Happy New Year! I hope that 2009 will be filled with many new experiences for each one of us as we continue to serve God’s purposes.
The New Year is off to an amazing start. A group of DTS Students from Chico, California is ministering with one of our staff members in San Pablo La Laguna at Pastor Antonio’s church. On Sunday night Pastor Antonio was called out of the service to visit a family with a critical need, their baby was not breathing and its skin was cold. He prayed for the baby but nothing happened so he returned to the church and got 2 of the DTS students to go with him to pray. After praying the baby came back to life!!! It was a faith building experience for the students, the family, the church and the community.
Christmas was a new experience for me as I went to a homeless shelter in Antigua with the DTS students. They put on a Christmas program that was greatly appreciated and enjoyed by the people. They sang along with the Christmas carols and were thankful that they could celebrate Christmas with us. Each night 80-90 people come to the shelter for a meal and they are given a thin mattress and blanket so they can sleep inside and not have to find shelter on the street. I thought about Jesus being born in a shelter and how humbling it must have been for his parents. I am grateful to God for his love for us that was demonstrated by his humble birth.
I will be going to San Pablo La Laguna the first week of February to help construct a health clinic with a group from Canada. The clinic will be constructed at the home of Pastor Efrain. The primary work will be pouring the concrete roof which will require 75 people as it will all be done by hand. Work will begin at 3 a.m. and they hope to have the roof completed by 9 a.m. The group will also be constructing a home for a family in San Pablo and we will have a clothing distribution. One Christmas Eve a man from the USA came to the coffee house for breakfast. He happened to be riding a motorcycle so I struck up a conversation and found out that he owned a factory that made T shirts. When I told him about the clothing distribution he said I could have as many “seconds” t shirts as I wanted as he had thousands of them he could not sell! I will make a trip to his factory and bring a load with me to San Pablo.
After this group we have a group from the USA coming to Antigua to help build a church and set up a feeding program with the organization that works with the homeless. Last summer the leader of this group came to the coffee house while I was working and talked to me about bringing a group to minister. He had seen young children eating from the garbage area near the market place and wanted to do something to help them. His organization is making a one year commitment to provide lunch for the children. I am hoping that we will be able to work with the children after they eat as many of them do not go to school. It will be a great opportunity to impact their lives. Pray that everything will go smoothly as the two organizations work together for the benefit of the children.
Higher Grounds Coffee House continues to be a connecting point for students who are in Antigua to study Spanish or are here on a short term missions trip. We also have had people from many countries stopping by the shop and many of them do not know the Lord. I am grateful to the Lord for the coffee house and the lives it has touched this past year. The last 5 months have been very difficult for us financially as tourism has been affected by the economic crisis in the USA. We are renting space from a Pastor who has a church behind the coffee house. He informed us that he will not be renewing the contract to rent the property when the present contract expires in October. The owner of the property wants to raise the rent substantially and he is not able to afford the proposed rent. Please pray that God will give us guidance as to what we should do regarding the coffee house ministry.
On January 17th we will be hosting a Men’s Seminar at the coffee house. We have one group of men who will be leaving their homes at 4:30 a.m. to be able to attend the seminar. Some of these men came to a conference we hosted for Pastors a year and a half ago. God touched their lives and their marriages and we are blessed that they will be coming back. Pray that the conference will truly touch the hearts of the men who come. I read an article recently in a local paper that stated Guatemala has the highest percentage of drinkers in the world. 66% of the people drink alcoholic beverages. Many families are suffering because of this and there is a great need for men to be the leaders of their families and be examples to other men who struggle with problems with alcohol.
We have had several groups contact us about coming to Guatemala this summer for ministry. If you are interested in bringing a group please contact me as soon as possible as our calendar of available dates will fill up quickly.
We have also had several students contact us regarding our fall DTS which will be held September 6, 2009 to January 22, 2010. Some of them are from Guatemala and will need financial assistance. I would like to raise several thousand dollars to assist them. Our goal is to have at least 10 students in the class. Please pray that God will supply everything we need to make the school happen this fall.
Thank you for your prayers and support of the ministry during the past year. I have been and continue to be grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to be here. I am especially grateful for many of you who have given sacrificially to help fund the construction projects and send children to school. Your gifts and prayers have made a difference in many people lives.
May the Lord continue to bless your lives and provide for all of your needs during these trying times.
For Him,
Bruce
Correspondence address:
Bruce Ahlberg
6ta Avenida Norte #33
Antigua, Guatemala
Contribution address:
YWAM Antigua
15850 Richardson Springs Rd.
Chico, CA 95973
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