Mission Trips to Guatemala. What is it that differentiates a mission trip from any other kind of humanitarian aid or social work? Perhaps the reason lies in what we call it, a “mission trip”, if so, what is that mission?
Loving the Least of These in Guatemala. Can it really be as simple as that? A ministry without any greater physical, practical or social end that exists merely to love Jesus through caring for the “least of these”?
Learning to Give Back in Guatemala. Never underestimate the power that giving to others will have in changing your own life. Students at an orphanage learn to give back by serving others.
When do you stop looking for, helping and serving a lost sheep that just wants to go its own way? I’ll tell you when, it’s when Christ stops looking for us. A story of our ministry to the orphaned, vulnerable and disabled.
Baptisms in Guatemala. Two of our daughters made the decision to get baptized. That they chose to get baptized in the church that we love, that they made the decision to make a public profession of their personal faith, belief and acceptance of their salvation by grace through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, was wonderful.
Missionary News From Guatemala, January 2016. One of the things I love most about being in Guatemala for Christmas, is celebrating it with the children we love. Our children, friends, current and former students. Together we celebrate the birth of Christ in community with one another.
In our work caring for orphaned and vulnerable children in Guatemala, we see the heart of the Gospel. The Gospel is God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves, so, when we reach out and care for the orphaned or vulnerable, are doing for them what they cannot do for themselves and that is the beauty of the love God has for us.
This month was the first vacation camp for the kids at the orphanage Fundaninos in Guatemala. their School ended at the beginning of November and for two weeks they had a great time having cooking, woodworking, dance, music and art class.
So what do you do as a missionary in Guatemala? Aren’t there already churches there? Why are you involved in social work? Isn’t the job of a missionary only to share the Gospel and plant churches? Like any missionary, these are questions that I get asked from time to time.
"Don’t you feel bad about wasting your skills by being a missionary in Guatemala?” Was a question asked of me at a Bible study group last week after I shared about our ministry teaching, training and discipling orphaned and impoverished children in Guatemala and explained how I came to be a missionary here.
The Unquantifiable. During my time as a missionary in Guatemala I have found that there are some things that are connected to our lives which we never see in their fullness. Like the ripples in a pond carrying out from the splash made by a rock tossed into water. The fruit of and long term effects of ministry oftentimes carry on beyond our sight.
Ministry update by Tim and Sharie Martiny, Missionaries in Guatemala. In other special activities this month, we took the girls from Fundaninos out for a day with our family. We visited a national park at Lago de los Pinos where we spent the day swimming, playing soccer and relaxing by the lake. For many of them it was the first time they had ever swam in a lake and they loved it.
As a missionary, there are some times when God steps in, moments when you say “Ah Ha! That’s what it was all about!” You do the planning, but when you see things come together, there is no way you can claim the credit for it and you realize that it was God was working behind the scenes all along.This week I had one of those moments.
Where is the Fruit in your ministry in Guatemala? That is a question I get asked a lot. In today’s world of stats, metrics and instant data, people want to quantify progress and break it down into neat clean identifiable charts. They want to see constant sustainable growth and determine if your work is “worth” supporting.
The Missionary Calling in Guatemala. I never cease to be amazed at how God works. From the simple seemingly mundane things in life, to the marvelous workings of the universe, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9
A key part of our missionary work in Guatemala is our Friday night class with the girls from the orphanage Fundaninos lately we have been placing an emphasis on life preparedness. We recently finished a Bible study series on Christian work ethic and had the girls evaluate their lives and discuss the areas where they thought they could improve in that aspect.