What We Do

My photo
We are a non-profit organization that works with pastors, churches, schools, and the local hospital in Chiquimula, Guatemala. We host training seminars for pastors, leaders, and youth from rural areas and we help supply the congregations with Biblical materials to minister to their communities. We visit several public schools to share a Biblical story and play with the kids. We also pray in the local hospital and give out toys, toiletries, and Biblical materials. Ways to Be a Part of this Ministry: Come - We need pastors and leaders to come and teach these pastors and leaders here in Guatemala. Or you could bring a group to work in the churches or schools with construction or evangelism. Financially Support - If you would like to support this ministry, please visit our website at www.eyeswideopenministries.com to donate online or send your donation to: P.O.Box 245 Florence, Alabama 35631 Make your checks payable to Eyes Wide Open Ministries. All donations are tax-deductible. Pray - Please pray we will follow God's leading in all we do.

Saturday, December 19, 2015


Christmas is just around the corner, and we are so happy to be in Alabama with family and friends.  Although we miss our Christian family in Guatemala, it is very nice to spend time with our grandparents, parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews.  We sure are blessed!  How about you?
Our preacher from Guatemala, Pastor Jendrick Lobos, shared a video on Facebook giving thanks for family.  He said we all have a family to be thankful for, and it is the truth.  Even if we were unable to be "home" for the holidays, we can say we are never alone.  We have been greatly blessed with a ministry family, a church family, and a missionary family in Guatemala.  Our cup is over-flowing with warm, loving family, and all I can say is God knows our personal needs.  Praise Him for His love and faithfulness! He even gives us those "extra"  blessings no matter where we are.


We are also very thankful to announce we have updated and redesigned our webpage at www.eyeswideoopenministries.com!  We are very grateful for my brother, Casey McBay, at Shoals Websites for designing and managing the site.  It is a great blessing to the ministry!  We hope you like it and can get to know a little bit more about what our family is doing in Guatemala.
Blessings,
Brandi

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Public School Ministry Pictures 2015:










Ministry Center Pictures in El Morral, Guatemala:










Sunday, June 28, 2015

Good stuff in June!

Well we have almost made it through June in one piece! We had to help move some of our closest friends to Belize this month because they are going to minister there now. Really bites, but I know God has awesome things ready for them to do there! But it was great having them here, and our kids loved their kids which are good friends with our kids. But Lord willing we will still be seeing them and visiting them throughout the year! They live really close to the beach in Belize...that was nice and will be a nice get away from time to time!!
We have been visiting the schools, teaching and playing with the kids! Loving it! Getting to know new faces and personalities and seeing the fear on their faces as they get to know me...haha I don't know why folks look scared or just shake their heads when they are around me...I feel I am a pretty normal guy...good looking and charming...haha But there is this new thing happening in the schools with the kids playing some sort of satanic game with chants and crazy things happening! Don't know if it's happening in the States as well, but the kids here don't see the seriousness of the game and only think it's cool and fun! But that's how the devil likes to get in and then kill, steal, and destroy! So please keep them and us in your prayers so we can preach the Word and give them Jesus!

We had a group of teachers from Alabama come and teach the teachers here this past week.
The schools loved them and the knowledge they were able to gain from the "workshops" the teachers brought. This also opens doors and gives us favor in the eyes of the schools! So thank you to the teachers from Bama, and may God continue to work and transform minds and hearts in the schools!





















We also had a group from St. Louis and from Texas come two weeks ago to minister in the
mountains, hospital, and schools. What a great time! And great group! God was glorified and lives were changed and will continue to change after that week! We were able to walk with several pastors through their communities ministering with them and praying with the families in the village while handing out food bags to the families. A lot of times we think we are showing up to be this huge light and change their lives when we leave more impacted and touched than the folks in the village. That's God! And good things happened that week to the folks in the group too! I think we might have found a husband for Nancy! She'll kill me...hahaha But time will tell! So thank you to the groups that came this month to minister with us and help open more doors to be able to continue ministering and go to some new places as well.























Dorm room & 2 Bathrroms
The construction is coming along, praise the Lord! We have a group coming in July that will help pay to get the roof put on and then another group that will help move the dirt and level the rooms out for the floors. We don't have any more funds as of now to continue with the construction. We still lack the floors and bathroom items to get the first phase finished and the seminars functioning in there rather than at our rented house. So please pray for God to continue to provide for the construction and the vision He has given us. If you feel lead or want to help with the ministry center, please contact us and we can explain many different ways how you can help.



Thank you God for a great month in June! You are awesome and keep surprising us and showing us your power, love , and faithfulness everyday! Thank y'all for your prayers and support which keep us going and help accomplish all that we do here for the glory of God! God bless!!



Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Catching Up!

Been several weeks since I have updated the blogspot. I know all two or three of y'all are suffering and dying from waiting for my next blog! Come on! You know your heart is leaping for joy! HA!
We have been getting back into the schools and playing with and teaching the kids! I really enjoy our time with them! Sometimes I feel like it really ain't making a difference, but that's when I slap the devil in the face and get in the car and go and have some fun and pour out the Truth all over the kids! It ain't my job to make sure it sticks or penetrates and grows...but I'm going to keep seasoning it with salt that does penetrate and with truth that sets free those who hear it and get it! God is good and has equipped us with everything that we need to do His good, pleasing, and perfect will!...so let's get out there and do it! Nancy is a huge help in the schools! The kids love her! And we now have another friend helping us, Ruben, with serving and loving the folks here! They are great to have and a true blessing for the ministry!
We have also had several seminars in the house over the past few months. Some with the pastors, some with youth...all went great, praise the Lord! God is so faithful to show up and teach and fill this place with His presence and Word! Even in the kitchen you can fill His presence and blessing over the food! We really enjoy having the pastors in our house and seeing and hearing about the awesome things God is doing in their lives and in their communities!
Brandi, Nancy and Ruben are faithful about going and pouring into the lives of the folks in the hospital every week! They take gifts for the babies and Christian literature for the older folks! It's great to see the smiles on the faces and see the encouragement and the lifted spirits as they pray and as God wraps His arms around them and they experience His presence and comfort in their difficult times! It's probably the more difficult thing we do b/c of the extreme heat inside the hospital and the spiritual warfare while we pray, but God is bigger and stronger and gives us the strength to be His voice and hands to many lives. To God be the glory! For great things the He is doing!
We have come so far with the construction too! Praise God! One of my friends asked me one day if we were almost out of money and about to stop working...I thought that since day one that has been the case! HA! And we are still working three months later every day with out stopping! So I don't know how to answer that question...Only God knows! And God is faithful to complete what He has started and will do it in His timing! I just read in Haggai where He said that He is the owner of all the silver and gold so He will provide what we need to do His will...in His timing! So we are trusting God and moving forward in faith with what He has given us to work with for today and will keep doing so until He says otherwise. It ain't easy!! Don't get me wrong...very trying and testing sometimes when it seems to be overwhelming and everybody is asking so many questions about the next thing...But I try to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and let the Spirit lead my next step. Please keep us in your prayers throughout this process! God is so good and faithful!
The family is doing good! Have had some sicknesses that felt like it sucked the life out of us! Ha! But we bounced back with God's strength and have been doing good! The kids finished their school today! YEA! And the groups are about to start coming in June and don't stop until the middle of August! So it'll probably be another 4 months before I blog again! Haha But I'll try to keep the blogs updated. We are using the ministry facebook a lot to post pictures and updates! www.facebook.com/eyeswideopenministries Go check it out!
There you go....
Pastor Seminar

Pastor Seminar

Youth Seminar

Construction Site: Dorm Room and Two Bathrooms
School Ministry

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Ministry Land and Immigration

We met with the architect and went over all my beautiful hand-drawn plans...bless their hearts. I think maybe Uriah could have done a better job. HA! But they got the gist of it and said that they were going to start the plans and have them ready to review in a week. I felt very nervous and uncertain about that whole step but after talking to them, I felt better. And that's one step closer to getting started. We also bought close to $1,000 of re-bar to start forming columns and getting started on the cistern and septic tank. Esau is going to be the foreman over the construction and found a great deal on that re-bar. Thank you Jesus. I think Esau might be more excited than we are about God's leading and direction to buy that land and build the ministry house. Whenever I talk to him about an idea, he says that they...his family who are also construction guys...were up late discussing the same idea and making plans and drawings to show us. Love it! We really felt God leading us to put Esau in charge of the construction...and now I see why! Good stuff!
We are still in the process of getting permanent residency for our two oldest kids. It's been over a year now...and I still can't believe the things that happen at immigration here in Guatemala! Simply mistakes that shouldn't happen in an office that only works with immigrants from all over the world...like putting your whole name on the forms or spelling your last name right??? I guess with all the weird names that exist in this world that might be understandable but not when you have a thousand forms in front of your face with the name spelled correctly! Good grief! But God's grace is sufficient and His mercy is new every time we go to that office! We had a friend here that told us we should stop praying for patience because enough is enough! Haha! But Lord willing, we will be finishing the process this coming Monday...like I haven't said that 40 different times! But we are still praying and hoping for it!
But God is good and faithful!! And we endure all things and give thanks IN...not FOR...all circumstances because God and His love are just that good!! It wipes the other little short-lived problems of this world off the plate! God bless!!

Friday, January 23, 2015

I am WEAK!!

We truly have an awesome God that really knows us and knows how to use us! He designed His plans and His ways to be empowered through our weaknesses. He must have been thinking about me when He put that rule into order! 2 Corinthians 12-7-10; 13:4 explains it better...but thank you Jesus that you can use me because of my weaknesses. I ain't got to go looking or trying to be weak! That happens without effort or having to look for it...or is that just me? But when I can totally depend on God and allow Him to lead me to accomplish His will, through His power, then I see things happening that I know for sure were not because I did them or because I was an expert in that area! And it's neat to see that God has our best interests in mind when He set that in motion...so that we would not become proud or trust in our own strengths and 'know how'. That leads to destruction and failure! Every time! So He made it to where we can go to Him, trusting completely in His Word and leading, and knowing fully that whatever He has asked or directed us to do will happen! And it ain't got NOTHING to do with our strength or knowledge. But God still chooses to use us to do it...pretty cool!
We are buying the land today, Lord willing. This is a lot of money and pretty scary and nervous to do this...that's perfect! God's power in made perfect in our weaknesses! So let God's power come and His will be done with this land and the money being spent to buy it and the construction of the ministry! All this seemed impossible a couple of months ago! But look at it now! It's starting to roll and move toward the vision God gave us! And seeing how it took Noah 120 years to build the ark and see the flood...Abraham never saw that awesome nation God promised him...and others received their promise the same day...it's going to happen in God's perfect timing! We are excited for what God is doing and pray that we continue to rely on His guidance and power to complete the work that He has started! Praise the Lord!

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Residency!

We have been working on the kids' residency papers now for one year after working for a year on their temporary residency. Every time we go to immigration to get something done, something is not right and we either have to pay for something else or go back another day. It's a 4 hour drive to get there one way. We have been there three times in a week and a day! This time we were at the last point...the last step...and some thing was wrong with the paper work that THEY filled out! And we had to pay more money for them to fix it! They said it was my fault for not knowing what data had to be on there and not correcting it when they asked me to look at the spelling and see if it was all good. The spelling was good...they just put the wrong name on there! HA! How was I suppose to know what name was suppose to be on there...I thought that was their job. BUT after paying the fine and doing more paper work really fast we got back into the process without having to go home and then turn around and drive back just to pay and get into the process again. They told me we were going to have to come back another day b/c there were no more numbers...but praise the Lord for His favor and mercy...they stayed and waited and allowed us to get it done that day. We still have to wait 8 days and then go back and try again...but what else can you do?? As Josiah says, "The bird eats and the worm dies." I know...doesn't make since but makes you laugh and get over it.
That was stressful. I could actually feel my face get red and hot when they told me it was my fault and I had to pay them to fix it! I started feeling a lot of pressure in my head and my eyes started burning...I stopped and thought, what is going on?! Then I realized that my blood pressure must be going up! Haha I thought now come on Daniel! Calm down. I started praying and hoping that I wouldn't pass out or have a stroke! That was a first for me. And after getting Brandi calmed down and out of their, we made it home. I read a kids' devotion book to the kids before they go to sleep every night...well can you guess what it was about?? It was about not giving up and staying focused while you do your best for the Lord! HAHA! "Do your best to live at peace with everyone." I couldn't help but laugh and feel better! God is so good to us and always encourages us and gets us through everything! His gentleness is always there and His encouragement and love too. Sometimes we act like, "NO! Don't touch me right now...I'm mad!" when God is trying to comfort us and tell us it is going to be ok. Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness and strength!
Please pray that it all comes out correct and we can finish it when we go back in 8 days. I am so tired of that drive and seeing Immigration. But praise the Lord we'll get there and be done soon!

RATS!!!

I mentioned this in our monthly update emails...and if you aren't getting those and would like to just comment on here and I'll add you to it...but we have rats!! Or had rats! When we got home from visiting the States for 2 1/2 months, our house had a plague of rats! It sounded like a party was going on on top or our tin roof and wood ceiling because of all the rats running around and chasing each other. Our kids would tell us that they hear the rats running above their beds! We had to move Mary Kathleen's bed into the boys' room because the rats made her ceiling the bathroom or nest area. Her roomed smelled so bad and strong of urine that we had to move her and start working on getting rid of the rats!
So I started putting out rat poison everywhere and they would eat it all over night because it would be gone by morning. About 4 or 5 days went by and I never saw or found any dead rats. So I put out more poison...again, it was all gone by morning. Then they started coming out! We started finding dead rats everywhere! Every day! after two weeks, we have physically picked up 20 rats and because of the dead animal smell in three different places, I know there are more!! And I still see some running away from the dog's food bowl at night when I go out to feed her. Can you believe that! More than 20 rats were living in our house and above the kids' room! I was picturing that movie Ratatouille, or however you spell it, when that old lady's ceiling fell down and there was a colony of rats and she never even knew it! Imagine having more than 20 rats run into your bedroom at the same time! I'd hurt myself trying to get away. And these suckers ain't your typical field mouse or rat...the adults look like squirrels they are so big! But thank you Lord they are leaving and the urine smell is almost gone! And we can sleep without the rat race going on above us on the roof! There you go...