The wait is over! well, almost... - April 2024 [ENG]

A quick update on the last few weeks. First, we are very happy to share that we have our visas! This means that we have a date to leave Guate and move to Spain. The news is good, but not quite as we had expected. The visas will not allow us to come into the country until mid-June. We were not expecting another delay in our plans to leave, but we trust in God´s perfect timing. Also, this time will be useful to plan the move and set as many things as possible in order before we get there. With our passports back, we were able to purchase plane tickets (we actually found a great deal thanks to Katie). So, right now, we have everything set and we will use this time to prepare all the things that are required to move to the other side of the world.

Luigi, one of the pastors we are workin with in Spain teaching the Disciple Makers course

Thank you for your prayers around the trainings of the last weeks. The Disciple Maker course given in Madrid was a success. We had more people than expected, including two new pastors that will now start working with us. This presented a challenge because we were not there to arrange all the details of the meeting in person for the trainer who was going to teach the course. So, during those days we were in constant communication with our contacts in Madrid and the pastor hosting the training to ensure that everything went smoothly. Thank God we had no major problems and the meetings were challenging and edifying for the church.

The training of Phase A was also a challenge, really… It was a nine-hour training focused on the spiritual disciplines and its importance to the spiritual growth and health of our lives and churches. Because of the different time zones, Rodri had to give the training at the time that was convenient for the pastors in Madrid. This meant staying up all night, with a lot of coffee as company. This is the first course of a three-year pastoral training, and the objective is to make them understand that without these disciplines we are not able to walk the Christian life. These disciplines are the mark of every disciple of Jesus. We can´t have good Christians separated from prayer, fasting, studying the scripture, serving the church and the community, and all the other disciplines of the way of Jesus.

During the next weeks we will be working with Harvesters in the northern parts of Guatemala as we help the regional director for Central America. Also, these next days we will be planning with more certainty other trainings in Spain and the delayed trips to Italy to start working with pastors in the Naples region. In the upcoming days we will also find ourselves saying goodbyes, which we understand will be hard in some ways, but we are full of expectations about what is coming next.

A few prayer requests. To find a car and a house soon after our arrival to Almería. That the Lord gives us good closure here in Guatemala, as we wrap up our time here.

Thank you very much for being attentive to us in this process. We pray that the Lord manifests Himself to your lives as much as He has in ours, and all that you have sowed in resources and time in us would be reaped in an overabundant way in your lives.

Rodri & Katie