We were sitting in the Atlanta airport on our way home from Guatemala when I began this post and here I am almost a week later finally getting it out there!  Thank you to all of you that prayed for Joseph and I on our trip to Guatemala last week.  It was a great trip and our girls each had a great time with friends and family while we were gone.  Joseph and I had a very full few days with Nelson, Rosemarie and their youngest daughter, Camila.

This “scouting” trip was very important for us in many ways.  The first morning we were there, Joseph and Nelson met with an American missionary who grew up in Guatemala named Nathan Hardeman.  Nathan, the founder and director of Engadi Ministries International, was able to give us some very helpful insight from his personal experiences.  He also introduced us to his network of other American missionaries in Guatemala.  One of his recommendations was to consider the value of attending a language school.  This was likely the fifth or sixth time something like this has been suggested to us! So, needless to say, we are listening.  He highly recommended the Christian Spanish Academy in Antigua, Guatemala, which is about a 40-minute drive from Guatemala City.  We spent the next day in Antigua visiting the Christian Spanish Academy (CSA) as well as a couple of other language schools.  CSA is a well-respected school that was started with the specific mission to help train missionaries in the Spanish language.  They offer an intense full-immersion language program that has been known to be very successful.  We believe that this is exactly where we need to begin.  Joseph will be attending the school every day for 4-6 hours a day for 4 to 6 months. I (Christy) will have classes for 2 hours a day, twice a week.  We will get the most out of the classes by living in Antigua and focusing on learning Spanish full time.  We were able to look at some apartments that same day and found one that would be a good fit for us, with enough space for me to continue homeschooling the girls.  We are praying that we will be able to secure this apartment when the time comes.  After completing the language program, we would then look for a more permanent place to live in Guatemala City.  The total cost for the full program for both of us will be around $5,000. 

Christian Spanish Academy

We were also able to have many valuable conversations about life and ministry in Guatemala during our trip.  I appreciated practical things like going for a run in the neighborhood and grocery shopping with Rosemarie – they have Walmart and Pricemart!  She also took me to Cenma, a huge fresh fruit and vegetable market where you can buy tons of great produce for really cheap.  On Sunday morning, we were able to join in worship and fellowship with the church, Vida Nueva Guatemala. It is amazing to see the Lord putting a closeness between us and them as we progress toward our move there. There may be great physical distance between us but the Lord is already knitting our hearts together.  

Vida Nueva is gearing up for their Bilingual Bible School in November so they were all wearing their "Submerged" T-shirts that Sunday.  This is a big outreach event each year that brings in a lot of people from the city.

The Lord continues to confirm that He is calling our family there.  We believe He wants to use us to encourage the church in their identity as ambassadors of Christ with a ministry and a message of reconciliation.  We also believe that He will provide for the ministry that He has called us to.  He has already started moving on many of your hearts to come alongside us.  Thank you to those of you who are praying for us and those who are already supporting us financially.  If you are considering supporting us financially, please let us know by filling out our support form.  There is a link to this printable form on the right-hand column of this blog.  (You won't see it on the mobile version of the blog, you have to open the web version to see the link).  We are close to 40% of the total funds needed for a two-year period and we need to know when to make some long-term decisions such as selling our house, securing an apartment and enrolling in language school.  It would be really helpful if you would fill out the form for us so we can know how to make these decisions.

We are so humbled and thankful for all of you!! 

Main Square in Antigua

Guatemala City from the airplane