Hello Everyone,

Just a quick update on answered prayer. We have been praying for an economy car to buy down in Guatemala and also to sell our Expedition. The people who's car we wanted to buy have given us the car and then shortly afterwards we sold our Expedition. Praise the Lord! Thank you all for praying and a big thanks to the people for giving us their car.

If you have not received our Christmas letter, vision update and new 2012 prayer card by snail-mail, please send us your physical address. Several have been returned and we know that a few of you are not on our physical address list. Please let us know.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Dios les bendiga,

Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,

As you know, we have all been praying for the IRS approval of the 501 (c) (3) for Guatemala Deaf Ministries. Praise the Lord the approval letter came in the mail yesterday. Guatemala Deaf Ministries is now a legal non-profit corporation.

Here is a brief itinerary for the next few weeks.

Monday Dec. 12 Mountain Fifes and Drums Rehearsal
Tuesday Dec. 13 Bible Study at the Whites
Wed. thru Friday Sierra Madre to visit with Jeanette's parents
Saturday Dec. 17 Back up in the mountains for the Mount Vernon Christmas.
Sunday Dec. 18 I will be sharing and preaching at Twin Peaks Community Church.
Monday Dec. 19 Mountain Fifes and Drums Grand Illumination Christmas Party
Tuesday Dec. 20 We celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary!
Thursday Dec. 22 A visit to Rancho Sordo Mudo in Mexico.
Sunday Dec. 25 Merry Christmas!
Sunday Jan. 1 Happy New Year!
Sunday Jan. 8 Sharing at Sunday Night Prayer group at Bethany Church of Sierra Madre.
Tuesday Jan 10 We head back to Guatemala.

Our cell phone number is909-835-3135.

Merry Christmas and hope to see you soon.

Blessings,

Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,

The campamento (retreat) for the Deaf was a huge success. 22 people invited Jesus into their hearts to be their Savior. PRAISE THE LORD! The attached picture was the altar call on Friday night. We had about 115 deaf people that attended this year. That is almost double of what we had last year. Thank you all for praying.

Please pray for Alba who is loosing her eyesight. This is very serious for the Deaf since they use their sight for communication. Also pray for Wanner (sp) who was hit while riding his motorcycle several years ago but still cannot walk. He accepted the Lord on Friday night.

Tomorrow morning (Tuesday) we leave for the airport. We will arrive in LAX at around 9:00pm. Please pray for safe travels.

Please continue to pray for the IRS to approve our application for the 501 c(3) status of Guatemala Deaf Ministries. This will be an important step in raising additional funds for helping the Deaf of Guatemala.

Blessings, see you soon,

Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,

Praise God yesterday was a good day. Monday is our time to debrief and discuss what we learned from the weekend. As we said in an earlier update, we have been learning more about how to minister to the Deaf here. We are realizing that their general level of education is lower than we thought. Yesterday we tried a new approach to help them understand the Scriptures. For example, we wrote out the verse directly from the Bible and then we wrote it again the same way that they would sign it. The results are not conclusive but it appeared to be helpful. We are using more dramas and analogies to help them understand scriptural concepts. Visual learning is key in educating the Deaf. Thank you all for praying.

Speaking of praying, we are announcing another fast starting Tuesday afternoon and ending on Wednesday night. Our last meal will be lunch on Tuesday and then we will break the fast at dinner on Wednesday. If you can fast any part of that time frame and pray for the Deaf and the ministry here, that would be much appreciated. Right now there are several deaf individuals/families that are going through some tough times spiritually, emotionally and financially. They just don't have the resources to help them that we have in the hearing community. We are here working to make a change.

Thank you for standing with us prayerfully and financially. Have a great week!

Dios les bendiga,

Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,

This has been a tough week for us recuperating from the wedding and the food poisoning from the wedding food.  Dozens and dozens of people were stricken with something bad enough to send many to the doctor.  We are all fine now and praising God for His goodness once again.  Pastor Elvis is still recovering and I (Greg) will be preaching tomorrow for the hearing/deaf service and also for Sunday school (Gustavo is on his honeymoon).  During the last few weeks God has been showing us many ways in which we can minister to the Deaf and teach them the truths of God's word.  We are excited to have this opportunity to share but we are a bit overwhelmed.  Please pray that the message would be delivered in a way that the people, hearing and deaf, can understand.

Thanks, you all are wonderful and when you pray, things happen.

Blessings,

Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,

Thank you all for praying, it was a fantastic day. I will try to convey to you briefly, the significance and impact of your prayers yesterday and today. The meeting yesterday was very important because we were trying to resolve a difficult situation. Everything went well but in order to finish resolving the situation we needed to drive to Santa Rosa. During the meeting yesterday there were several earthquakes. Late last night we discovered that the earthquakes were centered in the area where we needed to go. This morning we found out that the road might be blocked with landslides but we went anyway. The road was blocked at the next little town past our turnoff. Also, as I (Greg) was driving Elvis' car, the brakes went out. I had to pump like crazy just to get them to work. We turned around and headed back to the house carefully to get our big white van. We almost did not go because it was getting too late. But praise the Lord we did go and the cloud of confusion, misunderstanding and doubt was lifted and now the angels are singing because there is another name written in the Book of Life. There could have been and were huge obstacles to overcome in reaching our destination. Call it what you want but we believe that your prayers made the difference today in the life of not only that new believer but in our lives too.

Thank you again for praying. It is a wonderful thing to be able to shoot out a quick email asking for immediate prayer and get answers above all we could ask or think.

God bless you all,

Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,

We have some important things to talk about today in a meeting and need your prayers for Gustavo, Elvis and Greg. Please pray. Also we have had 4 earthquakes in the past hour which were pretty strong. We are not sure what is going on. Again, please pray.

Blessings,

Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,

We are safely back in Guatemala and have been busier than ever since our feet hit the pavement. More later, but first a brief synopsis on our trip to California.

Our five week trip back to the states was wonderful and could not have been planned by God more perfectly. Amidst the good times we had with friends and family we were able to spend time with our children and touch their lives in special ways. Elizabeth and Curtis just bought a house and we were able to help them do a complete facelift in about two weeks. Hannah started college and we attended her orientation which was on a Friday night and Saturday. It was nice to see where she will be spending the next three years of her life. Lydia did not return with us to Guatemala and is living with Jeanette's parents, working and going to Pasadena City College. Jim and Esther needed us to babysit the grand kids while they flew back to Ohio for the funeral services of Jim's beloved Nona. We were full time grandparents for several days and enjoyed every minute. Juan and Sarah (our practically adopted kids) had twin boys, Daniel and Samuel. Daniel decided he would rather live with Jesus in heaven and so we were able to say goodbye at a memorial service. Juan and Sarah have rededicated their lives to Christ and we had a good time in fellowship with them. And of course the main reason for our short trip was Nathan and Abbie's wedding on Sept. 3rd. The day was perfect and the wedding was beautiful. I (Greg) had the privilege of marrying them. Before the wedding we raided our full attic and took a bunch of furniture to their little duplex in Covina. We also spent several days at the Gutierrez home enjoying the fellowship and getting to know Nathan's new family. All in all it was a wonderful time.

Back here in Guatemala things are in high gear for Gustavo and Ingrid's wedding on Sept. 25. I (Greg) have the privilege of marrying them also and would appreciate your prayers since I will be doing the ceremony in both Spanish and LSG.

On Thursday we will be having a "Paint the Training Center" day to get the house ready for the mini training center the church is starting on Oct. 24th. As you recall the church has a house and they want to start day classes for the Deaf.

Today we attended a forum on the health of Guatemalans held by a panel of six doctors. It was interesting and informative. We are believing more and more that the health issues of the Deaf need to be addressed.

There are two big answers to prayer that we would like to share. Many of you have been praying for the donation of the land underneath La Iglesia Lomas de Portugal. Last month those prayers were answered and they now own the land and the church building. Also, many of you have been praying for the donation of laptops and a projector. The projector is for Jonathan Pappa, a deaf pastor in Jutiapa. We now have a projector, laptop and a printer/scanner/copier with which to bless Jonathan. Praise the Lord.

It is always good to hear of the answers to prayer. We appreciate your prayers and support and ask that you pray for the IRS to approve the non-profit 501 c3 status of Guatemala Deaf Ministries.

Blessings from your Guatemala missionaries,

Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,

There is so much to tell but we will try to be as brief as possible. First of all, a week ago yesterday, we took Pastor Gustavo and his girlfriend to Antigua and dropped them off at Cerro de La Cruz so they could be "alone". They walked up the hill to the cross and he proposed to Ingrid. They are to be married on September 25th. We met them for lunch afterwards to talk about their wedding and then we took some engagement photos (see attached). We met with them again today for over 4 hours, counseling them on the Christian life and marriage. It was a good time.

Our church here is moving forward with plans for a mini-training center to be held in a vacant house owned by one of the leaders of the church. This pilot program begins October 24th and end on the 11th of November. Right now the church will be providing only day classes but it is exciting to finally be starting. Please be praying for this big step of faith. We are looking forward to when we can open the Bible college and orphanage.

This Sunday we have a deaf couple coming over to our house for lunch. They are novios (sweethearts) and asked us if they could come to our house and we are very happy to have the opportunity to talk with them about their Christian walk. Greg was able to preach at a service for the Deaf last Saturday night at a church in Mixco. It seems that God is giving us more and more opportunities to minister to the Deaf here in a much more personal way. We are thrilled to be used of God in whatever way He wishes.

Here is a brief synopsis of the itinerary for our trip to California.

August 4th Arrive at LAX and spend the day with Jeanette's parents in Sierra Madre.
5th Coffee with Nathan and Abbie and then to her parents for dinner.
6th Head to the mountains to visit Greg's mom and step-dad.
7th Twin Peaks Community Church to visit with friends.
8th Head to San Diego to visit with Esther and Elizabeth and their families.
14th Calvary Chapel El Cajon to visit with friends.
15th thru 19th Helping Elizabeth and Curtis do some repairs and remodeling to their new home.
20th College Orientation for Hannah
21st Bethany Church of Sierra Madre to visit with friends.
22nd Finish up project for Elizabeth and Curtis in Santee.
27th Civil War Ball at Church on the Mountain
28th Twin Peaks Community Church to visit with friends.
Sept. 3rd Nathan and Abbie's wedding
7th Back to Guatemala

We will let you know if there are any changes. We would like to share about the work here in Guatemala with anyone who wants to listen.

Please be praying for a wonderful trip to California and a beautiful wedding. Thank you for praying for the Deaf here in Guatemala and for the purchase of the property near Sumpango.

Blessings,

Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,

Our tickets have been purchased for the trip to California (thanks to Abbie's family and Nathan). The airline is Delta and we arrive in the middle of the day on the 4th of August. This is special for us since we usually arrive in the middle of the night. The combined price of the tickets was $153 less than the bargain airline Spirit Air, you know, the one where you have to stick your arm out the window and flap real hard. Our return flight to Guatemala is on September 7th. Thank you for praying. We'll be sending out an itinerary as soon as possible.

We are in the process of getting our Not for Profit status (501 c3) from the IRS for Guatemala Deaf Ministries. This will make it easier in applying for grants as well as facilitate the legal processes for ministry here in Guatemala. Please pray with us that our application will be accepted and approved by the IRS.

Thank you for your responses to our plea for help for the website. We are confident that it will be moving forward shortly.

Attached is our updated "Vision and Mission Statement" for the work here in Guatemala. We are putting together a package with pictures and proposed budgets for the Sumpango property if anyone is interested. Just let us know and we can send them to you.

Your prayers and support are definitely making a difference here in Guatemala. Please continue to pray for the vision that God has set before us.

Blessings,

Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,

Our son Nathan is marrying Abbie Gutierrez on September 3rd. which means that we will be flying back home in August and returning to Guatemala in the beginning of September. They are both engineering students and met each other at Cal Poly Pomona's orientation back in June of 2009. We are very excited for them. Please pray that we can find inexpensive plane tickets.

Today we were supposed to have a meeting for a Latin American deaf conference but nearly everyone cancelled at the last minute. Instead, we spent the afternoon talking and fellowshipping with a deaf couple from the meeting. We enjoyed our time together.

Please continue to pray with us that God would meet the need here for a training center for educating the Deaf. We are staying focused on creating budgets and developing curriculum for the different programs. God has given us more opportunities to do some counseling which helps us in determining content for the classes. The work on the website needs some professional help so if anyone knows of someone who is an expert in web programming and is willing to donate their time, please let us know. Actually, the design and layout are finished and looks good but the site does not work. This is where the programming knowledge comes in to play.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. The potential of reaching nearly a million deaf people for Christ here in Guatemala is real. Our adversary obviously does not want this to happen. The prayers of the saints are essential for success.

God bless each and every one of you,

Greg and Jeanette

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Hello Everyone,

The trip to El Salvador was delightful, safe and encouraging. Thank you all for praying for us. We stayed at the home of Luis and Carolina Ramirez in San Salvador. Carolina is the interpreter at their church and we were able to meet several of the Deaf and two other interpreters. On Thursday we loaded up the van and headed for El Majahual beach. The sand is black, the water is warm and salty and the waves strong. The day ended with a delicious meal of pupusas (El Salvador quesadillas). Communication was interesting since they use both ASL and LSES and we don't know hardly any LSES. But the trip meant a lot to them and to us and we look forward to seeing what role God wants us to play in helping the Deaf of El Salvador come to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

Please join us this week for a day of fasting and prayer for the Deaf of Guatemala. We are starting the fast on Tuesday night and then we will break the fast on Wednesday night with a meal, preceded by a Bible study and pray time. We believe that God wants to do a mighty work here on behalf of the Deaf, bringing them to a saving knowledge of Christ. Please join us in praying and fasting if you can.


Today at church there was a new deaf couple and a new family who brought their deaf 17 year old daughter. Please pray that we would be able to show them the love that Jesus has for them.

Thanks again for praying for us and the Deaf here and for supporting us financially.

Dios les bendiga,
Greg and Jeanette 

Hello Everyone,

Hello Everyone,

When we came to Guatemala we did not know what God had in mind. If you remember, two weeks before we left Howard Grobstein called us to tell us that they were not coming. We were perplexed but knew that God had a plan. Our initial idea was to stay for 2 years and help Howard and Janet start a ministry for the Deaf. That has all changed and now we see ourselves involved here for many years. We strongly believe that God wants us to establish a training center for the Deaf. The training center would house around 60 deaf adults, teaching them sign, reading and writing Spanish, health and skills training.

About three or four weeks ago we believe God gave us a vision for a Bible College on the training center campus. We realized that there were no Bible colleges for the Deaf in Central America. How awesome would it be to train deaf pastors and then send them out to start schools and churches for the Deaf around Guatemala and even to other Latin countries.

And of course our heart has always been with teaching children. They just happen to be deaf and living in Guatemala. So, we want to start an orphanage and school for deaf boys and girls. There are many orphanages in Guatemala caring for children and many of the children are deaf. But the orphanages are not able to teach the Deaf due to a lack of interpreters and/or teachers who know sign.

To do all of this we need a big piece of property with houses, dorms, classes, bathrooms, a kitchen and chow hall. Over the past two weeks we have investigated 4 different properties for such a work. Our hearts desire is a 6.25 acre property near Sumpango. (see pictures in the "Photos" section) The owner is a Christian who wants to sell the family farm so to speak. The property had a screw manufacturing business on it with a large home and smaller houses too. The father is getting old and the son who runs the business moved everything to the city. The place sits vacant with two huge warehouses that can be turned into classrooms, an auditorium, kitchen, dorms etc. The house is big enough and separate enough to house our family and some of the staff.

Our idea is to raise the funds to buy the place, renovate and start classes by January 15th of next year. We are marching in that direction. The budget is almost done but even now we can see that the amount of money needed is substantial. But with God, all things are possible.

We are asking everyone to please stand with us in prayer, asking God to work a miracle and supply the funds needed. Our God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Thank you all for praying and standing in faith with us.

Blessings,

Greg and Jeanette
Guatemala Deaf Ministries

P.S. Nearly all our stolen money was returned, praise the Lord. Please pray for wisdom for us as we are doing more and more personal ministry to the Deaf.

Hello Everyone,

Our apologies for all the email hassles. We thought we had a fairly strong password but obviously it was not strong enough. Everyone should change their email password to include upper and lowercase letters, numbers and characters.

Life for us here in Guatemala has been very busy. We were able to buy some carpentry tools and Greg was finally able to make some living room furniture. Four plastic chairs is just not enough to seat all the people that come over to our house. Speaking of that, last Sunday there were 62 people at our house for lunch after church (see the pics). The church celebrated Elvis and Gustavo's birthdays. Shirma, Arsenia, Xiomara, Ingrid and Jeanette prepared the delicious food.

Shirma was officially hired and last Monday was her first day helping us with the sign language video's for the website. She works 8 hours per day, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. All 3000 signs need to be edited, named and converted into .swf. Jeanette is doing well learning Photoshop which will help her with the pictures that go with all the signs. Praise the Lord our Guatemalan sign language is doing much better and we can actually sit in a meeting with the Deaf and know what is being said.

Proverbs 16:9 says, "A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." Our heart for the Deaf here is full of all sorts of wonderful plans. Part of those plans involve moving into a larger home so we can start holding classes for the Deaf as sort of a beginning training center. Yesterday we looked at a home for sale that would be perfect for a training center. There are also homes for rent that would work as well. As the verse in Proverbs says, we need the Lord to direct our steps. We have begun the process of incorporating "Guatemala Deaf Ministries" as a non-profit 501 c-3 corporation. Up until know we have been making all the decisions for the ministry here in Guatemala. It would be nice to share that load with a group of board members.

Please be praying for us in these ways, that God would indeed direct our steps, thatHiswill would be done and not our own will, that God would continue to bless the Deaf here in Guatemala and that He would continue to meet our needs whether they be small or great. Thank you for all your prayers and financial support. It is exciting to be a part of what God is doing here in Guatemala.

Bendiciones,

Greg and Jeanette

03/09/2011

Hello Everyone,

God continues to meet our needs here in Guatemala. Two weeks ago we met a young man, Taylor Abeel, at the Antigua Bible study on Monday night, who is here studying Spanish and doing some sight seeing. He is a professional photographer in El Cajon, CA. Since he knows Adobe Photo Shop, he spent the last two weekends at our house teaching us the program. I can't say we're professionals yet but we now know enough to help us with the LSG website. Praise the Lord, isn't God good?

We are gearing up to start video taping Bible stories signed by Gustavo and also the videos for the LSG website. Please pray that we can produce and edit good quality videos.

Our teaching schedule will be getting busier soon as we are having more opportunities to teach the Deaf. This is helpful to us because as we are teaching a Bible story or biblical concept, we are at the same time learning LSG and learning how to communicate more effectively.

Pastor Gustavo's grandmother went to be with Jesus last Sunday afternoon. Gustavo and his family took it very hard but at the same time were relieved that she is no longer suffering. Please pray for the family this week that God would give them peace.

We had the privilege of attending Esteban and Senaida's wedding last Saturday in Quetzaltenango. Esteban is a good friend of ours and the pastor of another church for the Deaf. He and his wife are both deaf. The wedding was wonderful, the bride was beautiful and the food was delicious. Check out the attached picture.

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support.

Que Dios les bendiga,

Greg and Jeanette

2/14/2011

Hello Everyone,

We have been back in Guatemala for 2 weeks now and it didn't take long for us to get back into a busy schedule.  Praise the Lord we can sense a definite increase in our learning of Spanish and LSG.  Last Friday Jeanette had an opportunity to minister to one of the deaf ladies in our church.  She felt like God used her, despite her limited LSG but at the same time she was surprised at how well she communicated.

Church today was held at Iglesia Lomas de Portugal the church with which we would like to merge.  With kids and all there were about 100 in attendance.  Over 30 deaf people were there, it was wonderful.  God is surely doing a work.  Counting myself there were 24 or 25 in the white Ford van (it's a 15 passenger van) and 7in the purple van.

A few weeks ago we received an email from a deaf woman in the states saying that her church was planning a mission trip to Guatemala this summer.  She was invited but was told they could not provide her with an interpreter so she decided to look in the Internet to see if there were any deaf ministries in Guatemala.  We have been in contact with her and have found out that she is getting her masters in motion graphics.  Her expertise in Adobe Premier is exactly what we need for editing our videos for the LSG website.  We believe that God is sending her to help us.

Just a quick note on the leaky bathroom plumbing to say that the problem was a toilet that has been leaking for probably years.  The plumbing is just about fixed and we are waiting for the floor to dry out to put it all back together.

It is very clear to us that your prayers are being answered.  We are reminded every day that without your prayer and financial support we could not do the work that God is calling us to do.  Thank you and keep praying.

The picture is from our house looking out towards Volcan de Pacaya at sunset.

God bless all of you,

Greg and Jeanette

1/15/2011

Hello Everyone,

On the 29th of January we will return to Guatemala.  There is still lots to do before we leave, but praise God the list is getting smaller.  Attached is our 2011 budget showing our work fund and personal salary expenses.  It reflects an increase for the van ministry and funds to pay for some office help.  Our desire is to hire a deaf person from our church to help with data entry and video editing.  Below is a needs list with some miscellaneous items and a tools list so that Greg can start a class in carpentry for the Deaf.  We would like to start computer classes and cooking classes as well.  

Thank you all for your prayer and financial support.  We are excited to get back to ministering to the Deaf of Guatemala.  

Blessings,

Greg and Jeanette