Leaving...

We have made a decision to leave YWAM Guatemala City at the end of March.  It has been a great time of growing and  learning for us and we are so thankful to have this experience.  God has used YWAM Guatemala City to bring us together and to teach us so many lessons!!!  Here is the letter that we would like you to read: 

Dear Family and Friends,

We would like to start out this letter by saying thank you for all that you have done for us over the past year and a half as a married couple and for the past three years as we have been in full time missions.  We are so thankful that God has put people like you in our lives and we know without a doubt that we would not be where we are today without you.  We truly are grateful.

We would also like to let you know of our plans for the upcoming future.  We are excited to be working with the Discipleship Training School until their graduation date on February 8^th.  We will then have a team of 50 people (the biggest one we have had since we have been on staff) at our base in the middle of March.  These are two commitments that we have made and we are looking forward to fulfilling them. 

After praying, seeking God and discussing our future together, we feel that God wants to lead us into a season of new and fresh challenges.  We have decided that we are going to leave Youth with a Mission Guatemala City at the end of March and spend some time in Bakersfield, CA with our home church, family and friends.  We are also looking forward to building new relationships during our time in Bakersfield and hope to find some ministries that we can partner with during our time there. 

We do not see this as a long-term thing and we do not plan to stay for more than a year.  We do see it as a time where God can refresh us, renew us and prepare us for what He has next in our lives.  We are hoping to do some more training after our time in Bakersfield and will be working to save up money towards whatever God has in mind for that. 

Our journey in full time missions is definitely not over and our dreams for what God wants to do through us in Livingston Guatemala are still growing.  We plan on keeping you updated on the latest news and what God is doing in our lives. 

Again, we are so thankful for you and what you have done for us.  Thank you for every prayer you have said on our behalf.  Thank you for every cent you have sent to help us.  Thank you for the encouragement and support that we have felt from you.  We ask that you would continue to lift us up in prayer as we step into this new season of our lives.  Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

Blessings,

Mario and Susan Martinez