The Hastings Family

Update - Katin village persecuted - Laos

2010-11-22T10:12:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends,

You may recall that we have communicated several times about the persecution of Christians in the Katin Village - Laos. Here is a recent article that was published by Compass Direct News regarding this situation. Please continue to pray for these people.

Compass Direct News is a news service dedicated to providing exclusive news, penetrating reports, moving interviews and insightful analyses of situations and events facing Christians persecuted for their faith.

Lao Officials to Expel More Christian Families from Village

Katin chief says previously expelled Christians will be shot if they return.

DUBLIN, November 9 (CDN) — Officials in Katin village, southern Laos have ordered six more Christian families to renounce their faith or face expulsion in early January, advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) reported today (Nov. 9).

The Katin chief and the village religious affairs officer, along with local security forces, recently approached the six families with the threat after having expelled 11 Christian families, totaling 48 people, at gunpoint last January. The six families now under threat had become Christians since the January expulsion.

The eviction last January followed months of threats and harassment, including the confiscation of livestock and other property, the detention of 80 men, women and children in a school compound and the death by asphyxiation of a Christian villager. (See www.compassdirect.org, “Lao officials Force Christians from Worship at Gunpoint,” Feb. 8.)

Immediately after the expulsion, two more families in Katin village became Christians despite the obvious risk to their personal safety, according to HRWLRF. The village chief allowed them to remain in Katin but warned all villagers that their own homes would be “torn down” if they made contact with the expelled Christians.

In the following months, the expelled villagers suffered from a lack of adequate shelter, food and water, leading to eye and skin infections, diarrhea, dehydration and even the death of one villager. Katin authorities also denied Christian children access to the village school. (See www.compassdirect.org, “Christians Expelled from Village Suffer Critical Illnesses,” May 14.)

District officials in early May gave the Christians permission to return to Katin and take rice from their family barns to prevent starvation, said another source on condition of anonymity. Some families then tried to cultivate their rice fields to avoid losing them completely, but the work was extremely difficult as authorities had confiscated their buffaloes, essential to agriculture in Laos.

Threat to Shoot
In July, officials from the Saravan provincial headquarters and the Ta-oyl district religious affairs office met with the evicted families in their shelters at the edge of the jungle and encouraged them to return to Katin, HRWLRF said.

The Christians agreed to return under five conditions: that authorities designate a Christian “zone” within Katin to avoid conflict with non-believers; that all forms of persecution end; that their children return to school; that Christians must be granted the right of burial in the village cemetery; and that the village award compensation for six homes destroyed in the January eviction.

When higher-level officials approached Katin leaders with these terms, village officials and local residents rejected them, insisting that they would only allow the Christians to return if they gave up their faith. The higher officials invoked Decree 92, a law guaranteeing the rights of religious minorities, but village heads said they would shoot every Christian who returned to Katin.

Shortly after this discussion took place, a further four families in Katin became Christians, according to HRWLRF.

A communist country, Laos is 1.5 percent Christian and 67 percent Buddhist, with the remainder unspecified. Article 6 and Article 30 of the Lao Constitution guarantee the right of Christians and other religious minorities to practice the religion of their choice without discrimination or penalty.

END

Pakistan Floods - Mission ONE update

2010-09-27T16:20:00.025-04:00

Pakistan Relief Efforts - Mission ONE & RPCP, Pakistan

Dear Friends,

The news is difficult from Pakistan. If you have followed our previous posts and communication, you know that Mission ONE has started the International Emergency Fund and we are helping our partner, The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Pakistan, by providing funds for relief efforts. Throughout the month of September RPCP has organized and implemented three relief events, the latest took place this past weekend in the Thatta district in the south. The map of Pakistan below shows you this particular area which has been hit very hard by the flooding.

There are many pictures in this post, but first we want to share with you some excerpts from Brother Bhatti's report sent to Mission ONE today:

"Yesterday, we hosted a relief/medical camp and saw hundreds of patients with flood-related diseases ranging from diarrhea, to scabies, to infections. We also distributed supplies to needy families. Many face multiple problems due to the affects of the flooding - destruction and theft of their possessions, health concerns, snakes that are looking for dry places, and inadequate clothing. There are still many places where no one has visited to help. Next we will go to the Sanghar district. There are many families there that need help. The most urgent needs are for food, blankets, and warm clothing due to the upcoming winter season."

Brother Bhatti and his team will continue to help as they are able. If you want to help by assisting with donations for the International Emergency Fund , this is an ongoing fund and we will use any donations to help in situations like the one that exists in Pakistan.

Here are some photos of the work that has been done:

Map of Pakistan, highlighting the Thatta district in the south:

Medical supplies purchased to help flood victims:

Loading supplies:

Attending to a young man:

Attending to patients in the medical clinic:

Temporary tent villages:

Passing out treats to the "little ones":

If you would like to help, please click here and follow the directions at the bottom of the post.

Thank you.

Mission ONE Emergency Fund

2010-08-26T19:56:00.003-04:00

CLICK FOR UPDATE!! 9/7/10

Urgent from Mission ONE: We need YOUR help! 8/27/10

image from Boston Globe

Mission ONE announces the creation of a new fund, the International Emergency Fund. The urgency for this fund stems from the current situation in Pakistan. Our long-term partnership there is with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Pakistan led by Rev. Inayat Bhatti. More than 40 national pastors work with Brother Bhatti evangelizing and planting churches throughout this Muslim nation. As seen in news reports, torrential rains have created devastating floods in Pakistan. Brother Bhatti says:

millions of people have been displaced
the floods have claimed the life of one of the pastors that works with RPCP
many have lost everything and are in need of emergency supplies
Christians often face discrimination when relief supplies are available

When situations like this one occur, Mission ONE receives calls from our partners asking for help. Often we do not have funds available, even for smaller crises. Would you prayerfully consider helping us with a seed gift for the International Emergency Fund? We are committed to using this fund for the current need in Pakistan and for future emergencies as they arise.

We are asking individuals, churches, small groups, companies, and foundations to help us demonstrate the love of Christ. Our team in Pakistan is dedicated to spreading the gospel and helping others in a land where less than 1% of the population call themselves Christian. By praying, sending funds, and encouraging our brothers and sisters in Pakistan, we can be living examples of how the body of Christ reaches out in love to the lost, the hurting and the weak.

The quickest way to give is through the Mission ONE "giving" website(below). Simply fill out the secure online form and in the “other designation” box write International Emergency Fund. Or, if you prefer you can send donations directly to us at the address below.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18

Donate online at: http://mission1.org/giving.html

Mission ONE / PO Box 5960 / Scottsdale, AZ 85261 / USA / http://mission1.org

2010-07-16T19:18:00.002-04:00

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Arizona from all the Hastings! Today marks 3 weeks that we have been here and to answer a question that so many have asked - yes, we are settling in well. In case you were unaware, we drove here from New Hampshire during the second half of June. It was a great time of seeing new places as well as visiting friends and supporters.

First, our family:
We (Bob, Robin, Bethany and Melody) are living in a rented furnished condominium here in Scottsdale. This worked out best for us to start our new lives here and so far has been great. The condo is small (900 sq.ft.) but has everything we need. Robin and the girls have been getting us settled and finding their way around Scottsdale. Our boxes of personal items (and Mel's piano) arrived from Guatemala so they will be going through those in the coming week. We're still waiting for a few things from New Hampshire to complete our move but they will be along shortly. The girls have babysat some already and have made a few friends as well. Bethany is enrolled at Pinnacle High School and she and Robin have visited there with some new friends. She'll start the 3rd week of August. Melody will return to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago as a sophomore just a few days later.
The weather is interesting...very hot. Every day has been over 100 degrees so far. Someone told me that it was 116 yesterday, and it only got down to the high 90's last night. There is, however, very low humidity and this makes the high temps much easier to bear. The seasonal rains/monsoons are supposed to start soon, we're looking forward to that.

Family prayer requests:
- praise the Lord that we are here!...and that most of our things are here...and that He has provided for us in so many ways
- please pray for Bethany as she prepares to attend a public high school. This will be a very different experience for her, please pray that she will be a light for Christ
- please pray for Mel as she prepares to head back to Moody Bible Institute to continue her studies in Music and Bible
- please pray for all of us as we settle into a new life in a new place

Ministry/Mission ONE:
As most of you know, Bob is serving as VP of Operations for Mission ONE. In his new role, he is responsible for overseeing all administrative areas for Mission ONE here in the US and also will be involved with relationships with Mission ONE's overseas partners. What a privilege it is to help and serve in this organization. Along with getting to know the staff here, Bob has had the opportunity to talk with a few partners already, specifically in Pakistan and Lebanon. We thought it would be a good idea to share about one partner organization each time we write to help you have a better idea of who Mission ONE works with.

Profile #1 - RPCP Pakistan (Reformed Presbyterian Church of Pakistan) Team Leader - Inayat Masih Bhatti.
This organization, led by Brother Bhatti, exists in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. (there are less than 1% Christians in Pakistan). Brother Bhatti is the leader and teacher of a group of about 45 pastors throughout Pakistan who serve in evangelism and church-planting ministries. Most of these men and their families live in poverty and under oppression due to Muslim attitudes toward Christians. In 2002, Brother Bhatti's wife, Martha, was killed in their home by Muslim extremists. Through this and many other hardships and trials, Brother Bhatti and this team persevere in God's work. He is a remarkeable man of 80 years who continues to live and serve in and by God's grace. Through supporters like you, Mission ONE provides continuous prayer and financial support to RPCP and 16 other partners like them. You can read more about RPCP and Mission ONE's partner relationships by visiting our website and clicking on the "partnership with nationals" tab. Please pray for Pakistan.

Ministry prayer requests:
- please pray for RPCP of Pakistan, Brother Bhatti (pronounced bah-tee), and the team of pastors that serve in Pakistan through this ministry. Please pray for their provision, their protection and for God to use them for His glory.
- please pray for Bob Schindler and Werner Mischke as they continue to lead Mission ONE, that God would give them wisdom and vision for the ministry
- please pray for God to use Mission ONE's newest training resource, The Beauty of Partnership, a Study Guide for those who want to learn more about building healthy, God-honoring cross cultural partnerships. Click here if you are interested in learning more.
- please pray for Bob as he serves at Mission ONE, that he would learn quickly and become an effective part of the Mission ONE team.

Thank you all for your interest in our family and the ministry that God has placed us in. We are blessed to have all of you in our lives.

For God's glory,

The Hastings Family

Driving to Arizona

2010-06-19T09:00:00.003-04:00

Hi Friends,

Last weekend we left New Hampshire (Bob, Robin, Melody & Bethany). We had decided to drive to Arizona and so far it has been a great trip. Our friends the Camillieri's followed us to Washington DC and we spent a few days there with all our kids seeing the sights. We spent two days in DC itself and got a good glimpse of the museums, memorials, government buildings, etc. So much to see and learn.

Now we are in Tennessee. We spent yesterday saying goodbye to our friends and former co-workers at AMG's central office in Chattanooga. We spent the afternoon and evening with the Ragan family and enjoyed catching up and visiting. Today we will move just a short distance south to Georgia and will spend the day tomorrow worshiping and sharing at Poplar Springs Baptist Church.

States so far? New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, DC, Tennessee...and Georgia later today.

We appreciate your prayers for our travels. Monday we leave for Arkansas where we'll spend a few days with our friends and former co-workers in Guatemala, the Hodges family. We haven't seen them in a year so we're looking forward to this time.

Please pray for a team from Mission ONE. Bob and Linda Schindler, Todd Robertson and Charley Green arrived in Africa yesterday and will be traveling to see various Mission ONE partners over the next 10 days. They are in Kenya today, the first African country that Bob Schindler ever visited. God initially used Bob's first trip to Kenya to burden him to provide help to national pastors...this is how Mission ONE was birthed. Bob S will be preaching in Kenya tomorrow, please pray for him and the team as they share and encourage national leaders and workers.

Enjoy your weekend!

Beauty of Partnership Study Guide

2010-06-08T17:23:00.006-04:00

Dear Friends,

Do you want to learn more about missions? Do you want to learn more about how you can become involved in missions? Do you want to learn more about how to develop healthy, God-honoring relationships? Read on.............

Mission ONE mobilizes the church for partnership with national missionaries, focusing on unreached people groups, and serving the poor and oppressed.

You just read the Mission Statement of Mission ONE. Don't miss the first part, the part that says "Mission ONE mobilizes the Church". Mission ONE takes this responsibility very seriously and has provided training and resources to the North American church body for this purpose for more than a decade. And just this past week, Mission ONE has released it's newest publication - "The Beauty of Partnership" Study Guide. Click Here to visit a dedicated website where you can learn more about this great resource. This Study Guide can be used by individuals, small groups, churches, any size group of people who want to learn more about how they/their church can be more effective in cross-cultural relationships and partnerships. This Study Guide is perfect for missions committees, short-term missions team participants, missionaries, pastors, church staff...anyone with a desire to help out in missions. Check out the website!

April Update

2010-04-27T09:14:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

First, some recent pictures of the family:

Left: Bethany - just about finished her freshman year of high school. Ready to start next year in Arizona in a new school.

Right: Melody and her cousin Heather at a family party. Mel is just about done her first semester at Moody Bible Institute.

Middle below: Mel with some of the girls from her floor during a recent "road trip".

Left: Adam during our day trip to Portsmouth, NH. The next one on the right is of all the friends we went with.

Below: Robin with her friends Andrea (left) and Joanne (right) at a "ladies tea" hosted by our home church.

It is time that we write and update all of you on what has been taking place in our lives these past few months. We have had the privilege of seeing many of you lately…a blessing for us!

Our kids are all busy with school, work and various things. They keep us thinking and heading in different directions constantly. It was easier to keep track of them when they were all little!

Robin and I have been traveling quite a bit these past few months. We have visited supporters and churches in Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Ohio and have had many opportunities to share about our last five years working with AMG and what is ahead working with Mission ONE. We also just recently took another trip to Arizona so we could look at housing options, spend time with the Mission ONE staff, and attend board meetings there. Throughout our travels, we have experienced your loving hospitality and care. Thank you for encouraging us!

Over the next several weeks, we will complete our transition to working with Mission ONE. Robin, Bethany and I will be spending two weeks in Guatemala in May to say our goodbyes to friends and co-workers, clean out our home, and pack and ship some of our things to Arizona. We are planning to move to Arizona in June. During our recent trip there, Robin and I rented an apartment so we now have a place to temporarily call “home” when we arrive. We are seriously considering driving to Arizona from New Hampshire the second half of June.

Several people have asked about what my specific role will be at Mission ONE. Here is a brief explanation:

It was decided these past few days that my title will be Vice President of Operations. My position will be administrative in nature and I will have the responsibility to oversee all administrative areas including finance, human resources, day to day operations, supervision of Mission ONE staff associates, planning, donor relations, partner communication, and my personal favorite "miscellaneous duties as assigned".

The need for this position has developed over several years. For the past several years, Mike Floyd has worked for Mission ONE in some of these areas but God has called he and his family to serve overseas in Thailand with one of Mission ONE's partners. Mike leaves with the support and blessing of Mission ONE's leadership and we continue to have a growing relationship with he and his family.

To be honest, the organization is simply too large not to have someone in this position. The current leaders are stretched (and stressed at times) beyond limitations and are in need of administrative support. Having spent the past 25 years doing work of this nature, coupled with local church leadership and experience as well as foreign field experience these past 5 years, we all feel that the Lord is directing my family and I to partner with Mission ONE in this capacity. We see Him providing leaders and staff members with gifts and abilities that are very complimentary and as we spend time together (such as these past 8 days during a visit to Arizona) we see confirmation of this over and over again.

Our upcoming calendar:

April 29^th through May 3^rd – Saratoga Chapel, New York

May 10^th through 24^th – Guatemala

June – Move to Arizona

Prayer Requests:

§ Melody will finish her first semester at Moody Bible Institute on May 14^th. Please pray for her as she completes her work and takes finals.

§ Bethany is finishing her freshman year as a homeschooler and will transition into a public high school in Arizona. Please pray for a smooth transition and for her adjustment to a new school system.

§ Adam continues working at Sears and is contemplating some changes. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for him.

§ Please continue to pray that our condominium in Guatemala will sell soon and for our time in Guatemala in May. We will have a lot to accomplish in just a few weeks.

§ Please pray for our upcoming move to Arizona. We are leaning toward driving the second half of June. Please pray for our time of planning, packing and safe travel.

§ Please continue to pray for the ministry of AMG in Guatemala. Our home church is sending a team there the last week of May. Please pray for a fruitful time of ministry for them and for God’s protection as they travel and work at AMG Guatemala.

§ Please pray for Mission ONE’s ministry and for the Lord’s provision for Mission ONE’s 17 overseas partners. Many of them live in difficult and harsh conditions and experience persecution and oppression.

§ Please pray in particular for the Katin believers, a group of Christians in Laos who have been cast out of their village for believing in Christ. They have no homes or resources and are living in termporary shelters as they have not been allowed to return to their village. Please pray that God would provide for their needs.

Thank you for your prayers, your support, and for your friendship.

May God bless you and keep you,

Love from all the Hastings

The Faces of Mission ONE

2010-02-28T11:49:00.039-05:00

As we continue to work on our transition to working with Mission ONE, we'd like to share some more specifics with you about this ministry. First, it would be good for you to know who the leaders of the ministry are.

Bob and Linda Schindler(left): Robin and I have known Bob Schindler, Founder and President of Misison ONE, for more than 20 years and have enjoyed getting to know his wife, Linda, these past few years. Their passion for ministry is contagious.

BOB SCHINDLER, Founder and President
Background: 30+ years in full-time ministry in evangelism and missions. Founded Mission ONE in 1991.

Passion: Being a friend to key leaders in Africa and Asia… listening and leading…teaching God’s Word…sharing his life message: “Through Our Pain, Toward God’s Purpose.”

Bob's wife, Linda, also shares in the work of the ministry. Linda works in the administrative office of Mission ONE and travels with Bob as he visits Mission ONE partners and supporters around the world.

Werner Mischke, Werner is a long-term friend and co-laborer of Bob Schindler. The Lord has gifted Werner in areas of teaching, developing missions mobilization curriculum, and graphic design. Werner has used these skills to develop programs like Operation Worldview and The Beauty of Partnership. You can read about both of these exciting programs at our website.

WERNER MISCHKE(right), Executive Vice President; Producer, Operation WorldView

Background: Joined Mission ONE in 1992 after spending 11 years in communications and graphic design business.Passion: Developing excellent communications for mission mobilization to support the Mission ONE team… teaching about the glory of God among the nations.

Please take the opportunity to go to Mission ONE's website so you can get to know more about this ministry. You will notice there are tabs across the top. Take a few minutes to click through each of them. Get to know more about Mission ONE. You will see that the focus of Mission ONE is in supporting national workers to spread the gospel, show biblical compassion, and to plead the cause of the needy and the poor. This work is done in and around the area of the world known as the 10-40 window, where the vast majority of the worlds neediest people live. You can click on this map from the Voice of the Martyr's website. The area where you see the majority of the dots on this map makes up the 10-40 window. You can also google "10-40 window" to learn a lot more about this area of the world.

Would you join with us as we work with Mission ONE to help tell the world about the greatest story ever told?

More to come....

The Hastings Family

Hastings Family Changes

2010-02-05T13:31:00.003-05:00

This is a copy of the letter that we are sending this week to everyone on our mailing list. We have also sent a copy out using our email list. Sorry if you have received it in one or two other forms, we just want to be sure that everyone gets this information.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from New Hampshire from all the Hastings family! We trust that you are all resting and growing in God's grace.

These past several months of furlough have been a blessing to us as we have been able to reconnect with so many and also begin to develop relationships with some of you who we didn't know previously. We look forward to being able to do that with more of you as our time here continues. What a joy it is to form and forge relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ...a special blessing from our loving God.

We are writing with a few purposes in mind. First, we as a family would like to thank you, although this seems such an inadequate way of doing so, for all of the support we have received these past 5 years while we have served in Guatemala with AMG International. Your love, prayers, financial support and involvement in the ministry have all been living examples of the many ways that God has demonstrated His faithfulness and kindness to us. What a privilege it has been to have so many partners in ministry, and what a blessing it has been to have been sustained and supported by all of you. Words fail to describe our thankfulness and gratitude. God knows.

We are also writing to inform you of a decision that we have made regarding our future. A short time ago, I informed AMG International that I would be resigning from my position with AMG Guatemala. Along with that, I will also be moving on from the family of AMG International and have accepted a position with another ministry – Mission ONE. As the details and transition can be worked out, I will assume the responsibilities of being in charge of US operations for Mission ONE. Over the next several months, we will be working on our transition that this type of change entails. Our home is in Guatemala and we have lived there for the past 5 years, so we will begin the process of moving back to the US. Mission ONE's headquarters is located in Scottsdale, Arizona, and we will be relocating to this area as part of this change.

Please know that this change is a result of much consideration and prayer. We would like to make a few things very clear:
We know this is a big change and we take that very seriously. We count it a privilege and a blessing to have been able to work with AMG these past 6 years. We have the greatest respect for the work of AMG in Guatemala and in many other countries. We love the people of Guatemala and will miss the work of the ministry and the relationships that we have developed there. We urge you to continue to support AMG Guatemala through their child sponsorship program as many of you have for so many years. We also ask you to support and pray for the Dennett family, our co-workers in Guatemala, and the Wilson family as they continue to raise their support to serve with AMG in Guatemala. You can read more about these two families at: www.amgguatemala.org

I'm sure many of you may be wondering why we have made this decision. First, as we spent time on furlough these past months, we began to sense that God may be leading us in a new direction. At this point in life, and the stage that our family is in, we believe it is the best decision for us to live and work somewhere in the US. At the same time that we began to consider these things, the Lord presented the opportunity to work with Mission ONE. Mission ONE is a mission organization that operates by serving and supporting national workers throughout the area of the world known as the "10-40 window". Mission ONE operates very effectively and efficiently through 15 strategic partnerships with organizations who oversee national ministry workers(most of whom are evangelists, pastors and church planters) throughout countries in the 10-40 window. This strategy is a very cost-efficient way of furthering the work of the gospel.
Also, Robin and I have known the President and Founder of Mission ONE, Bob Schindler, for more than 20 years. We have the highest respect for him and the passion that God has given him as an evangelist, teacher, and leader of this ministry.

If you are interested in learning more about the 10-40 window, or have never heard of that term, you can visit this website and others to learn more:
http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/1040.htm

You can also learn more about Mission ONE at: www.mission1.org

These past several months, God has been working and laying the groundwork for growth at Mission ONE. There are several new positions and staff members joining the Mission One team. These things have created the need that currently exists for additional administrative leadership. We believe that God has shown us this need and is providing the opportunity for us to work with Mission ONE.

There are many things that still need to be worked out to define when we will move to Arizona and begin working with Mission ONE. You are aware that our home is in Guatemala. We purchased a condominium there in 2008 and have most of our belongings there, so over the next months we will work to begin planning to close out our lives in Guatemala and make decisions about our home and belongings.
As is common with most mission organizations, we need to continue to have financial supporters in order to work at Mission ONE. Many of you have supported us through AMG and we would ask you to prayerfully consider if the Lord would have you continue to do so as we begin working with Mission ONE. We would welcome the opportunity to talk with any of you regarding this and want you to know that whatever you decide, we are grateful for your support during our time with AMG. If possible, we would very much appreciate hearing from you either way. We know each one of you will personally and prayerfully make such a decision and we certainly respect that process. There are several ways that you could let us know about your intentions:

· Email us at: bobhast@gmail.com
· Send us a note at our current mailing address (86 Derry Rd. Chester NH 03036)
· Call us (cell 603.315.7926)

For now, our support can continue to be sent through AMG International. They have graciously offered to continue handling our support while we finish our time of furlough and begin to work on our transition. We will let everyone know when this changes.

As we say in Spanish this is a time that is “agridulce”(bittersweet) for us. While we will miss the family and ministry of AMG International, we are very excited about this new opportunity and are waiting expectantly to begin serving the Lord through the ministry of Mission ONE.

Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have. Again, thank you for all you have done for us and with us in ministry. May the Lord's grace continue to guide and uphold us all as we serve Him together.

Thanking God always for all of you,

Bob, Robin, Adam, Melody and Bethany Hastings

Hastings Prayer Requests:

Please pray for Melody as she has begun her first semester studying Music and Missions at Moody Bible Institute, Chicago Ill.

Please pray for God’s provision for our family as we begin making plans to transition from serving with AMG International to Mission ONE. God knows all the details and we are trusting Him to continue to lead and guide us.

Please read over the “updates, praises and prayer requests” below and pray for God’s provision for those who are in involved in His work around the world.

AMG International Guatemala – Updates, Praises, Prayer Requests:

January 1st 2009 – Brian and Mary Dennett and their children arrived to work in Guatemala. Please pray for Brian as he assumes the role of Director of AMG’s ministries in Guatemala.

In 2009, AMG expanded its network of Christian Schools by partnering with La Palabra Baptist Church in Monjas, eastern Guatemala. This church now has a Christian School, the only one in the area, where more than 200 children will attend on a daily basis. Please pray for growth, new sponsors and the testimony of this school.

January 11th, 2010 – all of AMG Guatemala’s schools and daycare centers reopened for another school year. Over 7,000 sponsored children are being cared for, fed, clothed, educated and taught the Bible in 28 locations throughout the country.

In 2009, Over 20,000 patients were ministered to in Guatemala at AMG’s Hospital, 2 Medical Clinics and 2 Dental Clinics. Also, hundreds of malnourished children and their mothers were treated at AMG’s 2 Nutrition Centers. All of these patients hear about the love of Christ as their physical needs are being met.

In 2009, hundreds of children made professions of faith in Jesus Christ while being cared for at one of AMG’s many locations. Please pray for their growth and spiritual guidance this year.

Please pray for new sponsors for children in Guatemala, hundreds are needed.

Mission ONE - Updates, Praises, Prayer Requests:

Chansamone Saiyasak, director of Mission ONE partner Mekong Evangelical Mission (MEM) in Thailand, reports that 48 Buddhists were led to faith in Jesus Christ during the last six months.

God is working in Africa - Negash Gemeda, team leader for three Mission ONE partner ministries in Ethiopia, reports 268 conversions to Christ, including 54 Muslims, during the last three months. One of Negash’s dreams is to have more Bibles in the Amharic language to aid in the believers’ growth. He also prays for God to “give us financial support in order to send missionaries to the countryside.”

Please pray for Mission ONE’s partners throughout the area of the 10/40 window as they spread the gospel to those in need.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-15T09:31:00.015-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from New Hampshire! We trust and pray that you are all well and that you are looking forward to this Christmas Season. This year the Hastings family is thankful to be together in New England during our furlough after serving 5 years on the field with AMG International, Guatemala. As we look back over these 5 years it is hard to believe how blessed we have been to have shared in seeing how God is working through the ministries of AMG in Guatemala. Watching Him work through programs such as Child Sponsorship, Medical Care, Bible Training and so many more areas, we realize just how amazing our God is and how much He has given us in His Son Jesus. It has indeed been a privilege to serve Him as a family in Guatemala.

We arrived back in the states in August and our plan is to be here through June of 2010. This fall we have enjoyed spending time with family and friends, visiting supporters and we have all have seemed to keep busy in new areas. Please visit our entry about our furlough by clicking on the "our furlough" tab at the top of our blog. to read more about what we are doing.

Our most recent news is that Melody has been accepted to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago to study in their music and missions programs. We will be taking her there the first week of January. She is excited about starting this new chapter in her life and would certainly appreciate your prayers during this time of transition.

Our son, Adam, has recently started a new job working at Sears. Bob spent 19 years working there as well so he and Adam are having fun sharing about all the similarities and differences that exist after so many years. Believe it or not there are still a handful of people that work there from when Bob did!
We are enjoying being back at our home church, Fellowship Bible Church of Chester, NH. There are opportunities to minister and to be able to get to know new people.
We also want to share with you that on October 10th Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, who served as President of AMG International for many years, went home to be with his Lord. It was through the dedication of his life to God’s service that AMG International grew to be what it is today. You can read more about his life on AMG’s website at: http://www.amginternational.org/
So many of you have supported our family these past 5 years and we want to take a moment to say “thank you” for your thoughts, prayers and financial donations.
May God richly bless you for giving.
We hope you have a blessed Christmas. We “count it all joy” to be able to serve our Lord together with you all. May the truth of God’s love bless you and keep you as you celebrate the birth of our Savior this Christmas season.
Much love from all the Hastings family!

Furlough Update

2009-10-22T10:14:00.006-04:00

Hello Friends,

We know, way too long since we have posted! Sorry about that.

We wanted to write to give you an update about what we have been doing on our furlough. As you might remember, we came to the US in stages this summer. Melody came back in July, Robin and Bethany at the beginning of August, and Bob at the end of August.

You might be wondering what missionaries do for housing during a furlough. Well, some live in a few different places as they travel during their furloughs, some live in missionary guest homes if they are available, some with family and some with friends. Us? We are so blessed to be living with friends (who are like family). Most times that we have come back to the states, we have based ourselves in Chester, NH, where our home church is at the home of Frank and Kathi Camillieri. Frank and Kathi are as close to family as you can get without sharing a gene pool! Robin has known them as her "second set of parents" since she was a little girl and our family has enjoyed our relationship with them for as many years as we can remember.

The Camillieri's live in a beautifully restored home near the center of Chester and have opened up to us every time we need a place to stay. Even with the length of our furlough this year, they graciously offered for us to base ourselves from their home. What a blessing for us to be on the receiving end of I Peter 4:9 which says "offer hospitality to one another...".

Here's what we have been up to:

We have spent quite a bit of time with our families. It has been great to see everyone and catch up with everyone's lives. Besides visiting with family and friends, we have been:

Bethany - is homeschooling this year. She doesn't like it quite as much as going to school with all her friends, but she does do school with some of her friends here a few days a week and enjoys that very much. She is also enjoying "Impact", our home church's friday night youth group program.

Melody - is taking correspondence courses through Moody Bible Institute and hopes to attend there in 2010. Mel works three mornings a week tutoring a 1st grader, teaches Spanish classes to 25 homeschooling students, and babysits for a few local families. She is also part of our church's worship team and youth leadership team so she is keeping very busy.

Adam - just started working a new job at Sears selling in the electronics department. Bob worked for Sears for 19 years and there are still a few people there that Bob worked with. Adam is also serves on the worship team at church and recently started a second part time job.

Bob & Robin - We have attended two mission conferences, one at our home church and a second one this past week at a supporting church in New York. Every missions conference is a little bit different and we enjoy the variety. We are always glad to reconnect, be fed (physically and spiritually!), and be able to share about the ministry we are involved in.

We will be traveling to Pennsylvania to participate in AMG's annual banquet there next month and are planning visits to other supporters and supporting churches.

Bob is working on starting a masters degree program in Biblical Studies and hopes to get several courses done during this time of furlough.

All of us are enjoying taking part in the ministries at Fellowship Bible Church. Adam, Melody, Bob & Robin are all singing in the choir. Its fun to share in this ministry together.

We'll share some pictures soon so you can see our home town and some of the things we have been doing.

Thanks for all of your continued support and prayers.

Love from all the Hastings

Growing, growing, growing...

2009-08-11T12:05:00.008-04:00

Here at AMG Guatemala, one of the things we have been working on this year is "Life Skills" training. We have challenged all of our childcare centers to help the sponsored children develop skills that they can use to help provide for themselves and their families. Below are a few examples of how some of our centers have carried out the challenge!

Verbena School, Guatemala City - "We have been working this year to teach our sponsored students gardening and planting concepts that they can share with their families, creating opportunities for them to grow their own food and/or sell in their communities. The students have been given plots of land near their classrooms to grow different vegetables that they can bring home and enjoy. They have been so excited about this new program and were thrilled with the results shown below. They were all so proud of their work!!"

Also, a few weeks ago Robin and I took a trip to western Guatemala to visit some of our childcare centers in that part of the country. In some of these centers, they are teaching the children Life Skills such as sewing and weaving. Here are a few pictures of our visits and some of the "life skills" that are being taught.

Nahuala childcare center in western Guatemala - "we are teaching weaving, embroidery work and knitting to mothers of sponsored children to help them develop skills that can help them provide for their families."

Otto, one of our supervisors, "reluctantly" modeling a hat and bag! :)

And a few pictures of our visits to various childcare centers.

Here is Ruth with a group of sponsored children:

A drama the little ones put on for us:

Robin with a few girls who were pretty excited that she was there:

Bob and a little boy:

As always, thanks for sharing with us. Have a great day!

Market Day at AMG Guatemala

2009-07-17T13:51:00.004-04:00

Hello Everyone,

OK, I promise to post some pictures this time...we are having Market Day today, one of my favorite events of the year! So read through and I'll post more pictures and an explanation down below.

But first, I just wanted to thank you all for praying for us and for our upcoming furlough details. To tell you the truth, it was getting a little difficult for us as we still had several things pending, but lately the Lord has answered several requests and provided many things. The biggest is that we now have a young couple from our church who will be staying in our condo during the time of our furlough. They are newlyweds and needed very affordable living. We needed someone to stay and cover our basic home expenses. Great match!

Melody has arrived safely in New Hampshire (yesterday) and is getting settled in. It is just starting to hit us that she has moved...this doesn't get easier.

Next week Robin and I will be traveling to western Guatemala for 3 days to visit AMG's childcare centers in that part of the country. Please pray for a safe and productive trip. Bethany will be staying with our Pastor's family while we are away.

So thanks for praying for our transition. God is faithful and in His perfect timing He is answering our prayers.

OK, now on to Market Day. This event happens once each year to help teach the little ones about money, buying things in the market, etc. All the children bring things to "sell" and everyone takes turns buying and selling with play money.

Learning can be so much fun!

Here's some pictures of the activities:

Have a great day!

Hastings Furlough

2009-07-07T10:43:00.007-04:00

Good morning everyone,

Some of you already know about this news but we wanted to write today to make this more public and to explain our decision regarding our upcoming furlough. As many of you know, next month will mark our 5th year here in Guatemala...how is that possible? As we look back on these years we are amazed at all that has taken place, at how God has taken care of us, and at how much we have learned from serving here with AMG International. We have been reminiscing with our girls lately about our time here and each time we do this we understand more and more what a privilege it is to be here and how much God has used our time here to change us, teach us and bless us.

OK, now about our furlough. We have decided to take a furlough in the states for the next school year - from the end of August to June 2010. We began thinking and praying about this during the second half of 2008, and also began seeking counsel from our mission, family and close friends during that time. Since then we have seen the doors open and even though it has been a difficult decision, we have peace that this is how the Lord is leading us right now.

There are several reasons for this and we will list them in no particular order:

To be very honest, we simply feel it is time to spend some time back in the states. We have been away from family and friends for 5 years and feel that we all need the time and opportunity to reconnect. We have been apart from Adam for a few years now as well and it will be great to be able to have time with him. When we first came to Guatemala we thought we would never be interested in a "traditional" fulough, as we thought it would be too complicated and life-changing, but during these past few years we have come to see the wisdom in why mission agencies suggest (and sometimes require) furloughs for their missionaries. It is something that is not easily explained, but after experiencing our time here we are ready.

Melody graduated from high school in 2008 and has now completed one year of musical studies here in Guatemala. As she would like to continue her studies in the US, she has been applying to several colleges and hopes to attend college full-time beginning in January 2010. Her desire at this point is to study music and missions. Having been here since she was 14, this will be a big transition for her. She will be leaving on the 16th of this month and will start pursuing some things that she would like to do before going off to college, like getting her drivers license and maybe having the opportunity to have a part time job. She will have about 5 months to spend in New Hampshire and most likely will start with some correspondence courses during that time. We would like to be there to help Melody during this time of transition. It is a big step for MK´s (Missionary Kids) to leave the field and it can be a very complicated time, hopefully our time on furlough will be a help in this area. This will also allow us time to be able to bring Melody to college when the time comes.

Having only spent short periods of time in the US since moving here, we have been able to visit some of our supporting churches but not all. We have a unique situation of having only a handful of supporting churches but many personal supporters. The churches we do have are quite spread out. We have supporting churches in New York, Ohio, Georgia and New Hampshire. This extended time will give us the opportunity to visit all of them.

There are, of course, other reasons but I think we have shared the major ones.
We would ask for your continued prayers as we continue to plan for this time away. Here are some requests...thank you so much for praying!

- We will be homeschooling Bethany during our furlough...her freshman year of high school. This will allow flexibility for time and travel. Please pray that this will all go well.
- Please pray for Melody as she continues her college search.
- Please pray for Adam as he gets used to the idea of having his parents around again! :)
- We are hoping to have someone stay in our condo for our time away. We have a good possibility, a young couple from our church. Please pray that the Lord would work out the details for this.
- We are traveling in stages: Melody leaves on July 16th, Robin and Bethany on August 7th and Bob on August 20th. Please pray for our travel and safe reunion in NH.
- With the economic crisis, this is a difficult time of financial support for many missionaries. We have lost some support and are aware of other supporters who will not be able to support us after 2008. Please pray that the Lord would continue to provide the support we need for our time of furlough and beyond.
- The Dennett family, our co-workers, will be here during our time of furlough. Please pray for Brian as he assumes the Director´s role here at the mission and for the entire family as they complete their first year here in Guatemala. They are currently spending some time in New England following the birth of their 6th child and will return to Guatemala in a few weeks.

There is one more piece of news we'd like to share. Many of you know the Hodges family, our co-workers who have been here for the same period of 5 years that we have. Recently they decided to leave the field and are flying out this morning to return to Arkansas, their home state. Please pray for them as they re-adjust to living in the states. This was a difficult decision for them but after prayer and consideration they felt that it was time for them to return. The Hodges have primarily hosted short-term teams for AMG for the past 5 years and we, like many of you, have so many wonderful memories of working together with them. Please pray for Steve, Kelli, Korri and Jake. If you'd like to send them a note of encouragement or to let them know you are praying for them, you can email them at skhodges@gmail.com

OK, that is enough for today! Thank you for listening, for praying and for being such a wonderful support network for our family. We never take for granted how God has used you all in this entire process.

See you stateside!

Love from us all,

The Hastings Family

Renovated Medical Clinic...and much more

2009-06-18T12:33:00.016-04:00

Dear Friends,

Last week we had a team here from Canada. The team was led by Mark and Joy Moores who have come to Guatemala as part of medical teams for several years. This year they came with a group of 14, not to travel to our hospital in Cubulco but to help us renovate a medical clinic that is part of our central office and Verbena school property but has not been in use for many years. We have a working dental clinic on the same property that was renovated in 2005(the team also added a much needed ´waiting room´to the dental clinic) and we have been talking about doing the same with the medical clinic for several years but it has been on a long list of projects and never made it to the top...until now! So the team came, along with a lot of experience and expertise in remodeling...as well as a team to help out in our English classes...and they accomplished an unbelievable amount of work in just 5 days!

Here's some pictures of the work, and extra-curricular activities!, that was done throughout the week:

Medical Clinic Area "Before":

Medical Clinic Area "After"...(they even painted the outside wall!):

Main area of Medical Clinic:

This is a new waiting area in the Medical Clinic:

Dental Clinic before the "waiting room":

Same view with "waiting room" constructed:

Erica(right) and Kaitlin(middle) helping Gabbie, one of our English teachers, to teach songs:

Some of the teens outside the English department waiting for the next classes:

"Boys" playing airplane....kind of universal, don't you think?:

Joy playing "follow the leader" with the kids....hey, who's following who??:

Looking out over the neighborhood where the kids live:

Boys will be boys:

Phil with a new "buddy":

Our girls got to help out because their school year is over:

Abby and Korri

Bethany and Korri

And just in case you forgot about the kids...

We want to thank our old and new friends for all the work they did. Renovating the Medical Clinic, adding a waiting area to the Dental Clinic, helping out in our English classes, giving so much love to the kids, and being such a great encouragement to the missionaries and staff at AMG Guatemala! God bless you all!

Have a great day!

Love from all the Hastings.

Mothers Day - AMG Guatemala

2009-05-27T11:14:00.006-04:00

Happy Mothers Day!

Dear Friends,

Here at AMG Guatemala we celebrate holidays throughout the year. Mothers Day is a perfect opportunity to be able to invite all of our sponsored children's mothers to enjoy a time of celebration. Some of the children/students participate in the assemblies as do the teachers and staff members.

This year our daughter Melody and her friend David led in a time of praise and worship to open the Mothers Day celebration at one of our schools here in Guatemala City. We had a great time with about 300 moms. One of our Bible teachers, Nehemias, shared an encouraging Bible message to finish the program. Here are some photos of our time with the Moms.

Starting out with a fun song with motions!

Opening Pray and time of worship

"give thanks to the Lord, our God and King...

His love endures forever!

He is our God, He is above all things...

His love endures forever!"

"sing praise......sing praise!"

A fun song by the teachers...

...and an hilarious skit with the daycare workers pretending to be little girls...

Nehemias sharing from God's Word...

Celebrations took place at all 27 of our schools and daycare centers throughout Guatemala. Please pray for the thousands of moms who attended.

Thanks for sharing with us!

2009-04-29T15:30:00.006-04:00

Where have the Hastings been???

Dear Friends,

Sorry for the long delay between blog posts. We have broken the cardinal rule of blogging by waiting too long to post. We'll try to do better!

First, a ministry update:

Since our last post, a team came from the Grand Rapids Michigan area to help us with a construction project at one of our rural area schools. They built 3 new classrooms for us at the Filadelfia school and ministered to hundreds of children at this school and our Camp Canaan facility through teaching Bible stories and doing crafts together with the children. This team has come to Guatemala for many years and have assisted in many building and ministry projects.

Thanks to all these faithful co-laborers who give of their time and talents each year!

We also had a medical team here in March from Lakeview Covenant Church in Minnesota. They, too, have come to minister at our hospital in Cubulco for many years and spend their time here working with our national staff, performing much needed surgeries and medical procedures and ministering to the Guatemalan people. Many thanks to these faithful brothers and sisters!

This year we also have had the blessing of starting a new childcare program. Here at AMG Guatemala we often receive requests to open new childcare centers or schools in different areas. Last year one such request came from a small Baptist church in rural eastern Guatemala. They tried to start a Christian school as there are none in their town or area, but were unable to survive due to lack of funds. After much consideration, visits to the church and area and meetings with the church leaders and staff, we formed a partnership with La Palabra Baptist Church and began a child sponsorship program there with the help of one of our funding partners - Word & Deed North America. What a blessing to be able to expand the ministry and help more needy children and also to partner together with brothers and sisters of this local church. Please pray for La Palabra. They currently have their school in a rented building and are praying for the Lord to provide a building so they can help more children.

As you can see from the pictures, the rented facility has limitations, but the kids don´t seem to mind. :)

As always, there are many more blessings in the ministry....and challenges as well!...but the Lord continues to faithfully provide, sometimes in ways that we cannot even imagine.

Family update:

Adam (stateside) continues to work and take business classes in Manchester, NH. He serves in the music ministry at our home church and is well taken care of by friends and family. Thanks everyone!

Melody and Bethany are both looking forward to the end of their school years. Bethany will finish middle school in just 4 weeks and then it is on to high school! She has had a very good year in school and has worked hard to get excellent grades.

Melody will finish her year at Instituto Canzion (a local music college) the first week of June. Her big news is that she has decided to leave Guatemala in July. She will transition back to the states after spending the last 5 years here in Guatemala with us and begin taking classes locally for a while in our home state of NH. She has already begun applying to colleges and will consider going away to college some time in 2010, hopefully to major in music and possibly missions as a minor. Please pray for her as she considers these things and seeks the Lord´s will for her future.

Robin continues to help out at the Christian Academy of Guatemala where Bethany attends by serving on the school board and helping in other areas. She also takes Melody across the city each day to and from school...this is a job in itself!(those of you who have been here will understand this) And on thursdays Robin helps out at AMG´s school here in Guatemala City.

That's all for now. We promise to post again soon. Thanks for hanging on during our absence from our blog!

More to come soon.

Love from all the Hastings Family.

AMG´s 33rd Anniversary in Guatemala

2009-02-17T16:52:00.009-05:00

Happy Anniversary AMG Guatemala!!

Hello Friends,

Today we want to share some pictures with you from our recent celebration. On Friday, we celebrated AMG´s 33rd year of ministry in Guatemala! A variety of activities and events took place in all 30 of AMG's locations across the country. Here are some pictures from some of the activites here in Guatemala City:

Getting the lunch area ready for pre-school children.

The cooks and teachers preparing lunch for 800 kids!

All the little ones having lunch...fried chicken!

The 6th grade class from CAG (Christian Academy of Guatemala where Bethany attends) came to help serve lunch to the little ones.

Assemblies and times of prayer throughout the day.
Brian Dennett speaking to the primary school children.

Sixth graders presenting a cheer they wrote about AMG.

Second graders presenting a song.

All the little ones dressed up in costumes for the day!

What a great day it was! And what a blessing to be part of all of this.

And check out this video of the 5th graders!

Much love from all the Hastings.

New School Year / New Co-Workers

2009-01-21T15:59:00.007-05:00

Hello everyone,

Here at AMG, we're all excited about the start of a new school year. We thought we'd share a few pictures with you from one of our schools during it's first few weeks of 2009. These are pictures of the pre-school and kindergarten children with their teachers outside during recess.

As we mentioned earlier, the Dennett family is now living here in Guatemala. Brian will be assuming responsibility of the financial areas of the ministry and is already getting involved in many of these areas....as well as a being involved with a few other activities! (look closely to find him in the bottom photo)

We're thankful for the Lord's provision in allowing us to labor alongside our friends. Please pray for the Dennett's as they adjust to life here. They have 5 children ages 2 to 13...and a baby due in May!

Have a great day!

Praying for the President???

2009-01-15T09:50:00.009-05:00

" I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."

I Timothy 2:1-4

Happy New Year from all the Hastings!

We haven't blogged in a little while, sometimes the time just gets away from us. There's a lot going on here with AMG Guatemala with everyone returning to work, all of our ministry sites re-opening for a new year, thousands of children returning to AMG's schools and daycare centers to start a new school year, the Dennett family being here and working along side us (more about that soon!) and many other things.

This morning I read an article in the news from the Guatemala Times (below) that I thought I'd share with you. Please know up front that this is not to agree or disagree with any politicial opinions or viewpoints, just to help those of you who are interested to understand some more about where Guatemala is as a a country. Many people ask about how things are in Guatemala, so I thought this might help. The article does a good job of overviewing several of the challenges and issues that are present here and how the current administration is trying to deal with them.

As I read the article, I was reminded of the bible verse above from Paul's writings to Timothy. And I realized I don't make enough time to pray for the President of Guatemala, or the President or President-elect of the US. The verse clearly states that we should pray for them and other leaders that have authority over us, and that God may somehow use that to draw people to Himself.

So much attention is being paid right now in the US to the changing of the Presidents. The current President needs our prayers, and the new President needs our prayers. Agree or disagree with them, we are still commanded to pray for them.

Guatemala - Today is the anniversary of the Government of Alvaro Colom. He has been in power in Guatemala for one year.
No one government can please all sectors of society; no one government can solve the problems of a country in one year.

This government has some particularities that are worth analyzing.

President Colom made the social agenda and the much needed help for the poorest of the poor his priority.
The policies implemented are a short term solution for a long term problem, but at least he is keeping people from starvation for the moment.
His policies in education and health are well intentioned; there has been progress in certain important aspects. In Guatemala's history, education and health have never received the required amounts in the national budget to satisfy the growing demands. The historic deficit of investment in these two sectors are a financial challenge of enormous proportions for this government and any other that will follow.
So, when will Guatemala ever catch up and satisfy the demands in health and education? When the powerful sectors of the society decide that it is the priority for the development of the nation. So far this has not happened.
The increase in violence, mainly caused by the invasion of narcos into the country form Mexico and the consequent infiltration of every sector of society and government, has complicated the security challenge that this government inherited.
Security was not the priority of this government but it will have to be. Otherwise all other government programs will not bare fruit and will always be overshadowed by the insecurity of the nation.
For President Colom it must be very difficult to feel that his social agenda is not appreciated, he is after all the first Guatemalan President who made the alleviation of poverty his number one agenda.
However imperfect his social programs have been in their implementation and financial transparency, so far he is the only Guatemalan president who has even tried to reach the poorest of the poor in his first year of office.
Bad luck for this government that the world financial crisis hit last year and the narcos decided to invade Guatemala all at the same time.
Regarding the so called "war on drugs" and the violence it brings, we have looked, researched and investigated to find a country where this war has actually been won. We couldn't find one single country.
Plan Colombia has failed after 30 years and billions and billions of dollars. Plan Mexico has failed, and not only failed, but Mexico is on the brink of collapsing as a state. Afghanistan is producing more poppies then ever, regardless of US policies and the war.
In fact the whole war on drug policy implemented by the US, who creates the biggest demand on drugs, has completely and utterly failed, inside and outside of the US.
If President Colom is to fight the war on drugs, where are the new ideas? Where are the successful models that can be copied?
Just to do more of the same, will bring the same result: cero. That would be insane.
To use the military to provide security for the nation means to give them a huge amount of resources and power. That will secure a repetition of the cycle of empowerment of the military and paramilitary structures that will eventually govern Guatemala again, officially or unofficially.
The Police forces, the court system and all issues related to enforcing the law and justice in Guatemala have suffered from chronically undernourished budgets and government support. A weak justice system benefits a lot of people, especially officials from previous governments and power brokers who could be investigated and brought to justice, if the justice system worked.
The state of Guatemala is currently in a very fragile condition. Some say: if Colom can't handle the problems he shouldn't have run for president.
The issue here is, there is nobody who has a magic solution to improve the condition of our chronic structural problems.
What we do know is that a weak state benefits a lot of sectors who want to expand their power and influence. Who are those sectors: the military, the paramilitary, the traditional power structure of CACIF that is currently fragmented because of internal power struggles, the narcos certainly want more power, and organized crime also wants more power.
What are the feasible options for the current government to fight violence and to strengthen the justice system in Guatemala in the short term and in the long term? There are many proposals, each little power aspiring sector sits in their own little corner and fabricates their own plan according to their own personal agendas. Everybody has a plan, everybody wants' to be the protagonist, the hero.Which plan is the best, which plan is feasible?
President Colom has called upon all sectors of Guatemalan society to work together on this challenge. The question is, can each sector put their own personal agendas aside for awhile and pursue a common national agenda for the sake of all Guatemalans and the future of our children? We do hope so. We need an all Star team, a security "dream team", no matter what their party affiliations are or their background or their status. We need the best of the best, and we need them to work together for a common purpose. The alternative will be a failed state and then we all loose.

And if you want to read a good sermon about how we should pray as Christians, go to this link

So remember to pray today for those in authority over you.

Love from all the Hastings.

Year End Blessings

2008-12-16T11:00:00.023-05:00

Here at AMG Guatemala the end of the year is a busy time. We thought we would share some of our year end events with you:

Vacation Bible School: During the month of November, we hosted Vacation Bible School at our schools and childcare centers. Our theme this year was "learning about missionaries around the world". The children enjoyed Bible stories, games, videos, songs.....everything that makes VBS such a fun time!

Fun and Games:

VBS Teen Chorus:

Lunch Time!

Praying together....well, most of them!

VBS Crafts to take home!

Is this fun or what???

Bundles of Love: As we wrote about in our last entry, we distributed Bundles of Love to over 7,000 children throughout our 27 childcare centers last week. What a great way to end the year for the children and their families!

Here's some pictures from our time at one of our childcare centers, Amparo. (just had a new roof installed!)

Liliam, one of our central office workers, giving out shoes:

Always paperwork!

Thank you, sponsor, for my new shoes:

Bob with a mother and daughter:

Convivio: This is the Spanish slang word for "Christmas Party!" and this past Friday we hosted our annual Christmas Party for our 200 employees who work for AMG here in Guatemala City. This year we decided to bus our employees an hour west to our Camp Canaan facility and have our party there. We had a great time playing games, sharing in fellowship, enjoying a meal together, and hearing a wonderful message about "wisdom" from God´s word.

Every center represented had to make up a "cheer" for their team:

Most of the crowd cheering for the "cheers":

We played games - this one was called "apartments and condominiums"....

Fruit baskets for all the employees:

We all enjoyed a meal together:

Pastor Dan Anderson sharing a message.
(don't let the gringo look fool you, he's as Latin as they come!)

We gave out service awards.
Here's Robin giving an award to Otto, one of our supervisors:

And here we are giving an award to Orfa, our Camp Director,

for 30 YEARS of service in AMG Guatemala!

Thanks for letting us share our "end of the year" with all of you!

May the Lord reveal His great love to many this Christmas season, and may you and yours have a wonderful, blessed Christmas!

Much love from all the Hastings family.

You Are Good

2008-12-04T15:51:00.004-05:00

Recently, I heard a song entitled "You are Good". I'm sure it's probably been around for a while but it would be an understatement to say that these days I don't exactly "keep up" with the music world.

I was touched by the words, hope you are too. If you want to listen along, you can go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9XyoLjFLOo

When the sun starts to rise and I open my eyes

You are good, so good

In the heat of the day with each stone that I lay

You are good, so good

With every breath I take in I'll tell you I'm grateful again

When the moon climbs high before each kiss goodnight

You are good

When the road starts to turn around each bend I've learned

You are good so good

And when somebody's hand holds me up helps me stand

You are so good

With every breath I take in I'll tell You I'm grateful again

'Cause its more than enough just to know I am loved

And You are good

So how can I thank You what can I bring

What can these poor hands lay at the feet of a King

I'll sing You a love song it's all that I have

To tell You I'm grateful for holding my life in Your Hands

When it's dark and it's cold and I can't feel my soul

You are so good

When the world is gone gray and the rain's here to stay

You are still good

So with every breath I take in I'll tell You I am grateful again

And the storm may swell even then it is well and

You are good

So how can I thank You what can I bring

What can these poor hands lay at the feet of a King

I'll sing You this love song it's all that I have

To tell You I'm grateful for holding my life in Your hands

Good reminder.

Ups and Downs

2008-11-19T16:04:00.015-05:00

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves: we are afflicted, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed"

II Corinthians 4:7-9

If we were all honest, we would admit that this life is often one of "ups and downs". As Christians, we have so many resources to deal with these "ups and downs", but still life can often feel like a roller coaster ride - smooth and steady uphill one moment, diving down and twisting in the next! Wouldn't you agree?

The ups: Here at AMG Guatemala we are gearing up for our annual Bundles of Love distribution. This is always a special time of year when we give each of the sponsored children in all 27 of our childcare centers a Christmas gift - a new uniform for next year, a backback, new shoes and school supplies....oh, and usually a little candy as well! All of the children come with their parents during the second week of December to receive their "Bundles". It's a great opportunity to meet with the parents, share the good news of Jesus, and just enjoy seeing the children receive their gifts. Please pray that many around the world would hear about the true meaning of Christmas through AMG's Bundles of Love distribution program.

You can read about how AMG International is involved in this program around the world in this month's online newsletter at:

http://www.amginternational.org/downloads/AMGnews1108.pdf

(there's also an article about two little boys here in Guatemala that we had previously blogged about if you scroll down once you open the link)

Another "up" - As a family, we recently had the opportunity to travel to New Hampshire to attend our home church's annual missions conference. The theme was "Mighty to Save" and the theme verse was

"… He saved them for the sake of His name, that He might make His power known." Psalm 106:8

It was a wonderful time to visit with family and friends, experience love and care from our home church, and to be spiritually refreshed and encouraged. Thank you Fellowship Bible Church!! Definitely an "UP" for us all!!

Here's a few pictures of our kids and their cousins during an impromptu photo shoot during one of our family get togethers. Even though the foliage was at its end, we still enjoyed the beauty that this time of year in the northeast brings:

Bob's sister Holly and our neice Sarah

Bethany and her cousins Jenny & Rachel
Sisters.....
Adam & his cousin Nancy (the photographer!)
Melody & her cousin Carolyn
Adam, Mel & Bethany

Today also brought a "down". This morning when I came to the office I learned that our Las Vistas School had been broken into last night. For the past year or so, we have raised funds and saved to be able to open a computer lab in this school. Finally, we purchased and installed the computers in October. The staff and children of the school were so excited to have the new computer lab. Eleven of the computers were stolen. We won't share all the details but today has been filled with meeting with the authorities from our contracted security company, writing and filing police reports, etc. It's hard to understand who would do this but it certainly is a sign of the times. Guatemala continues to experience a high rate of crime and it always increases around the holidays. We would appreciate your prayer that this would get resolved and that we would be able to replace the computers before the start of the new school year in January.

So, we "rejoice" and at the same time are "perplexed" (as the verse above states). Please pray with us that as Christians we would always be able to keep the proper perspective in dealing with all of life's "ups and downs". After all, it's all about God, His love and aswesome power...and His glory. He alone is "mighty to save", we just have the privilege of being part of it all.

To God be the glory!

The Hastings Family

Family in Ministry

2008-10-15T10:55:00.004-04:00

Involvement in Ministry

Often times people ask how the rest of the family is able to be involved in the ministry here at AMG Guatemala. I thought I'd take just a minute to let you know.

Robin has the opportunity to be involved on a regular basis and helps out in the following areas:

English Program - Robin works in our English Program once each week. The English teachers asked if Robin would spend time with them to help them improve their speaking skills so this year Robin has been meeting with them each Thursday afternoon so they can ask questions, review grammar and every day conversation skills, etc.

Translation - In the past few months, Robin has also been helping out with translation of sponsored children's letters. This gives her the opportunity to interact with our central office staff on a regular basis and also allows her to improve her Spanish.

All three of the Hastings girls also help when we have teams. Of course if the girls have school then their availability is limited, but they always love the opportunity to work with visiting teams whenever possible.

Here's a few pictures of the girls helping out with one of our recent teams at an AMG child care center here in Guatemala City:

Oh, and even though Adam lives in the states now, he also loved to help out with teams when he lived here:

And yes, from time to time I get to roll up my sleeves and help out as well! :)

Have a great day.

More News!

2008-08-29T12:59:00.013-04:00

Hello Friends,

No! The biggest news of the day isn't that John McCain picked a woman for the VP position! It's that AMG had their annual Bible Parade today! That's right, once again the students of AMG marched through the streets of the neighborhoods of Guatemala City showing what they have learned about this year in their Bible classes. We're not going to talk a lot about the activity as we want to post a lot of pictures so you can get a firsthand idea of all that took place this morning.

Matthew 19:14
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Psalm 150

Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" ...When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"

John 11

One of AMG's pick-up trucks doubling as a "float" in the parade:

Parable of the Lost Sheep

Luke 15

....more sheep

The armor of the Christian

Ephesians 6

Learning the books and divisions

of the Old Testament...

....each student was a different book

The Wedding at Cana

John 2

Jesus turning the water into wine

John 2:1-12

Magale, one of our Bible teachers, explaining the different themes

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

Seño Carmen, our 3rd grade teacher, with her students

Ronny, our Maintenance Supervisors, receiving

"faith" (strawberries)...

...and I received a big dose of "goodness" (watermelon)

Some of our employees watching the parade...

...and off they went into the streets with all the parents following them.

Thanks for sharing in our parade today.

Together in Christ,

All the employees of AMG Guatemala.

Two Very Special Cases

2008-08-22T11:37:00.015-04:00

"this is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world"

James 1:26

Hello everyone,

This verse from James is a challenge to us all. In our world today there is unfortunately an epidemic of broken families and uncared for children.

Often times we are exposed to examples of some of these situations in the ministry. Today we would like to tell you about two little boys, Juanito and Brian. Below you will find two reports from Alex, our Director at the Las Vistas school. We want to share these with you to help you understand the difficult circumstances that so many families experience in their lives here in Guatemala. Through Alex's interest in both of these little boy's lives, AMG has been able to enroll them in our school, help the family with some of their expenses, and provide spiritual and physical care for them.

None of this would be possible without child sponsors. Thank you to so many who already sponsor children in our programs. If anyone would like to consider sponsorship, you can see pictures of children here in Guatemala who are in need of sponsors right now at this link:

http://www.amginternational.org/www/docs/185.754

Right now we are in need of sponsors for more than 150 children!

Report #1 from Alex - Juan Alfredo Lux Vicente - "Juanito"

Can you imagine an 8 year old boy who cannot play soccer with his friends, cannot run, cannot play hide and seek, really cannot do much of anything.

I would like to introduce you to a little boy, Juan Alfredo Lux Vicente – “Juanito”. He is one of our new children enrolled at our school in Las Vistas, located just outside Guatemala City. Juanito has a very unusual circumstance with his health. He was born with his heart located outside of the normal chest cavity. In 2001, he had surgery here in Guatemala City to relocate his heart, but the doctors were not able to put it back into its proper place. Believe it or not, Juanito’s heart is now located just “below” his thorax. (for those of us who are non-medical people, his heart is in the soft tissue area just below the inverted “V” that you feel in the middle of your chest).
Due to his condition, Juanito has several complications relative to his health. The first one, and by far the most serious, is that his heart is unprotected. Believe it or not, you can feel Juanitos heart, and you can actually see it beating from the outside! Because of this Juanito cannot live like a normal boy. He cannot exert himself. He cannot have any extra physical activity as he cannot risk falling or being hit in the area where his heart is.
Juanito has poor circulation as a result of all of this. His heart only operates at about 50% capacity. This is noticeable in his color, especially the color of his fingernails and extremities.
He is on daily medication that our ministry helps his very poor family buy each month. They live in a very small house that does not have electricity or running water. Juanito walks about a mile each way to attend AMG’s school each day.

In this pictures you can see where Juanito’s heart relocation was performed:

Juanito's heart is now located just a few inches above his belly button. As you can imagine, his heart is completely without protection.

Report #2 from Alex - "Brian" Israel Avila - 11 years old

One day earlier this year I noticed a young boy hanging around outside of our school. I began talking with him and found out his name was Brian. Brian seemed to be a very nice young boy but he did not walk properly. He was wearing some type of brace and it appeared he had something wrong with his legs. As I talked with Brian, I learned that he had been this way for his whole life. While Brian didn't completely understand his disability, it was apparent that getting around was very difficult for him.

Brian told me that he did not attend school so I took the opportunity to go home with him and talk with his mom one day. Upon meeting her, I discovered that she is a single mother as her husband left her several years ago. She was a very sweet woman who was trying to do the best to raise her son. She explained that Brian's problem was a broken bone in his hip that the doctors thought was the result of an injury she had when she was pregnant with him. She also explained that the doctors told her that they could correct the problem with surgery but that they could never afford to pay for this.

I invited Brian to enroll in our school and his mom agreed. Following this, I spoke to my supervisors at AMG's central office and petitioned for help for the funds necessary to help Brian receive the much needed surgery. Fortunately, we were able to help from our "Medical Fund" and in June Brian had his surgery! The doctors believe it was successful and Brian is now in a long period of recuperation and therapy. Below are some pictures of Brian post-surgery in his very humble home.

Inside the home:

Brian showing the brace he wore:

The kitchen:

Brian's scar from the surgery:

Brian's mom is unable to work during this time. She sometimes does laundry for people for a few dollars per day. We have purchased food for the family, will continue to help with their medical expenses, and some very generous donors from the US have helped to pay the rent of their home.

A few weeks ago, AMG's leadership and some visitors from the US came to visit our school. Mr. Hastings asked if it would be possible to visit Brian as he had just recently had his surgery, so we all went to his home. Brian's mom could not contain her emotion. Through her tears, she told us "I knew I could never pay for Brian's surgery, so I have prayed every day that the Lord would provide a way. Now, He has provided so much more! I can only thank God for his faithfulness in providing more than I even asked for".

Brian's mom (far right) with the visitors from the states:

Will you join us in praying for Juanito and Brian? They both still face many challenges in their lives.

Here's a picture of Alex. I know he would also appreciate your prayers as he continues to labor in the ministry.

Thanks for taking the time to share in the ministry of AMG Guatemala.

Market Day

2008-08-12T16:42:00.004-04:00

Throughout the year, we have different events and activities in our childcare centers and schools to help teach the children different things. One of our favorite events happens every July and is called Market Day. Each of the children bring in small things to "sell", everyone dresses in typical Guatemalan clothes and play money is distributed to everyone so the buying and selling process can take place.

As you can see, everyone has a great time testing their skills in the market. The children learn how to count money and how to talk to customers, and the rest of us have a great time buying and spending time with the kids.

Wouldn't you like to buy some apples??

August is "Bible" month...we'll post about that a little later.

Lightning

2008-08-11T17:28:00.002-04:00

Hello all,

Well, we have a new experience to tell you about. While Robin and the girls were in the states in July, we had a few very violent storms. During one of them, our friends and neighbors called me to say that there was a few lightning strikes very close to us. When I got home that night our phones were dead and several items were "fried" including two phones, a phone charger, our DVD player and a few light fixtures. Our little dog, Chica, was very glad to see me that night! I'm surprised she wasn't "fried" from fright!

Anyway, I replaced a few items and went on with things. After the girls returned from their trip, Bethany took me out on our upstairs patio one afternoon and showed me a hole in the side of our house. Evidently it was our house that was struck by lightning! There were little pieces of cement all over our patio from the strike. I guess we are fortunate that more things were not wrecked that day...and that no one was hurt!

We are all back together as a family now, a much better arrangement! Melody is in her 4th week of classes at the music institute that she is attending and is learning a lot! Studying in Spanish is a bit of a challenge but so far she is doing very well. Bethany will start the 8th grade one week from today. Where has the summer gone?
Robin is on the school board this year at the Christian Academy of Guatemala where Bethany attends, is helping here at the mission in the English classes and will begin helping next week in the Child Sponsorship department as well.

Thank you for all your continued prayers and support.

Much love from all the Hastings

More about AMG Guatemala - Cubulco

2008-07-21T17:40:00.014-04:00

AMG Guatemala - Cubulco Ministries

Many of you know that AMG Guatemala operates Christian childcare centers and schools in different locations around Guatemala. And while this comprises a large percentage of our ministry here, there are several other parts to the ministry. Today I'd like to share about another part of AMG's ministry in Guatemala. For the past 20 years, in the remote town of Cubulco, located north of Guatemala City (four hours by car), AMG has been ministering to thousands of people each year. You may recall part of AMG's worldwide mission statement - "to express the compassion of Christ as the Lord gives us opportunity and means to do so".

The ministry in Cubulco, which is really four-fold, is one of the ways that this is done.

1. Señorita Elena Hospital - located in the center of this town of 5,000 people with thousands more located in the surrounding remote towns and villages, AMG's facility serves as the only hospital in this geographic area. It offers general health care services, emergency services and 24 hour 7 day a week operating hours. More than 15,000 patients a year are seen at the hospital.

Our staff includes four full time doctors, a team of nurses, a radiologist, lab technician, a pharmacist and several others who have support and administrative roles. A few times each year, we host visiting surgical teams to help perform needed surgeries. By year end 2008, we will also be starting a part time surgical program to help fill in the gaps when surgeries are needed at other times of the year.

For nearly two decades, the Otten family(John, Connie and 5 children) lived in Cubulco and John served as our administrator for the hospital and other ministries. In May of 2007, after their years of exemplary service, the Ottens moved back to Canada, their home country. Since December of 2007 a national couple, Julio and Veronica Cárdenas(along with their son and daughter), now live and serve as leaders of our ministry. (pictured in top photo)

Here are some more photos of the hospital and staff:

Four of the nurses with newborn babies:

The night before our visit, twins were born at the hospital. Two girls! Ruth, from our central office, enjoying the newborns.

Front of Hospital/Waiting Area

2. Nutrition Center - alongside the hospital facility is our Nutrition Center. Each year malnourished children are enrolled into our program along with their mothers or caregivers. The enrolled children are fed nutritious meals and together with their moms are taught many things. The moms are trained in how to properly feed and care for their children in order for them to overcome their malnutrition and other health issues. Each time they come to the center, they are taught things like:

- how to prepare healthy and nutritous meals

- how to properly care for their children and home

- how to grow some of their own food at home

- how to be a godly wife and mother

The staff at the Nutrition Center also conducts home visits each month to check on the conditions of each home.

Here are some pictures from the Nutrition Center:

Celestina and Maria, employees of the Nutrition Center

Mothers assisting in food preparation

Some of the prepared vegetables

One of the moms with her 3 year old daughter, Evelyn. Evelyn came to the program at 2 years old, very underweight and prone to sickness. She has gained 8 pounds and is doing much better.

3. Agriculture/Livestock Program - AMG owns a large tract of land in another part of Cubulco. Using this land, AMG hosts an agriculture program for local farmers. Each of them rents one or more "cuerda" of land (12 meters squared) and is taught how to properly farm their land. Currently we have 20 renters. Each one attends to their land and also attends a training once each month given by our staff. A "model" plot is located at the entrance, is cared for by our employees and is used as an example to the other farmers. One plot is now also used to teach the moms from the Nutrition Center how to grow certain types of crops. They care for their crops and the food is used to prepare meals at the center and also for them to take home to cook for their families.

Also, several portions of our land are rented out to cattle owners to keep their livestock. Currently, we have 34 animals that graze on the property. Here's a few pictures of the property:

Sign at entrance

Working the crops

Along with the above programs, one of our employees travels to 7 different rural towns in the mountains surrounding the Cubulco area. He meets with local families, vaccinates their animals, helps them with their crops, and shares Bible devotions with them as well.

William, our agriculture promoter

I'd like to finish the post by thanking the Otten Family for their years of dedicated service to the Lord here in Guatemala with AMG in Cubulco. Many of the programs and ministries described above were developed and implemented by them. They lived in Cubulco and were a powerful testimony for the Gospel for many years. One day they will undoubtedly hear the Lord say "well done, good and faithful servants".

The Otten Family several years ago

Key Word Study Bible - AMG

2008-07-16T12:07:00.002-04:00

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

II Timothy 3:16-17

Hello everyone,

Well, here we are in the middle of July with more than half of another year gone!
I rarely make recommendations, especially on our blog, but I want to confidently recommend something to you.

Dictionary.com says to recommend means:
1. to present as worthy of confidence, acceptance, use, etc.; commend; mention favorably: to recommend an applicant for a job; to recommend a book.

Well, I would like to do this with the latest release Study Bible from AMG Publishers. (did you even know that AMG had a publishing company?)

This new version of the Hebrew-Greek Study Bible would be an excellent investment for anyone. For years, long before I worked with AMG in missions, I have used an older version of this bible, and have always loved all of the study helps and original language helps that it offers. During many a sermon I have found myself flipping to the back section of this bible to find the definition of the original Greek or Hebrew word to help understand what was being taught in the passage. The nice thing about this bible is that anyone, from a new believer to a student of Hebrew or Greek, can use the references and study helps to further their knowledge and understanding.

The newest version has even more study notes from both AMG Founder Dr. Spiros Zodhiates as well as Dr. Warren Baker, senior editor of AMG Publishers. You can follow this link, then click on one of the bibles to get more information about the study bible and these two men:

http://www.amgpublishers.com/

I recently ordered the NAS version. I have had such a hard time giving up my old version that has been my "staple" bible for so many years - you know what I mean, it has years of hand written notes and I can find verses or passages based on where they are on the page. But I am really enjoying the new one also and am finding myself using it more and more.

So, that's my sales pitch for the day. After spending so many years in sales, my wife tells me that I can turn anything into a sales pitch! So I try to be careful, but I couldn't resist with this one.

May the Lord teach you many things as you study His word!

Sacrifice and the Christian Life

2008-06-26T11:32:00.004-04:00

As many of you know, part of AMG International's worldwide ministry includes a publishing company. Each month, AMG publishes a magazine called Pulpit Helps. www.pulpithelps.com
In this month's issue, I found the following article entitled "Sacrifice and the Christian Life". I enjoyed reading it and thought I would share it with you all on our blog. I hope it speaks to you as it did to me:

Sacrifice and the Christian Life
By Justin Lonas 5/9/08

The Christian life has always included struggles against sin. Even Paul confessed to this (Romans 7:15). We understand that our sin natures are not completely cast aside until we die or the Lord returns, and, as such, that we are still capable of disobedience. This fact does not absolve us of the responsibility to do God’s will, however, and certainly doesn’t preclude God from delivering us from our sins.

In 1 Peter 4:1-2, Peter puts an interesting spin on our fight against the sin nature: “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

From this, it is clear that contemporary notions of the “victorious Christian life” miss the point entirely. Our task is not to “beat” the sin in our lives, but rather to focus on our calling and allow the Lord to handle our sanctification. Peter’s point appears to be that when we take on the sufferings of Christ (contextually, persecution for the faith), we cease from sin precisely because suffering sharpens our focus—the things of the world fade quickly under such circumstances.

The larger themes of Peter’s letter (indeed, of the New Testament) are that suffering comes to Christians for the greater glory of God, and that it usually takes two forms—to wake us from our selfish desires and bring us to God’s will (as C.S. Lewis said, “Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”) or as proof that we are indeed following the Lord (1 Peter 4:12-19). Peter’s goal in telling of the unavoidability of suffering is to motivate us to living sacrificially for Christ.
The concept of a sacrificial life that was so central to the teaching of Christ and the apostles is severely lacking in the Western church today. We are not called to be blessed, to live victoriously, or to focus on inward spirituality. Rather we are called to take up the cross (Luke 9:23, Matthew 16:24), to offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2), and to allow Christ to determine our actions (Philippians 2:5). Simply put, if our Lord and Savior would give His own life for us, why would we not give our all for Him? As Bonhoeffer put it, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”

What is meant by sacrifice? In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word zebach (literally “slaughter”) is translated as “sacrifice”. This is clearly rooted in the Jewish system of animal sacrifice for atonement, and speaks of finality (something sacrificed cannot be reclaimed). This same word is also used figuratively, as in Psalm 51:16-17 “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” It is clear, then, that God’s desire is for a life laid down with no reservations and devoted completely to Him.

In the New Testament, the Greek word for sacrifice is thusia, which has connotations of complete incineration (also, obviously implying finality). This word is used by Christ when he speaks of His own sacrifice, and throughout the epistles to mean that which we offer freely to God. Such sacrifices can take many forms. They can be physical gifts to the ministry (Philippians 4:18), expressions of gratitude through worship (giving up the idea that we provide for ourselves, as in Hebrews 13:15), the work we do in the Spirit (1 Peter 2:5), or the forsaking of the way of the world to be like Christ (Ephesians 5:2).

Therefore, through the Bible, we see sacrifice commanded by God as a reminder of guilt and a foreshadowing of His ultimate sacrifice at the cross. By the time of Christ, sacrifice was nothing more than a hollow ceremony—what God really wanted (and, for that matter, always had desired) was submission and loyalty. After Christ, sacrifice takes on the connotation of laying down one’s life to follow Him.

Spiritual disciplines such as fasting, giving, serving, etc. are all tied to the central idea of sacrifice. They bring some level of discomfort to our physical lives, and remove our focus from our own desires so as to strengthen and regenerate our spiritual lives. God’s strength is perfected in our weakness, this will always be the case whether we acknowledge and pursue weakness or He brings us to our knees through suffering. To follow Christ has always meant sacrifice—the disciples left their nets (and their livelihoods), forsaking all to be with Him. Jesus demanded of the rich young ruler to sever his soul from his possessions.

Many believers throughout history have understood and embraced this truth, but the idea that the Christian life is not about us or our comfort is largely lost on today’s Church. We have to stop and examine the myriad ways in which the culture around us has permeated and corrupted our understanding of the faith. The process is so subtle and so complete that we may not even be aware of it just as the fish does not think itself wet. The way out of our humanistic, materialistic, hedonistic mire is through the sacrifice and suffering that Christ calls us to.

That, the scriptures repeatedly tell us, is how God purifies us and prepares us to do His will.

Todos Podemos Mejorar

2008-06-26T10:53:00.006-04:00

We can all improve!

For the past year, this has been our training theme here at AMG. We have shared in the past a little about our training program for our employees. This year as part of that training our Niñeras (preschool teachers and helpers) have the opportunity to participate in a training program to receive certification for their jobs. This certification program will be attended by 30 of our Niñeras this year here in Guatemala City. For the program they attend classes 20 hours each month for six months. Two weeks ago, 15 of our Niñeras completed the training and graduated. Not only will this better equip them for their work, but also helps them to build their credentials for the future.

During the graduation, one of the dignitaries who spoke said this about AMG:

"I want to thank AMG International for the work they are doing with the children here in Guatemala, not only here in the city but all around the country. You are changing Guatemalan generations and I want to encourage the organization to continue in their work. Thank you AMG!"

Congratulation ladies!

Recent Storms

2008-06-23T16:05:00.006-04:00

Dear Friends,

Here in Guatemala, rainy season has arrived with a much stronger presence than usual. First, it was kicked off a few weeks ago by tropical despression "Alma" which blanketed several countries in Central America with several days of heavy rains. It didn't take long before the ground was saturated and we began to experience the first "deslaves", or mudslides, of the season. Once rainy season begins here in Guatemala (usually end of May, beginning of June) it rains nearly every afternoon. This past week, we had several days of downpours in the afternoons and there were a few days of high winds as well. This resulted in a tragedy here at the Guatemala City dump as well as some destruction at our AMG central office. Please take the time to look at the following link from the news so you will understand what takes place at Central America's largest dump here in the city. The link is: http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=158162

There is also a video at this link to give you a look at what transpired. Several people who make their living picking trash that they can resell lost their lives when the rains caused a landslide at the dump. The picture below shows you how these people do this. Note the man in the center of the photo amidst all the trash.

During the same day, the rain and wind caused a tree to fall at our central office. We have a parking area where we keep several of our mission vehicles and where a few of our employees who are fortunate to own cars also park during the day. When the tree fell, two of our employee's cars were crushed, as was our carport. The photos below show some of the destruction.

This is the carport that was destroyed when the tree fell:

The next two photos are of Ruth's car, she is our office administrator.

And this is Alfredo's car. He is one of our maintenance workers.

Please pray for Ruth and Alfredo. Both of their cars are destroyed. We are working with our insurance companies and theirs, but it does not look like much will be paid out for these losses.

Storms are part of our lives and affect us in so many different ways. They certainly remind us of the power of God. How important it is for us to trust the Lord to help us through the storms. He is always faithful.

We would appreciate you praying for these things.

Much love in Christ,

The Hastings

Melody's Graduation

2008-06-01T15:14:00.019-04:00

Melody's High School Graduation

May 24, 2008

Hello Everyone,

Often times we share things about the ministry on our blog - blessings, challenges, prayer requests, etc. Today we'd like to share about a personal blessing. Last Saturday our daughter Melody graduated from the Christian Academy of Guatemala. Since we moved here in 2004, Mel attended CAG for her 4 years of high school. CAG is a private Christian school with about 250 students that caters mostly to MK's but also has a population of Guatemalan students as well as students from other countries who's families live here. In Mel's graduating class of 22 there were students from 9 different countries. What a blessing it has been for our kids to attend a school like CAG that has a Christian perspective and such an international representation. CAG is an ACSI school (Asssociation of Christian Schools International) and classes are mostly taught in English but all of the students learn Spanish and of course students from different countries also speak their own languages. So it's not uncommon when "hanging around" at CAG to hear kids talking in Spanish, English, Korean and other languages.

Melody's graduation class: We did it!!!

Mel with her friend Gaby, class Valedictorian. Melody, Adam and Jesse.

As many of you know, Melody has a love for music. She had the privilege of singing during the graduation ceremony. She chose to sing a Nicole Nordeman song called "Every Season".

You may be wondering what the next year will bring for Melody. After much discussion and prayer about her future, Mel has decided to attend a music academy here in Guatemala - Instituto CanZion. CanZion was founded in 1994 and is a Christian music institute that offers a 2 year program in music studies. Melody is going to see how the first year goes and then decide from there. She will be studying in Spanish which will definitely be a challenge for her. She and Robin and 2 friends are starting language school again tomorrow and will study full time for the month of June to help Melody prepare for studying in Spanish. Her classes at CanZion begin on July 14th. We'd sure appreciate your prayers for a smooth transition and for her Spanish.

Each year all of the seniors are given 2 pages in the yearbook to display pictures and to write a "will". I'd like to close with the last few lines of Melody's will, written to her Lord and Savior:

"My Sweet Jesus; You are my life, my strength, and my song; I truly would be nothing without You and the amazing love You've shown me. Everything I do and say is for You...and I pray that You are pleased with what I've given You, even though I know it will never be enough. I love You...unto You be all the glory".

La Florida Update - Finished and Open

2008-05-07T16:41:00.018-04:00

May 7th, 2008

Welcome to AMG's childcare center "Maranatha"!! Since December, this center has been undergoing a complete reconstruction. The old building was torn down in December (see older posts) and today the new building was innaugurated during a service held inside of the childcare center. Here are some pictures of the innaguration and the new center:

Gathering for the service:

A time of praise and worship. Some of you may recognize the drummer - Alex, the Director from the Last Vistas School!

The ribbon ceremony:

Our Director, Luis, thanking everyone for their hard work.

New classrooms...

...and bathrooms

And a new patio as a play area on the roof!

Everything new!

This banner showing AMG's mission statement was hanging front and center during the ceremony and will stay to serve as a reminder of our work in the ministry:

"To give each person an opportunity to hear and respond to a clear presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ".

Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and support. If you'd like, you can start praying for the new San Juan childcare center. This childcare center in western Guatemala is in a small, rented house and we are praying about relocating it and building a new facility. We have a piece of land and have plans and an estimate to build a new center with capacity for a lot more children. Would you pray with us about this?

Child Sponsorship - Does it Make a Difference??

2008-05-07T15:48:00.005-04:00

Meet Sandra Elias and Nidia Hernandez:

As most of you know, AMG International has a large child sponsorship program, both here in Guatemala and around the world. Sometimes we are asked "Does child sponsorship really make a difference?" Well, for the few who have the opportunity to visit an AMG ministry location and possibly the home of their sponsored child, the answer is obvious. But for others, it may not be that clear.

As AMG has been in existence in Guatemala for more than 32 years now, we have the opportunity to look into the lives of sponsored children who are now young adults. Since arriving here in 2004, we have met sponsored children who are now doctors, engineers, nurses, accountants, full time ministry workers, God-fearing christian parents ...almost every type of career or calling that you can imagine. For example, right here in AMG Guatemala's central office, we have two examples of young ladies who were sponsored children here in two of AMG's childcare centers and are now productive young women working in our child sponsorship and accoutning departments. Recently, we interviewed them about their experience as sponsored children.

First, some information about the two young ladies:

Sandra Elias: Sandra is 20 years old and works as a Bilingual Secretary in our Child Sponsorship Department. Sandra is responsible for the administration of all of our new children including communicating with our 27 schools and childcare centers about new children, entering the biographical information into our system and corresponding with our sponsorship partners in both the US and Holland. Sandra also helps with translating children's letters.

Sandra came to AMG's Verbena school when she was 8 years old. She graduated from High School in 2006 as a Bilingual Secretary and came to do her practical work here in our central office. A position opened up during that same time and Sandra was an excellent worker so she was hired on at the conclusion of her practical studies. Now Sandra is 20 years old and has been with AMG for more than 12 years as both a sponsored child and an employee.

Nidia Hernandez: Nidia came to AMG's Amparo childcare center at the age of 3 as part of the preschool program. Nidia came from a very poor family and they needed a safe place for Nidia to spend time during the day. Nidia was a sponsored child all the way through her High School years and also needed a place to do her practical work to finish High School. As her "career" choice was accounting, she was placed in our accounting department as the accounts payable assistant. Like Sandra, Nidia learned very quickly and was also hired when a position became available. Nidia also began her studies at the University, 5 nights a week and on Saturdays, studying Accounting and Auditing. Three years later, she has held three different jobs in our accounting department and recently was named as our head Accountant. Now Nidia is 21 years old and has a total of 18 years with AMG!!

Here are some exerpts from our interview with them:

What is the Impact that AMG and child sponsorship has had on your life?

Sandra: The biggest impact in my life has been to see how God acts through others (sponsors) to help the most needy people here in Guatemala.

Now as an employee of the mission, how do you think you can influence the ministry of AMG in Guatemala?

Nidia: Well, before I was in charge of purchasing all of the goods and supplies for AMG’s schools and childcare centers, so for me I think the most important thing was to look for the best prices to buy all the things we need, so I could obtain the best product at a very good price to benefit our sponsored children. Now, I am the accountant in charge of 4 employees and responsible for all of the finances of AMG Guatemala. Now I need to be a good steward of all of the financial matters in order to help AMG minister to so many children.

Sandra: I think now that I am in the correspondence department, I am in touch with the letters and the biographical forms of the new children that begin attending AMG projects. So I think that doing my work well, entering the correct information and translating the letters well from the children to their sponsors is the best way I can contribute to this ministry of AMG, because now that I can see the effort of every sponsor in helping the children.

Nidia: Yes, and you know the sponsors are helping the kids that they don’t even know, and with the sponsors help, not only economically, but their prayers, specials gifts, etc; they make their lives very special.

What is the best time that you remember from when you were a student and sponsored child?

Sandra: Vacation Bible School, because we had a lot of different activities and we had a lot of fun and learned Bible stories about Jesus and his love.

Is there a teacher that you remember as an influence in your life?

Nidia: Well, she was not a teacher, she was the Social Worker at our center. Her name was Suzzette. when I came to know Jesus personally, she was the one who guided me and my family to a church and helped to care for all of us spiritually. I will never forget her.

Sandra: I do not remember any teacher, but the Counselors at Camp Canaan were definitively the people who changed my life through their spiritual guidance. I will always remember them, because they helped me to be near to God.

Did your families also benefit from your sponsorship?

Nidia: Yes. We prayed in our projects for our families, and they also received economical support. Also, the spiritual help has been so great.

To finish, is there anything else that you would like to say to sponsors?

Nidia: I hope they can know that it is worthy to invest in every child. I am a living example of what a blessing it can be. I know I would not be able to study without their help because my family is so poor. They never thought that I would have the opportunity to study, and now I am able to work and also pay for my college. For the ones who invested in my life, I know that I don't have any way to pay back what they have done, but there is a God in heaven who is going to reward everything they did for me.

Sandra: Yes, and the most important thing is that when they invest in our lives, they are changing the generations after us because now that I know the Lord and when I have a family they are going to know the Lord, too.

Thanks to all who sponsor children through the ministry of AMG International. If you'd like more information, follow this link: http://www.amginternational.org/www/docs/185

La Florida Construction Update

2008-04-11T16:23:00.011-04:00

La Florida Childcare Center, Guatemala City

Thought I would send a few update pictures from our La Florida Childcare Center construction project. (see post from March 11)

As you can see, the center is almost finished! Here's a few more pictures:

New windows....... and new classrooms.

New hallways.......and a new play area on the roof.

Pictures from the roof - the neighborhoods the kids come from.

And most importantly....the ones we're building the new center for!

The contractor said the building will be complete by the end of this month. We'll keep you updated.

Training - AMG Guatemala

2008-04-07T11:54:00.014-04:00

AMG International, Guatemala

"Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan, plead for the widow." Isaiah 1:17

Hello Everyone,

Here at AMG Guatemala, we have several training events for our employees throughout the year. Sometimes they are for specific groups of employees like our School/Childcare Center Directors, or our Bible Teachers, or our Central Office Staff, but four times each year we try to plan training for all 200 of the employees who work here in and around Guatemala City. These events usually start by covering broader topics that apply to all of our employees, and then sometimes they have break-0ut workshops that may offer training in specific areas.

This past Friday we hosted our second such event of 2008, and the subject of the event was the safety and care of the children that the Lord has entrusted us to. The all-day seminar was entitled "Learning to Care for Me - Prevention of Sexual Abuse Among Children". The first picture (above) is of a mural that hung on the wall during the training. We used the title, and the idea for the mural, from a training booklet that was used during the seminar. Two organizations came to help with this topic:

1. Juven-Fami: this Christian organization has been working here in Guatemala since 1978, teaching Biblical principles regarding the spiritual and physical health of the family. You might remember one of our blog posts from October 2007 entitled "Sexual Purity" where we talked about a conference we hosted for our students regarding Biblical Abstinence. Well, Juven-Famil is the same organization that taught that conference. On Friday, they spent several hours teaching our employees about the following topics:

- how to recognize the signs of physical/emotional/sexual abuse among children

- how to speak with children about these topics

- how to teach children about their bodies and their personal safety

All of these subjects were taught from a biblical perspective and were a great help to our staff as they often are faced with dealing with these issues.

2. IJM (International Justice Mission) - You may recognize this name as this institution is based out of the US and has branches of their organization throughout the world. (http://www.ijm.org/) IJM sent representatives to our training in the afternoon to talk about the following:

- statistics of abuse among children in Guatemala

- the role that IJM is playing to defend children who are victims of abuse

- how IJM can be a resource to AMG to help with difficult situations of abuse

While this is not a pleasant subject to discuss, it is unfortunately a reality for any ministry or organization, especially one that deals with so many children who live in difficult circumstances. We are thankful to have these resources to help our employees better understand how to deal with these difficult situations and would appreciate your prayers in this area. Part of caring for children is protecting them against such things as physical and sexual abuse. The more we can learn about this, the better we can be at caring for the children that the Lord has entrusted us to.

Below are some photos taken throughout the day including a time of worship and singing, AMG staff enjoying time of fellowship together, etc. Thanks for praying and for letting us share our day with you all.

New Childcare Center

2008-03-11T15:14:00.010-04:00

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, a friend encouraged me with these verses:

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed... so then death is at work in us, but life is at work in you... therefore do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen...for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Verses from II Corinthians Chapter 4.

I'm sure you, too, find that at different times in your life it is easy to let the pressures and struggles of this world get the best of you. These verses help to remind us to maintain an "eternal perspective", not to look at the present only but to the future "eternal glory". Amen?

I hope these verses are an encouragement to you today as they were for me.

On another note, I wanted to share a few pictures with you of the new AMG Childcare Center that is being built here in Guatemala City. Our center named "La Florida" was old, underspaced and in disrepair. At the end of last year we obtained funds to tear it down and build a new facility with twice the capacity. What a blessing it will be to have a brand new two-level facility, complete with new furniture and fixtures! The new building will have a capacity of 200 children, 90 more than before, and will have plenty of classroom space and a multi-purpose room for activities, assemblies and meetings with parents. Here's a few pictures of the contruction progress:

The banner announcing our temporary address and plans to expand!

Prayer gathering at the construction site with a visiting team in December 07.

Construction of the first level

Working on the second level

Upstairs hallway and classrooms

Completed structure! (view from the street)

The project should be completed in April. We'll post more pictures as the work progresses.

2008-02-20T10:21:00.018-05:00

AMG Guatemala Celebrates 32nd Anniversary!

The First Point of AMG's Mission Statement (above):

"To provide each person an opportunity to hear and respond to a clear presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ"

Hello Everyone,

We wanted to share some recent news with you about the ministry here at AMG Guatemala. This month, AMG celebrates its 32nd year in Guatemala!! Praise the Lord for His faithful guidance and provision for the ministry for all these years. He has used so many people within the body of Christ to accomplish the spread of the Gospel to hundreds of thousands of children and their families during these 32 years. To Him be the glory....great things He has done!

This year we are trying to work on our "identity" as an organization, so we decided to use our anniversary celebration to focus on who AMG is, our mission statement, and what that means to the children who are in our program. So, we started by making sure all the children understood what AMG stands for. Do you know??? Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel. It's a little tough with the kids here, because in Spanish it is "Avanzando el Ministerio del Evangelio", so it's actually AME. We had asssemblies during the day with the different age groups and explained this to them and had them repeat the meaning several times.

...and then at each assembly we shared verses about the Gospel to be sure they understood the "G" part of AMG:

(left) teaching about the Gospel - 1 Corinthians 15:3 "Christ died for our sins....and that He was buried....and that He rose again on the third day".

(right) Magaly, one of our Bible teachers, with one of our primary students doing a cheer about the meaning of AMG.

During each of the assemblies, both the staff and the children shared songs, dramas, and read poems that they had written about AMG.

...and our preschool director, Betty, made up an acrostic about AMG that hung on the wall during the assemblies:

You can "click" on the acrostic image if you want to try out your Spanish. Betty is pictured on the right with Robin and I.

We finished our time with prayer and then the kids went outside to play and enjoy a real treat....ice cream for everyone!

Special Thanks To:

AMG International - for the continued vision of spreading the Gospel and for the years of direction and support of the ministry of AMG Guatemala.

http://www.amginternational.org/

Word & Deed, Holland - for your partnership and financial support to the ministries of AMG Guatemala.

http://www.woordendaad.nl/

Our National Staff - nearly 500 dedicated workers who labor in the ministry sharing the love of Christ with thousands of children each year.

Bob & Wanda McRae - for their vision during the "early" years of AMG Guatemala and for their service of 30 years with AMG, dedicating their lives to the growth of the ministry and to the lives of the children of Guatemala.

Sponsors of Children - the ministry of AMG Guatemala would not be possible without the continued generosity of sponsors around the world who continually support the children of Guatemala through AMG and Word & Deed's child sponsorship program. God bless you all.

"now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. AMEN"

Ephesians 3:20-21

We feel so blessed to be part of the Lord's work here, and want to thank you all for your continued prayer and financial support of our family.

In Christ alone and for His glory,

The Hastings Family

Prayers for Safety

2008-02-08T10:23:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

Sometimes I hesitate to write about difficult situations here in Guatemala, but they are a present reality and there is no better way to deal with them but to have many lift them as prayer requests to our Lord....who is in control of everything.
Recently, following the inauguration of the new President here in Guatemala, there has been a rash of violence particularly against bus drivers and public transportation workers here in the city. Here is an exerpt from a news article today:

"The situation in Guatemala City worsened on Thursday, when new attacks against public transportation left a driver and his assistant dead, triggering a halt in service over extensive areas. The attacks occurred in areas six and twelve, in northern and southern Guatemala City, bringing to 10 the number of workers from the sector killed in two days.
The kidnapping of a driver's son during a protest on Jose Marti Avenue was also reported.
President of Guatemala Alvaro Colom denounced that this string of attacks is part of a plan by organized crime to destabilize the government and unleash chaos in the country.
According to the president, this is a response to steps taken in the last few days to fight violence and investigate public security corps, allegedly infiltrated by criminal groups.
Luis Gomez, from the urban public transport workers union, demanded more measures to protect workers and users. He warned that if this situation continues, service might be totally paralyzed."

Public transportation is how the majority of people get to work each day here in Guatemala City. Our employees are no exception to this and nearly all of them ride public buses each day to get to and from work.

- Please pray for this situation to be resolved quickly.
- Please pray specifically for the safety of AMG's employees here in Guatemala City. Nearly 200 of our employees ride buses each day.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

God's Provision

2008-01-28T12:44:00.001-05:00

"The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I have hope in Him"

Lamentations 3:24

Most of you know that this past year was a difficult one for us in the area of financial support. We are writing today to share with you the wonderful way that the Lord has blessed us. You may remember that a few months back we communicated about our support difficulties through a mailing and also through our blog.

Well, several things have taken place since that time and want to share with you that the Lord has provided for this need using many different people. Since sending out our letter, we have received one-time financial gifts from many people, some of whom we don't even know. Also, we have been blessed with some new financial supporters, again some of whom we have never met! Also, some of our supporting churches have sent extra funds. And just this past weekend, we were informed that our home church, Fellowship Bible Church of Chester NH, had it's annual business meeting and voted to both raise our monthly support and also to send an extremely generous one-time gift to us. Praise the Lord for the way that He has faithfully provided through working in the hearts and minds of His people, His church...the body of Christ!

Thank you to all. Please join us in thanking and praising God as He has once again demonstrated His unchanging and never-ending love for us through this answer to prayer.

By the way, have you looked at AMG's website lately? There have been many changes to the site these past several months. Please take a look so you can see how the Lord is working around the world through various ministry opportunities. There are recent news article links on the left side, even one about Guatemala!

www.amginternational.org

Much love in Christ, and for His glory.

The Hastings Family

Happy New Year!

2008-01-11T14:07:00.000-05:00

"Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day." Psalm 96:2

Hello to everyone and Happy New Year 2008!

So many things to catch up about as we have not posted in over a month.

We were able to spend nearly 3 weeks in New England over the holidays. Thank you so much to family and friends who's generosity made this possible. We enjoyed spending most of our time in New Hampshire. We participated in our home churche's Christmas Eve service which was a privilege and a blessing to our family and also were able to get to know our home church's new Pastor and his family. Pastor Terry Wragg was called to Fellowship Bible Church this past Fall and officially began serving at FBC in November.

Pastor Terry Wragg, wife Rebecca and children Trevor(right), Austin(left) and Chelsea

Please pray for this family as they adjust to their new home, schools and ministry.

We also enjoyed spending time with our son Adam who is now living and working in New Hampshire. Adam is currently working at Radio Shack and considering returning to college this Fall. Please pray for him as he makes these decisions.

(above) Together with Adam in Woodstock, Vermont over the holidays. We had three major snowstorms during our stay in New England and two mornings with temperatures below zero! It was a very white (and cold!) Christmas!

(below) our kids with their cousins during our visit

Here in Guatemala, we received very exciting news from the immigration department this afternoon - our residency has been approved! For those of you who have followed this long story and have prayed for us we thank you for both your diligence in praying and your patience. This process has taken more than a year and a half and we are very thankful that it is over. We have been assigned numbers for our residence and will be able to pick up our ID's in a few weeks.

Our schools and daycare centers opened yesterday and it was nice to have the sound of children playing outside of the office window. All of AMG's 27 childcare centers and schools are back up and running for another year. Please pray for our 400+ workers as they minister spiritually and physically to the 7000 children and their families.

We want to share a photo of a group of our "cooks" who work in Guatemala City at our largest school of 800 children. You will notice that the ladies are wearing new aprons. These were a hand-made gift from a wonderful friend of ours, Sarah St. Jean, who offered to make new aprons for all of the cooks in our Guatemala City centers.

Just an FYI - these 5 ladies cook and serve a hot lunch for 800 kids every day! And they're still smiling! Thanks to Sarah and several friends who helped her to brighten the day of these faithful ladies. They couldn't believe someone thought of them in this way.

We have listed several new prayer requests in the right column of our blog. Thank you for faithfully supporting and praying for the ministry of AMG International, Guatemala.

May the Lord bless you as your serve Him this year.

Love from all the Hastings

Family Visit to Guatemala

2007-11-29T10:02:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

What a blessed Thanksgiving we had here in Guatemala. Bob's relatives (brother and family and sister and family) all came for a visit for the week......oh, and my neice's fiancé, Jordan, as well! (Carolyn and Jordan absent from above photo)

We packed a lot into this family trip as for many of them it was their first time here in Guatemala and we wanted them to see and experience as much as possible. We visited two of our rural childcare centers so both families could meet their sponsored children, spent two days working with 3rd graders at our largest school here in Guatemala City, saw the sights in and around Guatemala City...and of course enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Day together.

The family prepared and implemented 3 different activities to share with the children during their two days at our school - crafts, games and Bible stories! They brought many donations from their churches, friend and relatives and did a GREAT job teaching and having fun with 65 3rd graders! Thank you to ALL who donated so many things! Here's a few pictures of part of their ministry - craft time.

On the first day all the kids made their own t-shirts by using stamps and fabric markers and stencils. On the second day the kids all made stamped cards for family and friends.

Wwe took a trip into the "ravine" one afternoon. Most of the children that AMG ministers to are very poor and here in Guatemala City many of them live in the ravine that winds its way through the city. On Wednesday afternoon, we walked to the home of little David, a sponsored boy here at our school in Verbena. My brother took pictures of David as he showed us the way to his home.....down into the steep ravine we went, all the way to the bottom, then up the other side and finally to David's small house of wood and tin. They had no electricity, no running water, no bathroom, no kitchen. Just a one room structure for shelter. It was a sobering reminder to us of the poverty that exists in most parts of the world. I wish everyone could experience the sights, sounds and smells of such a visit.

We want to thank our family for coming to share time with us this Thanksgiving. And we want to thank the staff members of AMG Guatemala who helped to make the time so special.

Love from all the Hastings.

Childrens Day.....6th Grade Graduation

2007-10-31T14:00:00.000-04:00

Hello again,

I know we've posted a lot lately but there's a LOT going on right now so we don't want you to miss out on anything!

Just wanted to share some pictures from two more recent events:

- Children's Day

- 6th Grade Graduation Ceremony

And yes, that is Bob pretending to be an airplane in one of the pictures...even the Director has to be a "kid" sometimes!

The Dennett Family

2007-10-29T12:12:00.000-04:00

Hello again,

Blogging is kind of like dieting and exercise....you're really good at it for a time, then long periods of time go by and you realize "hey, I need to pay attention to that!". So, this past week is one of those times that we have realized we needed to be updating our blog more often. So, three entries in a row....should be good for a while!

Many of you know about the Dennett family already but I wanted to post about them for those of you who may not. Brian, Mary and their 5 children have been close friends of ours for many years. Brian and I met while both working for Sears many years ago and worked together on and off in two different companies. Well, the Lord has blessed us once again by calling both our families to work here in Guatemala with AMG. The Dennett family has spent the last year and a half going through the application process with AMG, working on their deputation process, selling their home....all the same things that other missionary candidates go through. Now, the reality of the process is upon them. The Dennetts leave on January 1st for language school in Costa Rica for a year of full time study on January 1st. Once their year is complete, they will move to Guatemala and Brian will begin working full time with AMG, sharing in the work as the Assistant Director.

You can read about their call, their journey and their family on their blog and website:

http://www.thedennetts.blogspot.com/

http://www.thedennetts.org/

Please keep the Dennetts in your prayers! (their current prayer requests are listed on their blog)

Thank you!

Graduation 07

2007-10-27T14:22:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

It is an exciting time at AMG International, Guatemala. This has been a very busy month for us but full of God's blessings. We have had three sets of visitors this month - a delegation from Word & Deed, Holland, our partner organization and also two short term teams that did children's ministries, medical and dental work and evangelism in several of our childcare centers. Thanks to all those from Alabama and Arkansas who participated in the work!

It is also graduation time here in Guatemala. The school year goes from January to mid-October so our schools are now in the process of finishing up last minute things here and graduation ceremonies are taking place. Yesterday, we had a graduation luncheon for all of our High School graduates in Guatemala City. Each of them came with a few parents or family members and the director from their AMG center, we have 8 of them here in the city.

I had the privilege of sharing with the students from Paul's encouraging letter to young Timothy. We talked about:
- being "strong", not in our own strength but in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (II Timothy 2:1)
- not being "ashamed", studying the word and standing up for what it says (II Timothy 2:15)
- "remembering" what we have learned, especially during difficult times (II Timothy 12&14)....these kids know difficult times more than any of us ever will.

At the end, we asked if any of the parents wanted to share anything. One Dad and two Mom's got up and shared about how blessed they are to have their children graduating from high school. (just a reminder to you that only 15% of young people graduate from high school in Guatemala). Two of them said that their children had been part of AMG's child sponsorship program since ages 4 and 5! They emotionally testified that they couldn't imagine how their children would have been educated, taught and supported all these years if it was not for the Lord's faithfulness through the ministry of AMG and also their sponsors who gave month after month, year after year, so their children could be blessed in this way.

Once again, thank you to all who sponsor children here and to those who support the worldwide ministries of AMG International.

Below are some photos of the graduation luncheon. Graduates, proud parents, students receiving their last Bible from AMG.....to God be the glory!

I'll close with the same verses that I closed with at the luncheon - Paul's closing words to Timothy.

The Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

Sexual Purity

2007-10-16T18:27:00.000-04:00

Hello all,

I am writing a new post to ask you all to pray especially for the teens that attend our childcare centers and schools here in Guatemala City. Yesterday, we brought them all together for the afternoon for a special conference. There was about 400 of them here at our Verbena school.

An organization called "Juven-Fami" exists here in Guatemala to teach young people Christian principles about life issues. They are best known for their seminars on sexual purity and that is the one that they conducted here for our teens yesterday. Several presenters spent three hours teaching the teens about the biblical basis for sexual purity as well as the risks and consequences of sexual activity outside of the marriage union. They talked about everything from the media's influence on sexuality to sexually transmitted diseases to abortion.

At the end of the seminar, students were offered a diploma/committment form and they could choose to sign it making a public profession of their committment to sexual purity before God. While some chose not to sign, many of the teens did.

Please pray for our teens as they receive follow-up counseling in this area from their Bible teachers and project directors.

About 400 teens attended this conference from our schools and daycare centers around Guatemala City.

Young men committing to sexual purity.

Mariela & Hardi

2007-09-24T13:37:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

Many of you know Mariela who has worked for AMG Guatemala for several years. This past Saturday, Mariela was married to her sweetheart of many, many years. Hardi and Mariela have been friends and have known each other most of their lives and now have begun their lives together as husband and wife.

Please pray for them. Next Saturday they will be moving to Rhode Island where Hardi has been living for the past year and half. Some of Hardi's family are living in that area of the US and that will become home for them for the immediate future. Please pray for God's provision for them as they begin their new lives, especially for Mariela as this will be very new for her.

Here are some pictures of the wedding day:

Arriving at the reception

Mariachi band singing for the bride and groom

Cutting the cake! (cakes made by Robin and Melody)

The happy couple......................

Guatemalan Residency.....continued.

2007-09-05T11:11:00.001-04:00

Dear Friends,

We hope you enjoyed the rest of your summer.

We arrived back in Guatemala on August 19th and the girls started school right away on the 20th. We are all glad to be back and have jumped back into our respective roles and activities.

One blessing that we are thankful for is our church here - Centro Biblico El Camino. We are really being blessed by being a part of this community of believers. We have been able to participate in the ministry by being part of the music program. Once a month now Melody, Robin and I are part of the worship team. Singing in Spanish can still be a challenge but we are very much enjoying being part of a church music program again.

I wanted to give you an update about our residency process here in Guatemala (see July 21st post for more background info).

This past week, we went back to Immigration to receive their decision. First, they told us that there were three additional requirements that we needed to present. Thankfully, all three of them could be obtained here in Guatemala so we are working on this and will have them to present next week. Also, the lawyer who reviewed our case made the decision that we did not qualify for religious visas....he read all of the documents about AMG very quickly and didn't understand our ministry. I made an appointment to meet with him and explained the ministry to him and now he is going to reconsider granting Robin and I religious visas and the girls will have to have normal visas as they are students and don't work here at the mission. AMG US is providing us with yet another letter and some legal documents to clarify to the lawyer our purpose as a mission and we will present them as soon as they are received.

Please pray that mine and Robin's religious visas will get approved as the normal visas are 10 times the cost of religious ones.

The ministry is going well. We just finished "Bible Month" at our schools and daycare centers. The children enjoyed learning about different Bible characters and stories and once again "took to the streets" in the form of a parade, dramatizing what they had learned in their classes.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..."

Thanks for your prayers, we appreciate them!
I'll let you know when we get a final decision about our residency.

Much love from all the Hastings

Time in the US

2007-08-07T10:38:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

It has been nearly a month since we posted. Our summer has consisted of some time apart and travel to the US. Robin and the girls travelled to the US on June 27th and we were apart for one month. We were reunited a little over a week ago and are now enjoying time together visiting with family, friends and supporting churches. It's always encouraging for us to have so many people tell us that they pray for us on a regular basis. This past Sunday morning we were at our home church, Fellowship Bible Church, and a man came up to me and said "I have a question for you. How is your staffing situation in Guatemala?". When I asked him about the particular question he responded by saying "Well, the Lord has burdened my heart with praying for your staffing needs in Guatemala so I pray about that all the time". Little did this man know that we have had several staffing challenges and needs over the past year. What a blessing it is to know that the Lord burdens the hearts of His saints with the needs of others. The body of Christ is amazingly connected by the good hand of our Lord, isn't it?
(...and thanks, Colin, for your prayers and for sharing with me last Sunday).

Sunday evening took us to Epsom Bible Church, another supporting church, and we enjoyed our time with the believer's there. This church has a strong missions emphasis and our connnection with them goes back many years. We'd like to thank them for their hospitality and for their continued support.

We are looking forward to this coming weekend as we will be spending time in northern New Hampshire visiting with Bob's brother and sister and their families as well as Bob's step-mom and some close friends.

We will head back to Guatemala on Sunday August 19th as Melody and Bethany start school on the 20th.

We hope you are all enjoying your summer.

In the love of Christ,

The Hastings Family

2007-07-12T14:10:00.000-04:00

Temporary Residence, Document # 02638, stamped "received" July 11, 2007

"Solicitud Visa de Residente Temporal para Religioso"

Hello everyone. Today marks an exciting day for us.....especially for me. For the past year and a half, we have been working on applying for our residency here in Guatemala. The first residency that most mission/religious workers get is a two year temporary religious visa. After the two years of being temporary residents, one can apply for permanent religious visas.Fortunately, being a "religious" worker means our family can do this for a small cost, much less than if we just wanted to apply for normal residency. Unfortunately, however, the process is quite complicated and the number of times that our documents have not been "accepted" has been more times than I can count.

As I said, this process started about a year and a half ago. I went to the department of immigration in Guatemala City and requested applications for this process. On the back were a list of the requirments. Little did I know at the time that the list was not only incomplete, but the process requirements for each document were not even listed. Let me give you an example of only ONE type of document that we had to get and the process we had to go through:

Listed on the application: "Criminal Records from your country of residence, showing any offenses and at least 5 years of record" Nothing more was listed. When we were in the US in 2005, I went to the correct New Hampshire government agency and got mine and Robin's criminal records. They thankfully stamped the documents "no criminal records"....so I thought this one was in the bag. When we got back to Guatemala and we made our first attempt to apply for residency, I was told the documents would have to be stamped by the NH State Court, then brought to the closest Guatemalan Consulate in the US (Rhode Island) for authentication and stamping. After some time, we completed the process again (more later on that), including the stamp at the Guatemalan Consulate in Rhode Island, then brought this and many other documents back and tried to apply again. Then we were told that the document had to be certified and stamped by a translator here in Guatemala because the documents were in English. Just before leaving, being the 'not so naive' applicant that I started out as, I asked if there were more requirements - there was. So in the end, the process for this one requirement was like this:

I sent my friends Dave Scott and Elaine Towle from Chester NH a letter authorizing Dave to obtain new copies of our criminal records. (the old records were expired, documents can't be more than 6 months old) Dave works for the state and willingly helped us out. THANKS DAVE!Dave then took the documents to have them stamped by the state court. Oour friend Elaine Towle, also from Chester, was the notary in the process. THANKS ELAINE!....it's great to have friends who are so willing to help. Then, they mailed the documents to a friend of our office adminstrator, Mariela, here at AMG in Guatemala. Her friend Hardi(now her fiancee!) moved to Rhode Island to live with his Dad a year and a half ago. Mariela was going to visit him and they willingly agreed to take the documents to the Consulate in Rhode Island while she was there to have them stamped. Mariela brought the stamped documents back to Guatemala. We sent them to a certified translator who translated and stamped the documents. Finally, we took them to the government office here that certifies legal documents (opposite end of the city from immigration) and they stamped the documents as authentic. I'm surprised there was any room left on them for this final stamp! All that said (and I never meant for this to be this long), today I went once again with these documents and a host of others, back to immigration. After waiting in line, the young man who waited on us went through each document carefully and checked off each requirement. But today, unlike all the other times when they sent me away with more requirements, he put them in a folder and stamped them "received"!!

Up until now, we have been on "tourist" status and have to leave the country every 180 days and go to immigration every 90 days to renew our tourist visas and pay for more time in the country. I am so thankful for our applications being received as now we have a letter saying we are "in process" and no longer have time restrictions here in the country. I walked down the stairs at the immigration office and whispered "Thank you Lord". So now you have a little glimpse, or I guess a big glimpse, into the process of applying for Guatemalan residency. The good thing about this entire experience is we now have a pretty good grasp of everything that is needed.

We'd like to thank everyone that has helped us with this process, from our friends in NH, to the staff at AMG US, to our staff members and friends here in Guatemala. We appreciate all your help!

Robin and the kids are in the states now so we're experiencing our annual time apart. I'll be joining them in a few weeks and we'll all come back together on August 19th. We appreciate your continued prayers during this time. Last week, my friend Kevin from NH visited for a long weekend. It was great to have the company. Here is a picture of Kevin visiting his little sponsored girl, Yadis, at our Matochos childcare center.

And here they are again with Yadis's little brother Jose.

Have a great day!

A Jesus por Maria?

2007-06-12T13:17:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone,

Today when I was driving to work I saw a bumper sticker on the truck in front of me that said "A Jesus Por Maria"...or "To Jesus Through Mary". There was a symbol next to the writing of a cross with the letter "M" intertwined through it. Looking at this made me very sad as I know it represents the type of belief system of the majority of the people here in Guatemala.
As I drove, the scriptural truth from John chapter 14 came to mind where Jesus says "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me". What more do we need than the words of the Savior himself? How could we possibly elevate even the mother of Christ to a position that not only contradicts Jesus' words but also attempts to elevate her to such a state of shared deity.
I had recently read a sermon of Spurgeons on this very topic and remembered the way he so eloquently drove home the point when he wrote:

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, the path for the sinner and the way for the saint. No road to God—even for the holiest man—no road to God's acceptance, but through Jesus, and through Jesus only.

Would you like to read the whole sermon? (do me a favor and follow this link only when you have time to read it through slowly):
http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/0245.htm
You'll be happy you took the time.

Please pray for so many here in Guatemala and around the world who believe the lie that they need something or someone beyond "Jesus".

In Christ alone.

Un Dia Especial

2007-05-28T16:26:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, May 25th, was a very special day for the central office employees of AMG. We had been talking for some time about closing the office for the day and taking the employees to visit a few of our rural childcare centers. Well, the perfect opportunity posed itself last Friday at our Villa Laura and Oratorio projects. You may have seen our earlier posts (from February 5th and May 1st) about the construction of new buildings at our Villa Laura childcare center and the visiting construction teams that have helped with the construction. Also, a "cancha" or "court" (for basketball, soccer, etc) was built at our Oratorio childcare center this past year as well. Since the construction of these two projects was completed recently, the dedication services for both was set for this past Friday when our central office employees could be there.
Twelve of us loaded up in the van in the morning on Friday and drove to the small rural village of Villa Laura. About an hour east of Guatemala City we took a small dirt road and went about 8 kilometers up the mountain to the village. Here are a few pictures from the drive:

Villa Laura - you might wonder why we needed new school buildings at this childcare center. Part of the problem was the ownership of the property as the land where a few of the older buildings were located was not owned by AMG or our church partner. Also, the buildings were very old. Here are a few pictures taken of the old buildings that were replaced:

The property where the new buildings were built was just accross from where the old buildings were located. It was purchased several years ago by AMG and one building with 3 classrooms was constructed a few years ago. Then, during the past two years, the main building(3 more classrooms, and office and a storage room) and the kitchen/storage buildings were constructed. Here are some pictures of the finished project:

It was a privilege to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony along with the staff and children of the Villa Laura childcare center:

Oratorio - The Oratorio childcare center has wanted a "cancha" for several years and needed a play area for the 400 children who attend there. And since the Oratorio project is close to Villa Laura, during the time that the last construction team was here we split the team and half of them worked to constuct the "cancha". After leaving Villa Laura, we drove back down the mountain and to Oratorio. When we arrived, they had prepared a buffet lunch with for us. Their hospitality went way over board.....but we enjoyed the lunch just the same! Here is a picture of our central office employees enjoying this time:

And after our "feast", we were once again treated to a program put on by the childcare center staff and participation in their dedication service of the "cancha". Here are some pictures from the afternoon service:

Amidst the opportunities and challenges that we face in the ministry each day, we have special days such as this one to remind us that the Lord is working in Guatemala through the ministry of AMG International.

Thank you to all who sponsor children so they are able to attend the childcare centers.

Thank you to all who helped with the planning and construction in Villa Laura and Oratorio.

Lord bless you all.

School and Friends

2007-05-09T20:57:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone...its Melody. Many of you have asked me when I am going to post, so I thought I would tell you all a little bit about my life here, with some pictures to help. This is the Christian Academy of Guatemala (CAG) where Bethany and I go to school.
Here is a picture of Bethany and her classmates. Her teacher, Ms. Leonard, is on the far right. (you can click on it to see a larger image)

I don't have a picture of my entire class, but these are some of my friends at school:
This is my good friend, Gaby. We are really close, and spend a lot of time together outside of school. Actually, she's really become part of our family this year:

And here are some of my other friends...we're just hanging out at school:

Of course I still love it when friends come from the states. Here's a picture of some of the teens that came from our home church just a few weeks ago.

I really like CAG and the Lord has really blessed me with some great friends here... only a few weeks left of the school year! Hope to see some of you this summer!

Team From Our Home Church

2007-05-01T09:58:00.000-04:00

This past week we hosted a team from our home church - Fellowship Bible Church of Chester, NH. The team came to finish a building project by painting two new school buildings at one of AMG's rural childcare centers in the mountain top village of Villa Laura. They also did some children's ministry in the form of mimes, songs and testimonies at this center and another one in Guatemala City. The group was made up of 8 teens and 4 adults, some veteran short-termers and some first-timers as well.

Besides being a tremendous source of encouragement to us, the team accomplished a LOT of work. They finished painting two buildings, ministered to hundreds of children and staff members and even found plenty of time to play with the kids...always the highlight of the week.

The picture of the buildings above is of the buildings before the team started. After their week, the buildings look like this:

New friends.... ...and old friends too!

Some of the kids at AMG's Villa Laura Childcare Center:

...and a not so welcomed creature!

Making tortillas looked so easy when they did it!

The team performing a gospel mime...

"One of these things is not like the other!":

Children praying for the team at the Las Vistas school just outside Guatemala City...

Thanks, Fellowship Bible Church, for your continued support and participation in the ministry of AMG, Guatemala. We're looking forward to the next time!

Dariana Mishel Lam

2007-03-21T12:22:00.000-04:00

"This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress....." James 1:27

Some of the most difficult situations that we encounter in the ministry have to do with health problems of sponsored children. The picture above is of a little girl named Dariana who is seven years old. Yesterday, I met with her mom at our mission office following a report from our Amparo Daycare Center. Dariana's mom explained that her problems began two years ago when she was five. It was discovered that Dariana has a form of blood cancer. She has many problems as a result of her disease and the doctors fear that it is spreading. Yesterday, she had a CAT scan as they suspect she may have a tumor in her brain. Dariana's blood platelet count is extremely low and she has to take medicine and receive transfusions on a regular basis. Sometimes her bleeding gets out of control and she has to be hospitalized for weeks at a time.

During these past two years, Dariana has been unable to attend school or our daycare center. Her mom is a single mom with two other children. She is working full time in a clothing store and spends many of her nights at the hospital with Dariana.

The hospital that Dariana goes to is a public hospital here in Guatemala City. The care is free but Dariana's mom has to pay for medications and special procedures and tests that Dariana has to have. She has taken out two loans to pay for these things. As I talked with her yesterday, I could sense that she was extremely weary and nearing her breaking point.

AMG is going to help with Dariana's medical expenses through a special medical fund that exists through one of our partner funding agencies.

Please pray for Dariana, her mom and her two older siblings. This is a very difficult time for all of them. Her mom assured me that they were Christians and that they are waiting on the Lord through all of this. You can help by praying for Dariana and for the health of all the children that are ministered to through AMG's childcare network. Thank you.

Shopping Anyone??

2007-03-09T12:33:00.000-05:00

I thought the title would catch your eye....at least those of you who like to shop! (I didn't even mention the word "ladies") ....One of the subjects we teach in our largest school of 800 children in Guatemala City is English, otherwise knows as EFL (English as a Foreign Language). Learning English provides many future opportunities for Guatemalan Children. Our English program now includes students from kindergarten age all the way up through high school students. We have four dedicated teachers for our English program who are very creative and are always looking for new ways to teach the children. Robin has been helping in the English classes for some time now. Recently, she and the teachers decided to have a "Day at the Supermarket" to help teach the children the English words for different types of grocery items and the shopping process. Today is the day! As each of the students line up for class, they are given a pre-made "shopping list". They take the list and their pretend money and go through the different sections of the supermarket to collect their items. Then they go to the check-out and pay for the groceries. Throughout all of this they have to speak only English. As you can see, they are having a great time. When I went out to take pictures, one of the English teachers said to me "Your wife is going to be very tired after today!". Please pray for our staff and for the children as they continue to learn the English language. Our teachers are Ruth (supervisor), Veronica, Marisol and Elisa. Have a great day!

Traffic

2007-02-19T16:14:00.000-05:00

Strange subject, I know. Many people often wonder about our daily life in Guatemala. Well, "traffic" is definitely part of our daily life. When we lived in New Hampshire, I used to commute to Boston so I am no stranger to traffic, but Guatemala City takes this concept to a whole new level. In this city of millions, the infrastructure unfortunately is not adequate for the amount of traffic that is on the roads, especially during commute times. For example - the commute to our mission office is about 7 miles from our home just outside the city. Here is how it went this AM.

The first picture is about 2 miles from our home....it took about 40 minutes to get to this point this morning. I took the second to show you about the buses here. It is typical for them to pour black smoke out the back, and also to drive with their doors open so people can jump in and out without taking much time.

Sometimes, people get impatient and "create" their own lane of traffic when they get tired of waiting. They first show their impatience by laying on their horn for a long time, then they just pull out and drive past the line, like the Land Rover in this picture. It was behind me and pulled past four cars to the front of the line, then almost got hit by another car when it pulled out into the traffic. This is about a mile from the office, and today about 50 minutes into the commute.

I arrived at the office 55 minutes after leaving home.

Lastly, here is an aerial shot of a "piece" of Guatemala City. (click on it to enlarge it). It helps to give you a glimpse of how large and how crowded Guatemala City is. Hope you have a great day!

Wanted: Sponsors

2007-02-09T15:12:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. You didn't think we could have our blog too long without sharing about the needs of the ministry, did you? Some of you have already heard about this but many of you are unaware of this particular need.
As you know, all of the 7,000+ children in our schools and childcare centers have individual sponsors from around the world. Some of you are faithful sponsors. One of the difficulties that comes up from time to time is when sponsors have to discontinue their support. We always understand that there are many different circumstances that can cause this and we understand that sometimes this is necessary. For younger children, we simply produce a new biography form and AMG's office in the US finds us another sponsor. Unfortunately, when children reach a certain age, it becomes very difficult to find sponsors. This age is around 12. Understandably, many people would like to sponsor a younger child as the opportunity exists to have a long term relationship with their child.
Our dilemma - These past few years, the number of older children in our projects who have lost their sponsors has grown. We currently have about 80 children who are 12 or over that are without sponsors. We keep them in the program but don't have sponsorship funds coming in for them. This causes financial strain on our budget and the individual projects.
The need - We are in need of sponsors for these older children. The cost is a little different for these students, $35 a month instead of the normal $25, as a "scholarship" is also part of their support. For children in Jr. and Sr. High, we give the family a small amount of money in order to offset some of the expenses that come along with their educational needs. Also, it is tempting for families to remove their children from school at this age so they can work and contribute to the family income. The scholarship helps as an incentive for parents to allow their children to continue with their schooling.
The photo above is an example of one of the children that is in need of a new sponsor. His name is Edvin, he is 12 years old and he lives in the small rural town of Oratorio, about an hour and a half outside of Guatemala City. Edvin's father died several years ago. His mother works very hard in order to support the family but her income is too low to provide what they need. Edvin and his family (3 brothers and 3 sisters) live in a small adobe house with tin roofing and a dirt floor.
If you, or anyone you know, would like to sponsor Edvin or one of these older children you can send us an email (bobh@amginternational.org or bobhast@gmail.com) and we'd be happy to answer any of your questions or get you started with the child sponsorship program.
Please pray with us that the Lord would provide the necessary sponsors and funds to help us to continue to help children like Edvin.