We are here on assignment from Jesus

      Many of you probably wonder exactly where in Guatemala we live. So these maps should help you with location (You can click the photos to enlarge them). We live in the town of San Antonio Aguas Calientes, about 15 minutes drive from the bigger "city" of Antigua. Antigua is not really a city, but it a very touristy and historic/colonial area and has many restaurants, shops, stores, and other places. Guatemala City (shown on the map as Guatemala) is the capital and where the main airport is located that we fly into.

             

 
 
            

The pin is right on top of our roof
Directly beside the pin to the NE is
a little gray rectangle. That is our
patio/courtyard.

       We are currently working on becoming permanent residents of Guatemala. Before we moved here we had to get our marriage certificate, birth certificates, background checks, and a letter from the organization we are working under all certified and notarized by the state and Guatemala consulate of PA. All those papers are needed in order to bcome a resident here. Two weeks ago we headed into the city to a laywer's office to start the process. We paid a deposit fee, gave all the paperwork, then realized we needed one other thing. We needed to get headshot photos taken for the resident

application for me and name-change application for Krishauna (she is already a resident here, but under the last name Fulp). So a week later we headed back in to sign a few more papers and hand in our photos. On December 8th we have another meeting at the office to head to immigration with someone from the laywer's office to pay VISA fees, then Lord willing we will be 'in process.' This means we will not have to pay anymore VISA fees, and will not have to leave the country every six months (which you have to do if you are not an official resident). We should be official residents within the next 6-8 months if all goes according to plan. So you can be praying that all the processing will go smoothly and there will not be any hiccups.

     We have official dates where Push The Rock will be visiting Guatemala! Two guys are planning on coming down at the end of March to see a little bit of the culture and area of Guatemala, along with meeting some of the people here. They will also be learning and hearing about Hope for Home Ministries. They will be here for aproximately a week and we will spend a good amount of that time praying, talking about vision and plans for the future of what PTR Guatemala would look like, and brainstorming. So excited to see what God has in store!

     Shoreline is the name of a church we found three weeks ago. It is a church of about 100-125 people and it meets in Antigua. It is in English, but they do a translation over in-ear headphone in Spanish for those who do not know English. They are a church plant from Shoreline Dallas, Texas. We have just started to get connected with some people and have enjoyed the church a lot. Last week the lead pastor from the Dallas church came and spoke a powerful message. We lost power in the building and sound at points, but we still had church. A church doesn't need power and lights to be the body of Christ. It needs the people to rise up and be the hands and feet of Jesus. We are here on this earth on assignment from Jesus and the church should be movement not a monument. However, we just received an e-mail on Friday that they are changing the service time from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Sunday's. We currently meet in a nightclub building, and supposedly due to the noise on Sunday mornings the church makes the neighbors were not happy. So we were extremely disappointed to hear that because it cuts into our Sunday afternoon lunch and schedule along with some other reasons. We are going today, and hope to hear some more explanation, but we will probably not be able to continue going if the time stays at 1:30. You can be praying for the church leaders as they have to make decisions about location/timing as well as for us in our decision making.

Blessings on you and your family during this Christmas season. Here's a picture from Christmas tree day (Decoration day) from the Fulp house!

Glory Be To God! 

-Andi and Krishauna

I love my job!

Can I just take some time to brag about my student for a little bit? 

As I shared in a past post, I am teaching a young man in my parents’ home. His name is Cesar (he goes by Checha) and he is 18 years old. As far as we know, before I began working with him in September, he never had any formal schooling. He is smart and very anxious to learn, but he hadn’t been given the chance to learn so he lacks many of the basics. 

Touchpoint addition

I go to Hogar de la Esperanza to work with Checha one on one for 2 1/2 hours three days a week. We have been doing touchpoint counting (dots on the numbers that the student touches and counts to figure out what number it is) to work toward addition. Just this week, we started addition and Checha is doing great! We have spent the majority of our time working on identifying letters, tracing them, and listening to the sounds each letter makes.

Writing name on iPad app

At the beginning of September, I evaluated where Checha was to know where to start. He knew most numbers 0-9 and all basic colors and shapes, but he could only identify four letters of the alphabet. After really working on learning letters for a month, on October 5th, I tested Checha and he knew six letters (only two more than a month before). I felt extremely discouraged because we had been working so hard with so little progress. I was trying everything I could think of to help him, but nothing seemed to be working. Teachers often see students struggling, but it is important to try new things and not give up. We kept working together. Checha worked on his own when I wasn’t at the home. After lots of work, on October 31st, he knew 13 letters! He learned 7 letters in 26 days and since then, he has learned a few more. He also is working to write his name (picture shows his progress). I am so proud of Checha and how hard he is working!

Who says those with disabilities can’t learn?! THIS is why I am in Guatemala.

Leading up to Thanksgiving, my family has a thankful tree that sits on the kitchen table. When someone thinks of something they are thankful for, they write it on a piece of paper and clip it on the tree. Checha asked someone to help him write one. His paper says, “Thanks for school”. How exciting is it that Checha finally gets to have an education and that he realizes how blessed he is to have the opportunity to learn! 

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Krishauna