Support Letter

So we are leaving for Panama in a month and we still need some help.  This is a letter that we are sending out to friends and family and I thought I would post it here, too.  Thanks in advance!!!  

Hello to everyone!  We hope this letter finds you well.  We are both doing very well and loving the things God is teaching us through working with this DTS.  We have gone over various topics such as The Nature and Character of God, The Father Heart of God, Hearing God’s voice, Identity, Sin and Evangelism that have challenged and shaped the way we see God and how we respond to Him.  We have nine students who are hungry to know God more and to make Him known in the nations. 

We just got back from an amazing outreach in Livingston, Guatemala.  We did a lot of prayer and intercession for the people who live there because we felt that there are a lot of strongholds that are keeping them from really experiencing Jesus.  We also played a lot of soccer, evangelized to strangers, did children’s programs, and even saw a boy’s arm get healed.  It was definitely a time where God was moving in and through our team. 

We have returned to the base for our last part of the lecture phase, which will last until December 30^th.  Then, we will go on our international outreach to Panama for a month and a half.  We are super excited to see what God has for us there and cannot wait to see our team bond even more as we allow Him to flow through us.  We do need some things to happen before we can make this outreach a reality, though.  First of all we need people to back us up in prayer.  We need prayer for health, unity, and that we would be willing to be used by God every day in any way.  As leaders it is a challenge for us to not only remind ourselves to be available to be used by God, but we also have the responsibility to encourage and disciple those on our team, which is a very rewarding challenge. 

We also need to raise money for the outreach.  We need a total of $2,600.00 to cover our travel and costs for both of us while we are in Panama.  Looking at the amount we need and the time we have to raise it (before December 10^th) is overwhelming, but then we are reminded of all the times God has provided for us in the past and the way He has called us to Panama to lead this team and we know that He is faithful.  While praying about all of this, God showed us Psalm 33:4, 20-22 to remind us of hoping in His faithfulness.  What a great God!

                If you would like to help us financially, there are a few ways you can do it. 

-Write a tax-deductible check made out to Youth With a Mission

And mail it to:

Youth With a Mission

15850 Richardson Springs Rd

Chico CA 95973

(Please put a note specifying that the support is for Mario and Susan Martinez in Guatemala but do not write our names anywhere on the check). 

-Write a non-tax-deductible check made out to Susan Fidler and send it to

Susan Fidler

3101 Heath

Bakersfield, CA

93314

-Make a Paypal transfer to our account at susan.fidler@hotmail.com

Thank you so much for your continued support of us as we adventure along this path that God has for us.  We could not be here without you, so we thank you!

Blessings,

Mario and Susan Martinez 

K.I.T.

K.I.T... That means Keep In Touch for those of you who didn't buy and sign yearbooks in the '90s.  There are two categories of people, in my opinion, when it comes to keeping in touch.  The first category are those who are so great about keeping in touch that they can live miles away from you and you feel like they are your next door neighbor because they are always keeping in touch somehow.  The second category are those I like to call out of sight out of minders.  Those are the people who love people dearly, but tend to focus their attention on the people who are physically present in their lives at the time. 

I, unfortunately, fall under the second category.  I am finding this out more and more the longer I am away from "home".  I grew up with some of the very best friends that anyone could honestly ask for, and to this day I still call them my best friends, but if you ask me how long it has been since I have talked to them I would be ashamed to tell you the answer.  Like I said before, it is not that I don't think about them, pray for them, and even talk about them with the people here, but it is just hard for me to keep in touch with them.  I think part of it is because life gets the best of me and the fact that I am in a pretty busy season right now.  I think the other part of it is that it is a coping mechanism.  It is hard to be away from friends and family for an extended period of time, and I think that one of the ways I deal with it is to kind of disconnect myself from them so as not to remember how much I miss them.  This is not necessarily healthy, but it is what I do.  That doesn't mean that I am going to just accept that I am this way and not try to grow and change to become better.  It just means that I know this is how I am right now, and knowing is half the battle, right?

Thankfully I have people in my life who love me and when I DO actually pick up the phone (or push the video call on skype) and call them, they answer and we can pick up right where we left off.  God knows exactly who I need in my life and I am so thankful to have friends like I do.  Here is a picture of these friends that I am so thankful for and whom I miss dearly on a regular basis.

So, now that I have confessed and recognized my fault, it is now my goal to become better at keeping in touch on a more regular basis.  If you want to KIT with me, you can hit up my email or facebook and we can work on our communication skills together!

Thanks for reading!!!

The Land of Dreams

So I have started calling Livingston "The Land of Dreams" because that is what is really is for me!  I can't wait to someday live there and do ministry with people who need to know about a God who loves them and died to pay their punishment so that they can live forever with Him.  It is going to be amazing! 

Until the day comes when we live there full time, I can quench my thirst with some shorter trips.  This Saturday we leave to do just that!  We are going to spend two full weeks in Livingston with the DTS that we have been leading.  We couldn't be more excited to go to this "Land of Dreams" and see what God is going to do in and through us.  The people there are so beautiful and the culture is so rich.  The air is warm and the beach is just a 5 minute walk from just about wherever you are.  Really, how can you not say that it is a land of dreams?!? 

Please be praying with us as we make this first outreach trip to Livingston.  Here are some specific prayer requests that might help you:
-Pray that we will have unity in our team
-Pray that we will bring a new attitude and atmosphere to Livingston and not be brought down by what is there
-Pray for health in our team
-Pray for wisdom for Mario and I as we lead the team
-Pray for people's lives to be changed by the power of the love of Jesus Christ
-Pray for a movement of the Holy Spirit
-Pray for each team member by name: Mario, Susan, Martine, Karie, Evelyn, Kate, Casey, Chad, Erika, Faby, Rahel, and Miriam

Last but not least here are some pictures Mario took when he went to Livingston to set up this outreach.  

Mario's twin nieces

Another one of Mario's adorable nieces

Cousins

Mario's aunt doing laundry in her typical Garifuna clothing

Thanks for reading!!!