January and February Recap

Just in case you missed the update email we sent out, we are posting it here.

Hey Y'all!

We'd like to give y'all a quick update about the ministry and what's been happening this past month and a half. We have been doing great since we made it back here January 23. It's always a little adjustment to our lives when we visit the States and when we come back home. But we are so blessed to have family and friends in both places that take such good care of us! We had an amazing supper waiting for us when we got back that our friends prepared here in El Morral. Many of y'all knew that we were trying to get back here with a new family member...a little 3 month old boxer/bulldog puppy. Didn't think that was going to work, but after some up and downs, I think my trip was easier with a cute little puppy than going by myself. I actually had to put her back in her carrier while walking through the airport to my next gate b/c every five steps someone was stopping me asking to pet her and let her lick all over their face! Hilarious! So praise the Lord we made it back with our new dog! Good stuff! 

We hit the ground running! Started our school visits and hospital prayer the following week and had a team come in 10 days after arrival to do some preaching in villages, install 8 stoves, and teach a pastor seminar! Bam! If that was a lot of stuff to read, imagine being here in it! We had 49 pastors/leaders participate in our first seminar for 2020! It was so good getting to see all the guys and catch up with them on how things have been with their families and churches. We had an incredible seminar taught by Jason and Angie Christman from Forerunner Ministries. There isn't anything better than feeling and knowing that God is present and encouraging and opening eyes and ears to see and hear from Him at these seminars. That is our prayer and desire, and praise the Lord it was so good. Go check out our Facebook page to see some of that action!

We are staying busy and active in all the parts of the ministry. And it is great getting to jump right in and see all the kids at the schools. We have had help from several friends here with these visits. These young guys are so cool and jump right in with teaching and playing with the kids! And the hospital prayer team has been giving it what for every week when they go in and love on those folks and pour out that contagious joy of the Lord! And man the sand volleyball court...there is a group of about 30 people that come out twice a week to play and smaller groups during the week. It is so much fun, and they sure are getting better! Not as many people kicking the ball. Haha Although this past Sunday we had several balls go over the net by kicking it with their feet and one person even hit it with his head! Haha But we are having fun and hoping that they leave experiencing true joy and Jesus' love through our examples and words of encouragement. The youth services are rocking every Saturday night! The four leaders that are leading the service are doing an amazing job! There are new youth showing up, getting visits from other youth groups, and going out to participate with other ministries and churches! Good stuff! Stay connected with all this on our Facebook page. 

So Y'all please keep us in your prayers as we have two seminars planned for March! One for the pastors and another for the ladies of the churches. We are still buying and installing stoves all over the area! This is such a blessing and joy to be able to provide these stoves to so many families that need them. We also have some opportunities opening to get into some new schools on top of the ones we have already built a relationship with. This is exciting but also calls for more time and planning! Keep that in your prayers please! There are several pastors and families here that are struggling with sicknesses so we ask for y'all to pray for healing and strength as they face these hard times. And please be praying for my younger brother as he is out again on the mission field doing some pretty exciting things! 

God is good! His ways of doing things never cease to amaze us! Thank y'all for being a part of what He is doing here in Guatemala and in our lives! We love and appreciate each one of you! And we are praying for y'all and the ministry God has placed in your hands as well!! Be bold and courageous! He'll take care of the rest! God bless! 

Daniel McIntyre 

Joselyn’s Testimony (Youth Service)

“The truth is that the services have helped me a lot and I am a different young woman. Before I had a very ugly vocabulary, and I was very disobedient. I am not perfect, but I have changed a lot.  When I am in the youth services, I enjoy them so much. When I sing, I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, which is something unexplainable. I thank God for the opportunity to be in the services and for y’all who were put in my path. You are making us better young people. We appreciate you. God bless you!” ❤️

“La verdad es que los servicios me han ayudando muchísimo y soy una joven diferente, antes tenia un vocabulario muy feo, era muy desobediente, No soy perfecta pero he cambiado muchooooooooooooooooo, Cuando estoy en los servisios me gozo muchísimos cuando canto siento la Presencia del espíritu santo es algo inesplicable, Le doy gracias a Dios por esa oportunidad de estar el servisios y a ustedes que nos pusieron en el camino para hacer de unos mejores jóvenes, Les tenemos mucho aprecio, Dios les bendiga!” ❤️

 

Joselyn is now leading worship in the youth services. She’s the one leading worship with the cordless microphone. ♥️

Hospital Prayer Testimonies - Alicia

Me encanta servirle a Dios y más junto a ustedes, mi experiencia con ir al hospital y Casa Abel ha sido impactante, cada semana que nos reunimos siempre regreso a casa con una palabra de parte del señor o retada para darle mas de mi a Jesús, mi manera de pensar, de hablar y mi conexión con Jesús a cambiado totalmente, he aprendido a valorar todo lo que el Señor me ha regalado y siempre tener una sonrisa en mi rostro, cuando veo cada uno de los niños enfermos o cualquier situación que estan pasando pero siempre me brindan una gran sonrisa y algunos me brindan sus brazos para que los abrace, he aprendido a adorarle al Señor en las buenas y en las malas cada vez que veo a los familiares derramando lágrimas de angustia y de tristeza pero aún así con las pocas fuerzas que les quedan le  claman al Señor, he aprendido a ver que tan poderoso y puro es el amor de Dios hacia nosotros, cuando veo a familiares derramando lágrimas de alegría viendo los resultados de Sanación y en fin le doy gracias a Dios por esta gran oportunidad de poder servirle a él y a mi prójimo junto a ustedes❤️

I love serving God and more with this team. My experience with going to the hospital and Casa Abel has been shocking. Every week, I always return home with a word from the Lord or challenged to surrender more to Jesus. My way of thinking, of speaking and my connection with Jesus has totally changed. I have learned to value everything the Lord has given me and always have a smile on my face. When I see each of the sick children, or any situation that they are go through, but they always give me a big smile and some even give me a hug, I have learned to worship the Lord in good times and in bad times. Every time I see family members shedding tears of anguish and sadness, and then watch them cry out to the Lord, God shows me how to see how powerful and pure is His love for us. Then when I see family members shedding tears of joy to see the results of Healing, I thank God for this great opportunity to serve Him and my neighbor with this team. ❤️

October 2019 Recap

Hey y’all! We want to take a moment to share with y’all some of our favorite parts of the month of October! This was a crazy busy month but in the absolute best way! We were able to see God move in every facet of our ministry from schools to our outreach as well as stoves, seminar, youth, and the hospital too! We were even able to take some time solely to focus on the future of our ministry growth! This has been such an awesome month, and while we will be preparing to go back to the States during the rest of November, we can’t wait to see how He will use this ministry through the rest of the year and into 2020! So check it out!

In the States we celebrate Father’s Day and Mother’s Day but in Guatemala, while we do have these holidays, there is also a Kid’s Day where kids are celebrated! Each year, during the first week of October, this holiday is celebrated all over Guatemala with parties, piñatas, food, and even kites! What we did to celebrate was bring cakes to some schools and pizza to others to help make the students feel special! We visited four different schools during the week and also the hospital where we sang songs, decorated goodie bags, bought juice boxes, and handed out oranges to all the kids to ensure that they were not left out of the celebration!

We also want to share with y’all the lesson that we were able to teach in the schools this month. The lesson was based from the scripture in 1 John 1:9 where it says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” We used dishonesty as an example in this where we talked about how lying can weigh us down but how at first it can seem like a good idea (to illustrate, we had a few kids hold out their hands and we poured chocolate syrup into them. Lying is messy but even so, sometimes it can seem sweet.) As time goes on though and we continue lying, the mess gets worse and worse (we added salt and pepper to the chocolate mess and had them taste it). Eventually you have a complete mess on your hands because of all of the lying and it is awful (enter garlic powder). We concluded by talking about how Jesus will purify us if we confess and wiped their hands off as we explained how he loves us and doesn’t want us to be bogged down by our own unrighteousness. We then played some games with the kids before leaving each school!

One school we visit is a private school in Chiquimula called CEICA. For an end of the year celebration, we invited the middle and high schoolers and their teachers to come and play volleyball. They had learned about the game throughout the year, but they were only able to play in a parking lot with a string for a net. The day they came, the students split into teams to play a tournament, and the winning team played against the teachers. Having them come and play at the ministry was so much fun and a great way to continue building relationships with them. We are so happy this court is able to benefit the students and faculty at some of the schools we visit.

We were blessed to have Pastor Jendrick Lobos and Jenny Perez, from Casa del Alfarero church in Chiquimula, here with us to teach a seminar on managing family finances. We also had Pastor Erick Velasquez teach one of the morning sessions on "How to make and operate a financial budget." Many of the pastors/leaders, and honestly many of us, do not take time to look at and learn how to manage finances and much less operate out of a monthly budget. And for most of us, it is because we do not know how to make a budget or understand the benefits and results of having one. Praise the Lord, Pastor Jendrick and Jenny were amazing at explaining this in such a way that most of the pastors and leaders were very excited and eager to start applying what they were learning with anticipation in seeing results and differences in their family finances. And after Pastor Erick taught step by step with them on how to make and operate out of their budget, they were able to make their own personal family budget during the morning session to take home and hopefully begin putting into practice. We are very thankful for having the opportunity and help from so many awesome people to bless and encourage these pastors and leaders and see God work in and fill their lives with His Word and Power!

This month seems to have flown by but at the same time, as we reflect on what was accomplished, we could not have had a more busy one! We devoted two full weeks of this month to focusing on adapting our ministry to tackle the future that He has in store for us in the most efficient way possible. As you guys know we have added a few new people to the team which ultimately means we will be able to divide and conquer in each facet of ministry but at the same time there is a period of learning that must happen first and so we had two of our pastors from the States come to help guide us through this season! At the beginning of the month we had our friend Robert Guiller from Utah come out to help us discuss how to develop the why behind the what. During this time we were able to put our culture on paper with some of our values and establish why we do each thing we do in this ministry. At the end of the month we had Stan Smith here from Texas come out to help us with the basics of answering the “how” questions for moving forward. During this time we discussed the importance of trust in our ministry and how that defines how fast or slow we progress. Both weeks were extremely productive and we are so excited to see how God will take this and use it to carry us into 2020! 

Thank y'all so much for taking some time to read through some of the awesome things God did here in Guatemala in October! It's been such a rewarding month and we are ready to see how he carries us in to 2020 here at the end of this year!

September 2019 Recap

Hey y’all! We have been reflecting on all that God did here in the ministry in September and we want to go ahead and share with y’all a short recap of some of our highlights over last month. It seems that every facet of this ministry is seeing growth in amazing ways and we are doing our best to keep up with all that He is doing. New things are happening every day, so here are a few of our favorite moments this past month!

In the local schools we were able to share a lesson about how we should use our words to build each other up instead of using them for destruction. To illustrate this, we had the children share with us a few compliments that they could use to build up their peers and we wrote them down on foam cups and had the children use the cups to build a pyramid. This was to represent how words can build people up. We asked the kids to describe how they felt when someone complimented them and they told us how they felt loved and encouraged. Next, we took a piece of paper that had the words “You are good for nothing” written in Spanish. We then had one of them crumple the piece of paper into a ball as we shared with them that there is power in the words that we use. We had one of them throw the paper at the pyramid illustrating how one insult can tear someone down so quickly. Finally, we told the students the truth that whatever is in your heart will come out of your mouth and emphasized that to truly recognize the power in our words we must guard our hearts first. We closed out each visit with a prayer and candy for the kids! 

As we discuss our new opportunities of outreach here in El Morral, we would love to share with you some of the awesome things that we have been seeing among our youth group that we host here on saturday nights. Several youth that had stopped coming to our youth nights have returned because of volleyball and we are now seeing a few of them embracing the opportunity to lead among the group. Specifically three of our young ladies have begun leading the worship before each service and some of our young men are now leading in our opening prayer before the service. We hope to continue seeing growth like this in our group and pray that God continues to bless their lives each and every week as they dive deeper into their relationship with Him! God has so many awesome plans for their lives, and we want to be there to encourage them and love them every step of the way! 

We are so excited about a new sand volleyball court we’ve added to the ministry center in El Morral. It’s not only fun, but it has opened up great opportunities to minister to kids, youth, and even adults! Several youth that had stopped coming to our youth nights have returned because of volleyball, and it’s our hope to be able to schedule games and community outreach events centered around this new addition. Of course, we are having to teach everyone the rules on how to play, but after just a few weeks, everyone is catching on to the game and getting better every week. We praise God for this new fun part of the ministry, and we are so thankful for your donations to make all of this possible.  

As many of you know, we visit the National Hospital in Chiquimula every week and pray for the patients and their families. Last year, we met a lady named Rossy Guerra who runs an association at the hospital called Casa Abel. This association provides a bed and food for people that have family members in intensive care. Now, one Wednesday night a month, we visit Casa Abel to pray and encourage those who stay there. In September, we shared with them about how God can grow something beautiful in the driest deserts, even when we do not feel or see Him at work. We helped them write letters to God and copy down verses that will help them remember that God is with them and hears their prayers. We are very grateful to have the privilege to minister with these precious people every month.  

While praying in the men’s ward of the hospital, we were able to meet a man who had lost his vision last year and was also struggling with diabetes and high blood pressure. These illnesses had taken a serious toll on his body and he is now battling debilitating pain on various parts of his body. We met him at the beginning of the month and he was there with his wife. He was a believer in Christ and said that despite his physical state, he knew that the Lord was in control of his life and that He loved him. We saw him again three weeks later on our visit but this time he was alone. When we asked where his wife was he said that she had left him. His children had left him. His parents had already passed away. As we prayed and grieved with him, he told us that he felt like Job. He had lost everything but he still trusted the Lord. He still had joy. As we were praying with another patient that day, we saw a man come in and walk up to him to give him some food and water. When we asked him who it was, he said it was a friend from the church. This was so encouraging to us because it reminded us of our job as the body of christ. Despite the sadness and grief that could be gripping this man’s life, he chooses to root himself in the joy of the Lord. Please join us in praying for protection over this man as he travels between here and Guatemala City for treatments and care. 

 

We had a seminar in September with 36 pastors and some leaders, with Robert Guiller, who taught about leadership and administration. We all had such an amazing experience learning together and being transformed and reminded of how Jesus lead by example in serving and teaching through love and truth. At one point in the seminar, one of the pastors said, "Well, I think we all need to take this moment to ask for forgiveness and reconciliation." haha Many of them said that being reminded of these things and being strengthened and encouraged by one another marked a new chapter in their lives, marriages, families and ministries. Our vision and desire is to bring these pastors together to encourage them, love on them and treat them like kings so they can return home refreshed, strengthened and refilled to continue serving and loving the Lord. Thank you to all who were praying with us and who have helped make these seminars possible. 

We are currently working on our visual identity and social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, as well as our website and would love your support! If you are already following us on Facebook and Instagram, please share our posts and pages to your feed or story. We would love to be able to share our ministry even more past the abilities of word of mouth and would love your support in this! On Facebook you can find us @Eyes Wide Open Ministries and on Instagram @ewo_ministries. We are on Youtube @Eyes Wide Open Ministries as well and our website is www.eyeswideopenministries.com. We can’t wait to see how the Lord will use these to help us grow further and ultimately to glorify Him. Thanks y’all!

 

This year has been the start of a new beginning and expansion for Eyes Wide Open Ministries. God continues to add to our ministering opportunities by opening doors to new experiences and stretching our faith to see and envision so much more than we could ever imagine or do ourselves. We have met many new pastors/leaders this year and are now seeing this turn into new relationships and opportunities to share God's love and His grace and power in their lives. We have seen God move and touch so many kids in the schools and hospitals through allowing us to spread joy, laughter and Truth through our words and interactions. The ministry now has two more full-time missionaries that God has called and brought to Guatemala to serve and be a big part of this growth and expansion. 

 

We are looking forward to the days and years to come with more opportunities, new strength and a stronger, Spirit-lead team and partners to minster and spread the love and message of Christ in Guatemala and are so thankful for the things that He has already done here through the ministry. We pray that He continues to use us for His glory and continues to grow the ministry according to His will. Thank y’all for taking some time to read about what He accomplished last month here! We look forward to the months and years to come! God bless y’all!

God Blows My Mind

We had a mind blowing summer this year! We have had 11 different teams come so far! Each team had it's different way of doing things and had different experiences while serving and loving the folks here, but we had such a great time with every body that came to laugh with us, serve with us, sweat with us and visit and encourage so many people in many different areas. We saw God do some awesome things in the villages and churches and also in the lives of the folks in the groups. Many people came to know Christ for the first time...others were going through times of discouragement but decided to run back to His presence...we saw some people receive freedom from demonic oppression and even a person delivered from demonic possession. There is so much more we could mention about this past summer, but that would take up a couple days of your time. hahaha  (More pictures of the groups to come 😊)

So we want to thank everyone who came to serve with us. Giving up your time, money and vacation to sweat and eat weird food ain't all that easy to do, but we loved having y'all here and were very encouraged by your presence and love that you brought with you. My kids loved being able to speak English with other people for almost three straight months! I don't know how much the people liked sitting for hours and hearing them talk without taking a breath! Haha But that meant the world to our kids and our family! That sort of stuff really makes an impact on our lives and energizes us to keep going and smiling. So thank y'all! And all the pastors have asked me to let everyone who came know how much they were encouraged and appreciated the visits and the love y'all showed their families and churches. 

And we'd like to thank everyone of our partners that weren't aren't able to come here and serve with us but who lift us up in prayer and help support the activities and the people we have been able to build  relationships with and encourage. The Apostles mention in many different parts of the New Testament how necessary and important it was for them to have the kind of support y'all are in our lives and give for the ministry. So whether you're able to come here or not, y'all are a part of all that God is doing here, and we give thanks for your lives and for your hearts! 

Please continue to pray as we are teaching, visiting and encouraging the pastors and their families and communities. We also ask that you keep praying for our school visits and all the kids that are hearing the Word and learning about God's love for them. Keep praying for Brandi and her hospital team as they go each week into the hospital to prayer and hand out gifts and items of necessity to the patients and their family members staying with them. Pray for our backs as we go out and install the stoves in the different villages. They are heavy and sometimes you have to walk up and down mountains to get to the houses, and that can be hard to do without passing out or dying! Haha But God has blown us away with that part of the ministry providing so much to be able to buy more and more stoves for these families. Thanks to all y'all that have been a part of providing some awesome stoves for these families. God is good!

And I'd like to end with praising the Lord for Brooke and Tristen and their decision to come and be a part of the ministry in a full-time capacity. They are now living here and helping the ministry as it continues to grow and expand year after year. Each one of them has their special gifts and talents that they are already using to improve things and help with different responsibilities. Please keep them in your prayers and us as we learn to work together and follow God's leading and plans for His ministry. Feel free to contact them and encourage them as they are adapting to a new culture and doing new things in the ministry. Good stuff! 

Thank y'all for your time and for being a part of this ministry and our lives! If y'all have any questions or would like to talk about something, please don't hesitate to reach out and contact us! We'd love to hear from y'all and continue to work together in God's kingdom! Keep yourself updated with everything that is happening here. We are updating and changing things on the website, and we will be adding things to our Facebook and Instagram page everyday. We also have a blog for the ministry that will have shorter more frequent comments and testimonies for everyone to be able to her what God's been up to here in Chiquimula. Sorry this ended up being so long, but I haven't been able to communicate with y'all for over two months! And so much has happened. Thanks again and God bless! 

Daniel

Almost done!

Praise God, the 2016/2017 school year is almost in the books. Although I'm sure my kids could have learned more, they have learned a lot. Levi will pass the 4th grade, and MK will pass 3rd. The Lord is good! Uriah has already started some school, but he will begin formal Kindergarten in August. Time has definitely flown by!

To be honest, I never wanted to homeschool. It wasn't in my plans for sure. I was a super confident secondary math teacher but was consumed by the fear of teaching my own kids. I guess my main reason is that I'm not a very creative and fun elementary teacher (and my History knowledge is embarrassing). The other is that I truly believe that children learn from other children. Cooperational learning is a BIG topic in the education world. But God is showing me that when He calls us to do something, He will provide, lead us, and even use our weaknesses. God is also opening my eyes to how vast His understanding is! Although public school is awesome, so is homeschool! Both have their great advantages. 

Above all, God continues to remind me of how He is the greatest Teacher. When I was overwhelmed at the thought of raising our children in another country, God led me to Isaiah 54:13, 17b "All your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their peace...this is the heritage of the servants of the LORD." I can't stop thinking about this verse today and how true it is. 

Another new adventure this spring semester was that the kids wanted to go to school here in El Morral, where they only speak and teach in Spanish. They chose to go in the morning and do homeschool in the afternoon. I actually thought it would last two weeks, but they have done great! Another surprise from God. It has helped our kids with their Spanish, and they have made several friends. 

God is faithful and does far more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). I just wanted to praise Him for that today.