The English Update

Thank you so much for your prayers for our weekend trip to Tuzamapan! Before heading out, we had a special team fellowship on Friday evening where our SLAM Team prayed over us and our teammates who are also leaving in September. It was a really heartfelt time with those who have become like family this year. 

Saturday morning, we set out on what was supposed to be a three-and-a-half-hour journey (though with stops, it was actually closer to five). Once we arrived in Tuzamapan, we stopped by a church member’s home to share a meal. We were so proud of the girls for being brave with the new foods they were offered and for greeting and speaking with everyone so well in Spanish. We then set out on a short prayer walk through the small town and stopped by a few homes along the way to chat. We had the incredible opportunity to share the Bible stories we had prepared, of course completely in Spanish! 

It was truly a blessing to be welcomed into these homes and for our girls to experience this time in the community with us. In one of the homes, a little girl gifted us with some small beaded crafts she and her grandmother had made, a beautiful flower and three dragonfly keychains. We will absolutely treasure these gifts!

On Sunday morning, Tyler had the chance to share during the service. He spent hours preparing and translating his lesson, and he communicated his message with clarity! We had a good laugh afterward when the Pastor, a dear friend of ours, mentioned that Tyler had only mispronounced 8 or 9 of the words. A handful of mispronunciations after just under a year studying the language is not too bad! He took it as a compliment!

We were so proud of our girls for being flexible and respectful throughout the trip. They faced some uncomfortable situations, nothing unsafe, just different from what they were used to, and they handled it with grace. This was our first night away in a community for ministry, and it was a great experience with lots of opportunities to learn. We know there will be many more opportunities like this in Guatemala, where we will travel far out to communities, and share the Good News with others.

Again, thank you so much for the prayers while we were away! Our move in September is coming together: Our house is almost finalized, tickets for flights have been purchased for the 19th (our original target date), our packing pile is growing, and we have just six days left in school! Please continue to pray for us as we move forward to this next transition.

With Love,
Tyler & Rachel