Update on the Rices

 Here are a few updates about us and our work:

Teaching at Love Guatemala

Maria recently had the opportunity to teach a business class at the organization Love Guatemala for one week.  She had about 20 students and the class seemed to help immensely.  One of the women, who sells cakes, said she realized through taking the class that she sold her products for less than what it costs to make!  

Scholarship Program

This is the first year of a WIND scholarship program.  I spent most of my time in my trip to Cotzal in January preparing for the initiation of this program.  We have four students (3 of whom are HOREB graduates) attending the 7th grade at the middle school founded by Agros.  They have classes for 5 hours in the morning, followed by a 2 hour workshop after lunch.  We are excited about the opportunity these kids are receiving.  

HOREB

The Christian elementary school that WIND supports, Colegio HOREB, has ballooned to 149 students for 2015. They began Kindergarten last year with under 20 students, but this year they have all three levels with a total of 47 students.  This year HOREB, which currently rents a facility, is hoping to buy land to build their own school.    

Team Preparation

We have three teams coming in these next few months that we have been preparing for.  

Selah Covenant church will be coming in 2 weeks.  They will be doing nutrition workshops for the mothers of children at HOREB, helping with construction at the school, and also doing community projects in the village of Cajixay.

A team of dentists from Medical Teams International will be coming in March, giving some much needed dental work to villagers around the Ixil area.

Also, a high school team from Westminster Chapel will be coming in April to serve at the HOREB school, supporting the teachers in the classrooms and installing stoves in homes in the afternoons.

Immigration

We are currently in the process of immigrating to the U.S. and we hope to move in June.  Thank you to all that have supported and continue to support our work here.  Please keep that transition in your prayers.  We will continue to serve here until the process is finished and are excited for what God has in store for us in the future.

What Now?

So now, here we are.  A crazy month of transition is behind us and the dust has begun to settle in our new home.  So, what now?  We feel we are together not for ourselves, but for living in service to God for His glory.  That is all well and good to say, but what does that look like in practice?  The truth is, there is so much unknown.  God knows exactly how He will use us, but it is impossible for us to know everything.  We must only begin this journey starting with what is in front of us, trusting God to illuminate the path as we go.

First, what is in front of us is three children who need our love and attention.  We must begin our service with the people in our home, guiding them in the Way and doing our best to set a good example for them.

What is also in front of us is a two and a half year relationship with the people of San Juan Cotzal as well as an organization, WIND, that was started by family that works in that exact area.  So we commit ourselves to serving there.  We have a week long trip scheduled for the week of August 18th in which we will meet with the teachers and board of Colegio HOREB, visit families of the students receiving scholarships at the school in order to understand their current situation, and meet with members of other NGOs that work in the area.  We also will try to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, who will guide us to different situations that maybe was not part of "the plan!"  You can read more about that work in the Our Work page.

 We also hope to volunteer some of our time in the future with the organization Love Guatemala, which is serving in education and building a new trade school in a town nearby to where we live, called Magdalena.  We met the Director of that organization, Ben Kunkel, at Journey Church.  

We have raised only 30% of what we need to support our family doing missonary work.  We are both currently looking for jobs to help supplement that income and are also without a car.  We need your prayers to help fill those needs and if you feel called to give, a commitment to a recurring monthly donation would help us immensely.  Click the donate button to the right if you wish to donate online.  All donations made go through WIND and are tax deductible.

My goal is to write on this blog at least two times per week to keep everybody updated on what God is doing in Cotzal, what is happening in our lives, as well as writing devotionals from time to time.

Thank you to all those who have supported us either through prayer or giving!  It is exciting to see what God is going to do.  Remember us in your prayers.

In Christ,

Jordan and Maria