About us?

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Ana, Sofia, and Victor Rivas (preparing to serve in Guyana):

HELLO! my wife Ana Belen Juárez, our daughter Sofía Elizabeth and I Victor Rivas, We are a small Lutheran family living in Guatemala my wife teaches how to play different musical instruments. While I dedicate myself to teaching mathematics, we both support the Cristo Rey Lutheran Church in the capital in the youth group, now God has called us to serve him in GUYANA, we very much want to use our gifts to teach the people so much of his love.

We start the year with a good rhythm…
Thanks to God and to all the people who have been donating we have reached 38% of the expenses of the first year for our mission in Guyana with each passing day we feel closer to our goal and to be able to go share with the brothers in Christ who live in Guyana, if you want to support us financially you can press the DONATE button.

Work Visit
In the last week of January we received the visit of James and Lisa, to train us for our mission to Guyana, it was a time where we could share and clarify some points of the mission, Now we know that we need more people who want to be part of the mission to Guyana through new mission circles throughout Guatemala, and we want the Lutheran Church in Guatemala to get involved in them, for which we will soon need to go to the churches in different parts of Guatemala and ask for their support.

How to support us?
You can donate through the following link: DONATIONS

If you would like to know more about the Rivas, click here

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

Big news Ben!

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionarie Ben Tino (Serving in Zacapa, Guatemala):

Singing in the New Year

I love what I do. And I hope this picture can explain why. Playing an instrument is one of my favorite things to do, It is something that I must do everyday. But teaching others to play and to have that same joy and passion, is ever so more rewarding. And above all, teaching them to use their gifts to serve in their church and be leaders is even more spectacular. I look forward to the one-on-one private lessons I have weekly with each student, and the group rehearsals held every Saturday. But that is what makes the learning fun and easy, keeping the students motivated to grow musically.

First music student, now member!
When I first started as a missionary in Zacapa I hung a big sign outside the church advertising music lessons. This was my idea of using music to evangelize to the community and introduce them to the Lutheran Church. I received a huge response just from that sign, getting up to 30 new students in one week! Eventually the sign came down and I settled with what I had.
With the “non-church” students I would ask them about church and invite them, but most of the students already had a home church. One of my students that began lessons that year was Doris. Doris came to me looking for singing lessons, and so we began lessons and started conversations about church. Little by little she began attending our services and slowly I started having her sing in church with the musicians. Fast forward 3 years and a handful of confirmation classes with Pastor Esdras and Doris is now a member of our church in Zacapa, and a leader of the growing music team. Thanks be to God!

December Trip
As stated in my December newsletter, I needed to step out of the country to renew my VISA, so I decided to visit my parents in Chile for Christmas/New Year. After long and complicated days of travel, I arrived December 26th at 2am in Chile, and returned to Guatemala on January 6th.

Pastor James Tino preaching in Zacapa
This past Sunday (Jan. 30th) Zacapa had a guest preacher, my father. You may ask why is my dad in Zacapa? Well because I am getting married this Friday, February 4th! Both my parents are in town, and two of my three sisters, plus 1 brother-in-law will be arriving this week to attend my wedding that will be happening in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. If you forgot, I will be marrying my girlfriend of 2 years, Scarlett Paz, daughter of the Lutheran pastor in Puerto Barrios, Byron Paz. After the wedding Scarlett will be joining me as a missionary in Zacapa, and we will serve as a team here growing the Lutheran church in Guatemala. Please pray for final wedding preparations this week, travel plans, and nerves!

In His service,
Ben

Click here to read the latest newsletter from Ben!

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

Greetings From Concordia Seminary St. Loui

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Dixon and Christy Gbeanquoi (Serving in Tanzania):

We finally arrived on the 7th of August at our new apartment at 8 Founders Way, Unit B. Clayton, St. Louis. There were few things set up in the apartment for us and for the rest of the household items we needed we had to get them on our own. However, we are blessed to have good and loving people in America, especially on campus who came to our aid and donated many of the things we now have in our apartment. This was a big relief for us financially.

Milcah’s New School and Friends in the Seminary Community and Church
We arrived in St. Louis at a time where kids were beginning in-person schooling for the first time after almost a year of covid-19 lockdown and restrictions. After going through all the processes of getting the needed requirements, especially the issue of vaccinations Milcah was accepted and she is now having a wonderful time at school and getting to meet new friends.
Also in our new home Church (Hope Lutheran Church, High Ridge) here in Missouri, Milcah had the opportunity to play Mary (the mother of Jesus) in the children’s Christmas program. She did so well.

Our Experience(s) as Students for the First Time in America
It has been challenging so far for us as students and parents. The academic standard for Concordia St. Louis is set very hard and we were told to work hard academically to meet up with this challenge. Having been out of the classroom for more than ten (10) years is having an effect on our pace as students. For Christy, it was a big challenge for her as she is now in a field that is completely different from the previous one. Coming from a science background and going into theology and with the kids needing her attention is a challenge for her.

Celebrating Our First Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year in St. Louis
Relocating to St Louis was one of the greatest challenges in our lives as a family. We are again thankful that we were able to arrive in time to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, here in America. The beautiful part about all these celebrations was that we got our car in time for us to drive to church for all the programs that were lined up for the festive season. Here in St. Loius, due to the winter, we only visited a member of our Church on Christmas day and returned home. The rest of the day up to New Year’s day we stayed indoors for almost two weeks due to the weather. We couldn’t even drive to Church on the Sunday after the New Year, and this was one of our saddest moments in America.Our Ministry Continues Even as we Focus on our Studies
We are making this appeal to all of you who have been praying for us and supporting us financially to please continue to support us even as we study to equip ourselves for future ministry. The scholarship does not pay for that. The monthly allowance from our Scholarship is just between $450-600 for the two of us. If Dixon was the only one studying he would have been getting only about $225-300 and this would have been the only amount the family would have lived on in America. This is one of many reasons the scholarship encourages awardees to get support from home congregations or organizations. We went through a very difficult time between August to December living on $450-600 per month as a family, and we are begging you to please go to our website and donate to our ministry. We still need your support, if not it is going to be a serious challenge for us financially living on less than $600 as a family of four and it will have a serious effect on our stay and studying in Concordia. We are not allowed to work any time soon until we can reduce most of our course work, probably not until 2023.

To learn more about Dixon and Chrity Gbeanquoi, click here to read their latest newsletter!

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow