The incomplete building



Francisco ministering to the men




Doris and her new stove



Children with new tennis and school supplies



Young ladies and Gilma at the sleepover


Ministering to the children and having fun too



Outdoor classroom for first grade


Nathan




Ministerio Comedor y Educación de Paz, Chiquimula
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light Isaiah 9:2

Greetings from Guatemala… cold, windy blustery Guatemala. For a while there I thought I was back in the states because of the cold! In parts of Guatemala it was below zero!

We have officially named the ministry in Guatemala to reflect the work that is being done. The Guatemalan name for our ministry is Ministerio Comedor y Educacion de Paz, Chiquimula. It means it is a feeding program and education program with the emphasis on Peace. The name of the Guatemalan church also has the same emphasis. The church's name is Dios es Nuestra Paz (God is our Peace). We are still WMOTW for tax purposes and for the non-profit status. The name Watchmen On the Walls does not translate to a meaningful statement of the ministry in Guatemala.

Birth Announcement! Nathan has come. My Aimee gave birth on the 12th of February to her second son. He weighed 8 lbs and is gorgeous.

Angel is well. With Raquel on maternity leave, Erika stepped in as his tutor. He’s in the fifth grade and really struggles with focusing. He’s smart, especially in math but he’d rather play with the cat, watch action videos (although he loves Bambi 1 and 2), sleep in, eat everything in sight, and play with his toy soldiers. He’s a typical 11 year old. Please pray for me.

There is a new school in the colonial where most of the families we work with live. We visited them one day. What a walk. There are 87 students from grades kinder through 4th. There are four classrooms. There are two classes of first grade. Many older children ages 10-14 are studying for the first time.


We have a wonderful group of youth coming to help with the children at the comedor. They have broken them down by age into groups to share the word and play games. It’s been a bit crazy because space is limited in the garage, but fun for the children. Francisco also faithfully comes to help.


We had our first sleepover for 2009. Twenty one girls attended ages 10 through 15. We had a great meal of chicken Chow Mein, cake, bread and a drink. Afterwards we had a time of games and then a special gospel sharing by a youth from a local Guatemalan church. We had prayers, popcorn and a movie. All of the girls save two had accepted Christ before. One of those two made a first time commitment. Please pray for the other girl, Katerin, who said she was not ready.
We gave out tennis, book bags and school supplies this month. Thank God the government is helping some this year but more is needed. We are so thankful we could fill in the spaces where more help was needed. This also meant we could help more children.



So far this year we have given out four stoves. They use less wood, have a chimney that takes the smoke outside of the home and is high off of the ground away from animals. The latest stove given out this month was donated by Jerry and Daisy Hudson of Zion 3 church of Ohio. Doris and her four children were thrilled to receive the blessing of the stove.


Francisco had his monthly meeting with the men. Seven men showed up and he shared on relationships within the family especially with their wives. There is a lot of abuse here. After the sharing and prayer, the men ate a meal and sat around talking more. We are thankful for Francisco’s positive influence on these men who are not attending any church. This is their opportunity to hear about another way to live.

As time goes on things change but remain the same…new birth, death and taxes. We rejoice in all three. Each brings renewal. How? New birth brings a new life, death in Christ brings a new life eternal, taxes bring an opportunity to take care of here and now. We are so excited about new birth in the ministry, actually the rebirth of the building project that has been on hold for four years.


The month of March we plan to restart the construction. We are in the process of getting a new estimate based on the rise in the costs of construction and a new building plan. We plan to build a two story building to house the comedor (feeding program), church, medical clinic, computer lab, library, space for an after school program, English classes and much more. Please continue to pray as we look to begin again on the construction. Become a part of what we are doing here if you have not already and if you have thanks and keep it up. You are needed.

Thanks for your love, prayers and support.
Love, Myra

Park Valley Church Visitors and My Ministry

A new day and a new message. Yesterday we had our first literacy class. It was a blustery, rainy day and only a few showed up but it was a good beginning. Today, at our church service, many said they would come to the class next Saturday for sure.

I want you to meet a new addition to the ministry. Francisco and Raquel are a young couple who are youth pastors at a local church. They had been in Chiquimula for about 3 months and wanted to help in a ministry. A friend brought them to me and they have been a blessing and a delight. Raquel teaches the literacy class as well as tutor my son Angel. Francisco shares the Word with the men once a month. Today at our monthly Men's meeting 27 men showed up. Praise God!

Last but not least, I'd like to share about the last group of visitors. They came mid-July and their impact on this ministry and with the poor community is still resonating. The group was led by good friend Kelly Schaeffer, who is a dynamic and dedicated personality. She brought the same caliber of people with her.

They wasted no time from painting my kitchen, doing activities with the kids, recovering plastic covered huts with new plastic, cooking and serving meals for the comedor (feeding program), killing mildew off of cement walls, baking cakes for a 15th Birthday party for one of the girls, to helping me with my newly donated computer. They even took time to visit Songs of Joy Children's Home to share play time with 60 children. I was tired just watching them.

Two of the most exciting times of their visit was when we took about 70 kids to the pool. They set up a fair day with fun stations for the children to visit and to enjoy. They also provided the clothing, ring and gifts for Carla's 15th birthday celebration. In this culture this is a special event that poor children never celebrate. Carla cried as she told them she never could imagine in her entire life that she would celebrate her 15th birthday in this special way.

They became attached to a number of the children. One in particular was Marco Tulio (14) who is one of my favorites. Marcos comes from a very abusive family. His father drinks and beats the mom. He has beaten Marcos so bad he's had bloody whelps on his arms and back. With this life style he had become a very angry young man. His house is up a hill on the back side of my house. When he is angry he has thrown rocks and has broken my windows. It's nothing personal...the windows are there in front of him and in his hand is a rock waiting to vent his anger. I talk to him and tell him I am not angry and always smile at him and over time he is doing better.

Marco was hit by a car and was unconscious for a day but thank God he revived and is on the mend. The visitors really took to him and loved on him. I pray this attention will inspire him to return to school and continue to study. He is a very bright young man with a winning smile.

That's all for today.

Love, Myra

Al, Natalie & Team

Another day and more info about visitors. My second group of eight people was led by Al and Natalie. They sent ahead SEVEN large boxes filled with women, children and men's clothing as well as shoes and purses. WOW!!

After a rough first day in Guatemala for Natalie ( serious upset stomach) everything ran smoothly. There were four young people in the group ranging in ages from 16 to 23 and an older woman of 68. All pitched in sorting and giving out clothing every day of the comedor (feeding program). The people were amazed and blessed and my garage was overflowing with very happy people.

We also visited the homes of the poor so the visitors, especially the younger ones, could appreciate how blessed they are in the states.

Al and Natalie did a great job organizing the activities. Al also was the chef for the group and did an excellent job. They really served me while they were here. I hardly did anything.

We are looking forward to more visits from Al and Natalie in the future. They are making plans to come again.

Closing for now.

Love, Myra

Jack and Jennifer Visit

angeldaniel@wmotw.com

Ministry visitors

Hello,

This is my first blog experience and it is exciting and a bit scary. Who's gonna read it anyway? If you do, you are special!

This year has been my busiest as far as visitors coming to the ministry. From late May until yesterday, its been none stop.

Where do I begin? Each group has blessed me in different ways. More importantly they have blessed God by their service.

I will begin with May when Jack and Jennifer came. They were so easy and laid back. Jack fixed anything in sight plus taught my son Angel how to do some handy man things too. Jen, who is a nurse, checked out the mothers and children. She was very good with them too. She also participated in a sleepover with 20 odd girls. No. they were not odd, just the number. She brought t-shirts and paint to make decorative shirts. It was great time. I took them visiting to see how the poor live. Jack has been involved with this ministry many years with his church. He has been an advocate for this ministry. He plans to come back in a year or two with more people and Jennifer plans to bring some nurses to do a medical clinic.

Jack also bought a plaque that will be placed in the building as a memorial to Susie Saltsman. In her memory we will build the Susie Saltsman library and multipurpose center. This will be an entire floor of the building and will serve as the church, daycare, computer lab, library and a place to hold Bible, hygiene, and literacy classes.

To make donations to this project please make checks out to WMOTW 3415 Fallstaff Rd Baltimore, MD 21215. Please put Susie Saltsman in the memo line.

I will share more tomorrow about my second group. If you are interested in serving the poor in a foreign land. Come on down!

Contact me at Angeldaniel@wmotw.com.

Love, Myra