December 2025: Multiplying Blessings

Another month goes by with the Lord's mercies being new every morning!!

Not long after I last published this blog, we went and served with the Salvation Army in the city of Tecpán, approximately 40-50 miles west of the school (though with the state Guatemala's highways are in, it felt a good bit further). We put on a show for the kids based on this Korean sketch, prayed over anxious family members in a hospital waiting room, and organized a crafting session for local women. 

Yet what gratified me the most was not any individual thing we did. Rather, it was the initiative the students showed. Whether it was native Guatemalans or recently arrived Koreans, everyone identified their role and rose to the occasion. Even having served on mission teams as such myself and being around some enthusiastic peers, I had never seen anything like what those kids showed me. It was a determination to love the Lord by serving others--and more importantly, to do the not-so-fun work (like painting houses and walking the streets of an unfamiliar city) necessary to prepare the way. After all, in the words of Charles Spurgeon, "A man will do little by firing off his gun if he has not learned to take aim."

 Students pray in front of the General Hospital in Tecpán.

Humility matters, and it shows up in more ways than one. This year marked the first Thanksgiving without my family by my side. I was very fortunate to find that, although I did have to wait until Saturday, I was actually invited to a local "Friendsgiving" celebration by a colleague who goes to my church! It was such a great time to get to know some other teachers and their families...I feel very blessed. While Thanksgiving Day was not the greatest (treating yourself to a massage can only do so much), I felt so good to know that, in the short time I have been in Guatemala, there are people who love me and can take care of me. 

Another way this showed up was just this Wednesday. That day, another fellow teacher (whose son is in my English/language arts class) asked me to come with her to an event at the Palacio Nacional. The Palacio is the premier cultural space in Guatemala--home to the offices of the President and several government departments, it is also to several large exhibition and performance spaces. 

This teacher's sister-in-law leads an art school for children in Guatemala City with disabilities. She was hosting an exhibition alongside performances from several groups of disabled people. There were fantastic singers, beautiful dancers, and even a chamber orchestra playing everything from Ray Charles to Beethoven (both artists being famous despite their disabilities). It was a wonderful moment to appreciate how people are fearfully and wonderfully made--how God gives us all talents that we can use to praise him and make His creation more beautiful. 

A Christmas tree stands in the lobby of the Palacio Nacional.


Anyway, on to prayers and praises!!

Praises 

  • God has been faithful in raising up new donors this month!! I could not be more excited. Giving Tuesday may have already come and gone, but if you're still wondering where to send your end-of-year gifts (or are trying to plan out your giving for 2026), feel free to send them my way. Any amount allows me to continue pouring into these wonderful students and makes my life more comfortable. Remember, all donations are tax-deductible! 
  • My prospects for teaching more advanced classes are growing! Nothing's official yet, so I won't go into detail here, but the leadership of this school has been instrumental in allowing me to succeed and get to this point. There's nowhere else I'd rather start my career than here at CAG!

Prayers

  • I'm coming home for Christmas on Saturday the 13th!! Please pray for me as I prepare for this season, and pray for a safe trip home and amazing quality time with my family--I have not seen them since I finished vacation at the end of July!
  • My students begin their finals on Wednesday. Pray for success, calm nerves, and certainty in God's plan regardless of their grades. 
And that's all for now!! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and may the Lord bless your 2026 as much as He did my 2025!

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