Hello from Zone 1!

JOSE MARIO-
I’m writing today’s update from Guatemala City where I’m waiting with Jose Mario for his weekly doctor visit. He. Looks. So. Good. This little boy has been through a lot. For the first time ever, I think we have the right doctors who are working toward controlling his skin condition. Thanks to God.

 

EMILIA-

Last week I talked with a mom who was waiting at the bus stop with her three daughters. I figured school must have been canceled…because it’s Guatemala and that happens all the time here.

“Why aren’t you in school?” I asked the girls.

“We don’t have the money to pay for inscriptions or materials.” Their mom answered.

My heart sank. School started weeks ago.

The oldest girl, Ana Maria, is in the fourth grade. She said she doesn’t mind staying home to help her mom. And the youngest girl, who is a first grader, said she didn’t want to go to school anyway. But Emilia desperately wants to go to school.

“I’ll be back tomorrow. Talk about it as a family and pray about it and let me know who wants to go to school. I’ll have new backpacks full of materials and you won’t have to worry about the inscriptions.”

“AND WHAT HAPPENED TO EMILIA’S CHEEK?” I asked.

“She fell and hit her face on a piece of wood. We didn’t have money to take her to the doctor.”

I know this family and they aren’t poor. They’re poor – poor.

Emilia’s cheek looked bad. There was a large lump and a long, thick scar. If they had taken her to the doctor she would have gotten stiches.

“Does it hurt?”

“Sometimes.” Emilia answered.

I asked her mom if we could visit my family’s pediatrician. Her cheek didn’t look infected but if she still had pain I wanted to get it checked out. She thanked me and we planned to go in the morning.

The next day was just one of those good days. I think God gives me these days just to spoil me.

Emilia’s mom informed me that all three girls want to go back to school! I wasn’t expecting that. I just smiled and thanked God.

“Fight for a girl to go to school, like she was your daughter.” – Anonymous

We met with the pediatrician and he said that Emilia would be okay. There was no infection. And he referred us to a hospital that might be able to help with plastic surgery to remove the large lump and scar. He said we would have to wait in long lines and there would be no guarantee we would get help. But if she qualified, doctors from the United States would be doing the surgery free of charge.

 “God is watching out for you,” the doctor said. “They don’t do this all the time.”

The next morning I left my house at 4:45 AM to give Emilia and her mom a ride to the hospital. After hours of waiting in different lines, we got good news. Emilia will have surgery on March 24. AMAZING. To God be all the glory.

 

VENCEDOR BOYS ACADEMY-

I have to tell you that the boys Academy has been incredible this year. I’m teaching 40 boys and they are all so excited about what we’re teaching them. They’re learning with this sense of desperation. I thank God for the opportunity He’s given me to be a part of their lives.

THIS is what it looks like to hunger and thirst for the word of God.

SINGLE MOMS-

For the last year we’ve been praying for an opportunity for single moms of El Rosario to earn enough income to feed their families. And God has come through in a miraculous way. Imagine that. 🙂

We have been able to hire three women to tie fishing jigs for a company located in Arkansas! Yea, I know. Crazy right? These three women work from 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM and are able to be home with their children after school. They are so grateful and hard working. It’s humbling.

PHASE 2-

Dirt is moving at the future site of the Vencedor Boys Academy! I’ll give more of an update next week but to see this actually happen is miraculous. Thank you for being a part of it!

Phase two of the Boys Academy includes the first, large, classroom, the kitchen and cafeteria. In order to begin phase two we need to raise $71,700. That’s a huge amount of money. And so we’re doing the only thing we can do right now and that is give it up to God. Will you pray with us? If you have resources or grants we might explore, please contact us. If you would like to support phase two of the Vencedor Boys Academy CLICK HERE. 100% of your support goes directly to Academy unless you specify otherwise.

VALENTINES DAY-

And finally, CLICK HERE and take a few minutes to read my wife’s blog. “I get it…18 months in and I get it. I understand why people just pack up and go home!” It’s powerful and real. Life in Guatemala is not always butterflies and ice cream.

Would you pray about supporting Vonda and I personally in our work here in Guatemala? If you feel called to be a part of our support team, CLICK HERE. We could not do this without a few people praying and listening to God.

When disciples followed a rabbi, they followed him closely so that they would never be out of his sight, never be some place where they couldn’t hear him speak. They followed him so closely that his sandals often kicked up dust.

May you be covered in His dust,

George and Vonda

P.S. Our family has a bulletin board full of the names of people/families who we pray for. It would be our blessing to pray for you. Just send us a photo and short email telling us how we can pray.