Community

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. 

1 John 1:7 

(If you receive this update via e-mail and the formatting is messed up, click the blog title which will take you directly to our web page. You can also click on any photo to enlarge it.)

On Saturday June 2nd we had our family pool day which included all the kids (amazingly they all were able to attend) in the after-school program along with their immediate families. The day was perfect! There were 82 people there; every single one of the kids in the program were able to make it and they all brought at least one other family member. We were able to meet and get to know some older and younger siblings along with some of their parents. The weather was amazing, there was great fellowship, soccer, snacks, and of course swimming and having fun in the pools. The location that we hosted the event at had a smaller kiddie pool which was very helpful for the kids that couldn’t swim or didn’t feel comfortable in the bigger and deeper pool. Thanks for your prayers. It was an awesome time to bring the families of the community together. 

 

We had some maternity pics taken a couple of weeks ago and we are expecting the arrival of our little guy any day now!

We are so thankful for all the gifts we have received for our new baby. The amount of generosity and community surrounding us is such a blessing.

Shauna was surprised this past Saturday with a baby shower here in our town. Eight of the kids’ mom’s in our after-school program along with some of the girls planned and hosted it. We were so blessed by their willingness to honor us in that way. Some of the ladies also shared how they are so thankful for us and the program we have for their kids. One of the ladies said, (not quoted perfectly and translated) We are so thankful for your program and know our kids are in a safe place at 2:00 every afternoon when they attend. You are such a huge part of our community and such have a positive impact. To us those words meant so much and show that what we are doing with the kids here is improving the community and helping families in amazing ways. The encouragement and blessing from those ladies was also a way we felt encouragement from our Heavenly Father.

We spent some in prayer recently during the after-school program for the people and communities affected by the volcano eruption. The cleanup is mostly finished around our town, however, there are still backhoe's cleaning up some of the ash on the streets. The pictures below show some of the ash covering our grass and patio area. Continue to be in prayer for those are still in shelters and have lost everything.

Our next update, Lord willing, will be about our new baby :) 

If you are interested in praying for some more specific requests we have we would love to share those with you. Send us an e-mail or message and we will communicate those with you.

This community of people supporting us in prayer and financially is incredible and we wouldn't be able to be here without you. Thank you so much.

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.

Volcano Update

Many of you have heard or seen the news about a volcano (named Fuego) erupting here in Guatemala. The main eruption happened on Sunday afternoon. According to some news sources it was/is the largest eruption here in the country since 1929.

We live about 20-30 minutes from the towns that are most affected. Their towns have been buried in lava. The lava flow (pyroclastic flows), was the same type of lava flow that happened with Pompeii - very fast moving and super hot.

credit BBC

I just sent this out today to some others and thought I would share it on here.

Another few items everybody can be praying for regarding the situation:

-They (CONRED - Guatemala's government organization who is coordinating relief efforts) have expanded the evacuation area the past couple days because the volcano is still active and rumbling (with a possibility of another semi large eruption). That means all emergency personal and first responders are not able to get close enough to people who possibly are still alive. (They found a family of 8 Wednesday afternoon who were in trees since Sunday afternoon. They weren't able to get down because of the temperature of the lava under them.) 

-We also had a nice heavy rain Tuesday afternoon which helped settle alot of the ash/dust but made mud slides and flooding due to ash clogging drains. Yesterday and this morning it all dried out again so anytime a slight breeze comes tons of ash gets circulated in the air (along with the tons of ash already in the air). So many people are still wearing masks. 

-Be praying for workers who are volunteering in evacuation centers

-Be praying for those who have lost family and friends

-Be praying for God's peace

update: As of Wednesday evening the death count is now above 99, missing is still above 197, with 300+ injured. 

The towns most affected are 30-40  min from us. 

I shared some before/after photos on Facebook yesterday morning if you want to take a look. https://www.facebook.com/SamChunInforma/posts/2431943340152928

This is a before and after of a golf course that is
4 miles from Fuego.

Also if you want to follow what's going on or see some videos of earlier on in the week check out Daryl Fulp's facebook page https://www.facebook.com/daryl.fulp 

You can also  google Fuego eruption Guatemala and you can read as much as you want - just keep in mind not everything you read on the internet is true - make sure they are reliable sources. :)

Pray for Guatemala

Thanks,

Andi and Shauna

Walking and Running

Walking and Running: Two large themes in our lives right now. (If you receive 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.)

Walking

• With God: Andi just finished a book discussion on the book Walking With God by John Eldredge with a group of men from Shoreline City Antigua, our church here.

• Slower: Shauna is definitely walking slower due to getting closer to the due date of July 5th. The baby continues to look healthy and is growing at a good rate! The photo of Shauna is from the baby shower last week. We would love for continued prayer for Shauna and the baby's health.

• In step with the Spirit: "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:25 This is such a challenge and growing experience to keep in step with the Spirit. Not to lag behind or go ahead, to to keep in step as we listen to His voice as we grow in relationship with our Father every day. This idea and concept has been on my (Andi)'s mind for a couple of weeks now. We need encouragement, accountability, and need to be challenged every day in this. 

• To the pool: We have our official pool day planned as a fun time for the kids and their families of the after-school program. Saturday June, 2nd we rented the pool down the street which also includes a field for playing soccer, a kiddie pool, and a grassy area with shade. We are super excited for that day and to get to know some of the kids' families better! You can be praying, along with us, for that time of building relationships! We will post plenty of pictures next update from the pool day!

Running

• Water: We have had two types of running water. First the kind that is important for a functioning bathroom (the addition to the house which is so close to being complete!). The last couple things that need done are to install the sink, run wiring for lights, and put a door on! The other type of running water has been rain. Rainy season has started and we've had some down pours recently which have caused a few leaks in our house.

        

• The After-School Program

 

 

It's been awesome seeing the improvement in some of the kids in English. A few weeks ago, Jose, during educational time (the first 30 minutes of the program), was able to say by himself in English, 'Going to play soccer in the court today?' Without any help he formed that whole sentence because we've gone over the terms 'play', 'soccer', 'today', and 'court' in different lessons of English. It's so cool to see they are starting to grasp some sentence formation!
We have been working on family terms the past couple of weeks and we were drawing different family members in this photo.

Saying adios to Julia who helped us out at least once a week for the past few months

We had a great time acting out 'Daniel in the Lions Den' 

or 'Daniel en el foso de los leones'.

Please be praying with us for short-term or long-term interns or other staff to join us as we look forward to what the Lord is leading us in growing the after-school program and doing other sport team and training activities. Check out a description of an internship here. PTR Guatemala Internship

We are so thankful for those of you who have started supporting us financially the past few months. However, as we have our son and expenses for the after-school program continue to increase, due to special events like the pool day, snacks each day, and stocking our 'school supply store', we are still looking for supporters to come alongside and partner with us. It is our goal and prayer that we reach our full support budget by the end of 2018. We still have $900/month to raise in order to reach that goal. If you are interested in partnering with us as we share the love of Jesus and build relationships with the kids in our after-school program and their families we would love to talk with you more. Send us a message at abrubaker@pushtherock.org or krishauna@hopeforhome.org

We also just put in a new order for Push The Rock Guatemala T-shirts and will have them available in Dillsburg area and here with us in Guatemala. Send us a message if you are interested.

Also if you would like to see more photos or updates of our daily activities check out our Facebook page Brubakers in Guatemala or follow us in Instagram @brubakers_in_guate

Running to Jesus,

Andi and Krishauna 

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.

Stories

We are going to start sharing stories each update about things that happen in our after-school program! These are just a few of ways that God is using us to pour into these kids. It is such a blessing to be the hands and feet of Jesus! If you receive 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.  

Keyler and Andi

A new girl, Joselyn, started attending our program this past Monday. This was her first day of learning about how the program worked and how to earn points. We were explaining how our ‘store’ works and that by the end of the week she would have enough points to purchase something. Keyler, one of the other boys, overheard the conversation and came up to Krishauna and asked if he could give away some of his points. Krishauna said, “Yes, they are your points, so you can spend or save them as you want.” He looked at Joselyn and told her, “You can use some of my points to buy something at the store.” He didn’t give a point limit but let her choose what she wanted. This was such an unselfish and amazing act! It is so exciting to see these kids grow in maturity and learning to love as Jesus loves.

Anderson

We were down at the court participating in relay races. Anderson, a 11-year-old boy, started to get a bad attitude and was annoyed at some of his teammates, because they were losing. He started complaining and so one of our helpers reminded him about a verse we were memorizing at the time (Do to others what you would have them do to you). Once the helper started quoting it Anderson finished the verse from his memory. Suddenly, his attitude changed, and he began to cheer and encourage his teammates. It is so cool to see how God’s word and memorizing verses can change attitudes and lives!

Kenet

Each day we give an opportunity for different kids to pray for the snack. As soon as I ask, “who wants to pray?”, four or five hands shoot up in the air! Recently, Kenet, an 8-year-old, in our younger group was chosen to pray. He started to pray and all the adults there that day were so impressed and blessed by his prayer. He was able to use a lot of his own words and prayed for a variety of items. It is such an honor to hear kids praying to our Heavenly Father!

We asked for prayer last update for a boy in our program who was causing trouble and not listening well. Thank you for your prayers and we are excited to say we have seen improvement in his behavior! He recently went two full days without having any issues. Please continue to pray for our patience for him and continued maturity and growth in his life.

Diá Especial

Here are some photos of our 'Dia Especial' with the kids! We played minute-to-win-it games, had different competitions, received special snack (depending on their point levels), and had a ton of fun!

                                

                                        

                      

 

The Christian character and sportsmanship award winners
from our older group, Melany and Keyler!

The Christian character and sportsmanship award winners
from our younger group, Fatima and Kenedi

 And who doesn't love this picture!!

 We are so thankful for all your prayers and support!

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.