Dear friends and family,
Thank you for your prayers for our school and ministry here in San Lucas, Guatemala.
I wanted to send you an update with this thank you letter and thank ahead of time for your generous gift that is changing many lives here in Guatemala.
Our school has moved over seven times in the last fifteen years and just when it was looking its worst, God opened a door for us to purchase property for a permanent location for our school. We accomplished over 200 documents of paperwork that were required by the board of education and the government to officially have a school here in Guatemala. By faith knowing God was before us, we looked at the empty lot at the bottom of the beautiful property and envisioned a school full of children receiving God's word and the families that would be changed by His love and forgiveness.
What is the vision and focus of the ministry? Changing community’s one child at a time through Christian education. Sounds good, but how does this work out in everyday life for children and families. Labels are placed on you like a flashing sign if you are poor here in Guatemala. You are seen as, stupid, bad mannered, no hope for a job above working in a field for a harsh owner, your children are to be pitied, your children will not complete above the 3rd grade, your will have at least eight children in hopes to support you when you grow older, your daughters will be put down because they are...well, girls, some families name several of their children the same name because they know that some will die and they hope that at least one will survive and keep their favorite name, if you are a girl in a poor situation it is best to marry when you are at least fourteen in hopes that your unfaithful lover will at least give you a better home. The list goes on and on soon one sees that it is a vicious, hideous cycle that spins on generation after generation. It takes someone under the power of the Holy Spirit and great perseverance to put their hand in the wheel and say stop in the name of the Lord. That is what you are allowing us to do! A few days ago I told our newer teachers why it can’t mean, if you are poor, you simply have a little less money than a person who is rich, but you have all the possibilities to succeed than anyone else. They looked at me and began to under the incredible important vision of a school that offers affordable Christian education. Christ is the only way to stop this curse from repeating itself generation after generation.
We have many successes to this story of transforming generations, unfortunately our time has been consumed with all the moves we have been forced to make because of not having a place of our own. This construction is so much more than making a name or a move of convenience. Our new property is in the middle of large towns that will be attending. At the bottom of the list of poverty are the widows and orphans, this is why we have been reaching out to them in such a forceful way. Praise God children’s homes like Oasis, Esperanza y Futuro, Rosa de Amor, and many other children that are with temporary families and many widows are attending our school. This takes dedicated people actively ministering and salaries with a strong cash flow to keep this ministry strong and advancing. As the world’s economy is being challenged like never before we are desperately putting into action ways to be self-supported, but the construction for our new school is more than we can absorb. Please take this to the Lord in Prayer, how can you help with the construction, how can your church help, Soon we will be presenting actual numbers and drawings that you will be able to help with. We are designing special locations in the plans of our new school that will tell others who dedicated their money for areas to be completed. We are considering even the name of the school to reflect people, church, or churches who helped with large donations. We have hosted many teams with past projects and are once again relying on churches from across the U.S. to help with construction of the classrooms, Electricity, and Plumbing when the time comes. Thank you for your consideration in prayer, and we look forward to hearing from you or your team soon. One final note, I remember talking to a third generation missionary many years before I came to Guatemala. As we talked he asked if I would consider coming on a work and witness trip with him to Swaziland South Africa. I began telling him of all the things I was "Good at" , he looked at me with incredible compassion and said "it is not what you can do but what you allow God to do through you that we really need" I was not offended in the least, and knew that he was correct. Although I never made the trip I took something from that trip I wished I could of made and it changed my life. It does not matter your age, condition or gifting that you think you have, allow God to hug a child at the right time and you might just change a generation for Christ.
Thank you and God bless from all the children at our school Camino al Cielo here in San Lucas.
Jon and Flor Hutton
Thank you for your prayers for our school and ministry here in San Lucas, Guatemala.
I wanted to send you an update with this thank you letter and thank ahead of time for your generous gift that is changing many lives here in Guatemala.
Our school has moved over seven times in the last fifteen years and just when it was looking its worst, God opened a door for us to purchase property for a permanent location for our school. We accomplished over 200 documents of paperwork that were required by the board of education and the government to officially have a school here in Guatemala. By faith knowing God was before us, we looked at the empty lot at the bottom of the beautiful property and envisioned a school full of children receiving God's word and the families that would be changed by His love and forgiveness.
What is the vision and focus of the ministry? Changing community’s one child at a time through Christian education. Sounds good, but how does this work out in everyday life for children and families. Labels are placed on you like a flashing sign if you are poor here in Guatemala. You are seen as, stupid, bad mannered, no hope for a job above working in a field for a harsh owner, your children are to be pitied, your children will not complete above the 3rd grade, your will have at least eight children in hopes to support you when you grow older, your daughters will be put down because they are...well, girls, some families name several of their children the same name because they know that some will die and they hope that at least one will survive and keep their favorite name, if you are a girl in a poor situation it is best to marry when you are at least fourteen in hopes that your unfaithful lover will at least give you a better home. The list goes on and on soon one sees that it is a vicious, hideous cycle that spins on generation after generation. It takes someone under the power of the Holy Spirit and great perseverance to put their hand in the wheel and say stop in the name of the Lord. That is what you are allowing us to do! A few days ago I told our newer teachers why it can’t mean, if you are poor, you simply have a little less money than a person who is rich, but you have all the possibilities to succeed than anyone else. They looked at me and began to under the incredible important vision of a school that offers affordable Christian education. Christ is the only way to stop this curse from repeating itself generation after generation.
We have many successes to this story of transforming generations, unfortunately our time has been consumed with all the moves we have been forced to make because of not having a place of our own. This construction is so much more than making a name or a move of convenience. Our new property is in the middle of large towns that will be attending. At the bottom of the list of poverty are the widows and orphans, this is why we have been reaching out to them in such a forceful way. Praise God children’s homes like Oasis, Esperanza y Futuro, Rosa de Amor, and many other children that are with temporary families and many widows are attending our school. This takes dedicated people actively ministering and salaries with a strong cash flow to keep this ministry strong and advancing. As the world’s economy is being challenged like never before we are desperately putting into action ways to be self-supported, but the construction for our new school is more than we can absorb. Please take this to the Lord in Prayer, how can you help with the construction, how can your church help, Soon we will be presenting actual numbers and drawings that you will be able to help with. We are designing special locations in the plans of our new school that will tell others who dedicated their money for areas to be completed. We are considering even the name of the school to reflect people, church, or churches who helped with large donations. We have hosted many teams with past projects and are once again relying on churches from across the U.S. to help with construction of the classrooms, Electricity, and Plumbing when the time comes. Thank you for your consideration in prayer, and we look forward to hearing from you or your team soon. One final note, I remember talking to a third generation missionary many years before I came to Guatemala. As we talked he asked if I would consider coming on a work and witness trip with him to Swaziland South Africa. I began telling him of all the things I was "Good at" , he looked at me with incredible compassion and said "it is not what you can do but what you allow God to do through you that we really need" I was not offended in the least, and knew that he was correct. Although I never made the trip I took something from that trip I wished I could of made and it changed my life. It does not matter your age, condition or gifting that you think you have, allow God to hug a child at the right time and you might just change a generation for Christ.
Thank you and God bless from all the children at our school Camino al Cielo here in San Lucas.
Jon and Flor Hutton
