November News from the Field

Friends,

We have so much to be thankful for, and I am grateful for each of you. Although I’m a few days late, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that at this time of year you are well and enjoying time with loved ones wherever you are in the world. In Guatemala, there are many preparations and activities still to be done before Christmas and the end of 2011, but it is a joyful time as well. We are preparing for our annual Christmas gatherings with each of the microfinance groups to give thanks for a wonderful year of God’s provision and guidance and to dream and plan for 2012. Personally, there are some exciting changes for my work and ministry in Central America, but you’ll have to open my attached newsletter (click the link below) to find out more! Thank you as always for your partnership with God, me and Students International. I feel so loved and supported, and I look forward to the next opportunity when we can spend time together, whether in the United States or in Central America.

Blessings and peace,

Nick

Newsletter – Nov 2011

Summer Newsletter

Friends:

The Lord is always good and faithful! As the end of another busy summer season draws near, I feel grateful to still be serving God with SI Guatemala. The end of summer also means that there is plenty of news to share with all of you, so I have attached my latest newsletter from the field. Some highlights: The microfinance program has grown and we hired our first employee; Soy is very scarce in Guatemala and has impacted our feed production; and I’m travelling to the US for five weeks in early August. Thank you for your friendship and partnership, and may God bless you for responding to the needs you have seen and heard about in Guatemala.

Grace and peace,

Nick

Unity is a beautiful thing in the kingdom of God, and I love the opportunities that the Lord has given us to serve together with our brothers and sisters in ministry.  Last week, I again went to Chichicastenango to work with great friends from the Tulane Wesley Foundation and fellow missionaries from Guatemala.  We worked hard each morning to finish a building project to that will offer new space for a local Bible inistitute that trains rural pastors.  And in the afternoons, the Lord blessed us with time in a local orphanage where we shared the love of Christ with his beautiful children there.  The kingdom of God is growing here in Guatemala and across the world!  And together, we as God’s children have an important part to serve in this “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18).  Although my daily focus continues to be microfinance projects in Magdalena, these short outreaches that I have been invited to participate in around the country remind me that our ministry is much much larger than the part that I personally have been called to.


In Ephesians 4, Paul calls us to be united as one body with different callings, and we can catch a glimpse of the magnitude of the body of Christ.

I… beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

Ephesians 4: 1-6; 11-13

May we all devote ourselves each day to maintain the unity of the Spirit and build up the body of Christ in our local communities and across the earth.  God has called us… friends!  Again we find great hope and promise from the Bible, John 15:15-17 says:

I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

You are all an integral part of this ministry of reconciliation and love.  I have been called.  You have been called.  We are God’s friends, and our Heavenly Father will produce great fruit in each one of us as we say ‘yes’ to his call.  May the Lord bless you as we love one another.


Finally, Praise the Lord!  We received our final approval from the SAT (Guatemalan taxing agency) today about our pending tax exemption for the microfinance association.  Thank you for your prayers!  God answered.

December Newsletter

What a wonderful time of year to give thanks for God’s blessings in our lives and joyfully celebrate anew the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  I have been truly blessed in ministry this year, and I am anxiously awaiting the new opportunities that God will provide in 2011 to extend His kingdom here in Guatemala.  Even without back to back teams during the past few months, we have still been hard at work to bring spiritual and economic transformation to Magdalena and El Gorrión.  Below, you’ll find link to my newsletter with personal updates and the latest news from the microfinance site. Thank you for your continuing prayerful and financial support of these ministries!  May God richly bless you and your loved ones as we prepare for this Christmas season!

Blessings and peace,

Nick

Click here for an online version of my latest update.

Prayer Request

As this microfinance ministry grows, there are certain legal steps that Guatemala requires us to take; and since March, we have been working to formalize all aspects of the program with governmental and taxing agencies. So far, we have created a separate legal entity with the Guatemalan government that is a nonprofit association named CREER (pronounced “cray – air”) – that translates to Economic Growth with Real Hope (CRecimiento Economico con Esperanza Real). All good news! However, the second step of sending the approved paperwork to the taxing authority (the SAT – Superintendencia de Administracion Tributaria) has been a frustrating series of delays. Last week, we thought everything was finalized and after waiting three days for the official courier to deliver the paperwork to Magdalena, we received a phone call from our accountants (we cannot communicate with the SAT directly) saying that they could not find the address we listed and that we would have to resubmit everything. This week, we will once again be waiting and praying patiently for a positive response, and I ask you to join us in prayer that God may open a door for this program to grow through the needed approval with the SAT. As your partner in ministry here in Guatemala, I thank you for your role in this work and know that we will find a response together to these delays through prayer. Intercession is a powerful tool that God has given us; let’s use it!


Your brother in Christ,


Nick


P.S. I am in the process of writing a newsletter update, and I appreciate your patience since I have not updated my blog in many weeks.

Digging Deeper

Before anything else, I want to reassure everyone that I am happy and healthy and feeling readjusted in Magdalena.  It’s a beautiful day, the sun’s out and the mold in my room is struggling to survive – thanks to drier weather and Lysol!

Anyway, what I wanted to write about today focuses on a deeper level of transition I’ve been experiencing over the past month.  Let’s call it developing roots.  Cultural. Communal. Spiritual. … and even legal.  Perhaps these changes have been on my mind because I will soon be in the process of applying for residency here, but I believe it extends much further than simply navigating the governmental requirements.  At MTI, the kids and youth had an activity that involved uprooting and repotting a plant to help them visualize the change that we all experience when crossing cultures, and it’s encouraging to start to feel like the majority of these transitional struggles are ending… that I’m getting closer to being able to thrive in my new home… that my roots are growing again.  But before moving on, I’ll share a bit of what Guatemalan residency would mean for me.

For all US citizens, Guatemala automatically grants a 90 day tourist visa when we cross into the country – by air, land or sea – that may then be renewed for an additional 90 days by jumping through hoops travelling to the central immigration office to fill out paperwork and pay a small fee.  So effectively, a “tourist” has permission to stay in the country for 6 months per trip, and that’s the way that I’ve lived in Guatemala so far.  However, I believe that at some point, it no longer makes sense to plan my life and work around these short stints because of finances, scheduling and other considerations – like never feeling settled in my new home.  Not only can visa renewal trips be time consuming and costly, the visa expiration date could easily fall in the middle of a busy season of teams and I would need to be out of the country less than a couple of days.  Therefore, I started to research other options (a bit limited) and have decided that temporary residency is a good path for me.  For all types of residency, a person or organization also has to agree to be a financial guarantor for the applicant (i.e. me).  Interestingly though, a church may serve this function, and Guatemala even lowers the application fees by 90% for those situations.  This is the process I plan to begin next week, and even though I will have to incur additional expenses (beyond the residency payment) for a lawyer to be my official representative in the central immigration office, I trust that God has opened the door for this application and will provide the funds required (Q5000 – approx $625).

In a spiritual and communal sense, the Lord is also working on my roots.  The differences between life here and in the states became noticeably clearer to me in September, and I have felt challenged (in a good way) to invest more of myself since returning.  Mision Evangelica Monte Sinai, the local church that I attend, has for so long been a foreign place to me, and I only participated in the Sunday morning worship service.  But I don’t want to be on the margins anymore.  God seems to be asking me to trust him more, to trust that this sanctuary too can feel like home, and so following that call, I have started to regularly attend mid-week services and to accept opportunities to get to know the congregation.  Already, I can see the new roots forming and drawing me deeper into this church and the town of Magdalena.  These hymns and praise songs that were once so unfamiliar are becoming less so, I recognize members of the congregation in the street and am able to greet more of them by name, and through that, God again reminds me that he is guiding me, and that his grace is sufficient.

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.  Jeremiah 17: 7-8

As I learn to trust more and more in God and allow him to establish these interwoven connections in my life, the foreign slowly inches toward (and one day will become) the familiar.

To those of you who pray for me daily, who support me financially, who have chosen to partner with me in mission in some way, thank you!  You all deepen my spiritual community as well, and I look forward to introducing you to our Guatemalan brothers and sisters some day.

Pensamientos

While visiting the United States, I passed a milestone in my journey to Guatemala and God’s mission field – six months.  September 24, 2010.  Not that I remembered the significance of that day then, but in some ways I think it was fitting to be able to spend it in Colorado – that place which in itself was a milestone for me on the journey here.  Earlier this year before I could travel south to Guatemala, I went West to Colorado to embark on the final preparations, to examine the spiritual and practical elements of missions, of what it meant to thrive in another country.  How would I stay connected?  Who am I… deep down?  Is it even possible to belong to two cultures that are almost complete opposites?  Jesus did it.  Where is God in the transition?  He’s with me; I’m still in the transition. What does it mean to rest?

Six months later, I continue to ask myself these questions and others.  Not to be cliche, but there are always more new questions than answers.  I still wonder if I’m in the right place.  I think I am, but there are hard days when I feel ineffective and alone, unable to break down this bilingual and cultural barrier.  Unable to help people find new hope.  Then there are others when I feel accepted… by God and this community.  Yesterday was one of those days; today was too!  Praise God!  His grace is sufficient.

Since arriving last week, I’ve been directly faced with some of the other challenges of daily life here… i.e. MOLD!  To be fair, it was an especially rainy summer, but in a poorly insulated room that receives little direct sun and has been basically sealed for the past month, my battle with mold will be ongoing.  I would love for God to take away this constant annoyance… runny nose, slight congestion… but,  his grace is sufficient for me. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians:

I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12: 8-10

I am where I have been called for the moment, and that is what I cling to.  Thank you for your support and understanding.  We often reflect on the patience required to see real change and transformation.  We remind teams that a missions trip is not done to be able to take home a list of achievements.  It’s more personal than that… more relational… more spiritual.  I’m still growing and learning too, and God continues to speak through his word.

John 15: 16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide…

I have also found encouragement in the song “How He Loves” –

“When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

Oh, how he loves us so…”

Fall Newsletter

Friends and family!

I am happy to say that we have had a wonderful summer in Guatemala working with North Americans and Guatemalans to spread the Good News and serve as the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. Thank you for all of your prayers and support! Thank you for being part of this ministry! I couldn’t do it without you! Here’s an overview of the latest news (click here: Fall Newsletter) for the Microfinance and small business ministry, and hopefully this newsletter will give you an idea of how God continues to work in Magdalena and lead me into new areas of service in Central America. May God bless you and I hope to hear from you soon!

Blessings and peace,

Nick

Order Your Cards!

As most of you know, we have started a micro-business to produce hand-made cards with a small group of women.  Aaron Kelly (my partner in microfinance) has several family members who make cards as a hobby, and he thought it would be neat to train some local women with this new skill and sell the cards in the larger Antigua market.  We had some custom rubber stamps made with some Guatemalan icons, such as the national bird – the Quetzal; the Mayan ruins in Tikal; and some scenes from Antigua.  Additionally, we received several donated rubber stamps with floral designs, and they look really nice also.  The leader of SI’s art school, Carlos Lopez, has helped us from the beginning of the project by graciously offering us space in the art school in the afternoons, creating the designs for the custom stamps, and teaching the women to paint with watercolor.  It is amazing to see how far these four women have come in such a short time – from having never handled a paintbrush when we started in March to feeling confident enough to present us their own ideas and designs more recently.

We have received several inquiries from people who are interested in purchasing these cards in the United States.  I will be travelling the US during September and have planned to bring some of these cards with me.  If you are interested, please browse our product listing below and email me at steven.n.miller@gmail.com with your order.  Cost per package is US $5; and for each ten packages you buy, receive one additional package of your choice free.  Each package also includes envelopes.  We are happy to accept payments by cash, check or credit card (through PayPal – click here.) For those of you in Louisiana, I will happily deliver your order in person during September.  Otherwise, shipping rates are $5 for orders up to 11 packs or $10 for all others, and they will be sent via USPS.  If paying through Paypal, just enter the quantity (not including any free packs) and your shipping zip code (free delivery in Louisiana is automatically applied).  At the final order review stage, you will be able to specify the types of cards you want and the quantity for each in a notes field by clicking the link under the product description.

All proceeds from the sale of these cards will be reinvested directly into the card business to be able to continue to provide job opportunities and training along with spiritual development in the communities of Magdalena and El Gorrion, Guatemala.  Our goal is to expand the project to be able to hire 10 local women by the end of the year.  Thanks in advance for your support!

Market Scene – Stamped, embossed, and hand painted. Quantity is 3 per pack.

Arch Street – Stamped, embossed, and hand painted. Quantity is 3 per pack.

Azalea – Stamped, embossed, and hand-painted. Flower color and background style/color vary. Quantity is 3 per pack.

Callalilies – Stamped and hand-painted. Quantity is 4 per pack.

Roses – Stamped, embossed, and hand-painted. Flower color and background style/color vary. Quantity is 3 per pack.

Daylilies – Stamped, embossed, and hand-painted. Flower color and background style/color vary. Quantity is 4 per pack.

Tulips – Stamped, embossed, and hand-painted. Flower color and background style/color vary. Quantity is 3 per pack.

Butterfly – Stamped, embossed in silver, and hand-painted. Paint color varies. Quantity is 4 per pack.

Sunflower – Stamped, embossed, and hand-painted. Background color varies. Quantity is 4 per pack.

All cards are stamped on the back with a unique “Handmade in Guatemala” design. Enlarged to show detail.

Magdalena in the Time of Feria

Magdalena in the time of Feria

Growing up in Louisiana and going to college in New Orleans, I know a few things about big, city-wide festivals and parties (i.e. Mardi Gras) but the current celebration going on here in Magdalena has made me rethink my views about their importance and the impact on locals. Each year on July 22, the town of Magdalena Milpas Altas celebrates their anniversary and pays tribute to their patron Mary Magdalene with various activities – parades, fireworks, cultural events, music, religious ceremonies, etc – in the weeks leading up to that date; and besides only Christmas and Easter, it is the most important time of year for many here in Magdalena. However, it is striking for me to see the extravagance of money spent by the local government in light of the poverty that permeates each person’s daily life. This year, the municipality has chosen to spend only Q500,000 (~$62,500) because the economy is difficult. I can’t help but ask myself though how that money might be better used here.

In a town where the majority of public works projects are left unfinished because the mayor so often reminds us of the lack of resources, the fair always comes together without any problems. The site of the first high school in town remains an empty lot, but each year the town hires bands to play every night in the town square and stages an elaborate beauty pagent to crown the new queen of the town. Water service is sporadic and inadequate, but each neighborhood purchases expensive firework displays to light the way for Mary Magdalene’s procession. Local schools are overcrowded and unable to provide adequate attention for each student’s needs, but their marching bands never miss the opportunity to practice for the festival. People tell us they have no money for food, but alcohol never seems far from one’s grasp at this time of year – evidenced by the number of men passed out in the streets. So where does this money come from to fund the festival? Well as we love to do in the US, if you don’t have it, borrow it. The local government that teeters on the verge of bankruptcy somehow managed to secure a line of credit to cover this year’s expenses.

For one, you could easily say that the economic impact of the increased tourism from other parts of Guatemala more than makes up for the initial investment. Well, that’s what happens during Mardi Gras at least. The difference here is that many vendors come from other parts of the country with their food stands and games. So they probably do pretty well, but the money spent quickly leaves the local economy. Fortunately, there were opportunities this year for local citizens to participate in a cultural expo, where they sold handicrafts and goods ranging from desserts to clothing to artwork. I was very proud of my host family and especially Rafaela (my host mom) for the hard work that she put into selling jellies and fruit preserves. In the same way that I see some of our Bible study and microfinance borrower groups serving as an example within the community, I believe she demonstrated the importance of investing time to develop our God given gifts. There are a couple of pictures of her below with her small stand at the expo and another with some flower arrangements she made for church.

So what does all of this mean for me? For the the mission here? Well, I guess that I am reminded that we are all broken people desperately in need of God’s love and of a closer relationship with him; and secondly, that our work here in Magdalena as a mission is far from finished. Traditions are not easily changed and one’s cultural heritage is important, but these things should never come before providing for the immediate and long-term needs of one’s family. I am challenged to work harder to encourage our borrowers to be responsible stewards of God’s resources and to be a good example for their neighbors. I am encouraged to pray for the long-term spiritual and economic development of each family in Magdalena. I am excited to see how God will work here in the coming days, months and years to more firmly establish his kingdom in Guatemala. And I am seeking God’s direction for how I can work alongside the Lord to always share the gospel of Jesus Christ in everything I do and say.