Rio dulce

No matter where you live and what your days look like, you have the choice each day to depend on yourself, to live safely, and to try to control your life. Or you can live as you were created to live- as a temple of the Holy Spirit of God,as a person dependent on him, desperate for God the spirit to show up and make a difference. When you begin living a life characterized by walking with the Spirit, that is when people will begin to look not to you but to our Farther in heaven and give Him the praise. -Francis Chan ———————————————————————This weekend we where in rio dulce inaugurating the church that just got finished! It was so amazing to get to see the church full of people after all the months that it's taken to build it. It's been so exiting to be apart of what God has been doing in that village. And turning a place that was once dark in to a beacon of light to all the villages around it! The first time the church doors where opened they had a cont of 400 people! God is on the move. He is awaking harts, and the hungry harts are being filed with his love.

First week back

I have been back in Guatemala for about a week now. It’s been so nice to get back and out of the cold weather of Colorado! I am back in Zacapa for about a month by myself then the rest of the team will be coming back in February! It’s been good for my Spanish to be back for a month and get it in some practice before all the English speaking people come back! The kids have been slowly coming back through this week to start school and the rest will be here next week. So we will have a full house come Sunday!! It’s been so fun getting caught up with every one and talking about what had happened in the last 3 months. Mostly, I have just been helping the dorm mom get the house ready for the kids. On the 6th of January I started the long journey back home to Guatemala. A trip that should have only taken around 10 hours, turned into a day and half journey. My plane was late landing in California due to a storm and all planes where grounded and no one could land. I keep praying that God could hold the other plane, so I could make my connecting flight. But, I got to the gate just in time to watch them close the door and not let anyone on. I was a little disappointed that I missed my flight. I walked over to the help line and joined the group of lost and stranded travelers. In all the years of travelling back and forth I have never had any problems and have always made my connections. So, I guess it was just my turn in learning to become a well-seasoned traveler! While in the line to get my new ticket (that was probably about an hour long), I texted every one telling them that I was not making it to Guatemala that day. I found myself getting a little disappointed and upset that I missed my flight. All around me in the line everyone was mad and yelling at the representatives about how the airline made them miss their flight. So after I texted everyone, I asked God why he wanted me there…I didn’t want to become mad and upset like everyone else. I believe there is a reason for everything that happens. If we can just take our eyes off of what seems to be the problem, maybe we would see God working and how God wants to work in that situation. I asked God to open my eyes so I could see what he wanted to do; to help me stop looking at my circumstances in that moment and live for his purpose. Right after I said that I looked up and the girl next to me was on the phone telling her dad that she missed her flight to Guatemala. So I asked her if she was heading to Guatemala and we started talking. She was helping an old man that was from Guatemala that did know English or what to do to get a new flight. So I started talking with. Then another older guy that was in line to get a new ticket to get to Guatemala joined in to the conversation too. He was a retired guy traveling around doing everything he always dreamed of doing when he was young. So he was heading to Guatemala to go to Spanish school and explore the beautiful country. So there we were a group of 4 a girl my age that is in collage here in Guatemala, an old farmer guy from a village about 2 hours away from where I am, and an older retired man that was out making all his dreams a reality, and me. So I got to talk with all of them and share with them what I do here and what God has done in my life. It was really cool to get to know them and hopefully speak into their lives. But through that whole day I learned that we are the ones that decide what are situations will look like. I could have let the day be ruined and get mad that I missed my flight because the plane was late. But then I would have missed out on all God wanted to do in that time. We get to choose to let God have his way and give us a mission where we are in the middle of what we are doing. Or we can choose to miss out on what God wanted to do and walk around mad because something did not happen the way we wanted. We get to choose what are actions are going to be. If we let God have the situation we are in then something beautiful will always happen. Even if you don’t see the outcome of the impact we had, God will always use you if you ask Him to.    I found out later that the plane I was supposed to be on had engine failure and had to land right away. Every one was stranded in the airport for hours while they were fixing the plane. I did not know until hours later that God was watching over me by rerouting me. After about 30 hours of traveling and not much sleep I made it back to Zacapa. And slept for 2 days!!      While everyone else was asleep, I was sitting talking to the old guy that was with us. He is a farmer and works with cows. So we were just talking about all sorts of different things. Then he digs in to his pocket and hands me $4 and says that we are family now, and just like he does with all his grandchildren he gives them money to get candy so he told me to go and get myself some candy! He was so sweet.   Support: Thank you to everyone that has supported me in these past few years that I have been here. If that has been by much needed prayer or through giving financially; I have been very grateful for your support and having you fight next to me in the work God is doing here in Guatemala. All of us doing are part in getting what God wants accomplished! Thank you for running this race side by side encouraging one another to make it to the end. I could not do it if it weren’t  for each and every one of you! I am excited to announce that I have accomplished 60% of my monthly goal! It’s been so amazing being a part of this journey God has put me on. If you would like to support me personally or any of the other projects we have going on go to:  http://fiaministries.com/give/ to give to me personally make sure you select my name in the menu  where you would like you donation to go.     Prayer requests:   That God would be with all the kids here at the dorm as they are all entering into a new school year. That God would open doors for all of us at FIA to speak in to the lives of these kids. Many of them are not Christian. But we believe that God has put all each kid in the dorm for a reason; to experience who He is and how much He loves them. Pray that there hearts will be opened and softened to hear about God and who He is. For the dorm parents Milvean and Anibal that they would be strengthened in this new year with the kids, as they are the ones that live day in and day out with them. That God would give them opportunities to speak into the kids lives. That they would be living examples of Christ’s love to the kids. I know there heart’s desire is to be there for all the kids and teach them about God and help them become good strong people.

City dump

On Sunday I went to one of my favorite place the city dump in Zacapa. Every time I go it just reminds me of how real Gods love is. The people or so happy you talk with so many of them and there so confident in the love God has for them yet they live among mounts of trash. Every time I am there it reminds me that there is only one thing that can make us truly happy one love that can truly fulfill us to the point that it doesn't mater what we have or where we are. This one thing is God His love can fulfill us to the point that no mater where we find are selfs we can always have true happiness. We can always have true happens if we put God in the center of all that we do and all that we are if its throw Him that we live then we have true life!

Spending time with family and friends

I have been back in the US for a month now. It’s been so good to spend time with my family and see my friends again after such a long time. The only thing I do not love is this cold weather. I have not seen winter in two years and I am not enjoying it much. But other than that I love getting to spend time with people, getting caught up on each other’s lives and getting to hear all the awesome things God is doing in their lives.

My oldest brother got married the end of October, so I got to spend the first two weeks of my time with him and his little family! I loved spending time with my little niece and getting to know my sister in-law and helping with all the wedding fun. I was a bridesmaid for their wedding. And now have a beautiful new sister!

My mom and I are off to Florida for two weeks the end of November. I’m looking forward to getting out of this cold weather and into some nice tropical weather!! I am so excited to be getting to spend time with my cousin and her growing family as she is expecting her second baby when we are there! I am also looking ford to getting caught up with some very dear friends of mine!

As I am back in the US I have been trying to work on my finances among other things. I currently have $850 coming in monthly with a goal of $2,000 a month. I am very thankful for everyone’s generosity in supporting me through monthly donations, one time gifts, or more importantly praying for me and everything God is doing through me and around me. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family supporting me in so many ways as I walk through this journey of life. I love having so many wonderful people to get to share all the amazing things God is doing in my life. I would never be able to live the life that God has called me to if it weren’t for your generosity and support.

I ask that you would pray about supporting me financially and or supporting me through prayer; whatever God puts on your heart to do. I have $850 out of the $2,000 monthly support coming in right now. This $2,000 covers all room and bored, travel cost such as hotels and such if need (we travel a lot with teams all summer), and also helps with ministry overhead such as helping with projects, as well as covering personal costs such as my phone bill and extra things I might need and traveling to and from the US, which I hope to do once a year to visit family and friends.

My hope is to raise enough while I am home to be able to stay for a full year; to make that possible I need to raise $8,000. If God has put it one your heart to donate please go to www.fiaministries.com/give/ please make sure you chose my name (Amanda Culver) under the menu where you choose where your donation goes.

If you have any questions please email me at amandaculver911@gmail.com.

 

 

Fun times with the kids!

I have been staying in Guatemala by myself for the past week with all the dorm kids. It’s been such a fun time of just getting to know them all better. Making banana bread with the girls and making up a dance while we wait for the bread to cook! I have truly enjoyed every minute of being with them! I am also excited to be going to Colorado October 5th and visiting my family and friends. Being a part of my brother’s wedding and the possible adoption of my little sister!   

  

Being here alone again reminds me of so many stories of last time I was here. Man, I must have been a bit crazy; I had just turned 18, I did not know any Spanish and barley knew the people I was staying with. I knew even less about Guatemala and the Guatemalan culture. I stayed in our school dorm with only Spanish speaking people for two months. I got lonely at times and sometimes I just wanted to go home, but what kept me there was the desire to change. I was tired of living for myself and the world; I knew that I needed a change… not just any kindof change but a lasting one. I was searching for something to live for that was bigger than me and that had purpose. I was willing to do anything to find completion and feel whole. So,that need for change brought me to Guatemala. I had been on two mission trips before coming down for a one year internship;I just remember how happy I felt when I was here. I felt complete like I was doing what I was meant to do. So after I graduated from high school I decided to give God one year to show me what His dream was for my life, so I came down for the internship. Well, that year never ended. I found God down here like I had never known Him before! Those two months I stayed here by myself where the two months that set my platform in God. I found God to be all I was seeking for;everything I was looking for was found in Him. I found 100% satisfaction in Him, true love and Joy! I also found God’s dream for my life and that was to live in Guatemala and serve the people of Guatemala. I made the decision to live in Guatemala permanently 8 months ago and I have loved every moment of it! 

 

To be able to continue to do what God has called me to do, I am still in need of people to support me. I need people to join in the fight that God is fighting through me for the people of Guatemala. It’s not just me that is fighting the battle but every one of you that join me in prayer or with financial support. I want to thank everyone who is praying for me or supporting me financially, it means so much to me to see other people’s hearts on fire for what God is going in Guatemala and all over the world. If you are interested in supporting me monthly, I currently have $350 a month raised. I have a goal of raising $2,000 a month. This covers all my living costs. If you would like to donate monthly or give a one-time gift please go to www.fiaministries.org. Please go to my donate page for more information on how to give. Please email me at amandaculver911@gmail.com with any questions and I would be happy to answer them.

The church in Rio Dulce that we are building!!

 

Me and a few of the girls the outher day we made banna bred, and had a little dance party! Love this girls!!

 

The cutes little baby!!

           

A little girl and me for the city dump. Such a sweet little thing. She had all her little treshers she fond in her little bascit. It alwe amazes me to see in one of the wort place you could live a city dump to see how happy they are.

 

Some of my little friends and me!

       

Summer update

Our last team of the summer is coming tomorrow! I am supper exited to see what God has in store for this team. I love being a part of what God is doing in the hearts of the youth all over the world. 

Last week me and a few of us who work with Faith In Actiongot the opportunity to go to a new town in Guatemala and see the ministry of a missionary friend of ours. While we were there,He had a team with him that was there to do a Children’s Vacation Bible School (VBS)! My heart is to start doing things with the little kids in the villages we work in. So I was supper exited to join this team and learn how they do VBS. I am supper exited to start this ministry with kids here in Guatemala I feellike God has been putting it on my heart for a long time and now is His perfect timing!

I am also exited to be helping to starting a Children’s Ministry in the mountains. The pastor has asked two young girls in the church to start doing a Sunday school class with the kids. They have been faithful in doing what he has asked, but are not exactly sure what to do. It’s been my heart for a long time to build up the woman of the church so they can teach the kids. God has provided the young women, and now I am excited to help them and give them the materials they need to help theseKids! I also love building new relationships with the people in the mountains.

In August the family that I work with here in Guatemala will be going back to the States for two months. I will be staying inGuatemala until October. But to be able to stay here untilOctober I need to raise $1,400. A few of our younger students are having a very hard time getting through school this year and need some extra help getting there study’s done I am really looking forward to spending 2 full months with all the kids before they all go on brake for 3 months and I go back to the States. I will be returning to the States October 5th and staying for a few months to try to build up my monthly support. I am a Brides Maid in my brother’s wedding, so I’m excited for that. I am also hoping that my parents get to adopt my new sister while I’m there as well.

 

If you would like to support me monthly or give a one-time gift please go to www.fiaministries.com/give/. Go to the donate page and click the drop down menu to choose where your money goes, then select Amanda Culver.

(If you need directions on how to give go to my donashin page) 

 

My birthday

So much has happened this summer already!!  We are in the middle of team season and keeping our selves busy. So I am just going to share one story from the summer so far to keep it short! 

I just celebrate my 20th birthday. It was a day full of adventure. It started out with a little malnourished boy coming to our door with his family to see if we could take him to the hospital. He was two and a half years old and only weighed about 20 lb. So we called the hospital to see if they could take him in. While we were waiting to hear back from the hospital we gave the four little girls that came with him a bath, put new dresses on them and did their hair! It was so much fun! I love that when we give our time to God he will fill it with what he desires to do. After bathing the little girls it was time to take the little one to the hospital. I wanted to keep him, but I was not allowed. He was so sweet and despite how sick he was he was always smiling and happy! I got to do my favorite thing for my birthday… serve the people of Guatemala and play with little kids!!

How to donate

I have been getting questions on how to donate. It can be confusing on the web sight on how to donate so we have wrighten a tutorial on how to give if you have any further questions pleas email me at amandaculver911@gmail.com. 

How to Donate: Go to: www.fiaministires.org Click on “Give” at the top right side of the web site Click on “Give” under “Support by credit card” (or choose desired method) Choose donation frequency, such as one time or monthly.  Choose credit card or PayPal. Choose “Missionary Amanda Culver” from the drop down menu under “I want my donation to be designated toward” Lastly under “Giving Option” choose to donate 100% or 97%. If you choose 100%, it will add a 3% charge to your total. This covers the credit card fees.

We are building a house.

Today we hiked over to where we are going to build a house for a Widow and drew up some plans to start building! This Widow has had a very hard life but keeps her trust in God! Now with God’s provision, we get to build a house for her and her two boys! We are going to be starting the construction in June.

I have fond where I belong!

So much has been going on down here in the last few months. From traveling to and from the mountain villages to helping the students study for their mid-term exams. Lately, we have been spending a lot of time in the dorm in Zacapa with all the students. There is such a strong battle for the souls of these kids. So many of them come from backgrounds of witchcraft and strong catholic roots. Every morning we get up and pray for the kids that their hearts would be softened and that they would be set free from the bondage that oppresses them. Our hope for the dorm is that the kids would receive more than just a good education but that their hearts would be touched by God. It has been such a privilege to watch the kids open up and become more curious about God. The other day I got to share my testimony with all the kids. A lot of the kids struggle with the same things I did: very low self-esteem, not feeling like they belong and feeling less than everyone else. All of these thingsare lies from the devil to try and keep us from God and becoming all that God planned us to be. 

It is so cool to see the things that God has brought me through in my life applying to the teens. The things that once overtook me with fear and kept me in the background have now become my platform with these teens. My prayer for these teens is that they would see that God loves them and that he has a plan for their lives. I also pray they would find confidence in God and would be free from the chains and lies that bind them.

Through the last few weeks, I have been praying for God’s heart for my life. Specifically, I have been praying for clarity in His vision for my life and what He wants to see happen in the lives of the people He has called me to serve.  I find it a pleasure and honor to be able to serve the people of Guatemala. I know this is where God has called me to stay and be His light in the darkness of Guatemala. However, right now I only have enough support raised to stay until the end of April. I need $1,500 a month to cover my living costs. This means, I need 15 people to pledge a $100 a month, or 25 people to pledge $50 a month but everything helps. I am returning to the states in October and staying through Christmas. My hope while there is to network personally with people and raise the support I need to stay here permanently. Until then, I need $8,000 to be able to stay until October. This means $1,500 by mid-April and $6,500 by June. If you would like to donate, please go to www.fiaministries.com/give/. In the drop down menu for donation, choose my name (Amanda Culver). If you have any questions please email me at amandaculver911@gmail.com. All donations are tax deductible.

I ask that you would pray first about supporting me and ask God what your part could be in the work he is doing here in Guatemala. Above all pleas keep the teens in are dorm in your prayers that God would become real to them and that they would desire a personal relationship with Him.

       

The Dream for Zacapa

I announced a few weeks ago that I am a full time missionary in Guatemala and have officially moved to Guatemala!! I have fallen in love with the people and have grown so many relationships with the people here that I could not image living anywhere else. I feel that Guatemala is where God has my heart and that this is where I belong. I am very excited to be serving here and working with Faith in Action! As I said in my last post I am going to be developing a Children’s Ministry to more focus on the kids and their special needs. I only touched on my heart for this ministry in my last post but I want to share more of what I have on my heart and my vision for starting a children’s ministry in Guatemala. I am going to do a series of blogs casting my vision and heart for each individual place we work.

Zacapa: FIA has a dorm that they house teens from the mountains and put them through high school and college. They pay for all the needs for each teen and help them get through school. The hope of the program is to help the kids get an education so that they can get better jobs and help break the poverty cycle that the mountain people have lived in for 1000 years. As well as helping them get in education, we want to be there for the teens to be their friends and an open ear when they need to talk. I have developed many relationships with the kids in the dorm and love them all dearly. As the kids are with us in the dorms are heart is that they would learn about God and who he is. A lot of students come from vary strong Catholic families and families that practices witch craft. (If you want to know more about the dorm in Zacapa visit fiaministries.com/what-we-do/construction-programs/student-dormitories/)

My heart for Zacapa is to see the teens in the dorm to except Christ. To find Him to be the loving caring merciful gracious God he is; that they would grow in an understanding of Christ and fall in love with Him. Many of the teens in the dorm have become my good friends; some of the older students are the same age as me. And my heart brakes for the ones that don’t yet know God and are weighted down with religious practices and full of superstitions. The ministry opportunity in the dorm will be doing a weekly bible study with the teens. Most importantly, just being there for them when they need help, to be an open ear when they need to talk and just loving on them

Near the dorm in Zacapa there is a city dump. Many families live in and around the dump, they pick through the trash to find things to recycle (plastic, tin cans…) or things that are worth money. The people in the dump are the lowest class and the rejects of society. As the parents work in the dump the children play and help work in the dump. Sometimes we take the teams that come from the states to the dump and hand out food and play soccer with the kids. Every time I go I get a growing burden to do more there. I have been praying to ask God what he wants to do with the kids in the dump and what form of ministry would be best for them. Some ideas are to do monthly out reaches such as doing movie nights, VBS, and just hanging out with the kids playing soccer and teaching them about the love of God. I am still praying about if this is a place God wants me to work in or not. I ask that you would pray about this opportunity as well.
None of what God is doing through me down here would be possible unless it was for all the prayer support I receive. Please keep Zacapa and all the teens in the dorm in your prayers and that God would use me in their lives to be example of a life surrendered to Christ. As I have become a full time missionary in Guatemala I also need monthly support, if you are interested in partnering with what God is doing in Guatemala and would like to support me go to www.fiaministries.com/give/ in the drop down menu where it asks where you want your money to go, select my name Amanda Culver. For more info or other ways to donate go to my donation page.

                                                                (Zacapa photos)

Me with one of the students

 

The family that runs the Zacapa dorm



Watching the world cup with the students



 

 

Zacapa dump