Suffer the Children: Guatemala

There is just a TON of things happening here in Guatemala right now!

We are excited that you can now keep up with us here and more in-depth at our new website:
www.sufferthechildrenguate.com

Last month we started our child-sponsored discipleship academy: Los Seguidores. So far things are going well. There are obviously kinks to work out, but we have all but 3 children sponsored and they are faithful and taking it all in! Praise the Lord! You can find a link on this blog up top to go to our new website and find out what it's all about. 

Something else we also saw was the Lord open another door here in the community. Each area is given a plot of land as a public 'park'. Here in the inner-city, that property is a gravel and glass-filled disaster. The Lord has put it on our hearts to help the people have a concrete soccer court/community area. Part of this benefit is for us also as the community has agreed to block off every Sunday morning for us to use it as an outreach area as well as on special occasions. We have some folks interested but need much help in this area. Again, you can go to our website for more details.

Please pray for each of these things, encouragement and continual strength. It is indeed a very 'heavy' place to minister and in the flesh it is very easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. We hope all these modes of communication will better serve you and keep us well-connected!

Praying for you!

Bob and Tessa

Full Speed Ahead and Staying Connected!

Hello to all our faithful friends and supporters!

I write to you with great excitement even in the midst of many recent trials!

We have been seeing around 20-30 children each Sunday morning come to our 'local' (lo-cowl) in La Comunidad! On top of that we have seen an adult man, Filipe, trust Christ and are awaiting a chance to share Christ with his family... on his invitation!

Discipling 101
The month of July ends with a group from the U.S. coming and July starts with the launch of 'Los Seguidores'. 'The Followers' (in English) will be a child-sponsored discipleship academy that will allow us intense one-on-one time with the children. They will learn some English too and be fed a hot meal also. A name and website is in progress so look for it's launch soon! Who knows, maybe you can connect via a child sponsor?

The Comunidad Connection
If you missed it via Facebook, it's not too late! Every 1-2 weeks we plan to stream 'The Comunidad Connection: Guatemala'.

This short 1-2 minute video will be a short snippets from our work and life in La Comunidad, Guatemala. Some weeks I am sure will be about the children or both. Either way, it's a great way to have a more real connection to our family, the mission field and the children and families of Guatemala!

Watch the video here!

Comunidad Connection: Guatemala 7/20

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and we encourage you to continue on in the faith and stay strong!

Bob and Tessa

Suffer the Children: Clear direction and children's church

With much excitement Tessa and I write this most recent entry! As you know, we have been laboring in the inner-city area of Mixco, Guatemala called 'La Comunidad'. There, we have been overwhelmed with not only the intensity of day-to-day life but also the sheer amount of children and young people.

The majority seem to have some type of 'family'. That could be grandma, grandpa or maybe their aunt. The rest we just don't know. In our initial contact we don't pry for information. But it is clear, many are just on their own.

After much working, prayer and meditation it is very clear what not only God's will is, but what our vision is:

Suffer the little children to come unto Him.

With that overwhelming thought and motivation, we move ahead. Lord willing in the next month we will open a discipleship academy and following that, a full-blown 'Children's Church'. Yes, you read that correctly: Children's Church.

So many are left wandering and so many come to us and just spend hours helping us do outreach or just color pictures... it is quite amazing. It really is.

Please pray as we need much direction and resources. I have much more to add but the plans are quite overwhelming at present.

Specifically, please pray for:

1. A bigger location: We are thankful for our small place, but we need much more... and soon.
2. No fear: This is a very intense and poor area. It is easy to want to 'not' go. We must and we will.
3. Vehicle and capital: We have been given some finance to help with a small vehicle to navigate the tight streets of the city we work in, but need about 50% more to be able to get one.
    Also, just starting this project will take capital we do not currently have. Exactly how much, I am not certain but at this point, anything to take-off is a blessing.
4. Website: I am currently working on a website to tie together our work, blog and e-mail. Further, we are going to post children we are working with and give people a chance to sponsor them. This is a big step, but needed in a great way.

We are very excited and appreciate your prayers for all these things. God is our all, but we know we could not be here without you. We are not worthy and thank you for all you continue to do on our behalf.

Bob and Tessa

The Long Way Home

 In just over 50 some odd hours of driving we made it back 'home' to Merida, Mexico. 

 Border issues, 3 flat tires, one tire which ended up in a village un-accounted for and a truck on a roll back on a Mexican highway was all part of a quite fruitful and glorious trip back to say goodbye for now to our ministry partners; Jeff and Elisabeth Carney and their children Tori and Tyler. 

 I like what Jeff said during the service, "There are no goodbyes for the Christian, only 'see you later'".

 What a memorable time of love and fellowship. It was totally surprise to them and a more than we expected blessing to our family. The joy of it all was leaving the church we had started in the hands of capable national leadership. Please pray for Francisco Yam and his wife Andrea. There are many trials ahead for these young leaders but blessings beyond compare. Jeff and I both agree, the greatest days of Community Baptist Church are still ahead.

 As our friends are in Florida for their furlough I ask that you pray for their safety, their settling in and that God guides them in their future endeavors for Him. 

 Jeff, Beth, Tori, Tyler... we love you all like family and are so very thankful for what God allowed us to do together in Caucel, Mexico. 

 "It's not goodbye, it's see you later."

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 As for the work in Guatemala, it is busy as can be. I will sum it up with prayer requests:

1. I am taking a doctor to Comunidad who is interested in using our location to help young people with his medical expertise. This would open HUGE doors for us. Please pray God's will be done there.

2. We must move... and soon! We already signed on a home this week. This was not intended. We just cannot afford where we currently live. Our plan was not to do this for a good while. I have no choice but to purchase everything needed for a home as the current one we have is furnished. We literally have to fill a home. God is great and knew this, but please pray we are able to do this. We must make the transition by June 14th.

3. Comunidad. Pray for wisdom as the floodgates for the Gospel are wide-open there. I don't want to be foolish and just do things just for the sake of doing them. We want to make an eternal impact there. 

4. Groups. Tessa's parents arrive tomorrow for a 10-day visit and then the girls return to the U.S. with them for a month long visit. We are very excited! After this, I will immediately have to move. Then, at the end of July, pastor Bill Toothman and a group from Marion Independent Baptist Church will be here. It is going to be a VERY busy summer for us!

5. Second vehicle. As I have said previously, it is very tight and a bit insecure in Comunidad. So much so that it is imperative for me to have a smaller, cheaper and less conspicuous vehicle. We praise God that a couple churches have helped towards this. We still are waiting for God to provide the rest of the funds. Between the car and having to set up a home, we are at a max point for sure!

 Praise God for Himself! 
 We serve a great God and are supported by awesome fellow helpers! We love you all and pray for you constantly. For those of you who are coming, we cannot wait! For those of you who can't come, we feel your prayers and ask you to keep them coming.

 Bob and Tessa Yeater

'Sonshine' in Guatemala!

 What an exciting few weeks we have had! There is so much to cover!

 First of all, the Lord has given us a small room to rent in Comunidad, just around the corner from the school we are working in! It is very small and modest, but it is a great place to do outreach. We try to go there often and at the very least, just pass out free drinks and gain the trust of the people. I have seen, to date, just one person who I 'thought' was an American or at the very least white in this city. As you can imagine, we draw quite the looks! 

 Also, we had our good friend and pro soccer player in Mexico, Sonny Guadarrama, come in for a visit. I titled the blog post 'Sonshine' for reason! You would not believe the response we received in the schools via his presence! The students, teachers... everyone. They were all a little star-struck and loved it. Sonny brought some great rays of 'Sonshine' to these dear people. 

 Not only that, he was able to share Jesus and make much of Christ publicly, everywhere we went.

 By weeks end, we were able to share the love and hope of Christ with nearly 1,000 children and adults! More than half in a public school! How awesome is that?

 Needless to say, it has been very eventful recently. In a few weeks Tessa's parents will visit and at the same time we must move to a new home. We planned not to, as we have nothing to furnish a home with, but financially we have no choice but to make this change. After this, we have a couple more groups for the summer and then we roll right into the new school year. 

 I know summer is not here yet, but for me it is already booked nearly 100%!

 As usual, I would like to close with thanking you for your love, prayer and support of us and also to share with you our 'real' prayer thoughts:

1. Wisdom in ministry- On top of all God has for us in Comunidad, there is another great opportunity for us in a indigenous village. We want to do what He wants us to but not over-extend ourselves. Please pray we seek His will only, putting our emotions to the side.

2. Groups- We have a great chance to see many people catch greater visions via world missions trips with us this summer. We love it and have always wanted this to be part of our ministry. Please pray we accomplish much and that each and every person arrives safely, serves greatly and leaves filled with a zeal for the lost like they never had before.

3. Moving- As I told you earlier, we did not plan to do this as soon as this coming month, but we feel this is the correct option and at the right time. God understands what we must have to 'live' but we ask you to pray along with us that we would somehow accumulate all we need to make up a 'home'. We were able to find our current home furnished, so we literally must start from nothing. 

Please make this a matter of prayer also.

4. Vehicle- God is so good to us. Some of you know, we cannot hardly get our van into Comunidad nor the village. We really need a smaller vehicle. The Lord has seen fit for two churches to help us get started. We are still short by about 60%. 

Please pray He provides when it's time.

 We love you all and pray for you often. 

 Through social media we understand many of your needs, some of your pain and a lot of your joy. 

 Please know you are constantly in our thoughts and prayers!

 Serving with you where we are,

 Bob and Tessa

Opportunity Knocks

    Children of La Comunidad

First of all, may I apologize for the length between this blog post and my last? It seems that Google had locked me out! But, I think it is corrected and I am now excited to bring you up to date on our lives and work here in Guatemala!

It is amazing the amount of opportunity the Lord has given us in La Comunidad. It is such an enormous area. We are in one public school of 1,000 children ages 4-16 and right now could probably be in several other schools of equal or larger size in the city. We are seeing the children really start to love on us and trust us. The family unit, as it is in the U.S., suffers greatly here. You see very little of the father, if he is even around, and more mothers and grandmothers. Tessa had the wonderful idea of simply setting up outside the school and passing out juice to the children and guardians as they wait for their loved ones. It has worked great!

 Tessa giving out drinks

The Guatemalan people are very loving, kind, happy and compassionate. But at the same time, because of years of child kidnapping and adoption corruption, they are fearful and skeptical of Americans. Many children were stolen and illegally put up for adoption here. A lot still think that we are there to steal their children. For this and other reasons we are taking our time in gaining their trust. Tessa and I are firmly convicted that it is imperative that they see first and foremost that we simply care for them as a human beings and to show them we love them where they are. It is amazing to see through a simple act of handing someone a drink how many people now come and speak to us and thank us! What a great sign of things to come!

Our prayer is to be able to rent a small storefront to do outreach and discipleship. For whatever reason, it has proved very difficult. The plan is very simple: Love them and teach them Christ. 

A church plant or whatever may come after that is a natural progression of the Gospel being lived and shared. 

At this time we really do ask for and covet your prayers. On top of all the work available in La Comunidad, there might also be a huge opportunity for us in a neighboring village of indigenous Guatemalans too. More on that later! 

For now we ask that you specifically pray for:

1. Clarity and focus on what God wants and not what we want.
2. Continued trust gained of the people in La Comunidad.
3. A place to do discipling and outreach.
4. A small car to take into La Comunidad.
5. Direction on changing homes.

We really need a smaller vehicle to take into the are we work. Something less conspicuous. Also, we came to a furnished home and must really contemplate a move as it is very expensive living here, MUCH more than Mexico. That said, we did not purchase anything upon arrival so we basically only own our clothes and personal belongings. 

God knew this and we know it will work out for good. Please pray for us and we will be doing the same for you as we always do. We think of you all often and pray for your needs, safety and work in the Lord.

May God richly bless each one of you!

Bob and Tessa

Unbelievable open doors!

                                                                                            (school children in La Comunidad)

 Wow. Just when you thought God had big things in store, you find our He is unbelievably massive things in store!

  To get you in the loop, we have been praying about an area called La Comunidad, Guatemala. Yes, it is the same name as our church plant in Mexico! (Coincidence? No way!) God brought us across a couple of missionaries that had been working in another area but for two years, prayed God would send someone there... and along came the Yeater's!

  Fast forward to today, as we have been anxiously praying and looking for another door to open for a couple weeks now. Jeff and Noami(the couple who had been praying), led us into a school in the heart of La Comunidad. It was amazing! It just melted your heart. There are two shifts of 450 children attending a 1,500 sq. ft. school. 10 classrooms with 40-50 students in each with ONE teacher. All day, everyday! God has blessed the U.S.A.!

  After the short tour we met with the director who promptly offered Tessa and I access to all the students and reach them via English classes! We will be giving 5 classes each, Tessa and I, every Tuesday to begin. What a wonderful answer to prayer! It is a great opportunity but can be very intimidating too. It is a dangerous area but the need for Christ is above saying no. We know God wants us here and we ask you to pray for a plethora of things:

1. Guidance in how to start.
2. Contacts that will open doors to in home Bible studies.
3. A place to begin to rent near the school to do our major outreach.
4. Property to buy. We serve a BIG God, we are asking BIG things!
5. A small car to take into this area.
6. Safety.

  Thanks so much for your love, prayer and support. We appreciate them and do the same for you! 

  Bob and Tessa