Greetings from the land of Eternal Spring! For those who are unaware Guatemala has this nickname because of the climate. Many of you are looking out your windows at a large amount of snow on the ground, while we enjoy the 80 degree weather here. It's amazing how God created this world with so many different types of weather and climate - what a Creator! If you recieve this update via e-mail and the formatting is messed up, feel free to click the blog title which will take you directly to our webpage. You can also click on any photo to enlarge it.
This update contains a lot of pictures which are always fun :) They are great way to show snippets into our life here!
As part of our rental contract, it was agreed that we would add a bathroom to the back of our house. It's been a little challenging finding time to work on it due to having the after-school program four days a week, but poco a poco (little by little)! It's a totally new experience using block and re-bar to build along with learning what tools to use and the different processes they use here. The hope is to have the walls complete by the time rainy season comes, which is usually around early - mid April.
With some of the profit that we made from the Push The Rock Guatemala shirt sales we were able to purchase these awesome storage cabinets and tub! They hold all of our games, books, supplies, sports equipment, and our 'mini-libreria' (store) that the kids use the points to purchase school supplies. We found out very quickly that pens of all colors, erasers, and sticky-notes are the most popular items.
The after-school program is going really well! The kids are getting excited for "Dia Especial" during the 2nd week of April. That day will mark the end of the first trimester of the school year and we will be playing minute to win it games, other games and activities, and the kids will be redeeming their points for their special snack (depending on what level they have achieved depends of how special the snack is). The past few days we have been going through the Easter story. We started with Jesus' arrival into Jerusalem, washing feet, the last supper, Jesus' arrest and crucifixion, and tomorrow we will be talking about His resurrection. Please be praying that as we share the story tomorrow (Thu) and Friday of Jesus' resurrection that we will be able to explain it in a way that the kids can understand. Pray that the kids will have questions and want to have discussion about why Jesus died for us and rose again. Pray that Spanish wouldn't be a hindrance to communicating and understanding. You can also be praying that we will have wisdom to know how not to offend the kids who come from Catholic families, but still share the truth of the gospel.
During our English time we have been working on parts of the body (eyes as pictured below), simple action verbs, and days of the week.
We recently received some pinnies sent down by Push The Rock and have been using them a lot. We've enjoyed playing (to-ti-to) human tic-tac-toe, pony express, naden peces naden (swim fishy swim), robar el tocino (steal the bacon), kickball, mission impossible, and futbol! It was also really encouraging to hear one of the kids using a Bible verse he was learning and applying it during one of the games. The idea of doing to others what you would have them do to you. It's so cool to see them putting that into practice!
Some other ways you can be praying for the after-school program:
- A boy who attends the program keeps causing trouble. He never wants to admit being wrong and constantly is telling on others. Please pray for wisdom for us to know the correct way to discipline and what consequences to give while loving him in the best way possible.
- We are learning more about some of the kids home situations. Pray for wisdom to know how and if we should get involved, and also how to love all these kids in the best way possible.
- Pray for interns, part-time or full-time staff, and volunteers. We are currently limited in how much we can do now regarding expansion and amount of kids we can accept due to staff.
Plans for the near future:
We are excited as we look ahead to planning a swimming pool day for all of the kids in our program along with their families sometime in May or June.
A team from Mechanicsburg BIC church will be coming to serve with us for a day in July. We will be having a kids community day where we play games and do activities down at the court for the afternoon they are here.
Other Life updates:
Shauna is doing well and the baby is healthy and continuing to grow. Praise the Lord! We would love for you to continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy and our son as he continues to grow!
Last week we started up a new season of connect groups within our church. We are a part of a group with 6 other couples. We meet every Tuesday evening and it has been a awesome time of encouragement, fellowship, community, vulnerability, and growth in friendship.
This is just an awesome picture of all my Push The Rock shirts
(for those of you who did not see it on facebook)
We are so blessed and honored to be doing the work God has called us to do here in Guatemala. We are so thankful for your prayers and support.
Much love,
Andi and Krishauna
If you have any questions or want to know more about our ministry and what we are doing in Guatemala send us an email at abrubaker@pushtherock.org or krishauna@hopeforhome.org.
If you feel God is calling you to support us financially you can go to hopeforhome.org/donate and designate your gift to Andi and Krishauna or pushtherock.org/donate and find Andi Brubaker on the drop down menu.
