Sunday, April 23, 2017

Upcoming Ministry Trip



Please cover us in prayer as we head out early Monday morning for a week of ministry in the remote interior of the country.  We will travel with a missionary couple that we have been meeting with regularly these past couple of months.

They work with a Mayan Pastor, along with his wife, daughter and son-in-law, whose  ministry call is to train and disciple other Mayan pastors to take the gospel to all Maya people groups in Guatemala.

Pastor R. said recently, "The work of the gospel is not finished here. This is not a reached nation because the gospel is not yet being preached in every Mayan tongue. And until that happens, my people have not heard." 

In the remote areas where he ministers lives a mixture of Mayan groups that were re-settled there during the war. Communication barriers are still high between neighboring communities, educational levels are the lowest in the country, especially among females, and therefore Spanish comprehension is often non-existent to survival level at best. Mayan language bibles are available, but few can read them.

Spanish speaking churches are in almost every community, but a majority of remote rural residents simply do not have sufficient Spanish to grasp what is being preached, and this is what fuels Pastor R's heart for ministry.

He has worked faithfully over the years, traveling once a month to teach seminary students, and has also invested time teaching many how to decipher linguistic code -- a gift God gave him when he was a young man working alongside his father and Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Needless to say, we look forward to serving with this ministry team as they teach bible classes, minister to women at the weaving coop, and meet with area mayors and village elders about some ongoing community development projects.

You can follow us on Instagram (the_ishmaels) for photo posts of the trip and daily life on the field. Thank you for your faithful support that makes it possible for us to continue...

Simply Serving,
Rod and De Ishmael
Guatemala

We could use your help. 
To support our ministry work, please send contributions to:
Crescent Lake Christian Center 
1250 Saint Louis Ave.
Excelsior Springs, MO 64024

Memo:  Guatemala / Ishmaels