Sunday, August 26, 2018

Plant Based Local Foods



          Disclaimer: Consuming raw or under cooked meats can cause food born illness!



                      Q: So how do you cook for so many people on such a tight budget?

                                   A: I have no clue....

     We must learn how to cook for 10+ kids and stay below our budget. If we don't then we have to turn them away. The meals these kids get at our home could sadly be the only substantial meal they get all day. So how do we do this? How do we we rise to the challenge? How do we steward what we have to make this sustainable?



                                     Plant based local foods are the only way to stay in budget.
                                      Plantain, Taro Root, Local Tortillas, Potatoes, and Eggs

     Our goal is to stay below Q100 per day. This is what we have for food, cleaning supplies, fuel for our truck, etc. With the current exchange rate that gives us $13.36 U.S. Dollars. We found that if we buy local food from local farmers we can stay under budget. God is good. We have what we need to survive and put food in the bellies of those we are charged to care for. It is not easy and I find myself asking what are we doing here? It is a very real struggle to be content, we often feel stretched. We have been extremely low income before, but there is something very different about the poverty we experience here in Chisec, Guatemala. We have roughly 50% more money than our neighbors and I have no idea how they put it all together everyday. I feel disturbed to my core.

     I am writing this from my laptop, on the best wifi I could afford under my electrically lit light bulb. 90% of our neighbors have no electricity, no indoor plumbing and cook over open flame in their living rooms... And I am struggling with contentment. All I can do is open my door, my pantry, and my heart to these kids as long as I am hear and able.

     There has been times in my life where I have been deaf to God's voice, or maybe he has just been silent. I don't know. I will tell you this though Every day I wake up in this place I am face to face with God's Grace ( yeah that's a capital G). I will never be the same. Never.

     My prayer is that God would raise up missionaries from within the church here. That we would be able to experience a mission centered revival in this city that would rival that of the early church. To bring in the fullness of the harvest. 

   

Friday, August 24, 2018

El Esfuerso Water Locate


Disclaimer: This post is based on a real story viewer discretion is advised.

These pictures are from a village we located water for. The name of this village is El Esfuerso and it is located 30 minutes from our home down a typical mud/gravel road. We have some friends over at Compelling Love Ministries who have been working with this village for a while now. One of the projects at hand is drilling a well that produces enough water for the whole community.    


                                          Above: Some of the men from the village helping
                                          set up for our survey.
                                          Below: Collection of raw data



                                              Above: A path up to a church




                                                  Every one is always interested in what is
                                                  going on. It's normal for half the village
                                                  to show up and watch us
                                          These food pictures are from the meal that the
                                          elders of this village provided us after finishing
                                          our day's work. It's always a privilege to share
                                          a meal with these men and women.
                                         
          There is always groups of people in each village who don't really want us there. For the most part once they realize that we're not charging money and we really just want to help they lighten up. not always but most the time. For the record we only go to villages and communities that ask us to come. We do not just randomly show up. That would be potentially dangerous.

          Many of these villages have been taken advantage of by various organizations. Swindled out of their money, money they didn't have to start with. when we go into a community like El Esfuerso it is important to us that we leave them with single truth. That truth is that God cares that they have clean water, and there is many people who have come together to be here for them. The impact of this truth is a hope in the promises of God. This hope is priceless.

          Thank you everyone who has helped make this happen! Many people will be impacted with safe clean drinking water through this project.

So Many Kids

Disclaimer: Posts found from here on out are real events and real thoughts of the author. the author intends to keep everything very real.

So many kids in our yard everyday. We've been here a month now and there is rarely a day with out them. They are like an extension of our family now.







                                 Some of them are here every day some are here once a week.

               We provide them food and art supplies, as well as a yard to play football (soccer) in.
   

        We by no means or stretch of the imagination ever thought we were going to be caring for the children of our city in this capacity. As I said in the previous post we don't make plans really we just say yes. When precious little ones show up at your door you don't simply send them away. We started caring for these kids and sometimes we ask ourselves "what are we doing". We barely have the resources for our own family what makes us think we can take care of 10-15 more mouths. We are viewing this as an opportunity to trust God for provision of basic necessities. We have had a couple individuals help out with specific needs and we are grateful.

         We love these children dearly and will continue to care for them to the best of our ability. We would like to thank everyone who supports this mission we could not do this with out you. Thank you life Pointe Church of Lacey Washington for sending us.

         Many children will know the love of Jesus. They will feel the love of the church and each person who rallies for the cause is significant. Every prayer. Every e-mail. Every person has a place in this mission and we are just extensions of the church's hands for the will of God in Jesus.

         We invite each and every one of you who support us to write in with your questions, Concerns, Prayer request's, Praise reports, or any other communication. If you would like to help out in a specific area of this ministry please E-mail us at steve.waterlocate@gmail.com.

1st Post

        Disclaimer: I do not have a degree in English. My sentence structure is most likely horrible. you may disagree with my views. If you do not like what you see or read I'm sorry. 



                                                                                                                                                                       Why are we here? 
Sometimes we ask ourselves "why are we here" or "what are we doing". The truth is, we don't really know. We don't have the details nailed down. We didn't end up here with some perfectly mapped out plan. We simply said yes! 

How God decides to direct us, where he sends us, and who we serve has always been a mystery to us. It's usually waist deep in whatever he has us doing when we ask, why are we here?. Reminds me of Peter walking out to meet Jesus on the water. We know how that goes. However I would like to say this, its always an adventure. I love to see what God is doing and how he uses his disciples. Why are we here? simply Jesus. 

Every day is a different journey here in Guatemala. We came with a task of locating water in remote villages using equipment we bought in 2016. Our equipment is unique and has a very high success rate for us back home in the U.S. Our GF6 unit from Aqua Locate can see depth, yield, and thickness of an aquifer. This data is very useful when you are having problems procuring water via drilling. We can eliminate the risk of drilling dry or non productive wells. This is extremely essential when funding is at an extreme low as it is in all of Guatemala. That is how we ended up here. Just a typical North American family of 4.