December Newsletter
Thanksgiving in Guatemala
As Thanksgiving came and went I thought about how truly blessed we have been. God has overwhelmed us with His goodness, and I find myself in awe of how he takes care of even the simplest things. Volunteers, resources, opportunities and even the new locations God perfectly planned out, and set in our path. We could probably write a book about all that we are thankful for, and all the ways God has provided. We have been blessed with safe travels, and people eager to help. Even people that don’t personally know pray and care for us. But, it is not just the big things. It’s that moment when the water gets turned on every other day, and you realize the value of it. When you are carrying numerous things, and someone offers you their seat on the bus. When someone says “I have a little extra… put it to good use.”
It brings tears to my eyes when I think about how far God has brought us. All the times we just couldn’t do it, God could, and He does.
For us, being thankfully isn’t where it ends though. God continually reminds us that to those who are given much, much will be asked. On behalf of Cosechando Felicidad, we want to spread that same love, hope and happiness we have so freely received.
Hope for a future
In our last newsletter we highlighted all our volunteers do for us and how we would be utterly lost without them. This month, we are excited to announce that we now have the means to help our volunteers with their schooling! School in Guatemala is not free by any means. There are inscription fees, monthly fees, uniform expenses, transportation costs and project fees. All of these expenses make it extremely difficult for the average Guatemalan to obtain an education. Not to mention, most children have to work to support their families and cannot afford to spare the time of being in school. The average Guatemalan has had 4.1 years of education; in rural areas such as Santa María those numbers are even worse. Last year, we received a donation specifically for assisting with school fees. This allowed us to pay for half of the school expenses of our volunteers and some other community members who were particularly in need. As our organization continues to grow, we are excited at the opportunity to pay for half of the school fees for our regular volunteers. While we wish everyone in the village could receive an education, we think this is a great way to start. Not only do your donations provide food for the elderly, but they help our committed volunteers to gain training that they can one day use to serve through our organization and beyond.
Amazon Smile
We are also excited to announce that we are now an Amazon Smile charity. This means you can designate us as your charity and 0.5% of the money you spend on Amazon will go to our programs with no additional costs to you! You can designate us as your charity through the link below. Remember to shop from http://www.smile.amazon.com/ each time you go to purchase from Amazon after this.
Designate us as your Amazon Smile Charity: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/474437262
An update
Brennan has made it back to Guatemala and has moved into the upper story of our new facility. Emily will be joining her in January. She spends each day cooking at the project, visiting the sick, taking people to the doctor and doing so much more. Each day is different while we are in Guatemala, but we are always very busy. Each evening there is a line of people in crisis who form to talk to us. They are at the end of their rope and do not know what to do. They are about to lose their homes, in medical crisis, depressed, abused, and any number of other possibilities. They come to us hoping we have the answers and can do something about their situation. While we are far from knowing the answers, we know who does and we seek His counsel in every decision. It would be impossible to ask for specific prayers for all of the difficult decisions we make each day, but we would greatly appreciate your general prayers for this. Sometimes we feel like we hold the success of this village in our hands and have to choose who it goes to. Pray that we would have clarity in our decision and be able to heard God’s voice and see his purpose clearly.
