Prayer Letters
March 2010
Dear Friends and Family,
We have some exciting news to share! We are excited to announce that on March 12th, 2010 Anthony John Gutierrez was born at 10:40 p.m. at the Baptist Hospital here in Managua, Nicaragua. God was definitely calling the shots on March 12th, like He always is, but I sure felt His presence in many different ways that day. Since Samantha’s birth was a c-section, my desire was to have this baby naturally, but I knew that I was going up against many odds in trying for that. Months ago when I started this adventure of using the Nicaraguan Social Security (because I am married to a Nicaraguan) instead of paying a private doctor, I was pleasantly surprised that the doctor was willing to let me try for a natural birth. On the morning of March 12th, I had a doctor’s appointment and even though I was still 1-2 weeks away from my projected due date, the doctor said that this baby could come at any time.
God often does things in different ways, and for us He spoke to us through dreams. A couple of weeks ago Thomas had a dream about our baby. He said he had dreamt that the baby was going to be a boy (we had not found out), that I was going to deliver naturally, and that he was going to be light skinned just like Samantha. At 12:30 p.m. on March 12th I received a phone call from Alcides, a good friend of mine from my Christ for the City days. He told me that he had had a dream the night before and that in the dream he kept repeating a certain phrase to me, and he felt like he was supposed to call and tell me though he did not know what it was meant for. The phrase was,“Tranquila, todo va a salir bien.” (Stay calm, everything is going to come out right.) I got goose bumps and told him that the thing that I was thinking most about these days was the upcoming birth of our new baby and how it would all go. Around 2 p.m. I went into the beginning stages of labor. I had read quite a bit and so was prepared for the idea that labor can go for 12-24 hours. What I was not prepared for was how fast this labor would be. Kathy, Thomas, and I finally left for the hospital around 9:20 p.m. arriving around 9:40 p.m., and Anthony was born at 10:40 p.m. Looking back on the whole day I could see God working in so many little ways, and I am thankful for the whole experience, intense as it was!
In preparing for our new baby coming, life has been quite busy this year. In January a two-week team from State College, PA was here working with us at the sports center and at a local school. They helped put together and give out over 550 backpacks full of school supplies, painted a mural at a local school and helped build our new library extension. With backpacks done, I began to focus on paying scholarships throughout Managua and just finished the last ones a couple of days before Anthony decided to arrive! God’s timing is perfect. We now look forward to enjoying this new little blessing and watching him grow as well as watching Samantha enjoy being a big sister.
Seeking Him for life,
Eastside Development PO Box 301471 Portland, OR 97294
See more pictures of Samantha. See more pictures of Anthony.
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"dale una luz a los que aman tanto vivir en Nicaragua."
~ Guardabarranco (Nicaraguan duo)