Last Saturday, I was invited to share with a small group of pastors in Ixchiguan, a mountain community about three hours away that we’ve visited many times before. To be honest, I struggled with what to say. The past few months have been absolutely exhausting and exceptionally hard. Sure, I could point to the many examples of God’s goodness through our grief, stand before these fellow believers and proclaim the hope found only in Christ. I could smile and say everything is fine. But that didn’t seem right.

To skip past the hard, to ignore the darkness of the valley, would only water down the goodness and hope found throughout.

For this reason, I chose to share Psalm 13, and to tell the whole story of Wyatt’s life and death. I chose to speak to the hard and the good, using King David’s cry as a framework for hurt and healing.

Here is what I shared.

“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
 for he has been good to me.”
Psalm 13:1-6

I am so happy to be here with you today. I am grateful for the invitation to share, and grateful for the opportunity to serve you and your churches. But honestly, the Psalm I have read today is all I have to give.

For the last two months, like David wrote in Psalm 13, my family has also felt forgotten by our Lord. In March, we found out my wife was pregnant with our fourth child. We were so excited, and praised God for the blessing of another baby. But then in May, the doctor discovered news of a genetic problem. Our son was not healthy, and most likely would not survive long. We thought we had more time, and prayed for the chance to meet him before he passed away. Even if he could only be with us for a short time.

But, just like in David’s Psalm, each day sorrow filled our hearts. We couldn’t understand why God would allow this to happen. Knowing we could lose him anytime, we held on to the hope of one day holding him in our arms.

At the beginning of June, my wife began to experience horrible pain, and her bleeding told us the horrible truth. We were losing our son. We miscarried him early in the morning on June 6th. I have never felt such a terrible sorrow. Then, just a few minutes after passing him, my wife began to bleed again, so much that the doctor struggled to stop it, and she lost consciousness. I did all I could to help as nurses surrounded her, and watched as all the color and life she had within her faded away. 

As I have reflected on this day, I can’t help but cry the very same cry as King David, “Look on me and answer, Lord my God.” And even though we still do not understand why this has happened, I am confident that God has heard our cries. Even though we did not get to meet our son, we rejoice in the fact that he is now safe in the arms of our Savior and King. And even though my wife nearly died, we rest in the truth that even when we feel forgotten, God is forever by our side.

The day we lost our son, I nearly lost my wife as well. But thank the Lord, the doctor was eventually able to stop her bleeding and save her life. Her blood pressure had dropped dangerously low, and she was given three bags of blood and two bags of plasma, along with other lifesaving medications, to restore her health. My dad jokes that “she has Guatemalan blood now,” and we are thankful for it.

In the weeks that have passed since that terrible day, I have leaned heavily on this Psalm’s final two verses. They are an example of true trust, even when trust is hard.

“But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
 for he has been good to me.”
Psalm 13:5-6

Thank you for allowing me to share this with you all. And thank you for your prayers as our family moves forward.

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Your prayers for our family have been felt. We praise God that Rachel still has life. But at the same time, we are heartbroken and grieving the loss of our son. We had dreams of life with a fourth, and when we found out he was on the way, we were overjoyed. We will forever remember him and forever wish he was with us. Until we are together again, we are thankful he is healthy and whole in the presence of God.

With Love,
Tyler & Rachel

A few weeks back, our family took a quick trip to Ixchiguan to visit a small group of pastors and church leaders working far from where we live in Xela. This was also our last chance to travel with the Stones, Gary and Lily, before they head to the States for retirement. We were so glad to have one more time out together! We even crammed all seven of us into their car so we had extra time to talk on the way there and back. At the meeting, we were able to share a little more about ourselves and our desire to partner with their churches to spread the gospel.

These pastors come from many different indigenous towns all around Ixchiguan (some from very far away). This is actually a group the Stones have been working with for years. They come together throughout the year to learn from one another, share praises and prayer requests about their churches, and to be encouraged in the work! We hope to attend a handful of these meetings each year.

The next time Rachel and I will meet with this group will be near the end of June. Please pray we are able to share needed encouragement and that they leave feeling refreshed and ready to serve their communities well. And pray these leaders remain focused on the Lord and that their churches continue to grow in a healthy way.

With Love,
Tyler & Rachel 

If you’d asked us a few weeks ago, we would have honestly told you that our Spanish had hit a bit of a plateau. We reached the Advanced Low benchmark while we were living and studying full-time in Puebla, Mexico, which was an incredible praise. But since we’ve arrived in Guatemala, things have seemed to progress more slowly. Not having school to attend every day has given us more freedom, but the downside is we are now on our own to climb the next few levels without the daily routine of studying in a classroom guided by a teacher. Rachel and I have both worked hard to find friends and seek out opportunities to push our Spanish to the next level, but as we approached our most recent OLI’s (Oral Language Interview) at the end of February, we were less than confident that we’d made much progress at all.

We jumped into our interviews with as much false confidence as we could muster, and then, later that evening as we debriefed about the many errors we both knew we’d made throughout our conversations, we simply prayed that we hadn’t regressed! Best case, we scored in the same level, Advanced Low.

But just last Friday we received our reports, and both Rachel and I earned Advanced Mid! We climbed one step higher, and now have just one more level to go to reach our first-term requirement of Advanced High. Thank you so much for your ongoing prayers for our language acquisition! We thank God for honoring our efforts as we study and strive to learn Spanish so we can communicate the gospel even more clearly.

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On a bit of a sadder note, Tyler and I are struggling with saying goodbye to some of our closest friends here in Xela, who moved in pursuit of better job opportunities at the end of February. We met C and Y through a local church start soon after we arrived, and quickly became friends. We’ve shared many meals together in the short time we’ve known each other, and they have been so helpful in teaching us about the culture here in Guatemala. They were excellent language partners who went above and beyond to help correct our (many) grammar and pronunciation mistakes.

We are so happy that they are doing well in their new home (but wish they were still here with us as well). Please pray for C and Y to find a new church family, one that is just as encouraging to them as the one they left behind in Xela. 

Just a few weeks before they moved, C and Y requested to have a religious wedding at our small church start. In Guatemala, it is very common to enter into a civil marriage, similar to a courthouse marriage in the States where you stand before a judge and sign a marriage licence. This was how they were married a few years before. But before leaving, they wanted to have a full religious wedding with all their church family around them. C asked Tyler to be his best man, and Y chose Rachel as her matron of honor!

It was a beautiful ceremony and celebration of their love and commitment to each other. It was also a great lesson in planning a wedding in only a matter of weeks!  We are filled with so much gratitude for their friendship during our first few months in Guatemala, and pray regularly for their success and happiness in their new home. 

Earlier in February, we were able to assist in hosting our very first team in Guatemala. A small group from our company’s home office came to spend a week with us, partnering in ministry and getting a firsthand look at the work in Guatemala. They shared at our church start in Xela on Sunday, then traveled with us to Ixchiguán, a small community about four hours away, for several days of ministry. This was Rachel and the girls’ first chance to visit Ixchiguán as well!

We were so proud of the girls for their travel perseverance and excitement to meet new friends along the way. We got to visit three churches that were started many years ago by our teammates, the Stones, and meet with several leaders and their families. We were so thankful for the encouragement this team provided and their enthusiasm to share their stories with so many.

Please continue praying for solid connections and language partners for Tyler and I. We have loved getting to know a few new neighbors and local members of our community, and pray to meet even more friends in the months to come.

Over the next few months, please be in prayer for Tyler as he is working through a really exciting Digital Engagement Cohort. This in depth training will help us learn how to utilize digital strategies and online platforms in the advancement of the missionary task here in Xela and beyond. We are also praying for Digital Responders (who have a good foundation of Spanish). These are individuals who are passionate about sharing the gospel and could help us engage seekers in spiritual conversations online. If you are interested in learning more about joining this work, please reach out!

With Love,
Tyler & Rachel

Merry Christmas from the English Family! We pray you and your family have an incredible Christmas and a Happy New Year!

With Love,
Tyler & Rachel