what´s up with Betty?

Dear friends and family , we pray that you are blessed and rejoicing in the hope and promises we have from our father and savior!

We want to thank God for you, for your prayers, your support and your love for Miguel Angel and myself, and want to share with you some important events that had happened so you can rejoice with us, or cry with us, we need your prayers, support but mostly your love and care for us.

1.     Precious Moments, this year we have more than 200 students, the area has become even more dangerous, many deaths, lots of drugs and gangs problems, please continue praying for us, Pastor Jaime continues going there to share the word of God with me to the kids every Friday, 4 classrooms are sponsored, and the van that many of you help me to buy is still paying itself, with God´s help it will take about two more years to pay itself and than we would be able to pay one more teacher just from the rental of the van!

As you think of us, please help us pray for:

·         SAFETY for the kids, for the teachers, and for the salvation of the children of precious moments.

·         That the van gets rented and it will pay itself soon so it could provide more income to the school.

2.    The orphanage, I continue my English classes there, I teach to all of the kids, and I really enjoy doing it, I thank God for teams that are coming and had been coming to spend time with the kids, I love to see them get hugged and loved by others, we just started the baseball season with them as well! So we will have base ball every Wednesday in the afternoon.

·         It is hard to be able to share God love with these kids when they have been abandoned, please take a moment to pray for a girl, she is 8 years old now, came to the orphanage at the age of 6, her father disappeared and her mom died of AIDS, while living with her uncle went to the store and was rapped by 4 man, the uncle came to the orphanage to say that he could not longer take care of her, she has been here and NO ONE has ever come to visit her since. I won’t post a picture, please picture her in your heart and pray that God will show her that she is not alone!

SUMPANGO CHURCH, It is growing and now thanks to an offering, we have a learning program, learning to read and write, it has been great opportunity for the young and older kids that never got to go to school to learn. We have a teacher and give them a snack every day. They even got to have “summer day” where they played with water got wet and got to laugh as you have no idea! Please help us pray for financial support, the offering we got will cover until July and if we do not get the support we will have to close the school by then. (it takes $350.00 per month)

I got the privilege of teaching also at church.

Miguel Angel and I are doing good, he is in kinder garden and he loves his school, he is growing and I thank each of your prayers for us, he has this special prayer: “Dear God, help me to be as strong as Samson, as brave as David, as smart as Solomon and give me the heart of Jesus to love as you”

Me, still grieving my dad, finances got a huge down this year but GOD IS FAITHFUL!,  in my 4^th year of school to become a Children Psychology, and even though some days I want to give up, so far 24 classes passed! When you think of me, please pray for wisdom, energy and spiritual support.

Thank you for been such a huge part of these ministries of yours!

2014 summary

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Some of the things I am thankful and want to share with you because you had present this requests to the Lord with me are:

School year is over, we were able to serve 180 children at Precious Moments School, 4 classrooms were supported 100% all year long and 1 started to be supported in July.

Kids at the orphanage got to hear the Gospel several times during the year, thank God for using us in something so precious as sharing His love with them.

Sumpango Church has been blessed with 5 teams this year, 2 from Minnesota, one from Arkansas, one from Wahoo Nebraska, and one from Washington! 2 classrooms, restrooms, and a kitchen were built! God is good and faithful! 

I became a mom this year and that has been such a blessing, Miguel Angel had been living at an orphanage since he was one day old, (not the same one I work at) we are a family now, some people had said to me things like “what a good action you did” I know that God rescued me from falling apart this year by sending me the cutest boy to raise for His Kingdom!

My dad is in heaven now, and we (my sisters and I) had the opportunity to served, loved and cared for him, I know that I should be pleased with that, but I am not, my heart is still grieving the man I had loved the most, and these coming Holidays are going to be hard!

Miguel Angel and I want to thank you for been part of these ministries, for caring for us, praying for and with us, and supporting us. We ask the Lord to bless you and your family with more than what you can imagine!

My life has had a 180 degrees change! Miguel Angel has come to change and rock my world!

We became a family (he moved in with me) February the 19^th, 3 months had passed by and I love him every day a little more, he is very affectionate towards me, he kisses, hugs, plays, sings and dances! He loves to sing and dance, and of course we have had our incidents! Every day is a teaching-learning experience for both of us, but not only for us we are an example to other Guatemalans, that never had thought about adopting and even more uncommon, a single female adopting, is that a new concept for many!

The kids at the orphanage had trouble accepting the idea of me adopting, and when I finally told them that it was not up to me to decide who I was going to adopt but it was a decision taken by the government, easy up a little the stress. When the kids met Miguel Angel they were very accepting and thank God it has been ok!

As you might remember I had major surgery  in January and was still recovering from it when I got Miguel at home, I begged you to pray for us as he had horrible time getting alone with the dogs, and I had to hold him and I was still in pain, well thank GOD, Miguel has no more problem with the dogs, he is not afraid of them anymore, now is the other extreme, poor Milly she hides from him now! Again thank you for your prayers!

JOY, THANKFULNESS, LOVE

Those words may describe the feelings I have in my heart now.

As you know Miguel Angel has been living with me since the 19^th of February, and a time of adjustment begun, he lived in the orphanage since he was 3 days old, and now he is 4 years old, he used to sleep in a room with 5 other boys and slept in his crib still, so moving to a new home,  was big to him but he is happy! He wakes up singing and dancing! he sleeps good in his bed and I think he loves his “mami” the main problem I had was that he is terrified of dogs, and I don’t want to jump into conclusions but he always asks me if that dog (any dog) eats children, and I wonder if someone at the orphanage used to tell him that… that is why when he came was terrified of my dogs, he could not see them or would start screaming and shaking and sweating, please help me pray that he can feel safe with me and will understand that dogs do not eat children! And also that I can teach him now about God in such a way that he would never doubt that God is next to him.

The Lord has been great to me, after surgery and Miguel Angel coming, I got the privilege to serve with a team from Minnesota, we served in Precious Moments, also in Sumpango church, near the garbage dump of Sumpango, and the HIV orphanage, the children had so much fun and the nuns too! Thank God for this ministry! In a not that happy note, for those of you who met and prayed for Alfredo (the boy who had a big surgery) he is in heaven now, the Lord took him about 3 weeks ago, please pray that the other kids do not think that they are “next”.

I will start teaching formally next Wednesday, after taking 2 months to recover from surgery and adjust with Miguel, thank you for your on going love and support, we need it! Please pray for safety as Precious Moments area had become even more dangerous more killings, more gang activity in the area, pray for Pastor Jaime, teachers and I please.

The Miracle of Becoming a Mom

"You need to have those tumors out Betty, and either get pregnant or take the uterus out as well to prevent more tumors in the future" those words by my doctor made me feel frighten again, many emotions, one decision, and I could just have the tumors out but I might have to go through surgery again, I decided to take the uterus out and with that decision knew that I would not have a baby in my stomach, but God knows that I have a child, my son in my heart!

I had surgery done January 6th and I am recovering well thank to my God, I wont been able to get pregnant ever, but I will be a mom this year! the plans that God has for me are good and perfect, I pray that I follow that path all of my life.

Classes are going to start tomorrow (Jan. 20th) but I wont start teaching until my surgery has healed completely.

I praise the Lord for the love that He has shown me to glorify his name!
I praise God for my life and encourage you to praise him every day of your life, that is the whole point of been alive, to Praise Him.

I said yes... and we will be a family!

well this is the kind of news that makes 2 people really happy hopefully forever!

on one hand you have a beautiful lady, who loves the Lord and in her heart the biggest need of a kid is to know God, so she works in an orphanage, and in a school near the garbage dump, she sees the needs and she suffers because she can not meet all of the needs. She prays that she could help at least one of them.

on the other hand you have a handsome boy, who has been in an orphanage, hoping that one day his mom is going to come to rescue him, he prays that she would come...and the same God listened to both prayers, and approved my application for adoption in Guatemala, I am going to be a mom some time next year! please pray for that poor kid that is hoping for a mature mom and will get me instead!

me teaching at University with my pjS...

  

school year is gone!

I thank God for the school year that ended, you and I had the privilege to serve God by serving the children at Precious Moments, this is a school for children that live near one of the illegal garbage dumps in Guatemala, those children are very poor, many would NOT go to school if Precious Moments were not there, many of these children would probably not go to school at all.

 I thank God for the churches, families and teams that came to visit this year, or just sent the money to help this ministry, it is thanks to you that these children had the opportunity to learn about life, but most important, to learn about GOD.

At the orphanage the children finished the school year as well, the government is looking for some relative to take care of the children, it is very sad to take the child to the judge and have an uncle, or aunt saying (with the kid listening) that they don’t want to have the child at their home. Alfredo who was in the hospital for months got sicker and the doctors just did not know what was wrong with him; his dying mom came to take him with her. Please pray for both of them.

A youth group started to meet on Mondays at my house, please have us in your prayers, today 14 kids came, ages from 11 to 16.

My family is coming for a visit!!! My mom will be here from the 21^st to the 25^th. My sister is coming with her family from the 20^th to the 27^th!!! I am so happy to have them all here!

And the Lord (through my friends) gave me a ticket to go to Minnesota for a week; I am looking forward to see my friends from MN!!!

Thank you for your continuing prayers for us, we need them.

Again,

·         Safety

·         Youth group

·         Kids from Precious Moments and Orphanage

·         Health

·         My trip to US in December

School year is over! now grade finals, and start thinking what to do with the kids in their free time! I praise the Lord because my sister Cynthia and her family are coming to visit me  and my kids at the orphanage, and she is bringing base ball bats, gloves and t shirts for the kids, so we will have something to do all December!

I continue to pray for Carlos and his family at precious moments, the rainy season took their home away, and there is no way they can re build with what they make at the dump.  Help me pray for them please.

I thank God because the church at the garbage dump at Sumpango is growing and we are seeing God's smile in this ministry! The Lord provided half of what is needed to buy a small piece of land with only Guatemalan donations! we are still in need of the other half. The church does not have a place to meet, right now we are meeting in a porch of a house built by a team in May, but we need a building! in the area many of the kids do not go to school, and we as church want to change that! we want to have a feeding center, where the kids will have lunch and someone to help them with their homework Monday to Friday and use that as an outreach, please help us with your prayers, it is not just a church building we are praying for, it is a full ministry!

Alfredo is back!

Alfredo is back!

less than 2 weeks ago I asked you to pray for Alfredo, what a great surprised was for me to see him back at the orphanage, then nuns don-t really know what was wrong but he did had a big surgery done, thank you for praying for him! he is doing better! God is good, He is so good that listen to us, not only that but answer our prayers!
Now please pray for Carlos, he and his family live by the dump near precious moments, now is the raining season in Guatemala, and the house was wash off the cliff, now they are staying at precious moments but they need to re-build their "home".

Septembeer up date

PRAISING THE LORD

Summer Blessings

Dear friends and family,

This has been a busy but very good year, the children at Precious Moments are blessed with good teachers that THANK GOD had been paid on time since May even though only one classroom has been sponsored all year round, CLA church from Canada is going to help to pay for the teachers the rest of the school year!!! 180 children have education, a pastor that comes to share devotionals with them every week, and a crazy friend name Betty!

Say Good Bye is always hard, after 15 years coming to the same church I could not continue going there, after the Senior Pastor dissolved the elders committee, the church divided into 2 groups. The only healthy way for me to continue good relationship with both groups was to be out of any of the two churches and so I did.  Renuevo is not my church any more but God had greater plans for me! After visiting a couple of big churches I started visiting a small church near my house, the Pastors are an elderly couple and their daughters family are assisting with them in the ministry. Soon they asked me to help in some ministries, the first one was in my heart, to start a pre-youth group, with children between 11 and 14 years old, we started thinking in how to get them to come, and I wanted the kids that age from the orphanage to come as well! A every 2 week meeting were we would have fun, food and hear from God. Here is what we thought:

1.      Not to meet at church, but in my house, this was going to be friendlier and not too religious.

2.      Meet every 2 weeks to be able to have money to feed them.

3.      Have a tournament using my WII this was going to be the mainly reason why they would come.

Our first obstacle was that the WII had an accident at the orphanage last weekend and it is not working, and that was kind of the “hook” so help us praying that the Lord will give us another idea on how to make this happen!

A summer full of blessings! In May I hosted a team from Indiana, they came to build a home for Jocelyn who has kidney problems and was living in a house with dirt floor and not a flushing toilet, you got to see her face when she decorated her room after the house was built! What a blessing for the family, and in this house the church of the area meet because they don’t have a building to meet at, now, it is hosting about 50 people every Sunday!

As a result of this team another church jumped to the call to go and serve and bless others, another family was blessed with a home in June, I praise the Lord because he allowed us to be part of His great plans for Guatemala!

In a more personal note, I am very happy that I finished my 3^rd semester at university, I am taking 4 more classes now, I praise the Lord for His provision of money, time and wisdom to study! I am sure I will help much better to the children when I get this degree.

I also need to thank God for the palace that He has giving me, this is my house, and it is your home as well!

My dogs are doing good now, after the “super dog” incident, well Junior (the cocker spaniel) apperantly saw the superman movie and thought he could do the same and felt off from the roof, thank God he not only survived but nothing major happened!  but the family grew abruptly thanks to Milly (the white mini schnauzer) dated a gray mini schnauzer and guess what? Yes! 6 puppies came!

Thank you for walking with me in this privilege for serving the Lord by serving the children of Guatemala, please pray with me for this:

1. Safety
2. The children of the orphanage, and specially that we can start the youth group here in my house.
3. Pastors Jaime (helps at Precious Moments) 
4. Pastor Manuel, (my new church in Sumpango)
5. That the van continues to rent to provide money for food for the children.
6. Thank God with me for all the good things we have, health, and salvation!

March 2013

Dear friends and family,

February came and left so fast! I was blessed to minister with and by 3 different teams that came to visit and help the children at the orphanage, as well as the kids at the school near a garbage dump. We were able to bless a widow and her 5 children with the building of a home and not only that! We bought 4 bed for the children who are between 9 and 18 years old, who had never slept by themselves because there were only 2 beds for the 6 of them.

                                                                                          

I thank God that a Church from Mississippi is going to support one of the nine classrooms at Precious Moments during the whole year! Now only 8 more classrooms to go!

Precious Moments is running well, please keep the safety of the teachers, students and myself in your prayers, just last Friday we decided to have a special day, we took the kids to a park to have the devotional there, and I took my green van to make trips with the kids, as we were having our devotional, someone broke into my van, stole everything, radio, my computer, some money, books even the first aid kit! I lost about $1,000.  I praise GOD because they did not hurt me, and I know that HE will provide.

I PRAISE THE LORD that one man from Wooddale Church decided to donate money to help Pastor Jaime Osorio to come and preach to the kids 2 times a month, now we (Jaime and I) are praying to be able to provide food to the kids, so at least that one day they will have a decent meal in their body. We are teaching to 50 kids every week and each meal will cost about $2.00 per kid, so we are looking at 100 per week to feed lunch to 50 kids. Please keep that in your prayers as well!

God is good! I got another loan to make some remodeling at my house so it can fit more people! So when you come to visit me it will be a little bigger, please do not think that I have a huge home! My land is 6 meters front (19 feet) by 12 meters deep (40 feet) so as you can imagine I needed to make some additions on top cause it is the only way to build in that small land. UP! And I want you to join me in thanking God for that!

Another exciting news is that I have a new puppy! It is a boxer named Rocky, he is going to be the watch dog! (so I hope!)

The orphanage is doing great, the kids are learning, I am still teaching English 2 times a week and go to the babies as I can as well. We just finished our first trimester of school and they are doing well. Pray for Cristofer who is 7 years old, just came to the orphanage, he has been in the line between been HIV or AIDS, he is doing better now, but he will be check again, to diagnose next month.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

FOR HEALTH, mine and from the kids.

I really want my mom to come in April when I dedicate my house, please pray that she can come! (and if you have miles from American that are about to expire and you are looking for someone to use them, we can do that for you!)

Pray for my Church as it is going through a hard time in leadership.

I want to be more like Him, I want to share His love through my eyes, please keep that in your prayer list.

Please pray for monthly supporters for myself.

May the Lord bless you with health, joy, love, provision and with the gift of giving you the opportunity to share about His love to others.