. He stayed the night at our hotel and we found him a ride to the camp the next day. He messaged Chloe later that day saying he was crying with joy. Such simple actions can go such a long way. We are now praying for him to get his papers to go to Athens. He wants to end up in Canada at some point, but also to see his family in Germany.

The story he told us about he got to the island was heartbreaking. He was on a rubber dingy with mostly children. They noticed a slash in the boat and it started filling up with water. He thought he was going to die and have to watch all the children drown. Thanks to God, a boat came by and was able to rescue them and take all of them to safety. When the team took him to see the life jackets, he had memories of Gods goodness and grace. He was amazed by all the life jackets, and called it a dream come true that we were able to spend the day with him and uplift him.