would you hold my arm up?

6 years ago I started teaching English at the orphanage Anna Vitiello, 60 something kids at the orphanage at that time,  one thing was quite obvious: the kids did not have any counselor or psychologist that would help them process.  A girl died that year at the orphanage and again… no one to help process that with the kids.

The Lord had called me to bring hope and love to those kids, I thought I would take some classes about phycology.

Here I am 40 classes after that, 5 years where I would go to University every Saturday, no weekends for me, reading and writing essays for 5 years, to finally become a better tool to the kids not only there but also in Sumpango garbage dump area.  In the midtime, I became a mom; the ministry grew to the fact that more short-term mission trips are coming to Sumpango, God has used us in many ways.

Today I am asking you to hold my arm up, to continue the ministry, I can not do this alone, and need your prayers, this coming Saturday (May 20^th) I will be taking my last writing exam (God willing!) and latter that evening or the morning of the 21^st, I will be holding my board exam. Please pray for me, I need to be calm and find grace in front of the eyes of the board. Pray for them.

Pray for energy for me this week, I should be studying! But also getting ready to host 400 missionaries in 11 weeks during the summer, we will be building 14 homes, painting, teaching, sharing, VBS at Sumpango to about 50 kids eveyweek for 8 weeks, well… lots of logistics to work with.

The doors that God is opening to us overwhelm me, because is a lot to carry by myself, I feel like Moses when praying on the mountain and I need your support to continue. Please join me in this ministry, be part of it, pray for us!

Pastors Manuel and Dorita

I am honored to have met a man that really cares for the kingdom, a man and his wife that at age of 68 in obedience to  God left the church they had planted in Guatemala City to plant another one in Sumpango... 68 years old and eager to start from the beginning again. Action that moved the heart of another family... Marvin Juarez and his family moved to Sumpango a year latter to help Pastor Manuel.

After 5 years in Sumpango and not one church but two.
Pastor Manuel and his wife Dorita both had surgery in their eyes due to cataracts couple of weeks ago. Dorita is recovering well but pastor Manuel had an eye stroke and  he can’t see in his left eye.

The doctor urged him to rest and lower his stress levels. Their daughters begged him to slow down, the church at the neighbourhood had been going through some important problems, and after praying they took the very hard decision of closing up the church as it did not have leadership to keep this ministry going.

Right now their plans are to fusion the congregation at the neighborhood to the one near the garbage dump church in Sumpango, and visit the churches they have been part of during the last 52 years of ministry.



Pastor Manuel is quite sad by this unplanned retirement, we are planning a party to thank his many years serving the Lord, we want to encourage you to send him a card to:
AMY TROTTIER/ PASTOR CRUZ
11242 Vessey Circle, Bloomington, MN 55437

Cultural fact: In Guatemala only the people who has worked for the government has the right of receiving money when they retire. Pastors and missionaries  in this sense do not have the advantage of receiving any money. If the Lord guides you to support financially to the Cruz family, you can include a check payable to MANUEL CRUZ in your card.

vacations? yes!!!!

Gracias Dios! Thank God!

He has been so good to us, He is the reason why we do everything with so much passion. He bless us with health, with protection, provision, love for each other and love for others, and the list goes on and on… I am humbled by the all the opportunities He has granted us to work for Him.

Let me share some challenges and blessings with you:

The challenge: I feel like I am so not a good mom, I noticed Miguel having hard time to read but I thought is was just part of the process of learning to identify the letters, but then I noticed some other things he had trouble to identify, so I finally decided to take him to the optometrist, and wow he does need glasses! I took him to the ophthalmologist  and after some tests, she told me that he has astigmatism and needed his glasses, I was a little worried as they are not cheap…

The blessing: I got a NOT expected donation towards me and Miguel and it solved the financial worries, giving him his glasses makes me feel a little less guilty for not been aware of this before.

Challenge:

Working so hard and going to university at the same time has kept me too busy this year and felt almost like going to crash, Miguel also complained a little about me not been with him as last year.

My brother in law is a marine and he will be deployed over seas again, this is the 3^rd time he will serve overseas and my sister will be with the 2 kids by herself, I wanted Miguel to meet his uncle Billy so bad… but we could not get a flight affordable.

Blessing: Billy and my sister live in San Diego, so we got a flight to Tijuana, Mexico that we could pay! So we will spend New Years with my sister and Miguel will meet his uncle Billy!!!

I am worried about flying into Tijuana, it is about 20 minute walk from the border and my sister will meet us there, (the military can not go into Tijauna) pray for Miguel and I the night of the 26 of december please!

We love to serve God the way we do, we love to serve Him with you serving with us, I honestly can not do this by myself, it is thanks to you, thanks to your prayers, your love and gifts.

Blessings to you all!

Serving with joy

Miguel Angel and Betty Merida

thanks given

Once upon a time….

There was a little girl whose daddy did not work most of the time and her mom had to go to work selling chickens at the local market. The little girl loved to help her mother and grandmother work at the market. Her mother sold chickens and her grandmother sold bread.

it seemed like the family had found who was going to continue the “Cycle” of no school and sell at the market.

Though the little girl dreams, it was looked down upon in her family and dreaming was not encouraged.  The little girl once saw a commercial on TV advertising cars for only $100 per month. Thinking about this commercial while going for a walk with her daddy, the little girl held

One day the little girl was going for a walk down a dusty road with her daddy. She remembered a TV commercial that advertised a family driving away with a brand new car for only a hundred dollars a month! Thinking of this commercial the little girl looked up to her daddy and asked why they did not own a car. Her dad became very upset and screamed at his daughter. With anger he asked why she would ask such a thing and doubted her happiness in their family. Ashamed, the little girl felt so stupid for asking this question. She felt so happy holding hands with her daddy and walking down the dusty road together. Her dad started to walk so fast she had to run just to keep up with him, determined to do her best not to mess up again. At that moment she decided to forget the dream of having a car and understood that their family was not the kind of family that could have a car.

The girl grew up to be a beautiful teenager with a strong personality just like her daddy, and a hard worker just like her mommy. She had non dreams just as her family had taught her. Thankfully, her mother required her to go to school. This is what would one day break the cycle in their family. The teenage girl went on to become a physical education teacher! She did not dream of having a car because of her long lasting belief that that was not for a girl like her, but only for other families. Instead, she just wanted a moped!

Shortly after becoming a teacher, she became a Christian. Although she had a new life and spiritual family, it was not enough to change her way of thinking about cars and dreams. As a hard working teacher she had enough money to put a down payment on a car, but instead she bought a motorcycle. Still, she believed that she did not deserve a car.

As a young adult she struggled with much hurt insider her heart. God had to speak loudly to her for her to understand that she did in fact deserve a car. God held her and told her, “My Child, I love you and you do deserve a car like the other families.” To get this message to her, God used four armed guys that took the motorcycle from her.

Soon after, she finished another four year career as an English teacher. She also worked hard serving the Lord Jesus as a missionary and had two years of training at seminary school. Meanwhile, her daddy struggled very much. He was separated from her mother, had a heart attack, survived, moved in to live with his daughter, and after a few months of surviving each other’s strong personalities, the daddy accepted the Lord Jesus in his heart! Praise God. 

Then, the daddy got to see his daughter buy her first car. It was a 1991 white Toyota Corolla. To this day, the girl has been thanking God for His love, provision, care, and the privilege to serve Him and share His blessings with others.

Today, this woman is the mother of a little boy. Two years ago he asker her, “Mami, when can we pick up a truck?” She looked at him, smiled and explained that God is the one who gives everything and that they would have whatever car He decided to give them.

This note is written to share with you the joy of a mother breaking bad family cycles. God LOVES that family and there is no dream so big that God will not provide.

This is my story and my thanks giving today goes with all PRAISES AND GLORY to my GOD, who blessed me, and many others so I could give a down payment for a brand new Toyota, and the faith that He will take care of me the rest of my life.

Miguel and I thank God for you and the many people He had used to bless us, even for the 4 armed guys that took that motorcycle from me… it was a blessing!

PRAISE GOD

PRAISE GOD!

We have so much to thank God and we need to share it with you, because it is thanks to your prayers that miracles like these happen!

We want to share that the 3 orphans that finished 6^th grade, are going to go to a Christian School next year!!!! Thanks to your prayers and donations, we reached the goal of $6,000 to pay for school and transportation for them! A family of missionaries runs the school; they will have devotional everyday as well as a tutor for an hour in the afternoon.

The Church in Sumpango is doing great, we are getting ready for our Vacation Bible School the first week of December where I will be teaching “the missionary story” I am not sure who´s story I will be sharing with the kids. We are expecting about 60 kids during that week. Please pray that the Lord provides for a teacher and snack for 24 kids that come to the church to learn how to read and write or to get help to be successful at the local school. Remember that the chances these kids have to go to school are very limited, pray that we can be the light of Jesus in their lives.

Miguel and I are praising God that he got his visa; it is good for 10 years! we are dreaming now about going to US; he wants to see Mickey Mouse, play with snow and meet the rest of his family (in that order!). My time to take vacations is very limited and the tickets are quite expensive… so we are dreaming right now! I am thankful for Next Step Ministries, they invited me to a 3 days retreat, where I got connected again with the need of sharing God´s immense love with others, be remained that there are so many ways to share His love without even talking.

Also thankful that in 3 weeks I will be finishing my last 4 classes of the 40 classes I had to take to become a licensed Psychologist, I still have to take a huge test in May, with 3 licensed Psychologist asking me questions, if I pass that one, will turn in my thesis in September and will graduate in October of 2017 !!! and I will be serving in a much more needed roll at the orphanage and to the community of Sumpango! Thank you for your support, prayers and have walked this road with me during the last 5 years, I am so excited but also very tired.  Please continue praying for me as I walk this last part of the road in School.

NEED	HAVE	STILL NEED
Schooling to 3 orphans	$6000.00	0  PRAISE GOD!
Church School (teacher salary and will provide a small snack for the kids)	$0.000(for 2017)	$ 3600 for the year 2017,
Breaking Cycles	$100.00 monthly support	$2400.00 monthly support
GOD	BLESS	YOU!

Thank you for your prayers, our personal requests are:

Safety, health, energy and wisdom,

I hate your mom, and you... those words are horrible to be heard from Grandma...

Heidy is 15 years old, she just finished 6^th grade and here is part of her story,

Born into a very difficult family, as she was the daughter of an affair that her mom had, reason why the mother and her husband got separated. In her early years her mom died of AIDS, and her biological father took her into his house, he did not have any other children. He was also in bad condition because of AIDS. Heidy was badly treated by her father´s relatives as they all hated her mom and Heidy for the illness that was taking the life of her father who eventually died of AIDS.  The way the grandmother treated her got worse. Heidy run away at the age of nine, and found her family on her mom´s side who took her in with love but very limited financially to provide what she needed.

That is how she ended up at the orphanage, she has a grandmother that loves her and 2 half brothers that come to see her twice a year as they live 7 hours from here.

Pray for Heidy, and pray for Breaking Cycles, we are still looking for $3,000 to provide one more year of schooling for her, Mishelle and Ignacio.

I don´t want to let her down, I know God cares for her, do you want to walk with me this next year, next to her to SHOW her God love, and not just talk about that love! Pray for us, we need your prayers!

are they staying or not?

Education for the 3 orphans for 2017 is  looking great, we have the school, is a private Christian School, where Ignacion, Heidy and Mishell will have a devotional every day, good and caring teachers.

And as I got the permition to share their stories here they are:

Heidy, 15 years old, great students, she just finished 6^th grade because when she came to the orphanage she was 9 and never attended school in her life before.

Mishell is 13, accepted the Lord last summer with the pastor of a team that came to share the gospel with her! 

Ignacio does not have any family, he is a very good kid, but he is a slow learner that is why we need to pray extra for him.

We need to raise lots of money for them!

If you can please pray about that, we want to offer them to stay, the nuns are worried about them, I am too but I can't promise them anything if  I do not have the money by the 3 weeks from now.