Never say never

We said we would never build in Guatemala. I guess we learned our lesson on that one. It's not a really good idea to say you will never do something. That may be exactly what is required of you. 

 I also said I would never homeschool my children. Hilariously we will begin our third year of homeschooling in a few days. 

Maybe it's fear that leads us to say we will never do something. Building a house and ministry center in Chiquimula, Guatemala and teaching the kids have not been easy tasks, and fear creeps in every once in a while (every day). But even as I write, a song by Elevation Worship is playing that says Nothing is too Hard for Our God. 

Good thing we serve such a loving God. And His love casts out all our fears. (1 John 4:18) He is so merciful and continues to use us even in the places we said we would never go and in the things we said we would never do. There's no other like Him!  

Follow the link to listen to this great song. Nothing is Wasted by Elevation Worship

 

   

Good Stuff in Chiquimula

Hello folks! 

Some time has gone by since we've sent out an update to y'all about what's going on in the ministry and our lives. And we haven't been able to hear how y'all are doing through your replies and emails either. We pray that y'all are hanging in there and going strong! I pray that we all make the most of every opportunity that God gives us to show His love and who He is to everybody we see and to all who see us! I get worried thinking about that, but His invitation and opportunities come every moment and every day. If I miss one, I pray for His mercy and grace to cover that moment and for more opportunities to come. Don't forget that we are connected to the Life and Truth, live it and share it! Why would I not...LOVINGLY...share that with everybody? 

God continues to pour out His presence and love on our lives! We are truly amazed and blessed in ways we never even imagined or thought about asking for. The connection He has brought into our lives with the folks here in Guatemala and with the folks in the States fills us to overflowing! God has used y'all and the folks here to lift us up and strengthen and encourage us to keep pressing on towards the goal and to live in perfect peace and joy! That's why Jesus and the Word teaches us to stay connected and active in the Body of Christ! What can we do alone...well apart from Him we can't do anything! But separated from others...it makes it so much harder and exhausting! We need y'all just so you know! And we need the folks here too! Thank you for your prayers, emails, and for coming and working with us and leaving us stronger and motivated! This is why we are connected and a part of the same family! 

We have had incredible opportunities to minister along side so many people here that have come from the States over the months of June and July...7 weeks with 7 different groups! We have laughed so much, cried a lot, used the bathroom too much (hahaha), and ministered to so many areas and lives. We have seen so many folks make the decision to walk in a relationship with God, healings, restoration in families, laughing and playing with kids, pulling teeth, and sweating like a stuck pig doing construction work at the ministry learning center. What a joy to be invited into God's good works and see Him reaching out and touching and providing for so many people in different parts of life and parts of the world. He is an awesome God...a good Father! Please rise up and continue to do His good works where He has you and how He wants you to do it! There is no other joy or experience like it! Taste and see for yourself, the Lord is good and there is no one or nothing that can compare! And right now, our world needs to know this love and passion that God has for them. How else will they come to see it or have it??

We had two interns during June and one has stayed and will be here until the end of August. Brooke beat Tristen in arm wrestling! Just saying...lol We had so much fun with Tristen...he's so much like his dad it's scary for those of you who know him. And if you don't, you're doing good! hahaha Brooke is a beast and has shown up so many guys here this year! She is awesome with the kids and willing to do anything. One time we were unloading bags of food from the back of my truck that weighed about 20lbs each...Brooke comes up and says, "Give me four of them." They were carrying them up the mountain to the church. One of the team members, Shaun, started to walk away with just two...saw Brooke walk by with three...then stopped and turned around and looked at me and said, "Ok. Give me another one." Couldn't let the girl do more! hahaha Good stuff! 

God has been doing so much at the construction site. Lord willing!! Lord willing, we are going to be moving into our house this weekend! The second dorm and bathroom have a roof now! The bathroom stalls and shower walls are finished and we are about to put the stucco on the walls. Next will be the floors. We had to make a lot of unexpected repairs on the electricity for the ministry and our house...unexpected expenses. But we are still moving forward little by little and trusting the Lord to do His thing and complete His work! We want to say thank you so much to all who have contributed to the construction and who have been praying for God to provide! He is so faithful! Please keep praying and contributing to see this finished! There are pictures on the ministry Facebook (www.facebook.com/EyesWideOpenMinistries) that show some of the progress. We have even started using the dorm room to host seminars! We have had two seminars already in the new facilities! Awesome! You can also see a few updates to our website at www.eyeswideopenministries.com.

May y'all be filled with boldness to speak and love boldly everyday! We are praying for y'all! May God bless y'all and fill y'all with His presence and peace! Please keep us in your prayers! Levi is getting so big...Mary Kathleen is starting to worry about her looks and whether she's fat or not...Help us! And Uriah only stops when he is sleeping! And Brandi has only snapped a few of my bones this year...better than the past years! We're good to go! Can't wait to hear from y'all and see y'all at the end of the year! God bless! 

Daniel, Brandi, Levi, Mary Kathleen, Uriah 

Ministry Construction Costs and Video

The EWO Ministry Center will be used to host training seminars for rural pastors, leaders (men and women), and youth.  We will also host mission teams from the States here, and we hope to host retreats, revivals, and community Bible studies.  The missionaries will also live at the center.

The construction began in February 2015, and we are still in the construction process.  We continue to raise funds as well to complete the project.

Below you will find the construction costs and a video that describes the entire ministry center. Please consider taking a look.  Thank you!

Construction Costs
The specific amounts we need to finish the EWO Ministry Center are as follows:
1.  One dorm and bathroom are finished and in use!
2.  The roof on the second dorm and bathroom is installed and much work has been completed! We only lack $5000 to get these usable!
3. We will need $10,000 to finish the conference part of the center.
4.  We will need $29,000 to build the cafeteria/dining hall, kitchen, prayer area, office and storage room that are on the other side of the ministry center.  The footings are already dug out on this side, but nothing else.
4.  The ministry house is completed! Praise God!

On behalf of Eyes Wide Open Ministries in Guatemala, we want to Thank You for the donations you have already given to make this vision a reality!  We also thank you for your prayers as we continue this process.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to the EWO Ministry Center, click
DONATE HERE.

Thanks again for being a great part of this ministry!

To see a full walk through of the Ministry Center (taken at the end of 2015), watch the video below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grt876IJiho

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

Public School Ministry Pictures 2015:

Ministry Center Pictures in El Morral, Guatemala:

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!!