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.
