Food packing and delivery and other big news!

The situation here in Guatemala with unemployment keeps getting worse and worse. People live day to day here with income and expenses and so having enough food to live is a problem for many. We reached out to families in our program asking if they needed food or resources or if they knew of others who needed help. Many of the families expressed their thanks and said they were okay, but a few responded with needs and knew of others (family, neighbors, or others) who could use food. We were able to purchase some food staples such as sugar, rice, beans, pasta, nutritional drink mix (atol), and oatmeal to give out to help support their families. A special thank you to Dillsburg BIC church and their funds from the youth Famine event we were able to purchase these items to help these families. The pictures below show some of the families. In the video they are saying, "Gracias por las cosas" (Thank you for these things).

 

 

Hope for Home Ministries continues to deliver food large scale to villages and towns all over the country where there is much larger need. Families put white flags outside their houses to show they are out of food and many people from Hope for Home are out delivering food every day. Shauna and I were able to help with food packing days this past week.

 

Some of the 7,500 lbs of food (rice, beans, and powdered milk) packed and ready for distribution.

Big news we are moving on May 30th!! A newly constructed house went up for rent this past weekend right down the street and we were able to see it and it meets all our needs! It provides some more room for the program to continue to grow, has the space to host interns, and our living space. It is farther away from the church and park which is very noisy at times and is closer to the court that we use for the program. The other place that we had been hoping to rent continues to be under construction and is still at least 4-6 months from being finished. The builder continues to add and change his plans for that house which based on what we saw would raise the rent price  considerably. So pictures will be coming of our new place in the next update. We are thanking the Lord for providing our next house and are looking forward to the day we can move in! God always knows what is best.

We are looking forward to the day when the after-school program can begin meeting again along with getting excited to meet our baby girl. Seven weeks until she comes! You can continue praying for us through this move, for the families in our program, and for continued health for Shauna and baby girl through the rest of the pregnancy.

We are so thankful for your continued support and prayers through this time of great need here in Guatemala. 

Andi, Shauna, and Sammy

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 

k.bru91@gmail.com

If you feel God is calling you to support us financially you can go to pushtherock.org/donate and find Andi Brubaker on the drop down menu. Dios le bendiga.

Curfew. Cuarentena. COVID-19

 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

We are in the midst of what feels like a dream. A pandemic has covered the world. People are out of work, business are shut down, sports events are not taking place, schools are closed, people are wearing masks and are taking every precaution possible. It feel exactly like the board game 'Pandemic' for those who know what that is.

Here in Guatemala, the president has instituted a curfew from 4:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. This means that everyone needs to be in their homes during this time. If you are out of your home without a legitimate reason (medical, food delivery service, or law enforcement) then you are arrested and put in prison for 15-30 days. The curfew started Sunday afternoon and is currently in effect for eight days. During the day only essential business's are open. The airport is shut down. Schools are closed. No public transportation. No religious gatherings or Easter or Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations. The government has put into effect all these measures to do their best to not have the virus spread here. As of the time I am writing this update, Guatemala has 21 confirmed cases. 

The first two pictures below are images down our street of what it looks like after curfew has started. Sunday afternoon, most of the street dogs were quiet, you couldn't hear any music ,and there was a eery silence with a slight breeze. The next two photos are from Antigua and Guatemala city during the curfew.

This shut down country wide is needed to stop the spread of the virus, but many, many people are struggling. Many Guatemalans live day to day with income and expenses and without jobs right now, there are so many who are living in fear, chaos, and not knowing where they are going to get their next meal. This also hurts the economy, especially the Antigua area. Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Antigua is the largest Easter celebration in the world. People come from all over to participate in the festivities. Businesses, restaurants, hotels, and other companies make a large chunk of their income during the month leading up to Easter and now don't have that opportunity. Please pray for Guatemala and the people. 

Obviously our program also has been shut down during this time and so we have been using this time to get a bunch of cleaning, organizing, and other odds and ends done. Here we are on our roof cleaning the stools for the program. Sammy loves to help :)

Earlier this month we were able to celebrate my (Andi's) birthday with some peanut butter pie and found a place to go mini-golfing. Sammy also enjoyed the Nutella that I received as a gift :)

We've also started to rework some of the schedule for the rest of the year for the program.  Here are some photos from the beginning of March.

The kids are learning the Books of the Bible in this game.

We have been praying for you and are continually thankful for your support and prayers.

Please let us know the ways we can be praying for you.

There is a hashtag going around here #QuedateEnCasa which means stay at home. Please do your part to help limit the spread of this virus. Continue to reach out to friends and family by calling or video chat to check in on them. Many people are struggling and being stuck at home makes things worse. Also continue to remind people of the Lord's faithfulness. Send people encouraging notes and pray for them. Use this as an opportunity to share with people about God's love for them.

We hope you are encouraged today and take time to look around at the ways God has blessed you.

Love from Guatemala,

Andi, Shauna, and Sammy

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 

k.bru91@gmail.com

If you feel God is calling you to support us financially you can go to pushtherock.org/donate and find Andi Brubaker on the drop down menu. Dios le bendiga.

New Hope. Stronger Faith. Greater Vision.

Greetings from Guatemala. This update will be in three main sections related to the title of this post. We hope you spend the time to read it as God has been challenging us and we hope that you can be praying alongside of us as we walk through what God has before us.

New Hope

This is the name of the church we are apart of that launched in San Antonio three weeks ago! Iglesia Cristiana Nueva Esperanza (New Hope Christian Church). We have had multiple families start coming from the community and had 71 people total this past Sunday. It has been a privilege to serve in leading the worship team and coordinating the audio and screens team as well. Within three weeks we have been able to have a full band with four instruments and three vocalists which has been amazing! The entire service is in Spanish, with some parts in English, which has definitely challenged me to grow even more in my Spanish speaking ability :) Shauna has taken the role of being in charge of bookkeeping and finances. You can be praying that the church (we the people) would continue to be lights in our community and that the gospel that is preached along with the work of the Holy Spirit would reveal 'New Hope' to all those who step through the doors (also those who pass by the doors as the service happens). The photo above is of the main area of the church. You can also see a video of worship and like the church's page on Facebook below.

Video of worship

Iglesia Cristiana Nueva Esperanza Facebook page

Stronger Faith

Faith is sometimes a very difficult concept to grasp and understand. According to Merriam Webster faith is : strong belief or trust in someone or something. Obviously, the faith we have is in our Heavenly Father. We have faith that God will answer our prayers when we pray according to His will. Both Shauna and I have been challenged in our faith to pray that God will open the doors to our next home/property. We have been praying that by March the house that has been under construction (that we first looked at last January) will be completed and we will be able to move into that new property. We believe that God has greater things ahead and ask that you join with us in praying for the doors to open on this new house/property. We also ask that you continue to pray for us to have greater faith in our daily walk with God.

Greater Vision

Along with praying for the new property and house, each day, week, and month that passes we are sensing a "Greater Vision." One of our goals for PTR Guatemala is to disciple and train Guatemalans to disciple, train, and educate other Guatemalans. We as 'Gringos' (foreigners) can only associate, communicate, and train others as best as we know how, but we will never be the 'same' as the people here. So in that regard by having Guatemalans directing and leading programs and events they will be able to relate and reach more people that we would ever be able to. So first you can be praying that relationships would continue to build with people here in our community and that God would raise up leaders who have to heart of impacting people for Him. Shauna and I have already had discussions about one of the oldest boys in our program and the possibilities of hiring him next year to help us in the program. Going along with this idea of 'greater vision' you can be praying for wisdom as we process what it would look like to purchase land to build a ministry area. We have found that properties large enough for ministry are extremely expensive to rent and very hard to find. By having our own space and property we would be able to design the space to fit not only what we need right now, but for expansion as well. This could include living space, sports fields, education classrooms and more. Pray that God would reveal his will and that we would have faith to follow Him where He leads. We know this is a big vision that will bring in many more expenses and that God will have to provide a piece of land, but we continue to have this vision on our hearts and are praying for God to move in miraculous ways. We can see so many kids who come to our program that crave attention and love and many don't have a father figure who is consistently involved in their daily lives. We are that safe and loving place that they can come twice a week and our vision is for that to grow and that we are able to show God's love to so many more kids and families in this community.

Please pray for us for 'New Hope', 'Stronger Faith,' & our 'Greater Vision.


E-mail address update: Shauna's e-mail address has now changed. Her new e-mail is  k.bru91@gmail.com so please update your contact information. :)

 

Thank you so much for your financial support, your prayers, and encouragement. 

Andi, Shauna, and Sammy

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 

k.bru91@gmail.com

If you feel God is calling you to support us financially you can go to pushtherock.org/donate and find Andi Brubaker on the drop down menu. Dios le bendiga.

Exciting beginnings

The 2020 school year has begun! It has brought an increase in numbers as well. We have 27 kids registered in our older group and 12 in our younger group. This includes eight brand new kids. Because of the size of the older group we now split into two levels of English which will allow the kids to learn better. We also have had to add a 3rd table to our main room, add more stools, and have more energy and excitement too! We are so pumped to have this group of kids and are excited to see how the Holy Spirit moves in their hearts. 

 Taking their writing speed tests and placements for Rocket Math.

 

We learned about the Creation story with the younger group and they drew pictures representing each day.

 Reviewing numbers and colors as part of our first couple days.

 

Working on the Books of the Bible. Excited to start our lessons on prayer, and diving into some different topics like honesty, honor, and forgiveness this trimester.

 Another change we have made is to join the core team of a new church plant here in San Antonio, our town. The name of the church is 'Nueva Esperanza' which means 'New Hope'. We met for the first time this past Sunday as a core group to worship together. I (Andi) have taken the role of worship leader and am looking forward to see how God works through this opportunity of leadership. We are painting and doing some other work on the building we will be renting for the church and Lord willing, will have the first service by the middle of February.

Ways you can be praying :

-That God would provide a building/house for us as the program continues to grow (in this area due to the majority of our kids live in this section of town)

-Continued healthy pregnancy for Shauna who is almost 20 weeks now

-This new church plant: that we can share the gospel and be the light to many who live in darkness

-That God will raise up Guatemalans who are interested in working with us in the program, passionate about Jesus and pouring into the lives of kids.

As always some fun photos of Sammy :)

We have already seen God move in so many ways this year and we are only 2/3 through January. We are so excited to see what the rest of 2020 brings. 

We are blessed. 

God is good all the time. All the time God is good.

Andi, Shauna, and Sammy

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 pushtherock.org/donate and find Andi Brubaker on the drop down menu. Dios le bendiga.