August Trip Report

With Enma, the Principle at Colegio HOREB

I am no stranger to the town of Cotzal, having spent two and a half years being involved in the community with short term teams, teaching English at the HOREB Christian school there, and having built relationships in the community. This week though felt entirely different. I came with a different focus and one incredible partner.

We walked out our door in San Cristobal and caught a chicken bus to Quiche and then took a microbus (a van) to Nebaj. I had made that trip so many times before but it was the first time making that journey with my wife by my side. We were able to stay at our friend's rented house who was in the USA.

During our week in Cotzal, we interviewed 24 students at HOREB that are receiving scholarships from WIND with the purpose of making a little profile of each child to share with supporters of the school. We were also looking for stories of transformation for the kids involved in these programs and were pleased to find some major ways in which God is working in these children's lives. I am excited to share one story in particular of which I will be writing this week. We also had longer interviews with six of the teachers at their homes, asking them about their students and learning more about them as we build those relationships.

Maria taking notes in child interview

 We held several meetings during our time there. We learned more about the work of Compassion International, had a wonderful time discussing ideas and future visions for the Jorai Bible Institue, and also spent time talking with the board of Colegio HOREB about their current ideas for buying land in order to build their own school.

 God also put on our heart children in need of scholarships for middle and high school. It is our hope that a good education would be provided for a few of the students who are graduating from HOREB but who don’t have the resources to go to a good school. There are also a few former HOREB students who we see as good candidates for scholarships.

Children in Feeding Program

 We also observed the feeding program WIND has put in place for ten children to receive a lunch who otherwise would not have one. This program has made a tremendous impact in the lives of these children. The teachers have reported that these students come to class happier and of course have gained some needed weight!

We were only able to visit a few families in their homes, but it is always a highlight. I have visited frequently one particular family who is going through a difficult time and it is always special to see the children’s faces light up when we come. We also visited one family for the very first time and as soon as we arrived, a 4 year old girl ran with excitement to her mom, “They’re here! They’re here!” I sometimes put a lot of pressure on myself to be “in the Spirit” on these visits and feel like a failure a lot of the time, but this was a good reminder for us that even if all we do is show up, God is still using us to bring encouragement and light.

We left early Saturday morning to return home and a few long bus rides later, we walked to our home in San Cristobal. It had been a trying week with some difficult spiritual battles but in the end we completed what we set out to do. As we relayed to my dad, the Executive Director of WIND, all that we did that week, I was surprised. I always feel like I don’t do enough but while talking to him I realized that God had indeed used us greatly. We acquired a lot of information this last week and now it is time to organize it and report all that we have learned to the WIND.

Maria with a student during a family visit

Thank you to all who have supported us! We will continue to work as well as we can for His kingdom.

How Jesus Taught Us to Pray

During a recent bible study, Maria and I reflected on how Jesus teaches us to pray.  I wanted to share some thoughts on the topic, using Matthew 6:5-15 as our guide, with the hope that it is edifying to those who read.  Included are 10 heart attitudes that Jesus teaches us to have when we pray.

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.  Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.  But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.  And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

This portion of scripture is taken from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6.  Throughout the sermon, Jesus reveals the wicked hearts of the self righteous who think they are holy and follow the law.  Here He is dealing with the theme of doing "good" things in order to be seen by others.  It is not that other people see us that makes it wrong (Jesus talks about letting your light shine before others in 5:16) but it is the motivation in our heart that Jesus is revealing.  Do we seek the attention of others in order to be praised and accepted by them?  Or are we laser focused on our relationship with our Father?  Where is our heart?

For me, it is easier to pray alone than with other people.  The reason being is very simple, I am sensitive to what other people think about my words.  I have a hard time to pray with a pure heart because I become focused on the performance.  My heart is divided between praying and how my words sound to the others around me.

1.  A heart that desires to have a relationship with God without the need to impress others. 

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

I do this all the time.  Sometimes I know I should pray, so I pray and say a bunch of words that maybe sound holy, but my heart isn't completely in it.  Sometimes reciting prayers, like the Lord's prayer that Jesus is about to teach us here, ends up just being empty words if we are not praying with the heart as well.

Another thing I do sometimes is pray for the same thing over and over again thinking if I pray enough times, perhaps God will hear me.  I don't always have faith that God is listening so I end up praying just to pray.  Here Jesus reveals something very important, that God already knows what we need!  In fact, He knows better than we do.  As a new step father, I am beginning to understand this.  Maria and I are always focusing on what is truly best for the girls and sometimes what is best runs contradictory to what they want in the moment.  It is the same with us as we pray over and over again something like "please God, I need this."  It is important to remember He knows what we truly need and knows what is best for us.  I am reminded of what Paul wrote in Romans 8:26.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  A simple groan from the Spirit can be a more acceptable prayer and be more meaningful in your relationship with God than one thousand beautiful words with a heart not aligned with His Spirit. 

2.  A heart that desires to be aligned with His Spirit.     

After laying out what the desired heart should be of the person praying, Jesus begins to teach what is now the most famous prayer in the entire Bible.  First, I think it is important to note that the words He uses have no power in and of themselves.  This is not some magic incantation.  As we see in the verses leading up to it, if you pray this prayer and in your heart you are trying to impress others or with a heart otherwise not aligned to the words of this prayer, they are nothing but "empty phrases."  Therefore, I believe that what is important are not the words of this prayer but the heart behind these words.  Having said that, this prayer is special indeed, for it is the model prayer that Jesus gave for how we should pray.  So lets dig in.

Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name...

It is important to know who you are talking to.  You are talking to the Creator of the universe, the One who put the stars in the sky and designed every cell in your entire body.  You are conversing with infinite Love and Mercy.  Our hearts should be filled with reverence.  But at the same time, He is our Father!  How amazing that through Jesus, we have been adopted as sons into His kingdom.  Do you start your prayers with the deep awe that the great Creator is indeed our Father and loves us unconditionally?  Is your heart filled with the greatness of God?  Me neither.  A lot of the time when I pray, I usually get straight to the point.  "Lord, help me with this" or  "I need that."  But when we do that we are missing something very special because we have not taken in how amazing, loving, and powerful our Father is. 

3.  A heart filled with awe and worship at how AMAZING God is and that He is our Father!

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...

When you pray, is your heart focused on yourself or the will of God?  Are you thinking about what God can do to make you happy or for God's purposes to be completed on Earth?  The truth is, we are selfish and God exposes us through this prayer.  The object of prayer is not us, but God.  He is not some genie in a lamp, giving us all of our wishes.  He is the great I AM who through His endless love, has forgiven us of all wrong and adopted us as sons!  We should be filled with joy as we align our hearts with His perfect will. 

4.  A heart that is focused on God's kingdom and will!

Give us this day our daily bread...

This would appear to be the first selfish part of the prayer, if not for the inclusion of "us" and "our."  Just as the prayer starts with OUR father, we ask for Him to give US this day OUR daily bread.  I believe at the heart of this entire prayer, it is a prayer not just for us as individuals but for us as a whole.  We are praying for God to meet our own basic needs the same as we are praying that He meet the needs of our starving brothers and sisters in Africa.  It is through this heart that as we pray, we become ONE (as Jesus prayed we would be in John 17:22). 

5.  A heart united with ALL members of the body of Christ

I am also struck by how He only instructs us to pray for what we need today.  I pray a lot for needs in the future, which maybe isn't always a bad thing, but what happens is that the prayer essentially turns into worry, meaning we are not trusting God to provide.  He instructs us in 6:34 Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.  God wants us to be focused on the present, to only ask for what we need this day.

Maria and I worry a lot about money and being able to provide for the family in the future.  But the funny thing is that everyday we have enough!  When we look back at the past, we see that God has provided for us every single day.  How silly is it that we worry that He might stop providing for us in the future.  He sees our needs.  We need to trust Him.  By only asking for Him to meet our needs today, our hearts should be filled with confidence that He sees what we need tomorrow.

6.  A heart focused on the needs of today with an implicit trust that God will continue to provide in the future.

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors...

In this there is freedom.  One simple request and the slate is wiped clean and we can move forward with confidence.  This is the key part to the prayer, the part where we are made right with God.  To be able to ask for forgiveness though, we must be humble enough to be brought aware of the depravity of our hearts apart from God.  Our debts are insurmountable and no amount of works can ever make up for it.  Trying to earn His grace is folly, we can only receive it as a gift.

7.  A heart with humility to see the depravity at its core and ask to be cleaned. 

and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

First, He says give us, and then forgive us, and now lead us.  Behind the words, there is an assumption that we can not provide for ourselves, that we can't pay back our debts with God, and now that we need to be led.  In conclusion, the prayer is one utterly dependent on our Father.  Missing are words that I use a lot in prayer which is "help me."  That attitude in prayer might be good intentioned but behind it sometimes is an assumption that you can do some of it on your own, you just need a little "help."  On the contrary, Jesus teaches us here to have a heart of utter dependence in prayer.

8.  A heart utterly dependent on God

After we are made clean by His forgiveness, we ask that He lead us away from further temptation.  Here Jesus reveals a heart that doesn't want to continue in its old ways but wants to follow the path of righteousness.

9.  A heart that wants to stay in the light!

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

It is important not to take this verse the wrong way.  It does not contradict other teachings in Scripture like Romans 8:1 which says: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  The free gift of salvation for eternity, which Jesus accomplished on the cross as a perfect sacrifice, can not be taken away from us.  Instead, it is a day to day cleansing that is withheld from us if we refuse to forgive others. 

The fact that Jesus brings this up again means it is especially important.  If we come into prayer with our Father while holding a grudge against someone else or with hearts hardened against others, you will not be made clean and will not be free.

10.  A heart that is merciful

 As a whole, what Jesus teaches us here about prayer should shake us to the very core.  It reveals to us our own selfishness and how much we need to change to be more like Him.  In the end, it is our heart, not our words, that God pays the most attention to.  What are our hearts praying to God?

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      

Our New Home

After returning from our honeymoon, we spent a weekend with the girls before beginning a stressful moving week.  Maria´s mom and sister changed homes with us and now all 7 of us are settling into our new home.  This house in San Cristobal (a town just west of Guatemala City) has been a tremendous blessing for all of us.  The owner is a God fearing man and has been very supportive.  He gave us a good deal on the house as well as leaving furniture for us to use.  It has enough space for all of us to live comfortably and we love our location.  We are within walking distance to just about anywhere we need to go, which is good since we do not have a car.  There is an 8 lane swimming pool next door and I am excited to see what opportunity there might be for giving classes.  We also are close to Journey Church, the church we attend which is full of American missionaries.

The condominium where we live is full of playmates for the three kids.  Naty and Sofy have played outside everyday with our neighbors since moving here.  It has been nice eating dinner together as a family every night and we are starting to get into our routine.

As I survey my new surroundings, I ponder our path.  What is God teaching us, where is He leading us?  What people has He put in our path?  I pray for wisdom to help lead the family in the right direction and strength to fight my own demons that get in the way.  I pray for the environment of the home, that it is filled with love, patience, forgiveness, and a longing for God.
       

Family Trip to Cotzal

After the wedding, Maria and I traveled with my family up to Cotzal.  My mom, dad, sister, nephew, uncle, aunt, and two cousins traveled with us as well as Pastor Ralph with his son and daughter in law.  It was the first time some of them were able to see the school where I have spent so much time working.

 My family has been such a huge support for me in prayer these last couple of years and it was cool to watch them in the community for the first time.  The first day they went to the school where my nephew Micah was a huge hit with the children at HOREB.

Two teachers came with us: my sister Amanda and Ralph's daugther in law, Lorien.  They are part of WIND's teacher to teacher program which pairs teachers from the U.S. with teachers at Colegio HOREB in order to exchange ideas.  They were able to observe the teachers in the classroom and also participated with them in a teacher workshop put on by the Nicolas Fund of Education (NFE).

Through a donation from WIND, we also were able to present HOREB for the first time with textbooks for all the students.  It was an emotional time for the teachers because they had prayed for this kind of help.

 I was also able to bring some of the group into a few homes where we prayed and visited.  It was a short trip but it was a special relationship building time as my friends in Cotzal got to know more of my family.  As my family left on a plane to return home, Maria and I spent our honeymoon on Lake Atitlan, the start of a new life together.

Our Wedding

 Our wedding took place on July 19th. It was a blessing to have so many people travel to come celebrate with us. I had family and friends fly in from Seattle and a lot of Maria’s family was able to drive three hours from Guatemala City. We also had a few friends come from Cotzal, the town where we work. The same pastor that officiated my sister’s wedding, Ralph Rowland, flew from Seattle to lead the ceremony and the worship band from our new church, Journey Church in San Cristobal, was able to perform some songs. It was a blended and unique mix of people that God brought together for this occasion. My groomsmen were my best friend Adam and my brother in law Sean. Maria’s bridesmaids were my sister Amanda and her sister Clara. Maria’s best friend Guisela was our professional photographer. Micah, my almost 2 year old nephew served as the ring bearer. While looking a bit confused for part of his walk, in the end he ran right to me and handed me the pillow! Our daughters Natalia and Sofia were beautiful as the flower girls. We walked into the ceremony with the song “A Thousand Years” from the twilight movie and later our church worship leader sang the song “Oceans,” a song of great significance to us. It is a song about living in faith and walking on the water in midst of uncertainty. Ralph read our story that I wrote while my friend Carlos translated:


On January 1st, 2013, my dad led our family to write a big prayer for that year on a notecard and then put it under ground to be revisited when the year was over. I wrote: “My big prayer for this year is to provide a partner to go through life with and that you would make it clear when it came to making a decision.” When I reread what I wrote one year later, I broke into tears. I had not remembered the prayer but God had answered it in a big way. In 2013, God changed my life. 

My strong and loving father was about to have open heart surgery and on February 5th, I returned home to be with my family. I did not expect God to put a woman on the plane beside me who would remain at my side to this day. On that day, I felt the Holy Spirit come over me in a way I had never felt before. We began talking and before long, we were sharing deeper and deeper, the conversation flowing between Spanish and English. I shared with her a Bible verse I had been contemplating: Blessed are the poor in the Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. She began to cry and felt God was calling her to a greater intimacy with Him. At the airport we agreed to do lunch together but lost each other after going through customs. I was astonished to find that we had the exact same gate at the huge Dallas airport. Now God was just having fun. I ran through the airport and we talked some more before her flight took off. I wrote in my journal that day how it was amazing how I felt like I could spend the rest of my life talking with her. Little did I know, I would be. 

The next time I saw her, she picked me up from the Guatemala City airport when I returned to do missionary work. From February to July we talked almost every day on the phone, reading the Bible together, and sharing deeper things about our lives that we had never shared with anybody before. She was the first person in my life who I felt I could truly share anything with. She visited me in Cotzal a few times and I visited her in Guatemala City. I met her children and felt a strong connection with them from the first moment I saw them. She came and visited me in Seattle in August and then pn a trip to Guatemala in October, I traveled with Maria and the girls up to San Juan Cotzal. I was amazed how God used Maria in the homes and how Majo, Naty, and Sofy felt so comfortable in this foreign setting. Before returning home, Maria and I prayed together and during an indescribable moment, God made clear to us that we were to do ministry together.

That November, Maria traveled to come visit me in Seattle. I greeted at the airport with flowers, got down on one knee and proposed to her while people around clapped and cheered. Since then, we have been preparing for life together. We feel called to live our lives in service to God and feel like we are together for an eternal purpose. We are planning on serving as missionaries here in Guatemala for at least a year while we ponder a transition to the United States.

Pastor Ralph shared a message about the beatitudes in Matthew 5. He talked about how they were ways of being, not just doing. He encouraged us to be poor in spirit, to be meek, and to be peacemakers, and our marriage will be blessed.

I said my wedding vows in English while Maria said hers in Spanish and we surprised the girls with heart necklaces with 1 Corinthians 13 inscribed with the date of our wedding. It was a symbol of our commitment to them as part of this new family, a touching and beautiful moment. We lit a unity candle with the song “How He Loves” playing in the background and we walked out to the song “You make beautiful things.”

At the dinner both Adam and Amanda gave wonderful wedding toasts and we did our first dance to the song “Fear is Easy, Love is Hard” by Jason Gray. Afterwards I shared a special dance with my mom while Maria danced with her mom. The dancing went late into the night as Clara and her friends spiced up the night with some Latin flavor. It was a party to be remembered, two cultures coming together, dancing and celebrating a new creation of God. My 23 month old nephew stole the show though, dancing in the middle of the circle, clapping and stomping his feet while spinning in circles.

It was a very special day and to see three distinct cultures represented and celebrating with us was amazing. Our story is God’s story. It is a story of redemption, a story of how God can take brokenness in our lives and make us whole. It is a story of how our superficial cultures melt away when looking at deeper manners of the heart. We are all sinners who need Jesus and we all can celebrate together when God begins something beautiful.

Westminster High School Team

This past month has included two WIND teams, last minute wedding planning, a wedding, a family trip to Cotzal, a brief honeymoon, and then we moved the whole family to a new house! Now we are finally settling in and getting organized and finally I have time to take a few breaths and write. This week I plan to write each day to catch you up on all that happened in the month of July.  At the beginning of the month, while Maria was preparing for our wedding, I helped to guide the Westminster High School team.

It was the largest team WIND had ever brought down, with 25 people, 18 of which were high school students. We had some apprehensions about the size of the team, but we saw God really work in the lives of the students while they served in Cotzal. A couple of them spoke about feeling God calling them to be missionaries. Others were clearly touched by the people of Cotzal and more specifically the children at Colegio HOREB. In the mornings we taught at the school, starting each day performing a skit and lesson for the whole school about the story of Joseph. We broke into smaller groups after that, teaching Geography, English, Health, Science, and Art, while reinforcing the message we learned in the big group time.

In the afternoons we installed stoves in homes. The kids worked hard, stepping right in and serving in whatever way they could. By the end of the week, we met our goal of installing 21 stoves to families who were cooking over open fires inside their homes. These stoves are such a blessing because they take much less wood and instead of the family inhaling all the smoke, it now safely leaves the homes.

On the last day, we took all the children to the park where a good time was had by all!

Personally, it was a time of growth as I was utilized more as a translator with our main translator out sick for a part of the time. For two days I translated the lesson to the school and it surprised me how the words would come to me in the moment. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but the children understood the message that was trying to be conveyed. God was surely helping me. 

That was a stressful time with the wedding details and future living situation still uncertain. We are happy to have that time behind us as we settle into our new life together. I hope to write about the wedding tomorrow.  :)