October, October

Wow! What a month it has been! It went by fast, as always.
This month was kicked off by going to my first Guatemalan baby shower :D it was so fun!
It was honestly the funnest and most entertaining baby shower I have ever been to. There were so many games, it was great- and as always, Lydia and I were the only white people! We are used to it by now haha. Please keep Helbert and Barbara in your prayers as their baby girl is due in November.

The first week of October was a week of goodbyes. The training interns of IGNITE class 9 were finishing up their training and getting ready to head home for 10 days before going to their country locations. We had a special service for them called "commissioning night." Everyone gets all dressed up and we encourage them and send them out. It is always a blessing and it was crazy for me to look back and realize I went through the same thing a year and a half ago.

We celebrated my birthday this year and went to Lake Atitlan on a little vacation. It is one of the most beautiful places ever. I love it there and it was such a blessing to spend time with my family, Lydia and Kelli before we all parted ways.

Once we got back from the lake, it was time to finish out our last week at school. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we handed in the final grades for each class and spent time with all of our students. I can't believe a year went by so fast! These kids have learned and grown so so so much! And the most difficult classes ended up being the ones I was blessed by the most as students stood up thanking me for my patience and investment in their lives. I was shocked! God works miracles! It was sad and hard to say good bye, but I will see them in January and I am really looking forward to it! And they will be in my prayers and I know God will continue to work in their lives.

I attended my last kids club for the year! It's just super cool to see these faithful kids come every week and I know that I will see them next year. Please continue to pray for the kids programs that go on every week. God is working in their lives and growing them and strengthening them every week.

Well, I left Guatemala with Lydia on October 19, and we arrived in Peru that night. We were there in Lima serving with Calvary Chapel Koinonia. The team we are with are from Rochester, NY (where Lydia grew up).

We have been welcomed into the church here. We are doing projects around the building, we have been doing fundraisers for the church, we have done kids programs and gone to the home bible studies. We made the meals for a women's dinner and a men's breakfast. We went to a new church plant location. God is using this little church in a BIG way! We have been so busy, doing so much. It has been a really sweet time.

Please pray for the church here. It is such a community. Pray that they would keep that unity and be built up. My prayer for them has been Ephesians 3:14-21.

Peru is BEAUTIFUL! We had the opportunity to go to the beach and I was just a little stoked...! I got to surf and it was so much fun! The people from the church have been showing us around and wherever we go we bring tracks and try and evangelize. God has set up divine appointments and we just walk in them.

It has been a great month- really :) God is good and He is teaching me a lot. Mostly just showing me how much He loves me. And as I pursue to know Him, He constantly reminds me that He knows me so perfectly. It's mind blowing and comforting. I love knowing Him, I love following Him, I just want to be where He is.

Commissioning Night for Ignite class 9

My Last Kids Club of 2015

My 3rd graders at Wednesday's school.

4th grade at Wednesday's school.

My little babies in kindergarten at Wednesday's school.

Crazy 2nd graders at Thursday's school.

My little 1st graders at Thursday's school.

One of my 5th grades (the other one wasn't there) at Thursday's school.

My 4th graders at Friday's school.

My angels from 1st grade at Friday's school.

My cute little kindergarteners at Friday's school

My 6th graders from Friday's school & I getting photobombed haha!

Lake Atitlan!!!!

Family :)

More lake atitlan.

So beautiful!

Heading to Peru.

The NY team & me :)

Angie from Peru :) She's amazing!

Gabbbbbby!

We found a park in Peru.

Kids Games in Peru!

She made us hearts for our last day in Peru! She's the cutest.

Getting ready to SURF!

Doing worship for the youth group.

The band!

September :D

September :)

It seemed to come and go so quick- like every month this year! 

The 15th of September is Guatemala’s independence day. So at church we had a big bbq with carne asada, my favorite, and other side dishes and we all ate together :) it was such a blessing! We also had baptisms that day which is always super special. It’s really cool to be apart of the body of Christ and see Him add to the church. Also, just to have relationships with people from town and see them coming to church and growing in the Lord is an awesome thing to witness. A new thing in the church is the youth group day changing. We used to have in on Friday nights, but now we changed it and have a service on Sunday mornings for the youth. God is working. 

We were also blessed to have guests pastors this past month. We were able to do some local outreaches and share the gospel. It’s always a good time to go out all together and invite people to church and tell them about Jesus. Bible College is in session. It’s all in Spanish so we have 8 students who usually go out with us and are able to share the gospel and help translate. 

School has been going good. We have been reviewing and getting ready for the big English final that I will be giving the first week of October. It has been fantastic to have the kids the whole year and really see them grow. Also, in the Bible lesson we are going through the life of Jesus. God is working in the lives of the kids despite me and my weaknesses. I was preparing for one particular class and the Lord kept speaking to me, “Preach Christ and Him crucified.” And I knew it was time for me to just lay it out. I prepared the gospel lesson in Spanish, had a Spanish speaker proof read it, and went off to school. That day they were having practice for a performance they were going to do the following day. Music was loud, kids were out, and as I was teaching fear set in. I was about to end the class with the Bible lesson but the music outside was so loud. I was reluctant to even share it, but I knew that was the devil so I pushed through. I prayed in my heart and began to share. The music outside silenced and all the kids were attentive. I gave the whole gospel. It was the Holy Spirit. I ended with prayer- it was the first time that I have prayed all in Spanish in front of a classroom before… I didn't think it was possible for me to do. I know that God planted and water seeds that day. I am praying for a harvest. It’s moments like that when I realize that God really can use anyone. I am no one. I can’t speak, I am just a 20 year old gringa- but my excuses aren't good enough for God. He made me, He can use me. He made you, He can use you! 

Kids Club :) I have been taking it easy every Wednesday for kids club because of my health. I usually sit at the front table and check kids in. It means SO much to them just to know that you remember their names. So that’s what I do- I greet them by name and receive a hug and kiss on the cheek. I love it! 

The serving interns here now with IGNITE are finishing up there time. They have been serving here for six months. The training interns of IGNITE are getting ready to go home for 10 days to prepare to go out on the field. It is cool to be a part of seeing them grow and learn. God has good things in store for each one of them!

All in all, its be a great month. We are always trying to make new friends and invest in the relationships with the locals that we already have. Go is also teaching me a lot personally. I have had a lot of time to read since I am not always feeling that great. He is giving me an even stronger hunger for His word. I am also really enjoying reading- which is weird for me haha. I read a couple books by R.A. Torrey, C.S. Lewis, and now I am reading one by D.L. Moody. I know God always prepares His servants. And Jesus is the goal. The goal isn't a bigger kids club, or more schools, or even a bigger church. He is so personal- He wants me to know Him and make Him know. All I can ask is for you to pray for His will to be done, that He would give me His perspective and heart for Guatemala and the world in general.

Gloria a Dios por siempre, amen

Glory to God forever, amen

baptisms at church

the men from the church did everything for the independence day bbq

friends :)

sunday school crew 

kids worship

more independence day fun out in town 

my 5th graders

on our way to do an outreach in the market

drawing a crowd with some music... it always works ;)

balloons for the kids :)

bible college friends 

kids club!

these two make me happy

August

To be honest, August was a hard month for me but it was also super great. 

We had the privilege of having the Potter's Field Sponsorship mission team come here. It was a huge bless and super busy too. I was re-assured and encouraged that I am not alone, that there are so many people in the states praying and supporting the ministry. That really blessed my heart and encouraged me more than they know.

Another awesome thing happened! Calvary Chapel San Juan had a team come down for a week! I was so excited to see them all! I haven't seen some of them in 2 years. It was so cool to watch them serve and be able to serve along side of them. They got to come to school with me one day and we all had a blast! I really have missed them all so much. Them coming was such an encouragement and another reminder that I am not alone. I love the body of Christ! And the fact that we are all one under Him even though we are miles apart.

Like I said, this month has had its hard parts.

For about the past 4 weeks, I have been pretty sick. I didn't know what was going on with me. I had bad stomach pain, body aches, head aches and fevers. I went to the private hospital here and found out I had an infection in my intestines. So we got that taken care of but the symptoms persisted. So I returned to my doctor and was told that it could be a couple things. One being side effects from the meds I was just on, and two being fibromyalgia. So I took steroids and felt great for 5 days! Then the day I stopped, my body aches and head ache came back. So back I went to my doctor who knows me by name. He diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. It is a muscular skeletal disorder that is explained as being arthritis in the muscles. It is a disorder that has no cure, but that you just have to figure out how to live with it. The news hit me pretty hard and out of no where. I had no idea what it really meant, how my life would have to change. I kept on looking at the sickness as my future and trying to re-plan everything around it. That's wrong. It got me so down, I was so sad, I felt like no one understood- including myself. But God is bigger, God is so much greater. He gave me Psalm 9:1-2 and told me I had to be self determined in this time, that I had a choice to make. And I choose to praise Him, it is a daily choice. And I take this sickness day by day. I am learning to "listen to my body." Every day, every free moment I have is spent resting. It is something that I am not used to. I am in the process of figuring everything out but I know it will take time. I know that God is going to get glory through this. I am not asking for a pity party or sympathy. I am just asking for prayers. I have faith that God can take this away if He chooses and I have faith that He is with me and has a plan through it all even if He doesn't choose to heal me. I have to choose to look at this from an eternal perspective and remember that this life and it's pain is passing away. And that the light affliction doesn't compare to the weight of glory that I have in Christ. 

So yeah, that happened. Ministry continues. God doesn't need me. He chooses to use me and I am so grateful for that! But it was hard missing out on certain things. But like I said- Ministry continues!

The schools have been great! We had so much fun :) as always! The last quarter of school started this month. It's crazy how time has flown! It's great to see how much these kids have learned. I am taking this last quarter to review and reenforce all the info we have covered so far. Also, in the Bible lessons we are focusing on the life of Jesus which has been super cool! The kids have come to love the bible lessons and its has even reached some of the teachers too. God's word does not return void.

Kids Club still continues to be my favorite part of the week. We had more of an outreach kids club one Wednesday and invited all our schools to come and passed out invitations in town. We had over 200 people on property. We fed them all lunch, had a bible lesson, played games and had bounce houses and trampolines! It was a blast, we made a lot of new friends and they have even returned and been coming to kids club weekly. Also, I got to hang out with some of my students which was super fun to do outside of the classroom.

One thing that we got to do this month was go to Cuidad Vieja Kids Club. It is about 25 minutes away and they have the kids program usually twice a month. I don't always get the opportunity to go so I was super stoked! I went along with the team from San Juan. We had a blast with the kids there.




















Church! We had baptisms this month which is always a blessing. A couple of the IGNITE interns got baptized and some of the members from church. Things have been going really well. God is providing more hands for children ministry. I still am in there every week for worship and this month I translated twice. Wednesday nights have been great. We just had our monthly night of prayer and like 20 people showed up! It was a really good time and I prayed in Spanish for the first time (eeek)! I have missed youth group due to sickness/tiredness but am going to get back in it soon! Everything is going good and we have a regular little group that we are getting pretty tight with.

We have been doing pancake outreaches in the park like once a month for the past three months! It is an awesome time! What we do is wake up and make pancakes and eggs, bring them to the park, and feed all the venders and locals breakfast. A bunch of my students are vendors in the park so its super special to me. We always pass out tracks and church invitations with it. It is an awesome way to build relationships and make friends :) I love it, its become one of my favorite things to do on Saturday mornings :)

Over all, everything is going good here in Guatemala. My time is winding down for this year. I leave October 19th to go to Peru for a short term mission trip with Calvary Chapel Webster. After that I will be in California for 2 weeks then I am returning to Hawaii. I am planning on coming back to Guatemala in 2016 :) God is so good! I just want to finish strong and give all I have for Him. Lately He has really been teaching me to rest in Him, to find my satisfaction in Him and not in what I do.

Prayer requests:
- boldness to proclaim the gospel

- that my spanish would improve and I would be diligent to study
- my health
- continued trust in the Lord that He would provide in whatever way HE sees fit
- the people to be open to the gospel
- my students and their families

Thanks for reading :) Until next month!
If you want to contact me, feel free to email me at:
quinceymarie@me.com

To God be the glory, now and forever!

July Update

To be honest every time I come to write a new blog update I have to think REALLY hard about what I even did that month! Time goes by so fast and everything just mushes together.

In the beginning of July we had a mission team here from Vero Beach, Florida. It was really cool to have all of them but best of all my team mate from last year, Jonny, was on the trip! We got to do a lot of outreaches and go to different parts of Guatemala. One of my favorite things that we got to do together was go to Escuintla, it's one of my favorite parts to go! We went to the local school in Escuintla to do a soup kitchen and just play/hang out with the kids. I always have so much fun there and get so dirty playing like a 5 year old with the kids :) It was only my 3rd time there over the past 6 months and I had a couple kids run up to me saying my name! It melted my heart.




















When the team left, Lydia's two friends came here to visit for 3 weeks! They came along with us everywhere we went. They kept saying they were "missionaries" for 3 weeks! We all had a blast whether it was going to the schools, taking the chicken bus, drinking coffee, or just exploring. Lydia and I had fun playing tourists with them. We went 2 hours away to hike the volcano Pacaya. It was their 1st time doing it and my 2nd time. It is so beautiful and a really fun experience.

July also had some hard times. One of our cooks, Myra, has cancer and has been waiting to have her operation. She finally was able to have it after being in pain for so many months. We got to visit her in the hospital right after. Please keep her and her family in prayer. The doctors were able to take out 4 tumors but there are still more. They have to wait another 6 months before operating because her body can't handle it.

With July came Ignite class 9 woooohoooo! There are 12 newbies living here on property, attending classes everyday, and getting to know Guatemala. Please keep them in your prayers as they prepare to go out onto the field.

Church is growing here! I love being a part of the body and fellowshipping every Sunday. I do worship for the kids every Sunday in English & Spanish, its fun and it makes me learn more Spanish songs so that's good! I also have the privilege of serving in children ministry a couple times month translating from Spanish to English because our church is bilingual :) We had our monthly women's bible study. We are going through the book of Proverbs. Also, Lydia and I are continuing in being a part of youth group and have been asked to help out with it more! We have it every Friday night and it's always a blast! I love being with those kids and seeing them grow in the Word. We have had 4 new kids which is a huge blessing :)

Kids club, oh Kids Club. Always good things to say about Kids Club. Its been super fun- as always. I LOOOOVE seeing the same faces that faithfully come every week and it has been cool to get to know the new kids. I love meeting kids on their first day, hanging out with them, making them feel welcomed and then seeing them again the next week. When I remember their names they have the biggest smiles :)




And who can forget the schools? They are a HUGE part of what I do down here. I love it. Love it. I never thought I would be doing what I am doing. I have seen growth and progress in my students, we are almost through the year! Only about 2 more months to go! I have been going even deeper on the bible lessons- it is something God has really been pressing on my heart. It's a spiritual battle though and I get discouraged. But God always lifts me up, gives me the strength to carry on and keeps His promise of never leaving me. Just last Friday He gave me a devine appointment. I had just taught 4 classes and was preparing to teach my final class of the day when I come to find out they aren't there. So I sat down and began to go over some stuff when a little boy sits down by me. He was supposed to be mopping but started talking to me. One thing led to another and the door was wide open for me to share the gospel (this is all in Spanish mind you), so I did. I had my Spanish Bible and I was sharing with him verses. He looked like he was really soaking it all in and was listening intently. He looked a little nervous like he wasn't sure what to do but he kept asking questions and listening. I told him how he could be saved and offered to pray with him but told him that he could also talk to God whenever he wanted. I told him that I would be praying for him. He seemed really grateful for that. His name is Alex and he has been in my mind since that moment. He told me he didn't have a bible but wanted one. That's something else on my heart- to give my students bibles. I don't know how but I want to.

So please pray for Alex and all the other kids who are open to the gospel. Pray for me that I would be filled with the Holy Spirit and open to His leading. Pray for endurance to finish this year out strong. Pray for more boldness. Pray for the church here. Pray for the new Ignite class that is training. Pray for the lost. Pray for the persecuted church. Above all, pray for HIS will to be done.

thanks for your love & support. If you have questions or want to contact me, you can at quinceymarie@me.com

What happened in June & what God is doing in my heart

June has come and gone. June marks my 6th month here in Guatemala and this means that I had to leave the country for my visa trip. 
So Lydia & I left together on the 19th and headed back to the states. I had the privilege of meeting Lydia's whole family :) it was truly a blessing! Aside from that, I met her church family and a lot of friends (she is so popular haha). 
We had some long travels while we were in the states. And everywhere we went we heard people speaking Spanish. My heart longed to be back in Guatemala even though the ten days away were great. 
When we were returning to Guatemala we had a layover in Mexico. And as we were landing, I knew we were one step closer to Guatemala. I couldn't help but have happy tears flowing from my eyes.
It is such a beautiful and inexpressible thing to know where God wants you and to be there. There is no better place to be than where God wants you- to be in the center of His will. And something I have been really, really noticing a lot lately is that His will looks different for each individual. And something that is SO important in that is not being critical of others who don't have that same calling on their lives. Instead of comparing, praise God for what He is doing in others. This can also go the other way. Not only is it wrong for me to look at others and wonder why they don't see things the way I do and be upset, but I have to be careful to not look at others and what they are doing and become jealous and think that that is THE way. 
God works in so many ways. He desires obedience from us. If that means living in Guatemala- then live in Guatemala! If that means working in an office- then work in an office! If that means being a mom- then be a mom! Don't look at the worship leader, or the missionary, or the pastor and think, "That is what serving God is- that is the only way." Don't strive to fit into a mold that isn't what God has for you. Be open and obedient to His voice. 
In my devotions I just finished reading Jeremiah and now I am moving on to Lamentations. Wow. Jeremiah was a prophet who was faithful even when he couldn't see any fruit or results. In life we are always looking for results. But what if God called us to do something but never allowed us to see the results? Would we still do it? Would we still be faithful? Obedience. That is key. Obedience as a response to God not as a requirement. Where is my heart? Take away the activity and "glamor" of ministry. Is God enough? Is following Him enough? What if I never see any fruit in my student's lives? Am I still going to be faithful? 
All this is a wake up call. What am I living for? What am I working for? What am I here for? It is all for God. He has called me here and I want to simply be His obedient servant. 
The states were really great, but I was so stoked to be back here and do what I have been doing. It was really good to take a step back though and really think over things and allow God to search my heart. And as I overlook exactly what God is doing in me, I see my need for Him more and more. I can't do this life on my own. Praise God that He is faithful always! He gives us strength and wisdom  that are indispensable!
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." James 1:5

Prayer requests:
- Potter's Field is in 7 schools this year teaching english and the bible to the kids. pray for us teachers that God would strengthen us and help us & pray for the kids that they would know Jesus.
- The July class of the IGNITE program is coming soon! 
- I want to ask for prayer that God would continue to guide me and provide for me. I know when you follow after Him He provides. He has been faithful to provide finances in the past and I know He will continue to do so in the future. 

If you want to contact me at all you can email me at:
quinceymarie@me.com

Dios te bendiga :) 

Lydia and I visiting Niagara Falls on the Canada side :) 

Nothing like being back where you belong :) this is a picture of Angel & me at kids club my first day back from the states.

Lydia and I got invited to a luncheon with all the teachers from one of our schools and the director of about 150+ schools!!! It was such a blessing and really cool to get to know the teachers and principal better. We are just trying to show them Jesus and let Him shine.