Mi Vida

Street Ministry Pictures

2012-02-06T18:25:00.000-08:00

We do a street ministry every Wednesday night where we take a warm drink, bread and love to the homeless people who live in downtown Guatemala. Here are some pictures from our last visit...

Franklin, Me, and Byron (who told me he was Rambo that night)

Mario and Franklin- he always brings like a coke bottle or something to put the hot drink in, but this was the biggest container we have ever seen (i think it was an old bleach bottle or something)


Bryan, me, Lucy and Carlos

Jose

2012-02-06T18:12:00.000-08:00

We have had a team from Tyler, Texas with us since January 20th. I think their timing is God's grace, because since we found out we are going home I feel like March 31st can't get here fast enough! Being busy with the team has helped so much, though, and it is nice that we already have a friendship with the leader (who came down last year).

There have been some amazing things happening with this team here so far. Monday we went to Central Park to pray on one of their first ministry days here. I don't know why, but I felt like God was asking me to talk to people who were there at the park instead of joining the group in prayer. I looked around and talked to a few people who were walking past, but most of the conversations were not any longer than just a few minutes. Then I noticed a man who had been observing us for quite a while. I approached him and began to talk to him. It turns out that HE was the reason I was supposed to talk to people and not pray. His name is Jose and he is a husband and father to two girls. He has been out of work for a while and things are getting pretty rough at home. In fact, he doesn't know how much longer he can make it like this and tells me that he is thinking about committing suicide. Wow. Where do I begin? First of all, I ask him if he loves his family and wants to be there for them. He responds with a firm yes. Then I ask him if he will be able to be there for them if he commits suicide. He thinks for a minute and says, "well, I never thought about that but, no, I guess not." That opened the door to talk about a Father and Friend who would never leave him or abandon him in his times of need. Jose did not grow up in the church, so I got to share about Jesus and His sacrifice for us on the cross and it was the first time Jose had heard about it. He was surprised that someone loved him that much and he wanted to know more. At this point I was so excited and had to really slow myself down so that I could get the message across in the right way. After talking more to Jose about the Bible, God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit I asked him if he would like to pray to receive Jesus into his heart. YES! He did! We prayed, he cried, we gave him a Bible, our phone number and a little bit of money and he was on his way.

That is not the end of the story, though. A few days later, Jose called Mario and they talked for a while on the phone. Turns out that Jose had found a peace that he had never felt before, but things still were not getting better in his physical situation. Mario and I prayed for him and invited him to come to church with us. We also told him that we would be back downtown with the team the next day so he could meet us there if he wanted to. He ended up being at the park when we got there and Mario and I spent all our time there talking to him. He had all kinds of questions about the Bible and even asked Mario if he would be willing to do a Bible study with him so that he could learn more. On Sunday morning on our way to church we picked him up at a gas station and he joined us for the service. It was amazing. He was definitely touched during the worship time and the sermon was about trusting in God because He is trustworthy- something that Jose needed to hear!

I don't know where things will go from here with Jose, but I do know that there was a party in heaven that day that he accepted Jesus and we pray that he will continue to have a hunger to know this faithful loving God more and more each day!

There are more stories- even other salvation stories (!), but for now I will leave you with this. Please continue to pray that God will guide us and that we will be sensitive to His guidance as we continue to pour out His love and truth on Guatemala City!

Trip Home!

2012-01-27T10:26:00.000-08:00

We did it!!! We bought our plane tickets to visit Bakersfield!!! We will officially be there April 1st at 1:15AM and we will leave on April 27th- almost a whole month!!! I am beside myself with excitement and I think Mario is pretty excited about it too! Another person who I know is excited is my mom! Ahhhhh! I.CAN'T.WAIT!!! There will be lots to do and many many maaaaaaaany people to see, but I am so excited for it all! Before I bore you with how excited I am I would like to share a quick testimony about the plane tickets...

So, we knew that once Mario had his visa that we would need to start looking for plane tickets. I started looking at prices and the best price I could find was like $1200 round trip for both of us. Not too bad, but we didn't know where we would get that amount to be able to pay for the tickets. We started praying. Then we got an email from the pastor of my amazing home church in Bakersfield saying that they had taken a Christmas offering for us! What a blessing!! Then I looked at the amount that they were going to give us and was blown away!!! More than enough for both of us!!! Plus, as an added bonus, when I went to buy the tickets today, they were even cheaper than they had been when I first looked. Ahhhh, I just love basking in the faithfulness of our Heavenly Father!!!!!!!

BAKERSFIELD OR BUST!!!

The VISA!!!

2012-01-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

Praise God from who all blessings flow! Mario got his US Visa this past Tuesday!!! This appointment was different than his first two because he was going in as a married man this time. I went with him and was able to go up to the appointment window with him. We were asked a few questions, showed our marriage licensee, asked a few more questions, then told that he got his visa! Easy as that! We had to leave his passport with the officer so that they could put his visa inside so we went home as happy as we could be.

Two days later they sent his passport, visa included, in the mail. When we got it and opened it up to look we were beyond ourselves to see that they had not only granted him a visa, but they granted him one for 10 YEARS!!! Most people we know have gotten theirs for a year at a time until they "prove" that they are not going to stay in the US so that is kind of what I was expecting in our case as well. That is why I was shocked to see that they had granted it to him for 10 years right off the bat! What a blessing!!! We don't know exactly when we are going to visit, but we are thinking we will probably be in Bakersfield around the end of March to mid April so if you are around we would love to see you! I will keep you all updated on dates as we go, but thank you thank you THANK YOU for your prayers for us. God is sooooo faithful!!!

Puerto San Jose Trip

2012-01-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to visit Puerto San Jose. We woke up Saturday and I asked Mario what he wanted to do that day and out of the blue he said, "I want to go visit my church in Puerto." That was that and off we went! I am ALWAYS ready for a trip to Puerto. Besides being the special place where we got married, there are many reasons I love Puerto. We got there and the first thing I did was get my hair cut from my friend who did my hair for the wedding. I don't have before and after pictures, but I am pretty sure that my hair was its longest ever before I cut it. I love it now, though, and you can't beat a great haircut for a little over $3.

After that we went to watch the sunset at the beach- something I love to do!!! This sunset did not disappoint, either. Here are some pictures of the beautiful art God put in the sky that day.

Then we went to Mario's church that evening. It was great for him to be back "home" and they even gave us a public welcome from the stage. We had a good time worshiping with them. On Sunday morning we got up and got ready to head back to the city but not without stopping off at Mario's sisters house first.

Mario's nephew, Yandel, pretty much thinks Mario is the best thing since sliced bread. Any time we go visit he is always showing Mario his tricks and toys and when it is time for us to leave he begs to be able to come home with us. Our visit this time was the same as many as Mario and Yandel had a blast playing together.

While they played, I talked to Mario's sister and hung out with this beautiful little thing (AKA Mario's niece Rachel)

We had a great time in Puerto San Jose and can't wait until next time we get to visit!!!

Craft Time with Susan Martinez

2012-01-04T10:32:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to Craft Time with Susan Martinez, a place where you can go as far as your imagination will let you. Today we are going to take a look at the most recent projects to come out of our wonderful craft workshop here with the Martinez family. First, we have a cardboard "M" that has rolled up pieces of magazine paper and is glued together with a simple white glue. It took a while to achieve the final look, but I think that it is well worth it for a close to free decoration. Mario also jumped on the craft bandwagon and made his own version of this cheap and fun craft. His rolled log cabin is definitely an original piece of art and has been included on this post by his request. Enjoy...

Highlight of the Week

2012-01-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

I have decided (more like resolved, as in one of my resolutions for this year) that I am going to make more of an effort to keep my blog up-to-date. I think that there ARE people besides my mom who actually read it, so I figured that I will get back on top of it and keep you all more informed on what is happening in our lives. This blog I would like to talk about some of the highlights of our week.

We had a week of vacation, which meant no waking up to go to the base everyday.
Sleeping in as long as we want to= highlight numero 1

We also had some freakishly warm weather and on both Christmas and New Years I was in a tank top and shorts reading on the grass in the front of our house.
Tan in late December/early January= highlight numero 2

Since we had vacation and no real plans, Mario and I got to spend lots of time hanging out, talking, and praying together.
Quality time with my man= highlight numero 3

We don't really have too many decorations on our walls and I knew as soon as I took down the few Christmas things we had up that our walls would look really bare. I recently saw a craft idea in a store that I knew I could do myself. I ended up cutting and rolling numerous pages of a magazine and gluing them onto a cut out letter M (pictures to come).
Being crafty and having it actually turn out like it looked in my mind= highlight numero 4

For the last highlight I actually have to go back to Christmas day. My family was gathered at my sister's house for our traditional Christmas breakfast and I got to skype with them! I haven't seen or talked to most of them for quite a while so it was definitely a treat!
Skype+Mom, Becky, Zach, Leann, Tim, Sara, Jay, Ricky, Willie, Nathan, Elisabeth, Aunt Lynnie, and Grandma Irene= highlight numero 5

Not Yet

2011-11-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

Oh man, I thought that the push for Christmas was bad in the States, but I think I might venture to say that it is even worse here in Guatemala. First of all, there is no Thanksgiving here so that means that there is no "official" start date for the Christmas season. I kid you not, I heard Christmas music in SEPTEMBER in a shopping mall. This is just ridiculous. I am a HUGE fan of the Christmas season- the songs, the decorations, the cooking and everything else- but please Guatemala, not yet! Wait just a little bit longer and then we can all enjoy this season together.

On another note, Mario and I continue to wake up each day amazed at what God has given us. I mean, we have a house (that we can't actually call our own because it is rented, but still, it is a place that is for us), we have a car (we recently got a wonderful offering from a friend and were able to buy our base director's old car at a very good price. Such an answer to prayer!), the ministry (which is definitely in a season of change, but we are glad to be a part of it as long as God has us here), and each other (which is still sometimes surprising to me when I wake up in the morning and have such a handsome man by my side). I think you can gather that we are blessed! We are so thankful for each lesson God has taught us and the lessons that He is teaching us and will teach us. We never cease to be amazed at His faithfulness in our lives, either. We are definitely one happy couple!

A Day at the Zoo

2011-11-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

We finally borrowed a computer that works, thanks to the YWAM base so I can update a lot easier and put pictures!!!

Last Saturday we took a trip to the zoo with some of our friends. They are actually a 7 year old named Jacobo and an 11 year old named Josue who we met during our street ministry on Wednesday nights. They don't actually live on the street, but they help their mom sell gum, candy and other things around Guatemala City. They live in a very small room where the two of them, their mom, and their 1 month old baby brother all share a single bed. With all their life circumstances considered, they are really well behaved boys and we felt that it would be good for them to be able to have a day of fun so we decided to take them to the zoo here in Guatemala City.

They were both so excited to see all the animals and Jacobo's favorite question was "does that animal eat people?"- such a little boy! We had a great time seeing all the animals and afterward we took them to eat pizza since they said they had only tried it a few times in their lives. I am not sure who had more fun, us watching their excitement with everything or them. We also had the chance to talk to them about stuff from the Bible and all the amazing things God has for their lives. I think it is so important that they can experience attention from a male in a positive way, and I am glad that Mario is in agreement and willing to spend time investing in their lives. It was a great day overall and we hope to have more days to be able to spend with them and show them the love of God in their lives. Here are some pictures from our day...

Petting the pig

Standing like the flamingos

In front of the zoo

The boys with the hippo (behind Jacobo's head)

Moving Forward

2011-10-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we have made a decision since the last update. We are going to stay in our house. It was a very VERY hard and emotional decision and probably the first of many times that I had to trust fully in God and Mario instead of following my own wants and emotions. Here is how it all happened...

We found an apartment that we really liked and the owner gave us a week to think about it. We looked at it on a Saturday and by Tuesday after hours of praying and discussion, we decided we were going to stay in the house we are in now. Then wouldn't you know that the owner of the other apartment called us and told us that since we were missionaries he would lower the price for us. Ahhhh, just when we thought we had a decision made! So we talked and prayed more and we were actually not in agreement. The emotional side of me said that there is no way that I wanted to stay in a place that I did not feel secure in. Mario, however, being the strong solid person that he is reminded me that we had worked hard to get into the house and that he felt that God wanted to challenge us to a new level of faith in Him. That was not really want my emotions wanted to hear, but after giving up my emotions to the only one who can really handle them (God) and having a really good cry feast, I was in agreement with my husband. What a learning experience!

On the next Saturday we found out that it was probably our neighbors who actually broke into our house. They have been under watch by the neighborhood security for some time now since they have two teenage sons who do drugs and have been known to do some other shady things in the neighborhood. Once again my initial reaction was to become an avid prayer warrior and start praying that they move. Mario, being who he is, asked me why I don't start praying that they would come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Ugggh! So now I am praying that they both accept Christ AND move away!

We have been able to see God's faithfulness working through all of this in a huge way, though. We haven't had a TV or computer to distract us so we have been able to pray a lot and spend good times together. We thought about getting at least a TV to replace the one we had, but we both really felt that we needed to wait to see what God was going to do. On Wednesday (yesterday) a friend from our small group at church called us and said their family had something for us. I tried not to let my mind run wild with possibilities as we drove over to their house. After some juice and cookies, they brought out a TV and said that they wanted to give it to us! We were so thankful both for the TV and for God's faithfulness! Then last night we went to the streets to do ministry with the homeless. We were dropping off one of our friends from church who came with us and she said "I think my parents have something for you" so we got out and said hello. Would you believe they came out with a TV in their hands?!? How good is God!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are so thankful to be in this place where we can see Him moving and working in such a real way in our lives. Thank you all, as well, for covering us with your blanket of prayers-they have definitely been felt in a huge way!!

An Update...

2011-10-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me say sorry that there are no pictures in this post. Really I just wanted to update you all about what has been happening in our lives really quickly since I am using a borrowed comupter, so as fast as I can here I go...

First, we went to Livingston last week, where Mario´s family is, to visit his dad and his grandma who are both very sick. While we were there someone broke into our house and stole our computer, television, and a few other things. While we don´t know who did it, we suspect the security guards who are in charge of our neighborhood had something to do with it. A shady, suspiscious situation althogether. The fact that it happened a Wednesday morning between 8am and 10am doesn´t take our suspiscion away from them.

Anyway, we don´t feel safe where we are and we definitely don´t trust the guards- both very ironic things because we moved into this house because we felt it was a safe neighborhood where I would be able to stay home alone if needed without any worry, and because the guards are paid to watch our neighborhood. So now we are praying about what to do. We have found, with some help from friends from our church, an apartment that is the same price we are paying now, closer to the base, and in a safe neighborhood (the owner of the apartment lives downstairs so he would be there to watch over it when we aren´t home) but we have to see if the owner of the house we are in will free us from our contract and give us back the extra month´s rent that we have paid him. We are going to meet with him tonight to see, so I will keep you updated on the process.

In the meantime we ask you to be praying for us. We have spent LOTS of quality time together since we don´t have any electronic devises to distract us, but we would like to replace the items that were stolen at some point. We also ask that you would pray for our peace. We are thankful that we weren´t home when it happened, but anyone who has ever been through anything similar knows the feeling of having a stranger enter into your home. It just doesn´t feel good. Okay, that is all for now but I will try my best to update again soon. Thank you!

New House!!!

2011-09-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

It is official! Mario and I have our very own first place and we love Love LOVE it! God has totally moved and provided for us to be able to live here and we are so blown away (again) by His blessings and faithfulness. We found the house through a friend and when we came to look at it we really liked it, but didn't know if it was for us. We prayed about it and felt that God was challenging us in our faith, since the monthly rent and bills would total more that we were receiving in support monthly. We prayed, questioned, and finally took the steps necessary to walk by faith. We moved in at the beginning of September and a few short weeks later we found out that we would be receiving support from my home church, Rosedale Bible, for a little over what we needed to cover the rent each month. How great is our God!?! His timing is PERFECT!!! So we love this house, we love the challenge of living on a new level of faith, we love the space that is ours! Our neighborhood is very peaceful and we live in front of the end of the neighborhood so we have greenery (which is rare in the city neighborhoods) right out front! Okay, enough talking, here are the pictures!!!

back yard planter with orange tree (before)

back patio/clothes lines aka Guatemalan dryer

planter where we plan on planting bell peppers (and a very cute gardener)

unwanted huge house guest on our sign

garage

front lawn area

kitchen

another view of the kitchen

pila and laundry area

this is called the service room and it is normally used for the girl who is live in help- something very common here in Guatemala, but since we don't have the need for live in help we are using it to store the base computers :)

bathroom

guest bedroom where we have already had 3 different people stay and have more lined up (make your reservation today!!!)

bedroom #2- we mostly use it for our quiet times so I have started to call it the Jesus room

our bedroom

our bedroom view #2

dinning room

living room (furniture thanks to the Chavez family!!!)

living room view #2

So there you have it, folks. We plan on making improvements as we go. In fact, as we speak, Mario is putting up the curtains that I bought at the thrift store in the Jesus room and the kitchen. What a good man I have! We will keep you all updated on our progress here!!!

Moving...

2011-09-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you have numerous bunk beds, desks, drawers, filing cabinets and boxes to move and not very many staff to help you do it? You call these guys...

Last week we moved everything that we had in our Villa house (the girls house) to the JUCUM house (the guys house) but there was not way we would have gotten it all done in one day with the few people we have available on staff. Thankfully, we have a good relationship with Teen Challenge, a rehabilitation ministry that we work with every week and the guys who live there were more than willing to help. We were so thankful for them because what would have taken us a whole week took them a day! What a great way to see how God is working in these men as they walk through the process of rehabilitation! Thanks Teen Challenge Guatemala!!!

P.S. Be looking for another post about a personal move that Mario and I will be making soon!!!

God's Faithfulness

2011-08-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

The past few days I have been able to see God's faithfulness is such real ways. First, we went to try a new church on Sunday. We actually know many of the people that go there and lots of them helped us out with our wedding process here in Guatemala so we figured we would try it out. We were pretty much out of food and low on funds that day as well so as we were in church, my mind went to lunch. I began to think about what I could invent that would be enough for Mario since lunch is the biggest meal of the day here. I couldn't come up with anything so I began to pray that God would provide. A silly little thing to be praying about, I know, but God loves to show His faithfulness through silly little things. At the end of the service they announced that they would be having a lunch after church and that tickets could be purchased. We checked the price of the lunches and didn't have enough cash, so we decided we would just go home and see what we could find. Just then some of our friends from the church came up to us and handed us tickets to the meal. It was such a blessing for me that I wanted to cry right then and there, but instead we took the tickets and I thanked God for caring even about the little things. That Sunday not only did we have food provided for us, but it was a delicious plate of lasagna- Mario's favorite food!

It is also rainy season here in Guatemala which means that pretty much everyday around 2 it rains. Two days ago it rained so hard that it hailed and flooded many streets with white balls of ice. Yesterday we decided to take our lunch time to go look at a few potential apartments. It is very hard to look at places in the rain, so as we left I prayed that God would hold off the rain. There were black clouds all around, but while we were out it never rained! We stopped around 3:30 and got something to eat and as soon as we walked into the building to eat, it started to rain. How faithful is God?!?!

I know that His faithfulness is evident in so many situations, but sometimes I am too busy to realize how often His faithfulness is at work in my life. My prayer is that my eyes will keep being opened to see the moments of His faithfulness because it really does strengthen my relationship with Him.

Big Changes

2011-08-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

Hola friends and family! This is our first update as a couple and we are so excited to fill you in on what God is doing in our lives and our ministry. First of all, we got married on July 2, 2011 in a beautiful beach ceremony. It was a process to get there, but we know that the things that come easy are not usually as appreciated as the things that one has to work for. We definitely appreciated every minute of the wedding! After the wedding we had one of the best teams we have ever hosted here at Youth with a Mission, my home church-Rosedale Bible Church. We went to the streets to work with the homeless and prostitutes, we did many children’s programs, and I even got to teach a few dramas and children’s clown skits to the team. It was such an encouragement for me to have them here and it was also a blessing for Mario to get to know them and theme to get to know him. They even threw us a surprise wedding party where we had all the fun that we did not get to have at our first wedding. Unfortunately Mario had learned the American tradition of cake shoving and I ended up with cake everywhere. What a good time, indeed! We then had our “second” wedding, the civil wedding, and celebrated by going on our honeymoon with a generous gift from the RBC team. We could see God’s provision throughout the whole process and it was amazing.

After we returned from our honeymoon we had another team come for a week. This team brought a few dentists with them so we got to do all of our normal activities as well as have a free dental clinic and hair cutting stations. It was a great time where we could use the physical needs of the people to open the door to minister to the spiritual needs. We also had a staff meeting during the week where we found out that our base is going to have to be relocated due to funds. We currently have two houses where we not only house teams that come down but there are two couples (including us) and a single staff person that live in the houses. After much prayer as a staff we feel like we are supposed to move to a new location. This involves many changes, especially for us that live here. The new location will not have a place for us to live, so we need to find our own housing.

Right now our monthly support goal is around $600. As of now we are not making our monthly goal of support, but God has been faithful to help us through. The apartments in the area are around $300 a month plus utilities. That means that our needs will go up a significant amount. We are trusting in the knowledge that His faithfulness does not change as we step into this new phase. We have prayed as a couple and feel that God is challenging us to step out in faith and trust Him to provide. We are excited at the idea of living on our own as a married couple as privacy is sometimes an issue living in community. We cannot do this alone and we know that we will not be able to make it without extra help. That is where we call on people like you to pray about helping us out. We need at least $600 in the next few weeks to be able to pay the first and last month’s rent. We would ask you to please pray and consider helping us make this goal. We know that God is faithful, what we do not know is how He will provide for our needs. Please let us know if you are willing to help us raise the $600. It can be a one time gift or a monthly promise. We are so thankful to be surrounded by people who are willing to support us in prayer and financially as we serve God and bring His Kingdom to Guatemala.

If you would like to communicate with us, please feel free to email us at susan.fidler@hotmail.com.

If you would like to help us out, you can send your tax deductible support 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).

You can also help us out by sending non-tax deductible support to:

Susan Martinez

9624 Ravenwood Dr.

Bakersfield, CA

93312

(Please make any checks out to Susan Fidler)

We are hopeful for the future and we cannot wait to see how God works through this next phase of our lives. Thank you for being a part of our journey!

Blessings,

Mario and Susan Martinez

Civil Wedding and Honeymoon!

2011-08-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time with Rosedale Bible Church here and we even got a surprise wedding party where we received a night's stay at a very nice hotel from Danny and Colette for our first night together here in the city. Now, before I go into details about the room (which was AMAZING) let's talk a little bit about the civil wedding. Here in Guatemala they usually make a fuss about the civil wedding, having a dinner party or something like that to celebrate. I was basically in the mood for no more planning when it came time for the civil wedding and so two wonderful people, Carol Chavez (our base director's wife) and Priscilla Colom took it upon themselves to plan the night for us. I was so glad that someone else had taken over that when they tried to ask my opinions on things I just said "I don't really care and I know you guys will do a great job" and left it at that. So basically we just had to show up and say "I Do" again and that would be that. We kept it small (since we weren't paying for any of it we didn't want a huge guest list and we had all the people we love and care about) and so there were about 15 people there. We showed up to the little clubhouse inside the Colom family's housing complex and it was decorated beautifully.

We went through the civil wedding part with our amazing lawyer, signed the papers, had the witnesses (everyone in attendance) sign the papers, got prayed for, ate our delicious dinner and even had our third round of wedding cake!

Then it was the time that we had been waiting for. We went out to the car that we were borrowing from the base (since David and Juli gave us the gift of paying the miles on the car, we got to have our own vehicle on our honeymoon and not have to go by bus!), and this is how it was decorated...
I loved it! I even started crying as we pulled out of the parking spot because of how many surprises we had gotten over the past month and how God's faithfulness had shown through every one of them. We were on our way to another great surprise... the hotel room!

Now, Colette heard that our plans were to come back to the base for our first night, but since that was no where near a suitable idea for her, she decided to take matters into her own hands and she and Juli, a staff member here at YWAM, went out looking for a hotel room. Juli helped her find an amazing hotel and the room was booked. Here is what we didn't know until we showed up that night: the room was the executive suite and they had it decorated perfectly for our first night. Here are a few pictures.

When I asked Mario what his favorite part of the civil wedding was, he said walking into the hotel room and seeing all the decorations!!! It was amazing and it was on the 9th floor so we had a beautiful view of Guatemala City. The next morning (after we slept in quite late) we got to go down to a buffet breakfast and they had AMAZING food! I ate as much as I could and then some and then we went back to the room and got our things ready so that we could start our next part of the journey to Lake Atitlan. Mario begged me to wash the windows but I assured him that everyone we passed on the way needed to know that we were just married, so he left the paint on and off we went. I took some pictures on the way of the beautiful Guatemalan countryside.


The lake and the two volcanoes

Finally we arrived and we spent two nights in a huge house right on the lake. The view was amazing and we took every advantage of walking around and checking things out. After the two nights, we went to a small town on the other side of the lake called San Pedro and we stayed one night there. It was a great time and once again, we got to see the blessings of God at work in our lives.

We just want to take time to say thank you to EVERYONE who was involved in this process with us. We could not have done it without you and we are so thankful that we can start this new adventure together with so many loving supporting people!!!

Faithfulness

2011-07-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a couple of months we have had. First we had the wedding at the beginning of this month which I described in a previous post. It was a dream, but a dream that I didn't always know I wanted. I mean, of course to get married was something I dreamed about like any other little girl, but I always thought it would be in Bakersfield and that I would be surrounded by friends and family. God had something else in mind, though, so we got married in a dream wedding at the beach with different friends and a few family. Everyone kept telling me that God was going to use the situation for good, and although I knew He would and I knew first hand from past experiences how faithful He is, I still wanted to see what that "good" was going to be for this situation.

Then we had a hold up with our legal paperwork for our marriage license here in Guatemala so although we got married with a religious ceremony on July 2nd, we didn't go on a honeymoon. We prayed and felt like we should wait until we had the covering of the church and the law- we are going to have our legal wedding this Tuesday, July 19th. So we had the wedding and then went to sleep in different rooms- not ideal, but when you are following God's plan sometimes our idea of ideal is different than His. The one thing I was looking forward to was that MY team was coming to YWAM Guatemala from Rosedale Bible Church for 10 days. I knew it would help pass the time and that it would keep me busy and satisfied and help take my focus off the fact that I was married but not able to sleep with my husband. I have to be honest, it has been WONDERFUL having my peeps here with me! Having them work alongside us in ministries is encouraging for me and just to have quality time with them everyday has been awesome. Last night, however, they outdid themselves.

On the calendar for the team it said "special event" for Sunday night. I thought, oh I wonder what that will be. I didn't want to pry too much because I love surprises, but at the same time I have to fight my nosy nature to be able to be surprised. So the battle was on. I asked a few questions to a few people and after getting vague answers, I decided I would just wait and see what the event would be. By the time it got to Sunday afternoon I wasn't really thinking too much about it and when our friends from the base invited us to coffee we didn't think twice before going. When we got back from coffee, though, I suspected something right away because we opened the door and there were rose petals, streamers, balloons and sunflowers all over. Then as we entered we heard... SURPRISE!!! Everyone from the Rosedale Bible Church team had been planning a surprise party for us and it was so much fun! We got to dance (which we didn't get to do at the real wedding reception) we had pizza, we had cake (and Mario and I shoved it in each others faces), and we were blessed with gifts from the team. It was something that blew my mind- first of all that they care about us so much that they would plan something like that for us, and second of all that they would bless us not only with a party but with a night in a hotel and some cash for the honeymoon. That is what church family is all about- being there for the good times and the bad and being willing to encourage and bless in whatever way possible. Mario and I can't say thank you enough to the people who were involved in the party. We are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives! Thank you for allowing God's faithfulness you shine through you and thank you for showing us the "good" in the situation!!!

First Dance

Doing the "Cha Cha Slide"

Opening the wonderful gifts

Expressing our gratitude to the team

The Cake Shove

Pictures...

2011-07-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

Thank you Carol and Mikayla Feil for your beautiful work and your friendship. You two have blessed us beyond what we could have ever imagined!!!

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

2011-07-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER: THERE ARE NO PHOTOS YET BUT I PROMISE TO PUT SOME ON AS SOON AS I GET THEM...

This is the first post from the new Mrs. Martinez! I can't believe I have a husband much less a new last name! So much excitement going on around here, I thought I would share some of the joy with you.

My mom and dad got here on the Saturday before the wedding and it was a good thing because we were running around ALL week long getting final details taken care of for the wedding and also painting and decorating our soon to be room. I am so excited about the room- I just love it! I will show pictures in a soon following post so that you can see how wonderful it is. After the week we were all pretty tired, but thankfully we got a breath of fresh air on Friday morning when two of my favorite people in the world got off the airplane in Guatemala City. That is right, Mikayla and Carol Feil were here in full force ready for the weekend! It was just the shot of life that we needed to have them there so we ate breakfast at McDonald's, quickly packed and headed 2 hours away to the beautiful Puerto San Jose for the weekend.

When we got to the house where we would be staying (which was also the wedding location and PERFECT if I do say so myself!) we looked around , enjoyed the beach (which was in the back yard) and rested for the afternoon while Mario aka Super Groom, drove the 2 hours back to the city to bring some of his family members who were arriving from Livingston. Friday night was pretty calm, but we needed it. We went out to eat at Pollo Campero and then hit up the grocery store for a few snacks and breakfast items. We took a quick dip in the pool and called it a night since we knew we would have a big day ahead.

Saturday started out quite calmly as we ate our breakfast of eggs and black beans and lounged around for a little bit. The chairs and tables showed up before long and it was showtime. We had lots of help decorating from some amazing friends and things got done really quickly. Holes were drilled in coconuts for the centerpieces, lanterns were hung, chairs and tables were set up and we even had time to relax a little bit before it was time to start getting ready. Well everyone except Mario, that is, because he was running around getting things up until the last minute which once again wins him the title of Super Groom. I went up to the room that I was going to get ready in and started to do my makeup. I am not going to lie, it felt really weird getting ready without my girls Erin, Denise and Layne by my side, and I even had a moment where I teared up a bit before I pulled myself together and finished getting ready. Next up was my friend from Puerto San Jose, Wendy the hairdresser. She and I had a practice session the week before and I loved what she did so I was super excited when she arrived. Then after I got my hair done, I put my dress on. Magical. That is all I have to say about that. Then as I was waiting in the room, people started arriving and although I should have been a nervous wreck, I was completely calm as I watched them walk by from my second story window. Then, at 4:30 (the wedding was supposed to start at 4 but as much as I tried we were still functioning on Guatemala time) it began to rain a little bit so Super Groom rallied the guests together and they moved all the chairs from the outside to the tables under the palm leave covered area aka plan b. It didn't really matter to me at that point, all I wanted was my soon to be mother-in-law to be ready (she was taking more time than I did to get dressed) and for the show to get on the road.

It was not long before they told me to come out of hiding and then I heard the wonderful sound of Ode to Joy play and I knew it was my turn to walk down the isle. It was beautiful. It didn't matter that it was raining or that the isle was not big enough to accommodate me, my dress, my mom and my dad. It didn't matter that I couldn't find Mario right away because the set up of plan B made it so that he was hidden behind a crowd of guests. Nothing mattered except for the fact that I was about to marry the man of my dreams. It was an amazing ceremony with communion and a black and white sand ceremony. I couldn't stop staring and the gorgeous man in the handsome white suite with the beaming smile on his face standing in front of me. We were pronounced husband and wife, we kissed, and then Michael Jackson sang us down the isle with his famous and fitting tune of "Black or White".

After a whirlwind photo session, typical food from Livingston that we didn't even eat, cake that we got one bite of, lots of hugs and kisses from the 100 plus guests, and a bouquet toss that ended up closer to the basketball hoop than the crowd of single women, the night was coming to an end. What a beautiful day! I can't imagine not having Mario Romaldo Martinez Blanco in my life and I am getting used to the fact that I am now Mrs. Susan Irene Martinez Fidler!!!

Jesus Calling

2011-06-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

A friend told me that I should get this little devotion book a while ago and my mom has sent me numerous facebook messages with the contents for the day attached, but it wasn't until I went home in May that I actually saw the book in real life. My mom gave me her copy before I came back to Guatemala because it had encouraged me so much in so little time. So I have been reading it every morning (or evening when I don't have the time in the AM) and EVERY DAY God speaks to me through the words of the devotion. Seriously, sometimes I feel like the author asked God what Susan Fidler would be going through on that very day before she wrote the words. All this to say that I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone. It is called Jesus Calling and it is written by Sarah Young. Part of today's devotion says:

Rest in Me, my child. Give your mind a break from planning and trying to anticipate what will happen. Pray continually, asking My Spirit to take charge of the details of the day. Remember that you are on a journey with Me. When you try to peer into the future and plan for every possibility, you ignore your constant Companion who sustains you moment by moment.

God, Thank you for this reminder. Help me and everyone else who reads this to keep in mind that we are on a journey with you that requires us to relinquish OUR control and constantly seek You. Thank you for your faithfulness!!!

Wedding Update

2011-06-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope this update finds you well and enjoying your summer! We have been BUSY over the past month and I can't believe how fast it has flown by. First let's go back to May. What an emotional month! All in all it was a month of God showing His faithfulness, even though OUR plans didn't come out like we thought. I got to go home for a week in May for more of a business minded trip so that I could get paperwork and fingerprints done so that our wedding here in Guatemala can be legal. While I was home I got to spend some wonderful time with friends and family. I also had a time of huge blessings on May 15th (which would have been the wedding day) where my mom and sisters hosted a bridal shower for me. I loved seeing so many familiar faces and hearing so many encouraging words from the ladies in my life. I also got to spend some good quality time with my girls, Layne, a pregnant Denise, and a very pregnant Erin. It was a wonderful trip home and I was so blessed by my time with everyone.

Then I came back to Guatemala to prepare for outreach with the Discipleship Training School I have been working with since February. We went to Puerto San Jose, which is where the wedding is going to be. It was a time where God moved in the ministries and it was amazing. I thought that we would have some time to be able to make some wedding plans, but really the only thing that we got done was finding a place (which is a big deal, but I was hoping to get even more done.) The place we found is gorgeous, right on the beach, and has housing for my mom, my dad, and Carol and Mikayla Feil who will all be coming to Guatemala for the wedding.

Now we are back at the base in Guatemala City for a few days rest before we go to another outreach location for two weeks. This will be my last part of the outreach with the school, since I will only have two weeks afterward to plan the wedding. I am feeling the stress of it all for sure, especially financially. There are so many little details that take money and it all adds up.

I would like to as you all to be praying for Mario and I as we go through this time. It is an exciting time of new things, but it can also be a time of stress. We are trying to enjoy it and take it all in, but there are times where seeing the big picture can be so very overwhelming. Please pray for these things:

-That our paperwork process here in Guatemala would go quickly and smoothly so that we can have our civil and religious ceremony together (without the paperwork and the civil ceremony, we can't have a religious ceremony)

-That the funds that we need to complete the wedding plans would come in time to be able to do everything we need to do.

-That our relationship would grow stronger as we prepare for this new step in both of our lives

Thank you very much for your prayers. Also, if you feel that you would like to help us out financially with the wedding, please let me know and I will send you more information on how to make that possible.

We are so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives!!!

Joy That Overshadows Sadness

2011-05-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

So it is obvious that in sad times we feel sad. I have felt sad the past two days. I have had thoughts like, "this isn't fair", "why can't we just have it the easy way?" and many others, but I have also experienced something that I haven't had the chance to experience in a long time. Joy in the midst of sadness.

Many people who don't know God's joy in a personal way think that joy is the same as being happy or content. Those of us who have experienced God's joy, however, know from those experiences that joy doesn't mean either one of those things. In fact if you asked me to describe what I am feeling right now I don't even know that I could describe it with many words. Sure I can describe the situation that we are in right now, but my feelings about it are simply joy, trust and peace.

God gave me a picture this morning of a giant tree and people enjoying the tree in different ways. Some were picking and eating the delicious fruit. Others were climbing high into the branches. Others were swinging on the rope tied to a branch. Still others were sitting in the shade having a picnic lunch. God reminded me of a few things with this picture. First of all, He wants us to enjoy Him- however that looks in our own lives. Enjoy the gifts and blessings He has for us, even if that means enjoying them in a different way than those around you. Let the joy that He has just for you fill you up. Second He reminded me of the trust that we should put in Him. The people enjoying the fruit weren't worried they would be poisoned, the people climbing and swinging from the branches weren't worried that they would fall, and the people having a picnic weren't worried that the tree would come toppling down on them. They were trusting the tree. I trust God. He is good. He is faithful. I am thankful that His joy can overshadow the sadness that life can sometimes bring our way. Be joyful!

P.S. I got on BibleGateway to look up a verse that has to do with joy and look what the verse of the day is...
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” -Romans 12:12... AMEN!!!

No Visa

2011-05-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

Just to update those of you who are not on Facebook, Mario did not get his visa this morning so that means that a May 15th wedding in Bakersfield is not going to be possible. It is a very hard thing for a bride who thinks she has the perfect wedding planned to find out that it is impossible. Please be praying for me, for Mario, and for what God has for us. We still definitely are getting married, now it is just a matter of when and where. It is kind of like we are back to square one on the planning stuff, but I know it will all turn out according to God's plans. Thank you for your prayers, love, and support. More updates to come as we find out more...

International Dinner

2011-05-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Each DTS we have a special dinner for the students and then a few weeks later they put on a special dinner for the staff. This school chose to have an international dinner and Mario and I drew the country Japan. It was fun to be able to dress up and to see the creativity of the other staff members. We also had to come up with a talent from our country and since Japan is the Mother of Karaoke I had to go with it. Mario wasn't as keen on singing so I just sat him on a stool in the front, explained to the crowd that a Geisha was an entertainer and not just the other negative ideas people have of them and sung to Mario the oh so appropriate "Black or White" by Michael Jackson. It was a great night, indeed!!!

A Much Needed Update

2011-04-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

First of all let me apologize for two things- number one that is has been so long since the last update and number two that there aren't going to be any pictures on this blog. In fact, I am going to keep this pretty short and sweet because I will post later with pictures and more details about the outreach we just went on with the DTS. For now, though, I wanted to let everyone out there with inquiring minds know that Monday, May 2 is Mario's visa appointment. That means that if (I am believing it will be more of a when than an if) they grant him his visa, we will be heading to Bakersfield shortly after. There are a lot of unanswered questions still, but those will addressed in due time. For now, I would just like to share some of our needs/prayer requests with you and thank you again for your faithful support.

Prayer Points:
-The visa- not only that he would get it, but that it would be a smooth process that doesn't take too long to finish

-Plane tickets- if (when) he does get his visa, we will need to fly out by the end of the week to be home in time for the wedding

-Funds to finish up the wedding and help us out on our trip

-Wisdom for both of us

Thank you again for everything! We can't wait to see what God has for this next step in our lives!!!

Puerto San Jose

2011-04-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

We took a day trip with some of the DTS students this past Saturday to Puerto San Jose. I seriously love that place. We have some friends that live there who are always willing to help us out in any way and this time was no different.

We left around 7:30 on Saturday and headed for the multiple bus trip down. The first few buses were not too bad, but the third bus and longest part of the journey was packed. The buses are all old school buses from the USA so the seats are really made for smallish children to be in to begin with, but to top it off this bus was not just 2 to a seat but 3 to a seat all the way back! I was toward the front and I had to keep standing and lifting up my leg for each new person who got on. I was also leaning against a woman who was in the seat across from me when she began to breast feed her baby, who was also half in my lap. It was all quite the experience! I am glad that I was in the front, though, because when we finally got off some of the girls in the back told me that the lady who was next to them had a live chicken in her bag. I think I would have freaked out and maybe even screamed out loud had I been made to endure that portion of the trip next to bird lady. God is good, even in the small things!

Well we finally got to Puerto San Jose and our friends picked us up and we hopped in the back of the pick up truck and headed for the beach. The day was beautiful, with sunshine, a small breeze, and a perfect temperature. The water was warm and wonderful, was usual. I love swimming in a warm ocean because it is something that is rare where I come from. We had some friends offer to bring us lunch so we took them up on it and put our orders in. We ate at some picnic tables on the beach and the day continued on with some more swimming and a walk on the beach with the cutest guy I know. It was a great day and it was good for us to be able to get away from the base for a day and enjoy some more of God's wonderful creations!

It's Just Emotions, Taking Me Over...

2011-03-31T15:12:00.000-07:00

For real, the past two weeks have been like an emotional roller coaster that I have been forced to ride. There has been joy. There has been a fair share of sadness. There have been laughs. There have been tears. There has been excitement. There has been let down. There has been butterflies in stomachs. There has been weariness. There has been so many things but the best part is that through it all God has been faithful. I really don't know why I am surprised to find Him so faithful to me, because when I look at the past I can clearly see SO many times in my life where God has proven Himself faithful time and time again and I know in my head that this time is no different. Note, I said I know in my head because convincing my heart the same thing has taken a little bit more time.

Basically the summary of the past weeks is that Mario went for his visa and they told him he didn't have enough information to prove that he wasn't going to stay in the United States. They told him that when he had the paper, he could come back anytime and retry. We weren't sure if that meant that he could go without an appointment and without paying the ridiculous application fee or not, but we wanted to try before we paid, so back he went. That time they told him that he has to repay everything, but that he could use the same application that he used the first time. They said that he should be able to get another appointment within 10 days. Then when he called again for his second appointment, they told him that the absolute soonest day they could give him an appointment is May 2. Yes, that is right, May 2- only 13 days before our planned wedding date. There is really nothing we could do about it, so that is the date that Mario is scheduled to go back in. We got a more detailed letter from YWAM and we also have letters of invitaion that they didn't even bother to look at the first time he went in, so we are hoping that it will be a done deal this time, but in the meantime we are praying. Praying about what we should do if they don't give him the visa. Praying about patience over the next month. Praying about what we should do as far as our involvement in the DTS as they go on outreach. Praying for WISDOM.

There is a lot going on in our lives right now, and I sometimes get caught up and try to do it in my own strength. Those are usually the days that end in tears and frustration. With the help of others and God's gentle reminders, I realize sooner or later that I simply cannot do it. That is the best place to be, when you realize you can't do it alone because then and only then do you fully 100% give it over to Someone who can handle it. God is big. Bigger than my frustrations. Bigger than my problems. Bigger than a visa for the United States. Thank goodness that I am reminded of these things and thank goodness that the Holy Spirit ministers to me to help me remember why I need Him.

P.S. Sorry that there are no pictures, our power is going crazy right now and the internet connection is horrible.

Visa, not Master Card

2011-03-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow, Monday March 21st, is Mario's visa appointment. We are so excited and we have faith that he will get it because God has opened so many doors for us so far to be in Bakersfield for the big day. Please be praying that he will get not only a yes, but that it will be a quick, easy process and that they decide to give it to him for a longer time than just the month we are asking. We are believing for BIG things because we know that God is BIGGER than anything we can imagine!

Here are some pictures to keep you all up to date. We have a dress up day every Wednesday with the DTS so of course I take full advantage and even have convinced Mario to join in on the fun!

Jasmine and Aladdin on Disney Character day

Scary Mask Guy and Zebra Queen on Super Hero Day

Love Feast

2011-03-05T19:22:00.000-08:00

I had to take a picture with the cutest waiter of the night

On Friday night we had our traditional Love Feast dinner for the DTS students. This is a night where the staff decorate, cook, clean and do a program to make the students feel welcomed (once again) and loved. It was my first time on the staff side of things and I think it went really well. My job was to help out in the kitchen with the wonderful staff who had planned the menu. We had some DELICIOUS fillet mignons wrapped in bacon, mashed cheesy potatoes, Waldorf salad, corn on the cob, bread, fruit, and tres leches cake to top it off. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! We had a wonderful dinner followed by a time of worship and then prayer for the students. It was a great night and I am so glad once again that God has me here!

Update

2011-03-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

So many things have been happening I don't really know where to begin...

First of all the DTS started in the beginning of February and has been full force ever since. It is amazing to be able to have people around- especially ones who speak English! I have began to grow in a good friendship with the students, especially the 3 in my small group. God has been at work in all of our lives, as well, and it is exciting to see the things He is doing. Here is a picture of the DTS students and staff.

Also Mario has applied for his visa and his appointment is on March 21st. This is a BIG deal for us because it will mean that we will be able to get married in beautiful Bakersfield. We are hoping for a May wedding so please pray and believe with us that he will get his visa with ease and that everything we need will be provided.

We have also begun premarital counseling, which makes it all the more real that we are getting MARRIED! I have always been an emotional person who gets excited easily, but I would say this is a new level of excitement, anticipation, nervousness and joy all mixed in together. It is great!!! I will definitely keep everyone updated on the visa status and wedding location.

February Already?!

2011-02-13T17:42:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how quickly this year is going already. The team left on the 11th of this month and the DTS at our base started on the 8th. I feel like this month has been a race and I am out of shape! It has been so good, though and God's faithfulness and grace has been so evident to me. So here is how the rest of the time with the Tyler team went...

We finished up our time here in Guatemala City with some wonderful ministries. Then we packed up and went to Puerto Barrios and Livingston. Mario and I got to go along with the team to help out and I was so glad to be able to not only spend another week with some really cool people, but to also go back to Livingston which is where we feel God has called us to have a long term ministry in the future. We arrived to a great heat in Puerto Barrios and I immediately peeled off my long jeans and switched them for some shorts and a tank top. The weather never really changed and the mosquitoes didn't relent either. The whole team, including me, got eaten alive by those little suckers. The only person who managed not to get any bites was Mario because apparently mosquitoes aren't fans of chocolate. We did a lot of church ministries in Puerto Barrios and spent most of the time building a bridge between churches and the community. Then we went to Livingston for two days where we went to a church that played 5 different drums and a turtle shell during worship time. It was amazing for me to see how the people praised the Lord and the rhythm that they have- even the littlest ones were shaking it along to the songs!

While we were in Livingston we got to visit Mario's family and I got to meet the two precious twins that his cousin has. They are ADORABLE! They are 1 year old and they really don't cry much but they couldn't quite seem to figure me out. I didn't care though, because they let me hold them and love on them as much as I wanted to! We also got to take a prayer walk through Livingston with the team. We prayed for the churches and Christians that live there, the drugs, alcohol and lust that are present, the family, the youth, the children and the team helped us finished off praying for Mario and my future plans to establish a ministry there. It was an amazing time.

Now we are back to the back and into the swing of the DTS. There are 6 students- two from the States, two from Guatemala, one from England and one from Honduras. I will be helping lead the small group for the 3 English speaking girls. I will also be there one-on-one leader, which means I will meet with them once a week to see how they are doing. Mario will be the one-on-one for the only guy in the DTS. Please be praying for us during this time that God will use us and work through us. We are also getting closer and closer to the wedding. Thank goodness I have a mom who loves planning that kind of thing because I really haven't felt too much stress in that area, but please also be praying that plans, especially with Mario's visa, will continue to come along smoothly.

Thank you again for your support. I couldn't do it without you all!!!

They Are Precious in His Sight

2011-01-28T14:04:00.000-08:00

We have been doing a lot of ministries with kids since the team has been here. I LOVE kids and I LOVE being able to play, sing and teach them about their Heavenly Father who loves them so much! Two of my very favorite places that we have gone have been a ministry called Piedras Vivas (Living Rocks) and an orphanage we went to called Luz de Maria. Piedras Vivas has only been open for a few months but they have around 100 kids come 3 times a week to hear about God and to learn what it means to live a life as a Christian. Here are some pictures from Piedras Vivas...

Michelle and me

The orphanage was also an amazing place. We got to hug and love on kids that were from 2 months- 5 years old. The workers told us all the kids' stories of how they ended up there and it was heart breaking to hear the 28 ways that these 28 kids had been abandoned by their parents. There was a boy whose mom sold him for less than $50 and there was another boy who was taken in because he was severely malnourished and when they investigated they found that his only source of nutrition had been dog food right alongside the dogs outside. It was very hard to leave, too, because I wanted to bring them all back with me! I fell in love with one girl who clung to me the whole time. Her name is Michelle and she got taken away from her parents because of abuse and malnourishment. She is 3 and she is just as precious as she can be. Here are some pictures.

Beginning of the Year

2011-01-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

We have had a very full beginning of the year here at YWAM Guatemala. We have a team that is here from Tyler, Texas doing their DTS outreach. I am in charge of making their schedule and then making sure everything goes as planned (or as God has planned) throughout their time here. It has been super busy but really really good. Last night Mario and I had the chance to get away to celebrate his 25th birthday- which is actually on January 22- and we got some time just to talk. I was thinking of this team and trying to express how I felt about them being here and all and I came up with this- they are like a shot in our spiritual arm for the new year. They have brought us a direct purpose as a staff and they have also brought new energy and life. It is so great to serve God alongside other people who have the same passions you do. They are actually going to be here for a whole month, and for their last week here they will be going to a place called Puerto Barrios and Livingston. I think Mario and I might get to go with them, which would be amazing since Livingston is where we would LOVE to be in the future. I am excited to see what God has for the next few weeks with this team. I will try to keep my blog updated as often as I can while they are here, but time is usually limited and sleep is usually the winner over computer time. This picture is of Mario and me with a little girl from an orphanage we worked at last week.
PS- I LOVE being engaged to such a wonderful man!!!

Christmas Season 2010

2011-01-08T17:28:00.000-08:00

Well a lot of things have happened in the past few weeks. Like I wrote in my last entry, I got to go home for Christmas- thanks to my wonderful and AMAZING family. I also got engaged!!! Ahhhh, that week was an amazing week followed by two more amazing weeks with my family. When I got to Bakersfield it was like a whirlwind of wedding planning, Christmas traditions, and seeing people I love.

My mom and a good friend from her work, Jennifer, picked me up at LAX late Thursday night and it was nonstop from there. I got to go to the Country Christian School 1st grade class Christmas party (I have an "in" with the teacher). I also got to spend some good time with the two most amazing kids in the world, Nathan and Elisabeth. I got to see almost all of my family and we laughed and ate a lot. We took family pictures as well, which is something that hasn't happened since Nathan was a baby almost 3 years ago. Here are a few pictures from Christmas.

The girls at family lunch at Los Hermanos Sunday after Church

Family Pictures (minus Becky and Zach) on Christmas Eve

I also got to spend time with two of my very best friends in the whole wide world. Denise came down from Fresno to be with her family for Christmas and so Layne, Denise and I took advantage of the time and looked for bridesmaid dresses. It was super fun to hang out with my girls (we were definitely missing Erin) and we were even successful in finding dresses and shoes for the bridesmaids.

Talking about wedding planning, we also did a lot of that! It was amazing to me how many things we got done between my mom, sisters, friends, and me in just two short weeks. I have definitely been able to feel God's faithfulness through the planning and I feel like there has been blessing after blessing already and we just got engaged! I will keep you all updated on the details, but until they are set in stone I am going to keep you waiting...

I had a great time at home, but I was so glad to be able to come back to my man! He was glad too, I think, because even though my plane didn't get in until 10:30, he was at the airport at 9. He also had some beautiful flowers waiting for me as I got off the plane. When I got to my room there were more surprises from him. He had cleaned my room- which was definitely NOT clean when I left since I didn't know I was leaving until two days before and packing left a tornado of clothes behind in my room. I thought that was the extent of it until I went to bed that night. I got into my prime sleeping position and stretched my arm out under my pillow and felt something. It was a Snickers bar that he had hid for me. He knows me well!!! We have had a good time being engaged since I have been back and I am finding that he is almost as excited as I am (which is a feat in itself) for all the planning and details of the wedding! What a wonderful, blessed past month I have had indeed!!!

This week...

2010-12-16T06:51:00.000-08:00

has been one of the best weeks of my life!!!

First I have to give a little background. In September, when my mom was here, we were talking about me possibly being able to come home for Christmas. I was obviously excited to be able to see friends and family but as the time got closer, the ticket prices went up. I had resolved to being okay with the fact that I would spend Christmas here in Guatemala. I had even begun to make plans with Mario and get kind of excited to have new traditions. Then on Tuesday my mom and I were talking and she asked if I could call later that night because everyone would be together at family dinner. I was tired, feeling emotional, and frankly the idea of being passed around from person to person while straining to hear what they were saying through the bad internet connection just wasn't my idea of a fun night. I told my mom that I would have to see if I was still awake at that time (2 hour time difference so 7 CA time is 9 Guate time) and if indeed I was I MIGHT call. Well Mario and a few other friends and I decided to watch a movie here at the base. We had about 10 min. left when my skype went off and sure enough it was my mom. Ugggh I thought to myself, I guess I better go call her so that she will stop bugging me. I went up to my room and made the call. She asked me if I wanted to come home for Christmas (like she had done many conversations before) and I replied with my frustrated, "yes, mom, you know I do but not this year" and then she told me that my family, my wonderful amazing family, had all chipped in and bought me a plane ticket!!! I was so overwhelmed with excitement that I just began to cry and cry and cry. At that point I was so happy that we were talking on the phone and not through skype because the cry became uglier and uglier the more I processed this new surprise. After talking for a little bit longer and getting the details- I would be flying out in two sleeps on the 16th and returning to Guatemala on the 30th- I said goodbye and went to celebrate with Mario.

Now all along Mario knew. In fact I had caught him a few times on Facebook messaging with my mom but he would mysteriously close the screen before I came too close so in my nosy nature I knew something was up. When I went to tell him that I knew that I was going home I started to joke around with him saying, "and all this time I thought you were going to propose!" I was so overwhelmed by the idea of packing and getting things here together that I didn't give anything else any more thought because I thought that was all there was to the secret conversations and surprises.

Then last night we went to the movies with 2 other girls from YWAM. It was Sara's, one of our friends here, last night so we were excited to be able to all hang out. They all wanted to see the newest Chronicles of Narnia so I begrudgingly agreed, even though I hadn't seen the second one and my mind really wasn't on what was happening but on the packing and planning that I needed to finish instead. So we buy our tickets (2 for 1 price making our entrance to the movies a little over $1) and headed into the theater. I had a bad attitude and was struggling to enjoy the movie when all of a sudden the lights turned on and the movie stopped. I turned to my friends there with me and said "we should ask for our money back, this is ridiculous". As soon as I finished saying that, a guy that worked in the back booth of the theater came on the microphone and said "we are going to have a short intermission because someone has an announcement for Susan" then the next thing I know, Mario is standing up next to me! I turn to face him and he says to everyone "Hi, I am Mario and it is my fault that the movie stopped. I want you all to meet Susan, my girlfriend. (I stand and awkwardly wave hola to the crowd) I have a question for you, Susan. (as he pulls the ring out of his pocket and gets down on one knee) Will you marry me?" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... I couldn't believe it! Of course I said yes, but apparently not loud enough for everyone in the theater to hear because someone yelled, "So, what did you say?!?" So I turned and shouted "SIIIIIIII!!!!" so that everyone knew that this amazing man would be my husband!!! It was perfect. The only bad part was that the movie started back up and they expected me to sit there through it while I had all these new thoughts and emotions racing through my mind. I somehow made it through, with only a few questions here and there, and then we all four went to eat dinner at a place called Tacontento to celebrate. It was a great night and the perfect way to spend my last night before going home!!!

SST

2010-12-07T12:51:00.000-08:00

Well the SST is finished which means that things are pretty much back to normal around here. For those of you who do not know, the SST is very similar to the school that I did with YWAM, but it is for Guatemalan teens. They take 3 weeks out of their vacation time from school and come to learn about God and to make Him known. It was a very special time and I think that everyone involved grew as a result.

I am glad to have Mario back, especially after 1 and 1/2 weeks of being completely apart. It was good for us to have time apart, though, and I really do think that absence makes the heart grow fonder I am just glad we are back together to be able to appreciate the new fondness. Here are a few pictures of the SST, as promised...

Paola, a student, doing the faith fall at the obstacle course

Junior, Mario's brother, doing another obstacle- The Spider Web

Junior, in the black beanie, praying for a teen in Livingston... God is GOOD!

Mario's cousins' babies... they are the cutest little twins!!!

Thanksgiving Memories

2010-11-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

Today is Thanksgiving and through the years I have had many Thanksgiving memories. I remember the time that my family drove to Colorado to celebrate in the snow with my cousins, aunt, uncle, and great aunt and uncle. I remember the time our family wasn't invited to the beach by my great aunt and uncle, even though the rest of the family always was(which was the case every year for Thanksgiving) but went anyway to celebrate, and ended up sitting in the living room by ourselves because there was not "enough room" in the dinning room with the rest of the family. I remember the year that we rented a cabin in Big Bear and had a great time with family. I remember in Kindergarten when we got to have our feast and make Indian and Pilgrim costumes.

I love being able to bring traditions from my younger years into my adulthood. I LOVED being able to influence the memories of my students the two years I taught. Here is a picture of my first class, in 2007, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Notice the copycat Pilgrims on the wall? The pattern I used to guide the students is the same pattern I used when I was in school!

I also think about my Thanksgiving last year. I was on outreach for my DTS in a town called Tecpan. We all celebrated, with our newly found family. We ate carne asada, black beans, and tortillas but I managed to keep the turkey tradition through some good old homemade decorations and a few decorations that my mama sent from home.

Thanksgiving 2009 with my DTS family

The reason I am so nostalgic is because this year is VERY different. It is my first year to really be away from home- sure last year I was away, but it was more of an adventure than a real life situation. It is also different because the SST school, and most of our staff are not here at the base, which means I am pretty much alone. No turkey. No apple pie. No Thanksgiving Day Parade. No family.

I am trying to keep positive, though, and remember all the times God has been faithful in the past. I know that this nostalgia is just a feeling, and that it too will pass when I start to create my own new traditions and memories here in Guatemala. So basically what I want to say to you is... Enjoy your Thanksgiving and remember all those great memories and the times that God has been faithful... Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Life lately...

2010-11-21T14:25:00.000-08:00

So I haven't updated in a while and I know that if I don't put something up soon people will start to wonder what is going on with me (that is for the few of you that read this) and that my mom will start to hassle me until I update, so here is a little bit of what has been going on in Guatemala the past few days...

It is graduation season here, which is weird for me. They start their school year in January and finish in October so those who graduate have their ceremonies at the end of October and the beginning of November. I have been to two graduations in the past two weeks. They were different from each other, but they were both, well, graduations. It is always exciting to see the person you came to watch walk across the stage and have their moment of fame, but the rest of the time is pretty much just for the graduates themselves and the people in the audience are to wait patiently until the end so they can take pictures and celebrate. Rosa, my friend that had her baby about 4 months ago, was one of the graduates. This was a special thing for her because even though she is a teen mom, she finished the year. The other graduate was a good friend from the base, Sammy Chavez. He did awesome in school and was amongst the top of his class. Here is a picture of Rosa, unfortunately I didn't bring my camera to Sammy's graduation so I don't have photos from that night.

Also, last Monday was the first official day of the SST here at the base. It is a school for Guatemalan youth, kind of like a DTS which is what I did last September, but shorter. It is one and a half weeks in the classroom and then one and a half weeks on outreach. There are 15 students here who are all crazy and God is moving in their lives. Even though I am not a part of the actual staff, I am in charge of the kitchen so I get to interact with them which is good. It is hard being the only staff member who lives here at the base who is not involved directly with the school. It is also hard that Mario is a part of the staff of the school which means that we only get to see each other at meals, but God is working a lot in my life and I know in Mario's life a lot during this time. It will be even harder when they leave for almost two weeks so I am enjoying the time I do get with Mario right now.

Another cool thing about the SST is that Mario's younger brother, Junior (or Edward) is doing the school. Mario is the only Christian in his family, but when he was living at home his brother told him that he wanted to do a school like the one Mario had done. When Mario found out about the SST it was the perfect opportunity for Junior. Junior is a clown and has been making us all laugh since the day he got here. He has been letting God in little by little, but today at church during the alter call he decided it was time to give his life up to God and accept Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior!!! What a blessing this is for the whole family, especially Mario. Unfortunately I haven't gotten any good pictures of Junior yet, but I will post some later when I can.

So that is a basic update of Youth with a Mission Guatemala, Susan style. I thank you, my faithful followers! God bless you.

Baby Time!

2010-11-12T07:17:00.001-08:00

Gladis, my 15 year old friend who was pregnant, just had her baby! Her beautiful little girl was born at the end of October and has the cutest, most petite little face. Here is a bit of the story...

On Thursday, about 3 weeks ago, we decided that we would take Gladis to go shopping for some baby clothes at a wonderful second hand store we have here called Mega Paca. I was happy to be able to bless her with not only new clothes for the baby, but a few good after pregnancy clothes and even a few pairs of shoes, all for under $70. It was a great day, where I got to talk to Gladis a little bit more and most importantly for our relationship, I got to build trust. After shopping we invited her and her little sister to come to the base for lunch. We ate some lunch and hung out a little bit more and then we took the girls home. Here are a few pictures I took that day...

I look like a giant next to her even though she is around 8 months pregnant!

side view of the baby belly

So Friday, the next day, we got a phone call and were told that Gladis had given birth!!! We were all very excited for her and after we found out both mama and baby were healthy we were even more excited. We waited about a week to go visit. We couldn't wait to see the precious little girl, but Gladis didn't want us to take too many pictures, so I just snapped a few.
Gladis told us that she went into labor late Thursday night and gave birth at home with a midwife around 3 am Friday morning. What a champ!!! She seems to be very happy, even though she never really shows much emotion. She also seems to be a good mom and to have good family support, which is all a blessing. Here are some things that we still need to be praying for:

-A name for the baby. Gladis has not chosen a name yet so we have been trying to help her. I told her that Susan is a beautiful name, but I don't think she is buying it.

-Inner healing for Gladis. She has been through so much at such a young age, but she is making progress. Please keep praying for God to work in her life.

-A bed for Gladis and the baby

Thanks to everyone who reads these posts and prays along with me. I appreciate all of you and your encouragements!

Dental Clinic

2010-11-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

Last week we spent everyday, except Wednesday, helping out at a dental clinic in a town about 45 minutes away from Guatemala City. It was a great time, but really long days. We had to leave the base by 6:45 each morning and didn't get back until around 8 each night. The dental team was made up of dental students and doctors from the University of Florida. It was fun working with them and making new friends. It was also good to be able to help out the Guatemalan patients with the dental work they needed (of course I did not actually DO any dental work, I just translated for the dentists). They also gave us free check ups and ended up with a few extra patients.

Mario getting a filling- his FIRST one EVER!!!

We had an evangelistic team presenting dramas and praying with the patients as they waited for their turn. They were able to pray with 7 people who received Christ as their Savior for the first time! What a great week it was!! Here are some photos... Enjoy!

The whole group

The YWAM team

Dog Trainer...

2010-10-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

This is Mario's nephew, Yandel with his puppy. If you knew me or have heard stories about me when I was a kid, you would know that I was a cat trainer extraordinaire and would "train" the cats in numerous ways from dressing them up in doll clothes and pushing them around in a stroller to putting them in the mailbox and hiding in the tree to see what happened when the mail person came. It was a great childhood and I think that Yandel is a boy after my heart. He was "training" his puppies the whole time we were there and I couldn't help but think of me as a kid.

WARNING: If you love puppies and don't like to see them being flung around, don't watch this video!!! The rest of you, enjoy!!!

P.S. I realize that it is sideways, but I don't know how to fix it, sorry, so just tilt your head for the 9 seconds it will take to watch it and it will be all good!

Weekend in...

2010-10-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

Puerto San Jose!!!

That is right, we got to go back to Puerto San Jose, the town where Mario's family lives, for a weekend. This time we went with other YWAMers to do some ministry with some of the local churches there. We had a great time.

On Friday we left the city around 2 and got to Puerto a little bit after that. We waited around for our host families to be ready and then we to eat dinner at a local home. I went with a girl I had met on my last trip down so it was good to be able to reconnect with her and it was even better to eat good, home cooked food for dinner. After dinner, we all met up again and went to a youth service at the church where we shared with the youth a little bit about YWAM. I had yet to meet the girl I would be staying with so after the service we were introduced. I stayed with a girl named Wendy, who is 22 years old and lives alone. Now to us in the states this is nothing weird, but here you don't usually move out of your parents house unless you get married (and even then sometimes you and your spouse live with your parents!). Wendy works in Puerto San Jose and goes to church there so to live with her family, who lives about an hour away, would be too much traveling so she decided to live alone which worked out perfectly for a fun girls weekend! We talked and talked on Friday night until my eyelids would not stay open anymore. Before I went to sleep, though, I really wanted to take a shower so I went into the bathroom and was greeted by a shower with no running water. I knew right then and there that it would be an interesting weekend since it was SO hot all day and night and being stinky and sweaty would be inevitable. So I got the bucket that was in the water basin and began taking a bucket shower. It was not bad at all and even though the water was not heated, it felt really good since it was so hot outside still. Then when I got out of the shower Wendy and I talked some more and then we finally said goodnight and hit the hay. She let me sleep in her big double bed while she slept on a mattress on the floor- just one of the very hospitable things that I got from the weekend.

On Saturday we went to breakfast at another house where the family who fed us had coconut trees. They got someone to chop some ripe ones down for us so that we could drink the milk out of them. Mario had to cut them open for us with a machete so that we could enjoy the delicious drink!

After breakfast we went to pass out some clothes that were donated for people who had lost everything in the flood about a month ago. We first went to the city dump. It was an adventure from the start because we had to use our 4 wheel drive just to get there! It was worth it, though, and there were many people who where thankful for the clothes and prayers that we supplied. After our time at the dump we went to a shelter for others who had lost their homes. They were living a tent city type setting and I can't imagine having to sleep inside a tent when it is 100 degrees outside. It would be disgustingly hot, but that is just how these people were living. They told us that when the flood came, the water was coming out of the windows of their house and they tried to save what they could, but they were thankful to even come out with their lives. We spent some time there passing out clothes and playing with the kids. I, of course, chose to help lead the kids in some songs and games. I learned a new way of playing "London Bridges" and had a blast hanging out with the kids and seeing their smiles.

After we finished, we ate some lunch and then had some free time. We decided to visit Mario's mom, who was braiding hair with his sister. When we got there they were just finishing up so we had some time to hang out and talk with them. Mario's nephew, who is 4 years old, adores Mario and was so glad to see him! Seeing the two of them interact DEFINITELY made me miss my own niece and nephew- Elisabeth and Nathan- even more than I did before!!!

While we were there, Mario asked us if we wanted his mom and sister to braid our hair. At first I said no, but then I thought that it would be good, seeing as my shower situation for the weekend was not the best and that it would be a good way for me to experience something new from their culture. As soon as I said yes, Christina, Mario's sister, got to work! It did not take her long at all and in no time I was a new woman!
We had a really fun time with Mario's family, but we had to go because we wanted to see the beautiful sunset at the beach before we went to dinner and then to small groups with the church. The sunset was gorgeous, as usual in Puerto, and dinner was great as well. After dinner we each split up and went to give a devotion at a small group. To me it was a challenge because even though I am a "missionary" it is intimidating for me to have to give a message in Spanish in front of a group but it went really really well and I am glad that they gave me the chance to share. After small groups we heading to the park to hang out for a little while before heading home for the night. When I got to the house I was staying, Wendy was already there watching some TV so I asked if I could take a shower again since the day had been so long and full of sweat. This time it did not take me as long because it was not my first time and because I only had to wash half of my hair thanks to my new do!

Sunday morning we got up, ate another wonderful breakfast at another home and then went to church. After we had been in the service for about 5 minutes, someone came up to us and said that our leader wanted to talk to us. We quietly walked out of the service to find our leader who informed us that there had been a mistake and another family had made us breakfast and was waiting for us to show up! We did not want to offend anyone so of course we went for our second round of delicious breakfast!! After that we had a fun day at the beach planned with the youth from the church. We went for a few hours and then Mario and I decided to go visit his mom again while everyone else was still hanging out at the beach. When we got to her house she whipped us up some wonderful fried things made out of flour called fritas. We ate and then had to say goodbye and leave because our time in Puerto San Jose was coming to an end. We went to pick up the other YWAMers at the beach and made our way back to the city after a long and fun-fulled weekend!

There were two things that surprised me this weekend in Puerto San Jose. The first thing was on the first day when we were there. I met a girl who asked me where I was from. I responded with the normal "California" response and she said that she was from California too. Then we started speaking in English, something I miss doing, and she told me that she was born in a town called Bakersfield. You can imagine my response!!! I was so excited and we began to talk all things Bakersfield. She moved to Iowa when she was 7 so she didn't grow up there, but to meet someone who actually even knew where Bakersfield is was exciting for me!

The second thing that surprised me was that in the youth group there were 2 girls named Susan! I have never before met a Susan in Latin America. Susana is somewhat common, but never Susan, especially two in one youth group! Obviously we took a picture together so I will leave you with a portrait of the three Susans...

Rosa

2010-10-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

We have been going to Tierra Nueva every Thursday morning for ministry and as I mentioned in a previous post, we met a girl a while ago named Rosa. She is a 17 year old who was raped and became pregnant. She has been working hard to turn this bad situation into a good one, with God's help, and is raising her baby. For the first two months she did not have a name for her baby. This was really odd to me because I have been thinking of my future kids' names for years and years and could probably give you a list a mile long- but not Rosa. I don't know if it was because of the situation she was in or what, but the two month old precious little girl did not have a name. Then, after visiting her about 3 or 4 times I felt like I should challenge Rosa to take a step forward. I told her that her homework would be to pray and ask God about what name she should give her daughter. The next week when we returned I was excited to hear what name she had decided on. She had thought about naming her Esmeralda, and we even began calling the baby by that name because we thought she would make it her final decision but she decided on a beautiful name. I would like to introduce you to...

Jasmine Julissa

I have grown such a special bond with Rosa and with her family and I am so glad to be able to continue to visit her. God is also putting something more on my heart and I have started to pray, along with another staff member, about how God wants us to move forward in disciplining Rosa and other young girls who are in her situation or at risk of being in her situation. Please help us in prayer as we seek what God wants us to do. It is exciting for me because I have been wanting to do something more and I know that God will be able to use me in this area. Thank you for your support and prayers!!!

Big Mac Style...

2010-10-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

Today we had a great opportunity to help out in the community. Today is McDia Feliz in Guatemala and that means that each person that buys a Big Mac will help support the Ronald McDonald houses here in Guatemala. This was a great chance for us to get involved in a deeper way since we already volunteer once a week at the Ronald McDonald house.

So 7 YWAMers piled into our blue van and headed to McDonalds at 9 this morning. We had a shift to work from 9-12 and really did not know what we were in for. We arrived and they gave us our oh so attractive hats and some really cute aprons to wear during our shift. Then we headed for our stations. My friend Aury and I worked at one of the doors, welcoming people with excitement. I was trying to enjoy my job and not to be too jealous of the people who got to be out on the street waving the flags and dancing to the music, but after about an hour it was time to switch places so I excitedly took my place along the street to welcome customers, wave the flag, scream, and my personal favorite-dance. It was really fun and after a while I even came up with some pretty good little flag routines. I don't think that the streets of Guatemala were prepared for me, though, because right in front of me 3 cars got into an accident! Now mind you, it was just a little finder bender, but I think that maybe they might have taken their eyes off the road to watch my polished routine and ooops... crunch! It was a very good time, though, overall and I walked away with some tired feet, some blistered hands, and a full belly (when our shift was over we supported the cause and ate a Big Mac as well!)

Blessings

2010-09-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

First of all I apologize for not being as faithful over the past few weeks with my blog entries. There have been many things happening around here that have kept me plenty busy and now that I finally have a Saturday free I have time to share them with you!!!

First, our ministry times have been going really well. I have been in charge of the stories we tell with the children and I chose one of my favorite Bible characters to focus on for this month, Elijah. We have talked about God's faithfulness of the drought, the stream, and the widow. We have talked about idols and God's power with the story of the altar and the fire from heaven. We actually even did a little skit and got some photos of the altar and the fire from heaven that I would like to share with you!

The kids have been soaking up God's lessons from the Bible and it is awesome to see them so hungry to learn more and more about who our God is!

We have also been visiting with a girl named Rosa who is 17. She is a beauitful young lady who lives in a very poor area called Tierra Nueva. Rosa was raped and as a result she became pregnant. She is the daughter of pastors and to hide the shame from their family they send her to live with an aunt. Rosa had a beautiful baby girl who turned 1 month old a week ago. This poor girl is trying to raise a baby by herself but has no clue how to go about doing it. We have been offering support to her as much as we can. We bathe the baby when we go because that is something that Rosa is afraid to do on her own. We also have been bringing diapers and other baby supplies. We have also been in contact with Rosa's family, encouraging them to accept her back into their family and teaching them about restoration. I really feel like God is working in this situation, too, because just last week Rosa moved back home with her family where she will be able to receive the support she needs. I have grown a special bond with Rosa and look forward to growing our friendship even more in the future. Here are a few pictures of Rosa and her baby, Esmeralda.

I also celebrated my 26th (it still sounds so OLD) birthday on September 19th. It was a great day not only because the people here helped me celebrate and made it special, but my MOM was here too!!! She got to stay for 9 days and we had such a wonderful time together! She came to mostly to see what we do here and to meet my amazing boyfriend, Mario. She loved it here and I am pretty sure she loved Mario too! They got along really well and I even found myself left out at times around the two of them! It was awesome!!! We celebrated Guatemalan Independence Day, my birthday and my mom's birthday together. Here are just a few highlight pictures of our time together.

Puerto San Jose

2010-08-29T19:03:00.001-07:00

Today we had a day off so Mario and I decided to visit his family and his home church pastors. It was also a trip for Mario to get a few more things from his house and bring them back to the base where he is now living full time. We started out at 8:15 this morning by getting on a local public bus, similar to this (ours was not actually this full, thank goodness, but this is a normal everyday occurrence here)

Then we got on the Metro to arrive at another bus station where we took another bus like this.

We rode that bus to another city where we then got on a minibus... let's just say it was an adventure to get there!

When we finally arrived in Puerto San Jose we went to visit with Mario's pastors who have their service on Saturday evenings so they were free to visit this morning. It was a good time and the kids were having Sunday school so I took a picture with some of them as they were leaving.
We had a good time hanging out with some of Mario's church friends and his pastors but it was soon time to go to Mario's house to see his family and collect his things.

Mario's family lives about 20 minutes away from the center of town where we were to begin with, so instead of having to pay for a ride in a taxi-like van, Mario asked one of his friends if we could borrow his motorcycle. It was another adventure to get to his house because it has been really rainy so there were LOTS of puddles along the dirt road. I did my best to take a picture as we were riding along.

As we were on our way we noticed there was a ring around the sun. I also did my best to take a picture of that but since all my attempts were in between puddles and bumps in the road, it never came out just as I would have liked.
We finally returned back home around 5:30 after a great day full of adventure!

Another Video

2010-08-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here is another video from the daycare. I love it when boys are boys...

My little buddy Victor traps the grasshopper on the tire and then tries to show it to me but at the very end of the video a tragedy happens and the grasshopper loses the leg Victor is holding and makes a suicide dive into the grass.

This is a test post...

2010-08-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post some videos of our ministry time yesterday at the daycare but for some reason I am having a hard time loading the videos so I will test it out with this one and if it works I will put some more up for you.

Wheelbarrow races with Mario and our buddies at the daycare

Introducing...

2010-08-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

Mario Martinez...

Mario and I have been officially a couple since February 11, 2010. It has been an amazing time and I would love to share part of our story and a little bit about who he is with you.

When I came to do my DTS in Guatemala in September I had just gotten out of a relationship and was excited to be able to put 100% of my efforts into getting to know God more during the 5 months I would spend here. When all the students first arrived we were all introducing ourselves and sharing our age. I was a little worried when the average age of my classmates was 19 since I was 24 at the time and had many life experiences since I myself was 19. Then Mario said that he was 23 and right away I was thankful to have someone who was closer to my age that I would hopefully be able to relate to. We all spent time together as a school and we were all very close, but the more I talked to Mario the more similar I found that our life experiences were. I was very thankful to have a friend that I could be honest with and that I knew would understand me without judging me. Little did I know that soon after feelings would start to sprout that were more than just friends.

Now for those of you who do not know, during a DTS relationships within the school are not allowed because the general masses get distracted by relationships. Our leaders told us during the orientation that if we did develop feelings for someone in our school, we should talk to our leaders so that they could be aware and help counsel us. Mario decided that, after praying about it, he would talk to the leaders because his feelings for me were real and growing. I was clueless of his feelings until this point but was myself praying that God would take away my feelings for him if they were not supposed to be there. I felt like our friendship was growing and so were my feelings for him. Then one day we were talking and he said that he had something uncomfortable to tell me. I was honestly still clueless that he had any feelings toward me that were more than friends so I did not see what was coming. He told me that he liked me and that he had already talked to the leadership about it but he didn't want me to find out from anyone else. I was super excited but wanted to be cautious at the same time because we were still here for the same purpose- to grow closer to God. We decided that we would continue being friends during the school and that if our feelings were still there after we were done with DTS then we would pursue something. On February 11 we graduated from our DTS and that is the day I became his girlfriend.

Life since then has been great. One of my best friends Layne came for graduation and got to meet Mario. It was good to have a friend from home approve of my new man. Then I went home for a few months, which was probably the hardest time we have had in our relationship because lets face it, any kind of long distance in a relationship is challenging. Then I came back to the YWAM base to be full time staff and although Mario was living in a town 2 hours away it was better because we could call each other and he would come see me every other weekend. Mario at that time was working at the auto mechanic shop were he had worked before he came to do the DTS. He was content being there because he knew God had plans with him- especially with his family who are not believers yet. He spent quality time with his siblings and had good talks with his mom while he was home and then at the beginning of July the base director from the base where I am called Mario and asked if he could come back and help out. It was perfect timing and doors were opened so Mario returned to the base.

We have gone through the normal ups and downs that any couple goes through but I am so thankful even when we have an argument because our relationship is REAL and not only that but it is based in God which is something that sounds so cliche but when it happens it is such a blessing. Mario is such an encouragement to me and I am surprised every day by the patience he has with me. He is very calm, quiet, and peaceful and for those of you who know anything about me you know that I am rarely those things. It works out so well, though, because he is my balance. He challenges me to grow spiritually and knows when to correct me and when to let me figure out my mistakes by myself. He is one of my best friends and definitely the best friend I have here. It is an amazing journey for us both and I am so thankful to be sharing all of this with him.

Here are some facts about this wonderful man:
-Mario Romaldo Martinez Blanco was born on January 22, 1986
-Mario has 3 sisters and 2 brothers
-Mario is the second oldest and the oldest boy
-Mario was born on an island called Livingston (a beautiful place- you should check it out) and lived there until he was 5 when his mom and siblings moved to Puerto San Jose where they still all live today
-Mario's favorite color is blue
-Mario has worked as an auto mechanic since he has 12 and loves cars and fixing them
-Mario's favorite sport is basketball
-Mario could eat rice, beans, eggs, and tortillas every day for breakfast and dinner (lucked out on that one!)
-Mario's favorite food to eat out is pizza or a hamburger (the North American Influence ;)
-Mario because a Christian at the age of 20 because a friend invited him to church and he agreed to go
- Mario loves anything with an engine that goes fast
-Mario's mom, grandma, aunts and uncles all speak a language called Garifuna, local to Livingston. Mario understands it but can't speak it very well.
-Mario is also learning English. He wishes he would have paid more attention in English class at school but at the time he did not think it would do him any good to learn.
-Mario has a servant heart and will help anyone he can
-Mario is AMAZING!

Team time...

2010-07-29T13:29:00.001-07:00

So the past two weeks we have had the privilege of working with a team from Minnesota. They were a group of about 20 youth who were excited to serve God and it was an amazing time. Here are some of the things we did...

We went to the hospital where we got to go to the children's ward and put on a little program for the kids who were sick. Afterward we got to go from room to room praying for the kids and their families. This was a really cool time for me because I got to see some of the kids who we see during our weekly ministry at the Ronald McDonald house.

The next day we went to a place that truly inspired me called Hope for Guatemala. It is a program that is in one of the most dangerous places in Guatemala City. They serve about 220 kids lunch a day and then also give them help with homework, the chance to learn a trade through a carpentry shop and a beauty salon, a safe place to play, and Bible classes. It was amazing for me to see how this program is run because someday it is my dream to open up a house similar to this one. We went on a Friday, which was a play day, so we got to hang out and play with the kids. They had bikes to ride, video games to play, dolls, ping pong and the list goes on and on.

We also did some inner city outreaches. One night we went downtown and gave bread, coffee, and God's love to the transvestite and prostitute population. It was amazing when one of the people we were sharing with told us it was nice that we weren't judgmental or religious but loving and accepting. It blew my mind to even try and imagine the lifestyle they lead. We met one person, his street name was Jennifer, who had fled home at a young age because he was not accepted for the lifestyle he chose to live. Now he works on the streets as a transvestite prostitute and has a partner who doesn't know about the life he leads at night. He desires to change and return home to his Christian family and has even gone so far as cutting his hair short. We prayed with him and shared with him and are believing that God will use our encounter to help him on his way back to his true Father.

We also went to a place called the line that is known for prostitution. We went door to door passing out flowers and asking if we could pray for the women who work there. We were invited in to a room by a woman named Lesbie. She had worked as a prostitute since she was 15 years old and this year she will turn 50. She was really open to talk and we found out that she has a Bible but does not know how to read. She asks others to read for her each day and if she can't find anyone she said that she just opens her Bible and puts her face on it. I had the pleasure of reading aloud a little bit from the Bible and we shared with her the story of Rahab and how God used her. It was another amazing time where we could really show God's love.

We had a great time overall and I am looking forward to the next week and a half because another team is coming. Please pray for me as I am in charge of this team. I am very excited to see how God brings passion for missions to this next group of young people and to be a part of it!!!

Daycare

2010-07-11T20:56:00.001-07:00

We go to this government run daycare every Tuesday morning. It is by far my favorite ministry that our base does. The kids there are so adorable and every time we pull up in our vehicle they start to shout one of two things in Spanish: 1. The missionaries or 2. the gringos. It is funny that they call us the gringos because that basically means someone from the USA and I am the only one from the group that is actually from the USA.

So we get there and walk through the door and they say "bienvenidos, pasen adelante, sientense" to each person that walks through the door in a very sing-song way. It means "welcome, come in, have a seat". It is precious and I find myself looking forward to it each Tuesday morning.

After we all get our warm welcome, we sing some songs with them, teach them a Bible story and do a craft or coloring page with them. Then we play with them outside. I usually end up squeezing my way into their little wooden house outside to play the role of the daughter in a very enthusiastic game of house. My jobs are usually to go to the "store" in my "car" and buy some "eggs, beans, or chicken" and then to deliver them to my "mom" so that she can make me some delicious "food". These are my friends, Naomi and Ashley out side of the house we play in

It is always amazing to me how impressionable these little ones are. The fact that we get to go week after week and build a trusting relationship with them AND share God's love with them is such a blessing.

Medical Clinic

2010-07-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Last week the staff of our base had the chance to help out with a medical clinic in Huehuetenango. It was a wonderful time where we worked alongside pre-med students from Lee University in Tennessee. Our job as YWAM staff was to translate for the doctors. The first day we arrived in a village and began to prepare for the day and each person got their assignments. I was horrified when I got assigned to translate for the dentistry clinic because I have had some of the worst experiences of my life in a dentist chair. I did realize that God was probably laughing up in heaven as I walked to the makeshift dentist office, but I was willing to do whatever He had for me.

I ended up having an amazing time translating for the dental clinic the first day and asked if I could do it for the rest of the week. It was pretty intense at times, but it was so good to help people with toothaches and to also share God's love with them. We saw people of all ages come through the door and I probably saw over 100 teeth pulled- including a few women who got ALL of their top teeth pulled at once.

A story from my time there that I will never forget happened on a Tuesday. We were going to travel to the Cuchumatanes, which is the highest point in Central America, and work with a village. The day started out by me finding a dead (thank goodness it was DEAD) rat in our dinning room where we were staying. Then we were trying to finish up last minute preparations when I went up to the room we were staying in and the door had been shut and locked on accident and no one had a key. We ended up breaking the glass window to get our water bottles and bags out and we headed out the door. We got on the bus we were to take to the village and it started driving us 20 minutes in the wrong direction. By the time we noticed and got turned around we were running late and so we hoped for a quick rest of the trip. So as you can imagine the roads to the highest point in Central America are pretty steep and the buses they use here in Guatemala are old, outdated school buses that they buy in the States and drive down. The bus we were on began to smoke as it huffed and puffed up the hill. The puff of smoke began to grow into a cloud that was coming into the bus through the dashboard. Finally the poor bus driver could not push his beloved bus any longer and it overheated and came to a complete halt in the middle of the road. We all quickly got off so that we might have the chance to breath fresh air again and we waited on the side of the road for another form of transportation.

Little did we know that the only other available form of transportation that the village had to offer us was this...

A cattle truck! We all piled in the back- 9 YWAMers and about 20 pre-med students and headed the last 15 minutes to the village.

One of our patients that day happened to be a little boy who was 4 years old- WARNING: This is going to be a disgusting story...

He had an abscess on one of his front teeth that had eaten away his gum so that the tooth was visible through the gum and at the bottom of the gum like a normal tooth. Now I like to consider myself someone who does not get easily grossed out since I used to teach elementary school and have been thrown up on and peed on but what came next was definitely something that challenged me. The dentist was working on pulling out the tooth and I was close by trying to console the boy. The next thing I knew I felt a sudden squirt on my nose. I looked down and the abscess had popped and the puss inside went right on my nose! I told the dentist who casually asked if it had gotten in my eye, which I replied to with a no and then she proceeded to tell me that it would be just fine then and that our skin is a great protecting agent. "Oh, good!" I thought to myself as I wiped the puss off my nose. We managed to get the tooth out and the poor little guy was a trooper through it all!

I really did feel blessed to be able to work with such a great team of people. I also felt blessed to be able to help people who normally would not be able to receive such medical attention. We had a great time serving in Huehuetenango!!!

Passing of the Torch...

2010-06-24T16:38:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday I traveled back to Bakersfield so that I could be a part of an epic event... ERIN O'DANIEL got married!!! It was a very quick trip, but it was nice to go home after a few weeks of getting settled in here.

First I got home around 3AM and hit the hay because the next day, Thursday, I was to make an appearance at Rosedale Bible Church's VBS. It was a great time of catching up with people but it went by waaaay too fast. I love my church family and the support they give me!

Then Thursday afternoon the trip really began. Layne got off work and we picked Denise up in Fresno and got to Nor Cal just in time to check into the Motel 6 (yes, they left the light on for us) and head out for a fun last night on the town.

The wedding was gorgeous and my best friend looked amazing. In fact, all my best friends looked amazing and it was so wonderful to share that time with all of them since we all four know it will be a while until we are together again.

At the end of the reception Matt and I had a very touching moment when I passed the torch onto him. I don't know if you are familiar with the relationship I have with Erin but many people have asked us if we were a dating couple in the past- we are that close. So now with my girl going off with this man, I had to make sure that the torch was passed and that he knew that she would now be under his watch.

It was a wonderful time with family and friends and I am so thankful that I had the chance to be a part of it- I wouldn't have missed it for the world!!!

Getting Settled...

2010-06-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

I have been here over two weeks now and it feels like I have lived here for half of my life. Things are going really well and I seemed to easily fall into the flow of things around here. Most of my time during the week is spent doing ministries with children but I also have some time in the kitchen and have put in some hours cleaning up around the base.

I have been adjusting fairly well so far. I did have a hard day last Thursday because my baby sister Sara graduated from high school and I was not there to see her. I know that this is just one of the many things I will miss living a missionary life, but that does not make it any easier. The bright side is that I get to go home in about a week and see everyone again.

I had not planned this trip home so soon after I arrived on purpose but after I bought my ticket and planned my return to Guatemala in May I found out that one of my very best friends, Erin O'Daniel, is getting married in June. I could NOT miss the wedding so I decided to make a trip home. I am excited to see everyone again, even if it will be for a very very short week. I already have a list of things I want to bring back with me when I return- especially certain snacks that I am already missing. It will for sure be a great time of celebration!!!

When I first arrived here I was put in a room with a girl named Aury who is from here, but they told me not to unpack everything because I would be moving as soon as another staff member left. Well that staff member left and now I am semi-settled into my new room. I now share a room with Ale, another Guatemalan girl, who is planning on leaving the base soon as well to move on to other things. For now I have the top bunk, but hopefully after she moves out I will be able to move myself down to the more accessible bottom! It is a very nice room, though, with enough space for all my things.

Some things you can be praying for specifically are:

-That I would continue to adjust well to my new home

-That my stomach would adjust to the food...again

-God's passions to continue to be made known to our base

-For the children that come to our weekly ministries

-For my Spanish to continue improving (I am one of the only English speakers here!)

Thank you all so very much!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

Update on Guatmala City

2010-06-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

It has been pretty crazy around here the past few days. I posted the pictures of the sand storm in my last blog. I think I still have some sand in my hair and there is definitely sand all over still. After the sand rained down it began to rain actual water. We were glad at first because we thought that we wouldn't have to clean much sand up since the water would wash it away. Then it kept raining and raining and raining. It rained for at least 2 days without stopping. We are not talking a little bit of rain here and a sprinkle there, either. I went outside on Saturday night and began looking for Noah and the ark because the streets were just flooded.

As a result of the sand and the rain there have been many people in need. We went out to a village on the outside of Guatemala City and walked around looking for problems and ways we could help. We found a woman named Leslie who lost her husband about a year ago. After he died she took over his work as a carpenter to support her young family. The problem was their business and home were built on a hill that was not sturdy to say the least. When the sand came down and the water flooded it caused the building where she does her carpentry work to collapse completely and she lost all of her tools. Her house that was build next to the building survived but has part of it hanging very precariously off the side of the hill. The problem is that she doesn't want to move too far away from the area because that is where all of her business comes from and it is also where her family lives. We are going to do our best to help her out in whatever way we can as she tries to get back on her feet again.

Another tragedy that happened because of the storm actually happened to one of our own Youth with a Mission staff families. They live in a house off the base and as the sand feel it put extra weight on their roof. Then the water began to flood in and the roof could not handle all the weight so their house began to flood. Thankfully we have extra room here on the base and they were able to stay with us until the roof was fixed. There are so many other families, though, who are dealing with problems like these. It is overwhelming to see and to just imagine losing your loved ones and house to rain and floods.

Thankfully it is sunny and warm now so the process of restoration can begin but it is still rainy season- and just the beginning at that- here in Guatemala. I know that God is in control so we just have to trust in Him. Please keep everyone who was affected in your prayers. Thank you!!!

Rainy Season

2010-05-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

So I knew coming back to Guatemala that I would be here right at the start of rainy season. It rained almost everyday this week and today it rained ALL day without letting up. I love the rain and so I have been enjoying it to the fullest. I was not prepared, however, for the rain that fell tonight. Apparently one of the volcanoes here in Guatemala has not erupted but "exploded" (I don't really know what the difference is but just go with me on this one) and created a sand cloud that is now pouring down all over the city. It is pretty amazing to see the street just COVERED in sand. It is all black sand much like the beaches that are a few hours away from the city. I have never seen anything like it. I took some pictures but I don't think they do the situation justice...

First Week Back at YWAM

2010-05-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

This week has been really good. Everyone here keeps on asking me how I am doing and if the transition from student to staff has been hard. I feel like I know it should be a difficult transition, but I had already kind of prepared myself before I came back.

I knew that my classmates from the DTS would not be here, which has probably been the hardest part. I knew that I would have more responsibilities as a staff member. I knew that I would have to "put myself out there" and get to know people that are here better than I already did. I knew I would still have to share a room and a bathroom. I had already thought and prayed about all of these things before I came and so thankfully this week has not been too difficult for me- so far.

I am currently in a room with a girl from Guatemala named Aury but tomorrow I will move to a more permanent room with another girl from Guatemala named Ale. Ale was a staff member of my DTS so it will be good to be with her since we know each other well. I think after I get all of my things put away and settled in that more will start sinking in but for now I am living this lifestyle as if it were the only one I have ever known.

This week has been a busy one, which has also helped in the adjusting period. Monday we had a meeting in the morning with worship and a devotional. After the meeting I met with the base director to get a brief idea of what my schedule would look like. After that I unpacked my things a bit more in my room and then had lunch which led into a pretty uneventful afternoon and evening. Tuesday we had intercession and then I got to go to a daycare with some other staff members and play with the kids there. It was a great time and since it is a weekly ministry I plan on going back and will post pictures later. Today we went to the market in the morning to buy food for the kitchen. Let me tell you when you go buy food for a whole base it is not your average shopping trip. 5 hours and a van full of food later we returned to the base with just enough time to eat lunch and run to the next ministry which is the Ronald McDonald House.

(If you click on the picture it will get bigger and show the full view of the Ronald McDonald House)

The Ronald McDonald house provides housing for the families of children with diseases. Most of the families that come to the Ronald McDonald house here in Guatemala City are staying in a place that is waaaay more nice than their home. The rooms each have a theme and they are all decorated in bright, cheery colors. The families of the children are affected just as much, if not more than the children who are actually battling the illnesses and so when we go we have a program for the children but we also pray with the adults and have some quality time with them. Today I got to hang out with a boy named Emerson. He traveled over 8 hours to get to the hospital and so for his family being able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house was a huge blessing. He is 8 years old and I found out from another staff member who spoke with his mom that he has a tumor. I did not spend much time with him and we just talked a bit and colored a page together but I know that even an hour and a half can make a huge difference in his life. I look forward to going back next week and seeing the smiling faces that will greet us.

So that is a little bit about my first week. I am super excited to be here and I know without a doubt that this is exactly where God wants me to be because I feel such a peace about being here. I was talking to someone who knows me pretty well and they asked me how I was doing and I said that I was doing really well and that I hadn't even cried yet and they were shocked because they know me and know how emotional I get. Honestly though I feel like this is where I belong.

First Class Trip

2010-05-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

This is an example of what my seat was like on my way to Guatemala. It was quite the adventure getting out the door for my 1:45 AM flight but my mom, sister Becky and I left the house around our expected departure time. We did not have many hang ups on the way to LAX, which was nice, and arrived around 10:30. I went to check in and the line was loooooooong. I don't know why but it seemed like I was the last one in line. I was not late by very much and I was not worried about it either. I was flying with TACA/LACSA airlines and they do not assign seats until you get there. So as I was approaching the front desk and checking in, the kind sir behind the counter informed me that the flight was full. I had already waited about an hour to get the front counter and I was ready to be done lugging my hiking backpack and HUGE suitcase around the airport with me. I tried my best not to freak out as I began processing what I would do. Then he told me that since the flight was full in the back, the airline would give me complimentary upgrade to business class- also known as FIRST CLASS! I wish you could have seen the look on my face! You see, I made a list of dreams in life that I want to accomplish and flying first class was on that list. This was literally a dream come true!!! The rest of the check in went without problems and soon I was sitting in the FRONT ROW of the airplane. It was hard for me to keep my pride under control as people would walk past and make comments about how they wished they were in first class. The flight was wonderful and between the extra stretching room and the free toot bag I was one happy girl!

I got to Guatemala safely and was welcomed by some of my very close YWAM friends and even some flowers. It is good to be back, although I can already sense the challenges that might lie ahead. I will keep you updated as this first week gets underway. Thank you very much for your prayers!!!

Back to Guatemala!!!

2010-05-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

I am going back to Guatemala on May 22nd and I couldn't be more excited!!! Here is an update letter I am sending out...

Last September I had the life-changing experience of doing a Discipleship Training School with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in Guatemala. While I was there I felt God’s definite call to full time missions. This is something that has been on my heart since I was very young, but the timing had never been right for a full time commitment. Now I feel that it is the time for me to go ahead with this adventure God has for me and I could not be more excited about it.

So after much time in prayer about where and what I should be doing, I have decided to return to Guatemala and work with YWAM. I am looking forward to returning to the ministries I worked with while I was there in the school and I am also looking forward to beginning some new ministries. One of the things I am most excited about is the chance to restart a ministry that has been on hold. It is called Dreamers and I feel like God had this ministry crafted especially for my gifts and talents.

Dreamers, or Soñadores, is a program that gives young children in Guatemala who have a high potential for learning the opportunity for an education that they would otherwise not have the chance to receive. The program gives them more than that, though, it gives them the chance to dream and be passionate about the very things God created them to do. I, along with a few other staff members, will be working directly with the program and basically restarting it as a permanent ministry. We will do all the “business” to get it running and then we will be directly involved with the students after the program begins. We will meet with them frequently to love, tutor, mentor, keep them accountable, and most of all show them how to dream.

I cannot express on paper how excited I am for this opportunity. I know that God has brought me to this place in my life and I am experiencing the sheer joy that comes from being exactly where He wants me to be. As a full time missionary with YWAM, I need to raise support to allow me to complete all of these wonderful plans. I have been so blessed by the faithful way God has shown Himself to me through many financial supporters and prayerful people and I have the faith that He will continue to provide. My goal is to raise around $600 a month to cover all my expenses in Guatemala. I would ask you to please pray and ask God if you are to be a part of my support team. It does not matter if you are called to give a one time donation, make a monthly commitment, or give support through prayer, God can use you to be a part of reaching His people. If you would like to donate, there are two different ways:

-Write a tax deductable check made out to Youth With a Mission (please DO NOT put my name anywhere on the check) and add a note stating that the money is for Susan Fidler in Guatemala and send it to:

Youth With a Mission
15850 Richardson Springs Rd
Chico CA 95973

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

9624 Ravenwood Dr

Bakersfield, CA 93312

Thank you so much for helping share God’s love!

Much needed update...

2010-04-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

So I have been home for a little over a month now and I figured it is time to give you an update...

First of all the transition from Guatemala to Bakersfield has been interesting. I found myself wondering if I should put my toilet paper in the toilet or trash. I also found myself sleeping every chance I got. It turns out that going nonstop for 6 months really wears a girl out. After washing all the clothes I had worn in the last 6 months in warm water and putting them through the dryer I began to go through all the things I left behind. It is a lot easier to get rid of stuff when you haven't used it for half a year. I must say that for my pack rat history I have done a good job of downsizing and a yard sale will be on the calendar for April.I have been able to jump right back into helping out with the youth group at church and I even got the chance to spend the last week in Los Angeles on their inner city mission trip. I was excited to go and we had a great time serving God's people. I had mentioned to a few people that I was excited to be able to speak in English while talking to people about God but wouldn't you know that one day we were asked to take a homeless person to lunch and our group chose Carlos, a man from Nicaragua who only spoke Spanish. I fell very easily back in to my role as translator and we ended up having a good time of conversation with Carlos.

Our serving team in LA

Now I have the daunting task of figuring out what I will need for the next 2+ years of my life and packing it into 2 suitcases under the airline weight limits. I will be returning to Guatemala on May 22nd. I am so excited to go back and I am cherishing the time I have here with my family and friends. Speaking of which, one of my best friends, Erin, is getting married in June. I will be back for a week for the wedding (yes, it will be expensive but I wouldn't miss my girl's wedding for the world!) so I will be able to see everyone again during that time and I will be able to bring back another 2 suitcases of my stuff.

All I have to say is what a life!!! While I was in LA with the youth group I was trying to explain to some of the students that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks you should do with your life. What does matter is following what God has for your life. That is where you will find the most joy and be the most content. I can honestly say that is where I am right now with my life and it feels so good!!!MY GIRLS!!!

November Update

2009-12-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

For some reason my blog site is not allowing me to copy and paste my newsletter onto the blog so I have attached a link to my facebook note with the update. http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&&suggest&note_id=236489489151

Here are some pictures from the month that I wanted to share...
All of the kids we had during our VBS

Doing a drama called The Family

Ready for some clowning around
Our school at the Mayan ruins

National Pride Day

2009-12-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

Every Wednesday we have a theme day to try to spice up our DTS. We have had some pretty good ones so far like Disney Character Day where I was Pocahontas, Bible Character Day where I was Elizabeth and one of my friends was Mary, and Super Hero Day where I dressed up as a "Super Chapina".

A few weeks ago we had a very clever day- National Pride Day- and since there are 6 nations represented in our school everyone dressed in their national colors. I must admit, I had a hard time choosing between the faithful red, white, and blue and my new favorite light blue and white. I had just got a shirt the weekend before that talks about being Guatemalan so I decided that I would go with the Guatemalan colors this time. This is a picture of my friend, Janina from Germany, and I

Then later that morning when we got to class we had a little surprise waiting for us... one of our leaders had found all of our national anthems online and we each got a turn to sing them!!!

Canada was first...
Followed by Germany...

Then Puerto Rico...

Mexico...

And Guatemala

I sang loud and proud along with my other United States citizens and after we sang, without even planning it, we all shouted "play ball!" It was a great day and a great reminder that God is using people from all over the world to do His will here on the earth.

Jericho March

2009-11-14T15:48:00.000-08:00

We live a block away from a park that holds Mayan Ruins. Ever since we got here I have had the feeling that we should do some sort of Jericho March around the park. I didn't know exactly when we should do it, though, so I just casually mentioned it to a few people here. Then last weekend we had the chance to work with another DTS (the same school I am doing now) from Antigua Guatemala. They came without a real plan so we began to pray about what God wanted our group of about 30 to do for the day. I had not said much of anything because I wanted someone else to confirm if the Jericho march was what God wanted or not. I definitely did not want it to just be my idea. As we were sharing a few people began to share they felt like we should do something at the park... BINGO, I thought. So I brought the idea I felt God had given me up and everyone agreed they thought it was what God wanted us to do.

The DTS from Antigua had a speaker with them so we attached an ipod- a modern day trumpet- and put it on a dolly and started the march. Here is a picture of our group starting off...

We marched 7 times around the park, which was probably a little less than a mile around. It had been a cloudy morning and it looked like it would rain, but God held the rain off for us all day. Our first time around we stopped at a certain spot where you can see into the park and began to pray because we felt a heaviness there. Only later did we see this shaman performing Mayan acts very near the spot we were praying.It was an amzing time of spritual warfare and on the 7th round we could not help but shouting out and cheering for what God had done. Although it took us from 11:00 to 4:00, we all felt privelidged to be able to be a part of God's work.

update...

2009-11-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

Most of our group in Antigua Guatemala

A boy named Angel and I at our weekly children's ministry

Hi, I am so sorry it has taken so long to update. Things here have been really busy as we prepare for our local outreach. Here is the update letter I sent out to Rosedale Bible Church for October. I hope to get another post up before we leave for two weeks on Sunday.

October Update

October has come and almost gone and it is hard to believe how fast time is flying by around here. We have been here for over a month now and had 5 weeks of class so far. All of our classes have been very relevant and applicable to my life. One of the topics that was my favorite was Hearing God's Voice. We had a speaker come from the great state of California and give us the lessons for the week. We learned that God created us for a relationship with Him and that He truly desires to have a dialogue with us. Our other class topics have been The Nature and Character of God, The Father Heart of God and Inner Healing. This has been an amazing time of classroom learning.

Also during this time of training we have started preparing for outreach. We have what we call outreach workshops twice a week. I attend the adult workshop on Monday nights. We have learned 3 dramas that are geared toward adults. One of them is a very powerful drama that tells the story of a broken home and how it affects each member of the family. We are also learning how to prepare a quick street testimony so that we can have that tool ready to go on outreach. I also attend the children workshop on Wednesday nights. There we have learned about 8 clown and puppet skits. We also learned how to give a testimony to children in "kid friendly" language. It is exciting to be able to prepare so many things so that when we go on outreach we will be ready and well equipped.

We leave for our local outreach on November 15. We are going to a small village called Tecpan. It will about a 2 hour drive from where we are in Guatemala City. It is a town that has a huge Mayan influence and as we have been praying we have sensed that it is a very dark place. We are going to be there for 2 weeks bringing the light of God, though, so I am excited to see how God is going to work. Then at the end of December we leave for Mexico City which is our main outreach location. Mexico City is also a very spiritually dark place. We know we will have a challenge ahead of us, but with God we are ready to face it.

Thank you for your continued prayers. I definitely appreciate them and as a school we can feel them. Here are some specific things you can continue to pray for:

+Outreach- both the actual time and our time here as we prepare

+Health- this is a constant prayer request as our bodies get used to the food, climate and living in community

+Team Unity- we feel that God wants to do big things through our team, but we know this can only happen if we are unified so please continue to pray for this important aspect

Thank you again for all of your support! I love knowing that I have a whole army at home who are backing me up!

Intercession...

2009-10-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Every Tuesday and Thursday we have base intercession here. I did not really know what intercession was before I got here so let me just explain a little bit about it in case you are in the same boat I was…

Intercession is basically standing in the gap for someone or something and praying for them. We always start and end our times of intercession here on the base with worship and then we spend some time asking God what is on His heart. He always shows us, in one way or another, because He desires so badly to have that kind of relationship with us- a relationship where He can share what He sees and feels with us. So when we feel like we know what it is God wants us to pray for we begin to do just that- we pray. We have had some amazing times of intercession and God has shown us to pray for this base, the drought in this country, our outreach and various other things.

This past Thursday God showed some of our school leaders that He wanted us to go pray over the soccer park we have right next door to the base. This park was filthy. It had glass and trash all over and the grass was thigh high. Not only was it dirty physically but it was spiritually dirty as well. Most of the weekends you can find at least one group of youth at the park smoking marijuana and there empty alcohol bottles all over. So it is no wonder God wanted us to pray there. So we all walked over and began to worship. I started feeling like God wanted me to pray for unity for our group because I felt like the message He was giving me was that if we didn’t have unity we couldn’t do anything outside of the base. So after I prayed for unity I prayed that the spiritual strongholds of the park would be broken and that the physical mess would be cleaned up. After a time of prayer our group gathered together to talk about what God had spoken to each one of us. There were a few people that felt they were being asked to pray for unity as well. Others felt the need to pray for God to use us to help overcome the spiritual strongholds that were in place at the park. One girl even saw a vision of the walls of the park being pushed down and the love of God flowing in. So we finished our time at the park with a worship march around the walls and left for class.

The next day we were up in our classroom on the second floor of the house and someone said, “Look everyone!!!” We all ran over to the windows where they were and looked over at the park. There were a group of city workers with an edger, a lawn mower, and trash bags. They were cleaning up the park the day after we had prayed there!!! It was so amazing for us to see God’s faithfulness to our obedience.

I wish I would have taken some pictures of the “before” so that you could see the dramatic change from the “before” to the “after”, but here is a picture of what the park looks like now.

Update of the Week...

2009-10-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

So, here is an update about last week and there are just a few amazing things that happened here, but seriously, God is moving!!!

Wednesday we broke up into groups to pray for different people who felt like they needed prayer. One of our leaders was having pain in his shoulders and as soon as he mentioned it I felt so strongly that I should be the one to pray for him. So we all prayed and then everyone just started talking. I had been complaining all morning that I had this burning in my right arm and I didn't know why. It wasn't like painful, it just felt like it was on fire. So then I got an idea and asked Efra, the leader who I prayed for, what was specifically hurting him. He said his shoulders were so I asked him if I could just touch him with the arm that had been burning. So I put my hand on his shoulder and suddenly I felt the heat leaving. He said that he felt the heat in his shoulders, in fact he said that my hand was so warm. I touched the other shoulder and he said he felt the same thing, heat, coming from my arm. After I finished my arm was cool again and he said it felt like there was icy hot on his shoulders... AMAZING!!!

One more story from the week... Friday we did what Ken called a treasure hunt. We each prayed for specific things, like color of clothes, names, locations etc of people. We wrote them down on a piece of paper individually and then got into a group of 5 people. My group headed out in search of our "treasure". One of the things that stood out so firmly to me when I was praying was gold jewelry so as we were walking we saw a sign of gold jewelry. That was not exactly what I was thinking, but it was definitely huge in front of my face. Then someone else in our group got power lines and the picture of the jewelry was right under the power lines. Someone else in our group got a black dog and there was a black dog in the house right next to the other two things. Someone else in our group got the color fuchsia and there was a plant with fuchsia flowers right next to the house with the dog. Someone else got a person with an orange shirt and blue pants and right by all these other things there was a man talking on the phone and guess what he was wearing... yes, an orange shirt and blue pants. So we were thinking this was a HOT SPOT and we were right. A few of the guys in our group went up to the guy to ask him how he was and if there was anything they could pray for. He said he was separated from his wife and that he really wanted his family to be back together again. It was so cool to feel like we were exactly where God wanted us doing exactly what He wanted!!! We had a few more encounters on our treasure hunt and they all turned out really amazing. ahhh, I love the way that God is moving!!!

Please pray for me for this week. I know this sounds like a silly prayer request, but I keep getting bitten by bugs here and they are not your average mosquito... they leave scars and itch for like 2 weeks. I have like 5 bites on each leg and today I got one on my face right under my right eye... BOO... also if you could pray for health. I am feeling a sore throat coming on, so I have been stalking up on my vitamin C hoping that I can prevent it. Also please keep praying for our school in general, that we would stay unified and that we would see things with our supernatural eyes instead of our earthly eyes.

Zona 3

2009-10-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

Today we had our second week of going to do our local ministry. I am part of the children's ministry that goes to a community outside of the dump. It is amazing to see the change of scenery just a few minutes away from our base. Last week when we went I immediately fell in love with a few of the kids. I was glad to see them back this week. I was up to tell the story so I told them about the Good Samaritan and then we had some songs and since it is Children's Day here in Guatemala (kind of like Mother's Day or Father's Day for kids) we had one of the YWAMers dress up as a clown and pass out candy. It was cool to go back and see some of the same kids two weeks in a row and I especially connected with this precious little girl named Abby. We were just hanging out today and all of a sudden she pulled a pair of blue sparkle star earrings and said "here, these are for you". Obviously I put them on right away and took a picture...

I love the way that this culture shows God's giving spirit!!!

Church...

2009-09-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

So I just want to take this Sunday afternoon to talk about the church experiences I have had in Guatemala so far...

Our DTS leaders decided that they would each take us to their churches for 6 weeks and then after that we would be free to choose which church we liked the best of all the churches we visited and continue attending that church during our time here.

The first church we went to was called Fraternidad Cristiana. This church was HUGE!!! It was like the size of an amphitheater with seating for 12,000 people inside. At first I thought I was going to be really turned off by the church because of the size, but as we entered I felt like it was one of those places that was huge but somehow still had the friendly, welcoming feel to it. As soon as our group walked in some ushers came and gave us welcome stickers. Later on during announcements they introduced our group in front of the whole church and we stood and waved to everyone like we were movie stars or something. The worship and message were really good as well and I was definitely impressed with the whole experience. One of the things that also amazed me was that they built the church not too long ago and when they did the pastor felt it was very important not to have loans or debts as they were building so they built this whole amphitheater debt-free!

The second week we were here we went to another church. The congregation was about 75 people and the worship was amazing. The worship leader actually wrote a song that is famous here in Latin America so it was cool to be able to worship in a church with such great leadership. There was also great passion during the worship and instead of passing out bulletins at the door they were passing out kleenex in the isles during worship. It was a little bit out the ordinary for me, but again it was good to experience the passion and love that the worshipers have for God.

Today we went to our third church. It was a Pentecostal church and from the second I walked in I knew I was in for a treat. First of all they don't pass out bulletins or even kleenex at this church, they passed out flags. Actually they didn't pass them out, they were just on a rack on the wall and people who wanted them went over and grabbed them. What happened next not only left me a little bit distracted but it also made it hard for me to keep a straight face at first. The people would wave the flags all around in the air, making it look like some sort of color guard show. I know that this is one way to worship, but it is not a way I have ever experienced before. Then the next thing you know a man is running around the isles waving his flag and blowing a whistle. At this point Janina (one of my classmates) and I looked at each other and couldn't hold it together. We laughed out loud at the sight of this show of worship.

So all this to say that I am definitely getting to experience the culture in a different way through the churches here. Let me just say that I have yet to find a Rosedale Bible Church, or anything close for that matter, but it is awesome to see how different people can worship in spirit and in truth.

September 21, 2009

2009-09-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

Also an older post that I wrote before internet. Now we are finally updated...

We still do not have internet at the base, but somehow everyone is surviving… funny how that works that when you have something you become sooo dependant on it, but when it is taken away you find other ways to fill your time. We have definitely found those other ways to fill our time here…

This weekend we had Friday afternoon through Sunday off. We did not really have the time off though because we celebrated my 25th birthday all weekend! It was an amazing celebration with new friends and family. First on Friday night we all stayed up until 12 so that we could start my big day off right. We ate cake, sang, and danced until about 1:30 am. Then on Saturday I woke up and went to breakfast where I was served heart shaped pancakes. How do these people know the way to my heart already?! Then we went to the shopping mall that is right down the street and spent some time enjoying the food court there. I chose Taco Bell for lunch and we had ice cream for dessert! Then before we left the mall we walked by a band that was playing some jazzy music. Mario, one of my DTS classmates, told the band that it was my birthday and so the band played me happy birthday then wanted to take pictures with me. It was fun! Then when I though it was over they decided to give me a free CD!!! What a great birthday gift!

For dinner we had cheeseburgers here at the base and then everyone surprised me with a princess crown, a card, and my favorite Funfetti cake!!! They didn’t even know that was my favorite kind of cake but I was super excited when I saw the kind of cake it was.

Then everyone in our school plus a few extra people from the base went bowling after dinner. On the way a few people stopped at the flower stand and bought me some flowers… by this time I was feeling like a true princess!!!

We all had a blast bowling and then when we got back to the base they told us we had a meeting. We all walked over and… SURPRISE… there was a huge piñata for me!!! What a wonderful birthday I had here in Guatemala!!!

Hello, Guatemala

2009-09-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

I wrote this when I first got here and am just now able to post it because we just got internet. The internet is really slow as well, so I will try to get pictures up soon!!!

Well I have arrived and actually had a great trip. I was worried that the start of my day might be not so good because of having to pay extra for my luggage, but thankfully I have a wonderful sister Becky and best friend Layne who are expert packers and they got me through the luggage check-in without having to pay an extra cent!!

I got on my first flight and was pleased with my window seat and had plans to sleep, read, and relax the whole way. God had other plans for me, though, and in fact my mission trip had begun…

A smiling girl, probably around my age, sat down right next to me and I was glad about that. We started small talk and I found out that she was from Palmdale but was living in Cancun doing missions. We kept talking and she revealed that she is actually a Jehovah’s Witness. Now when these people come to your house it is one thing because you can just say no thanks and kindly shut the door, but when they are seated next to you on a 4 hour flight it is kind of hard to ignore them. So we talked and it was actually really neat for me because I asked her about what she believed and got to share what I believed and although neither one of us came out converted I at least got some practice sharing the gospel and talking about what I believe and why.

After having a layover and going through customs in Mexico City I was on my second flight to Guatemala. I got off, got ALL my luggage and found the people from YWAM who were picking me up. Then we came to the “base” that is actually two houses very close to downtown Guatemala City. The houses are awesome and I am excited to be living here! I will be sharing a room with five other girls- two from Germany, one from Canada, one from the United States, and one from Mexico. We have ten people in our school altogether. Everything around this town seems to be alive with people, music and even a wake up call at 4 a.m. from a rooster down the street! I can’t wait to experience Guatemala to its fullest!!!

No internet... no bueno...

2009-09-15T15:59:00.000-07:00

Well I am sorry it has taken so long for me to post but we have been at the base about a week now and without internet the whole time. They are hoping to have it up and running tomorrow but then again that is what they said yesterday and the day before...

So I am writing from an internet cafe and cannot post pictures, unfortunately. Tomorrow we are going on a retreat and we will be back Friday or Saturday and HOPEFULLY there will be internet by then.

Everything here has been awesome so far. I love the people and the culture and the city we live in. We are actually really close- about a 10 min walk- away from various shopping centers and malls, which is nice. The thing that has shocked me the most so far was that they have a Taco Bell here!!! Yes, its true. I do not really understand it either, but it is here. I will post proof soon!

The school is off to a great start. There are 10 of us in all- 3 people from the USA including me, 2 Germans, 1 Canadian, 1 Mexican, and 2 Guatemalans. It is an awesome mix of cutlures and personalities and I cannot wait to get to know them better.

Well, for now thats all I am going to have time to share. I hope to have more time to post pictures and share more stories soon! I miss everyone so much and can feel your prayers. Thank you so much!!!

Getting Close

2009-09-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

The time is coming soon when I will be packing up (the actual event of packing will probably happen the night before I leave) and flying to Guatemala.

So many emotions are filling me right now- excitement, sadness, joy, peace, and lets be honest, it is a bit overwhelming. It has been so amazing, though, to see how many people are supporting me as I seek to do what God wants me to do with my life. God has really shown me that this is what He wants for me by the way he has provided through people. I am so thankful for everything- the prayers, the financial support, and the encouragement- that people have given me over the past few months. I am so looking forward to this adventure and am ready for it to begin!

Please pray that I will do what God wants me to do with my life.

Nostalgia...

2009-08-18T23:05:00.000-07:00

Nathan almost always spills but he does not worry because it is for "the birds"

Sno Shack girls!

That's right, nostalgia has set in... BIG TIME...

I know I only plan on being gone for 6 months, but I have been feeling super nostalgic about everything lately. I went to Frank West School, where I used to teach, yesterday and I teared up. It is going to be weird not going back to work this year. In fact, it will be my first year since kindergarten not going back to school. Weird, really weird. Just the other night I was hanging out with my sister and she just said, "I am going to miss you, Susan" and I wanted to bawl like a baby right then and there. Now, don't get me wrong, I am super excited and cannot wait to be in Guatemala, but it is just going to be hard to leave behind this life as I trade for the life God has for me for this season. The thing that made me most nostalgic was an event that happened last night...

As some of you might know, I have a Sno Shack passion that goes beyond the occasional summer refreshment. I have made it my goal to try every Sno Shack flavor on the list and have been an avid fan for years. This summer I started something wonderful with my niece, Elisabeth. Every Sunday after church and lunch we would swing by Sno Shack on our way home. We dubbed this event Sno Shack Sunday and both looked forward to it every week. I talked to my sister Leann yesterday and she told me that her and Elisabeth had talked about how I would be going away to a different country for a while. Elisabeth quickly said "So no more Sno Shack Sundays?!?" I know exactly how she felt. I got the chance to hang out with Elisabeth and Nathan yesterday night so we swung by Sno Shack after dinner. First of all the one that we always go to was closed. Panic began to set in as I quickly drove to the next nearest little blue hut. Thankfully it was still open because the sign on the window said that today, August 18th was the LAST day it was open for the season... booo hooo... so we enjoyed out last snow cone of the season while I enjoyed my time with these two precious children. I am going to miss this!!!

Patience is a virtue

2009-08-10T22:27:00.001-07:00

I borrowed a hiking backpack for my DTS and as soon as I brought it into my room I was ready to fill it up with clothes and other collected items. I am getting so excited and honestly had to talk myself out of packing since I have four weeks left and the "left over" clothes would be slim pickins to make it through. I have been getting things that I think I will need little by little as I shop and have acquired a decent sized pile of stuff in my room. I am beginning to think that I should be diagnosed as an overpacker. Unfortunately, they do not have a cure or prescription readily avalible for overpackeritis so I guess the next best thing is to bring 2 suitcases instead of one... hope the airlines give missionary discounts on checked luggage!

Plane Ticket.... Check

2009-08-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

As I prepare for my trip, I find there are a few things I have put off until the last minute. Maybe because I am subconsciously delaying my departure, maybe because I am a procrastinator down to the letter... I don't know. Whatever the reason, I had not bought a plane ticket to Guatemala until yesterday. I am proud to say that $315 dollars later I am the proud owner of a one way plane ticket to Guatemala. Yes, I said one way. I am not coming home.... just kidding. I got a one way ticket for a few reasons. First of all, I don't know when I actually will be coming home. My school is over February 12, but I might stick around for a bit afterward for some adventures. Also, I don't feel the push to buy a round trip ticket since I do not have a date that I absolutely must be home by. So there you have it. Pretty soon (Sept. 8th) I will be on my way to Guatemala City, Guatemala and hopefully into what will be an amazing time in my life!

Go!

2009-07-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

So I just got home from Hartland Christian Camp with the high school group and had a blast for sure. One of the things that had an impact on me was Rick Alanzo and his paintings. He is an artist who paints with black light paint and uses mostly just his hands and feet to paint. The night he came up he challenged us to ask God what He wanted us to do and as I was sitting there I could not help but think of one word... GO... this word would not leave my mind and as I prayed and told God that I was willing to go for Him I felt like there was something else, but I couldn't quite figure it out. After Rick was done painting they told the campers to leave unless they wanted to stay and talk to a counselor. One of our girls that stayed behind said that she had felt God calling her to missions. I got to pull her away from the rest of the group and tell her about the word that had been resounding in my head and after praying and discussing what that would look like for her life I felt really used by God, which was an amazing feeling. I love that He is in control. I also love seeing how he works things out for HIS glory.