Seeing God at Work

It has been way too long since we last posted an update. Life has been full and busy, and we praise the Lord that we are witnessing Him doing a work that is so much bigger than us!  We are seeing people choosing to follow Jesus.  We are seeing people become passionate about their calling as ambassadors who carry the message of reconciliation to those around them.  We are seeing leaders and pastors who are eager to train and equip those under their care.  We are seeing young men eager to be a part of training and encouraging others.  We praise God for allowing us to witness and be a part of the miraculous ways He is moving here!  If you would like to partner with us financially, please see the info on the right side of our blog page (you won't see this if you are looking at the mobile site).  Also, if you would like to be included in the group that receives real-time updates/prayer requests, see info at the end of this blog post.  Here are some of the things we’ve been up to…

Since the process to get a permanent visa here in Guatemala is long, complicated, expensive and not really necessary, we are living here with only our tourism visa.  This means we have to leave the country for a few days every 6 months in order to renew it.  So, in February our 6 months was up and we visited the States.  We thoroughly enjoyed the time we were able to spend with friends and family.  We also had some great opportunities to share what the Lord has been teaching us and how He is moving in the hearts of the people here in Guatemala. 

We returned home to Guatemala and received some special guests… the pastor of our home church (Faith Baptist in Youngsville, NC) and his wife, Steven and Jenny Wade. It was a treat to spend time with them and to share our new surroundings with them. After their visit, Christy and the girls began their final 15 week stretch of their homeschool year. We also spent the rest of March moving into a different condo in our same neighborhood.  We had been living in the home of some missionary friends of ours that have been in the States for the past year, but plan to return soon.  Joseph, with the help of several brothers in Christ here, worked hard making repairs and getting the new home ready for us.  Praise the Lord for all who are giving so that we can afford a safe and secure home with beds and enough space for all to feel at home. 

The Lord’s timing amazes us.  As soon as we finished getting settled into our new home, new opportunities for ministry opened before us. After being away, having guests and getting moved, I (Joseph) thought the things in ministry where suffering. I was worried that we may have setbacks in the work but the Lord’s timing is always best. With my horizontal view I saw no work being done, but God was working here even still. People we trained prior to this long stint had been practicing and have seen fruit. They have also been speaking with other churches who have heard of the work and are eager to have us come and train. For months, we have been praying for opportunities to train in more places more often and for more trainers to rise up and begin to practice and train. Just a few weeks ago we heard from a pastor in Zacapa, Guatemala (La Majada) who was looking for someone in the NoPlaceLeft/NingunLugarSinAlcanzar network to help him with gospel conversations and discipleship training. I am overwhelmed and excited to tell you that God has provided faithful men who want to join in the work of making disciples and training them to make disciples who will entrust the ministry to other faithful men as well (2Tim 2:2). Right now, we have at least three months of trainings from these organic contacts.

Prayer Requests:

• Rising Leaders: We are seeing the Lord develop leaders in Guatemala City, Nimajuyu, and Zacapa (La Majada and Llano De Piedras). The Lord is working, and the enemy is attacking.

• Luke 10:2. Please pray for more workers in the harvest. We need more trainers to rise up from the harvest and begin to disciple others who will become trainers.

• Effective communication in trainings scheduled for the next few months in Zacapa/Rio Hondo, Villa Nueva (South of the City) and Nimajuyu (where local pastors will receive training).

• Wisdom to know and see where the Lord is working vs. working where we think we should because it is more convenient or comfortable.

• For continued strength to persevere in learning Spanish, homeschool and ministry.

• Continued financial support so we can stay here and witness the Lord’s work. We need more faithful monthly partners to continue the work.

I (Joseph) often send real-time updates and prayer requests to a group chat using the WhatsApp messenger app.  If you get WhatsApp and would like to be added to this group, send me a message at +502 4803-5579 or email me at jdsaleeby@gmail.com.  

This entire family repented and believed in Jesus! Please pray that we will be able to meet with the father (who was not there that day) and be able to share with him as well.

Jhonnatan is a young man from Nimajuyu who is passionate about making disciples and learning to train others.  Pastor Pedro and Jose are church leaders in Zacapa that have opened their home to us and worked with us to train the local congregations.

This 15 year old named Diego realized his need to repent and believe in Jesus during our training at a local school in Zacapa.  Praise the Lord for opening His eyes to the light of Christ!  Pray that he grows in his understanding of the Gospel and what it means to follow Jesus.

Church training in Zacapa (La Majada)

Stephen Frein helping to train.  These are leaders from La Majada that want to plant a church

Another training.  This church is in Llano de Piedras, Zacapa. We had a pig wander in during one of the trainings here!

Two young men in Nimajuyu that are eager to make disciples.  We will be working together a lot in the next month.

Training at a school in Zacapa.

The vision is to seek houses of peace or churches that would like to practice the tools of evangelism for strengthening an existing church or planting a new church.  Please join us in praying for connections in these locations.