Summerville 2020

Guatemala Deaf Ministries Inc. Teaching deaf people to reach deaf people for the Lord Jesus Christ

Hello Everyone,                                                                         November 26, 2020

Several of you have asked about the recent storms and flooding in Guatemala. I am happy to report that El Progreso and Jutiapa are fine. There are many areas though that have been hard hit with lives being lost. Please pray for Guatemala. Jeanette and I are grandparents once again. Tyler David DeYoung was born to Daniel and Julia and is a healthy baby boy.

Our staff in Guatemala is now officially working full time at the ministry center for the first time in 8 months. They are busy contacting parents and working on next year’s school schedule. There are several “COVID” restrictions being placed on schools, including buses with half of the capacity. Please be praying that these classroom restrictions can be worked out and that we can bring all the students to school.   The ministry is still feeding quite a lot of families. Many of you have sent in extra funds to feed families and we are so grateful. Please pray that we can continue this as long as there is a need. Rene, the dairy farm man, stopped by the ministry center the other day to talk to Elvis about the property. He seems motivated and is anxious to talk to me when we return in January. Please keep this in your prayers.   We are so thankful that we were able to continue employing our teachers and staff during the pandemic. We are humbled that God used our staff to meet the needs of many families this year. Thank you for your continued support of this ministry both prayerfully and financially. To God be the glory.   Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!   In His service,   Greg and Jeanette

Guatemala Deaf Ministries Inc. Teaching deaf people to reach deaf people for the Lord Jesus Christ

Hello Everyone,                                                                              August 19, 2020

El Progreso is still in a “Red Zone” high alert area for the coronavirus. Some things are starting to open though. Transportation, buses etc. are minimally operating. Schools may open in a few weeks but we will see. The end of the school year is at the end of September to the middle of October depending on the school. To open for just a few days/weeks is pointless. Two weeks ago, our staff had the privilege of giving groceries to 80 families. Elvis took a video of a deaf woman named Lucky thanking us for the food. It was touching. She said that her husband was not able to work and that the food was a blessing. Many of you have been giving to help us feed the families in Guatemala. So I pass on her “thank you” to you with the following picture. We thank you too.

This week, 82 families will get groceries delivered to their door via our staff. God is good. It takes several days to order, pick up, sort and bag the groceries and then deliver to each family. A big THANKS to our staff for all their hard work.

Please pray for “The Return” which will be a “National and Global day of prayer and repentance” on the national mall in Washington DC and throughout America and the World on September 26th of this year. Get more details at http://www.thereturn.org.

Jeanette and I are planning on attending. We will be driving back East starting on Labor Day weekend to visit some friends and our daughter Hannah and her family. She is pregnant with number 2 so please pray for her. We’re not sure if we will be able to share in any churches but we are going to try to meet with people and share in smaller settings.

Thanks for praying for the ministry and as always, thank you for your financial support. May the Lord richly bless you.

In His service,

Greg and Jeanette

Guatemala Deaf Ministries Inc. Teaching deaf people to reach deaf people for the Lord Jesus Christ

Hello Everyone,                                                                                  June 23, 2020

Our wonderful staff is still feeding the families of our deaf students in Jutiapa. The food has to be ordered the day before and then picked up the next day. Yesterday, 27 families received groceries. Many of you have been giving to this need. Thank you so much. Our staff thanks you too. They feel so blessed to be able to help out the families.

A special thank you to Brandon’s dad (he sells vegetables to some of the outlying villages). He was able to deliver the food to the families that live far away. Some of our students travel nearly two hours just to get to school.

The orphanage where Mario stays recently upgraded their internet to a much faster and better service. Jeanette and I were able to talk/sign with Mario last Friday over FaceTime. He is growing up and did quite well in his sign language. He misses us and we miss him. 

Thank you for giving and praying. May the Lord bless you and keep you safe during these perilous times.

In His Service,

Greg and Jeanette

Guatemala Deaf Ministries Inc. Teaching deaf people to reach deaf people for the Lord Jesus Christ

Hello Everyone,                                                                                    June 8, 2020

After 10 days of rain in Guatemala, the sun finally showed warm and bright in a beautiful blue sky. Some of our staff was at the ministry center this morning cleaning up from the storms.

I talked with Elvis today and he said that they have given out food to about 75 families so far. They will be distributing more food this week. Thank you to all who have donated extra funds to allow us to do this. Pictured below are some of our students and former students.

Happy faces are a blessing.

When we left Guatemala back in the beginning of April there were 56 cases of coronavirus. Now there are 7502. Please pray for the people of Guatemala and especially the deaf people that we serve.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

In His service, Greg and Jeanette

Guatemala Deaf Ministries Inc. Teaching deaf people to reach deaf people for the Lord Jesus Christ

Hello Everyone,                                                   May 16, 2020

Guatemala is under total lockdown until Monday morning. Starting on Monday, stores will only be open for 4 hours per day, 3 days per week. The COVID 19 cases has been reduced to 176. Our staff was not able to pass out food yesterday because of the lockdown. Please pray for the people in Guatemala, especially for the deaf people who have a hard time understanding what is going on. The following pictures are from the food distribution a week ago. The people are very happy to get food. Thank you to all who have given extra to help feed these families. We’re even getting requests for food from small churches in the area. People are hungry. Please pray that we can continue to help families in need.

Thank you for praying and giving.

In His service, Greg and Jeanette,

Guatemala Deaf Ministries Inc. Teaching deaf people to reach deaf people for the Lord Jesus Christ

Hello Everyone,                                                                May 4, 2020

As the world waits to see when this pandemic called the COVID 19 is going end, I would like to share with you what is going on in Guatemala and specifically, the ministry in El Progreso.

The president of Guatemala is a medical doctor named Alejandro Giammattei (pronounced he uh muh tay). He is a very cautious man and I believe only wants the best for his people. There is still a country wide curfew from 6:00pm until 4:00am when not a soul is out on the streets. No one over 60 or under 15 is allowed outside of their home. Everyone must where a mask or be fined upwards of $20,000. You cannot travel from one department to another. Schools, churches and most businesses are closed. Thankfully, there is still food in the grocery stores. The price of electricity has nearly doubled though and no one knows why.

Praise the Lord that our staff, deaf friends and students are all well and no one has the corona virus. This is something to be truly grateful for.

GDM is still paying salaries, rent and utilities etc. Thank you for being faithful givers so that we can continue to bless our staff. Several of them are quite concerned about this whole pandemic thing and we keep reassuring them that God is in control and we will get through this. Many of the families of our deaf students have not been doing so well, given the restrictions and lock-down orders and not being able to work. Elvis organized a food drive with some friends in the USA and we have begun buying food and essentials in order to bless the families most in need. We will continue doing this as the Lord leads and provides.

Please keep praying for this pandemic to end so that people can get back to work and life can return to normal. (I’m trusting that things will get back to normal.) Pray that schools and churches will be able to open again. Pray for our staff and the students and their families that God would meet their needs. Thank you Lord!

Thank you again and keep trusting.

In his service, Greg and Jeanette

Guatemala Deaf Ministries Inc. Teaching deaf people to reach deaf people for the Lord Jesus Christ

Hello Everyone,                                                            April 8, 2020

School has been closed now for three weeks. Mario was able to return to Quiche to be with his friends at the orphanage. That was a miracle in itself.  After much prayer, we have decided to weather this COVID-19 storm at our home in Twin Peaks. We were able to get the last two tickets on the last evacuation flight (due to a cancellation) heading back to the States on Saturday, landing in Houston. We rented a car (to minimize exposure to the virus) and drove to California. The day after we left, President Giammattei announced the closure of all travel between departments. God provided a way for us to leave just in time.

The amount of virus cases in Guatemala continues to rise. Praise the Lord our staff and students are all well. Please pray for them as they deal with the imposed curfew and all of the closures. Every day the government is putting more limitations on the citizens. It is particularly difficult for the Deaf because getting reliable information is challenging. It is unsettling not knowing what is happening. Food is still readily available, even toilet paper. 🙂 There are long lines and short open hours. All public transportation has been suspended.

God is still good and faithful and able to take care of us. We will trust Him in this situation.

Please keep praying and supporting this ministry if you are able. We are still paying salaries and expenses. And please drop us a note if we can pray for you.

In His service, Greg and Jeanette

Guatemala Deaf Ministries Inc. Teaching deaf people to reach deaf people for the Lord Jesus Christ

Hello Everyone,

I thought that I would share with you the story of Daniel, who is a new student this year. This was the first time that he had ever gone to a school, at least that is, a school for deaf children. His mother brought him the first day and stayed until mid morning. She told us to put him on our bus at noon and take him to Jutiapa where she would meet him and take him home. He did not understand this and began to cry when asked to board the bus. I’m sure his thoughts were that he was certain his mother would come to the school and pick him up. Why had she abandoned him? At the bus stop in Jutiapa his mother was waiting and he greeted her with happy tears.

The next morning, he was waiting at the bus stop with his older sister. He did not want to get on the bus. I asked his sister if she would go with him to the school and then she could take a bus back to Jutiapa which I would be happy to pay the fare. During school he seemed to be content but cautious about this new experience. That afternoon, he was not a happy camper and very apprehensive about boarding the bus. Our little Mario, seeing the sadness, sat next to him and comforted him.

The third day of school he reluctantly boarded the bus and Mario was right there to comfort him again. Soon they were laughing together and we all arrived at the school. Mario was there again at the end of the school day to be his friend.

As you can see by his picture, he is a happy little boy. After all, he is learning his new, first and only language.

It is such a joy to see the lives of these little deaf children changed as they learn a language for the first time. It is even a greater joy to see them receive Christ as their Savior.

Thanks for reading.

In His service,

Greg

Hello Everyone,                                                     February 5, 2020   10 years ago today we arrived in Antigua, Guatemala for what we thought was a two year missions trip to help Howard and Janet Grobstein start a ministry to the Deaf. Little did we know that God had a different idea and that we would be here for a lot longer than two years. Praise God for His faithfulness. And our appreciation goes out to you as well for your faithfulness in praying for us and supporting us financially. It has truly been an adventure, and it’s not over yet. Take a moment and reminisce with us as you look at these photos from our time in Antigua when we first arrived in Guatemala.

Thank you for journeying with us. We are looking forward to many more years here in Guatemala.

Can I slip in an urgent prayer request? As you know last week, the congress here approved the law establishing Guatemalan Sign Language. The very next day two different groups tried to usurp the authority of the Ministry of Education and place their organizations above everyone else in this whole process of helping the Deaf with this law. As you can imagine, this angered a lot of deaf people because of all the hard work that they have put into this over the past several years. Jonathan and Elvis are driving to the city tomorrow for a very important meeting with the government officials and the group of deaf leaders to try to resolve this invasion and attempted grasp for power. Please pray that these two organizations would be put in their place and order would be restored.

God bless you all. Keep praying and thank you for your financial support.

In His service,

Greg and Jeanette

Your prayers are working. We have several good things to share with you all. Yesterday, the Congress here in Guatemala approved and passed the law establishing LSG (Lengua de Señas de Guatemala) as the official sign language. This has been a long process and the Deaf here in Guatemala are cheering today. This new law will give them rights that they never had before. It’s just a beginning, but a very important one. Praise God for His guidance and help over the past year and more.

More good news
Over 35 people were at church this last Sunday. Praise God for the children coming and learning too. Jeanette always has her hands full teaching Sunday School.

School started yesterday
There are 52 children enrolled in school. Praise God! The parents of the new students nervously stand outside the classroom. The children need to be able to see their mom or dad, at least for the first few weeks. Imagine what it’s like being in a new environment and not having a language. The world can be big and scary sometimes. Please pray for these new students that they would be able to adjust to being in school and without their parents.

Prayer changes things. Thank you for praying for this ministry and supporting us financially. God bless you.

In His service, Greg and Jeanette

Hello Everyone,                                         January 17, 2020

Guatemala is a beautiful country with beautiful people and we are glad to be back helping the Deaf here in El Progreso, Jutiapa. We arrived on Monday, the 6th, but the first few days were busy with a destination wedding for Chase and Jennifer. It was a, you guessed it, beautiful wedding too. Please be praying for them as we believe God may be tugging at their hearts to be more involved in this ministry in the future.

As always when we return, there is a lot to do to get ready for the starting of the school year. We need your prayers. So please take a few moments and read the list below, AND PRAY.

• We are in the process of hiring a new teacher. Please pray for the right person, who has a heart to teach the Deaf.
• We just found out about a new program for our older students to get their Middle School and High School diplomas. Please pray. I’ll send more details later.
• There are 6 new students so far signed up to start attending classes. Pray for these new students and all the returning ones.
• Pray for our staff as they prepare for the year which starts on the 28th of this month.
• We have new afternoon programs starting in February for the boys and girls and we are lowering the age to 12. Please pray.
• We will be speaking with the gentleman who wants us to help him with his dairy business. There is great potential here so please pray.
• Two of our board members, Bob and Nancy Royster along with a friend from their church are coming in a few weeks (February 7-14) to visit the ministry. Please pray for safe travels and health while they are here.
• Mario is back with us as you can see in the photo above. He is growing and maturing into a fine young man. He turns 12 this March. Pray for him to be able to catch up in his studies.

The little girl named Joselin that we have been praying for has been placed in an orphanage closer to her parents so they can more easily visit her. That means that she will not be coming to live with us and go to our school. Please pray that she will have an opportunity to learn a language and learn about Jesus.

Thank you so much for praying. Thank you for your financial gifts as well. We are looking forward to a wonderful 2020. It’s always so exciting to see what God is going to do. May the Lord bless you as you serve Him in this new year.

Serving the Savior,

Greg and Jeanette