Prayer Letters
Sept 11, 2006
Dear Friends and Family,
People say that getting married, buying a house and starting a family are some of the biggest decisions you make in life. Thomas and I have been married almost two years and just recently have had some big changes in our lives. NO, we’re not pregnant! J Though most Nicaraguans think that we should be by now and keep asking us when we are going to start a family. And while we didn’t exactly buy a house, we did just sign papers for buying a beautiful piece of land right behind the sports center property!! I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment but super excited to begin building a home as we are able to.
When I last wrote, we thought we were about to buy property. Well, that turned out not to be the case and when it was final that we weren’t going to buy, I had a peace about the whole situation. I kept telling myself to trust God that there was something better. So over the last three months I have looked at more pieces of property and continually came back to another piece of land right behind the sports center. Just after Thomas and I were married, we had made an offer on this piece but the owner was unwilling to negotiate. However, in the last three months, something had changed and he was more interested in selling. He was still asking more than we wanted to pay but I thought since he had come down from his original price that he might be willing to negotiate. Thanks to some bargaining tips from Halle and some help from Conny, the lady who runs the corner store by the baseball stadium, I was able to met with Don Angel one afternoon and bargain him down a little bit more. So on Friday September 8, 2006 we signed papers to buy property. Once we have water and electricity, we hope to start building a wall around the property and then a house. For now though, we have agreed to let Don Angel use the property for planting corn until we are ready to build!
At the sports center we have enjoyed continuing our youth group and having our media center open for the kids to use. Though lately youth group has been on and off because of some heavy rains, electrical storms and planned power outages by the eletrical company, we are enjoying getting to know some of the older youth better. In the media center, it has been awesome to watch the kids grow in how much they can use the computers. Just the other day little 6-year old Juan Carlos was crying he was laughing so hard at an old Charlie Chaplin video that he found on Encarta. Many of the kids have also really enjoyed using software that is based on Bible stories of David and Jesus. One of the biggest differences was having a team bring down headphones for each computer! Now I don’t have to listen to songs or sounds coming from 6 different computers.
Speaking of teams, we have had three awesome teams over the summer months. In June, a team from my home church was here. It was awesome having so many people back for the second year in a row and it was very special treat having my dad come down as well and stay an extra week with us. In July we had a youth group here from Bothell, WA. They put on a very creative vacation Bible school in which we bused in kids from a school nearby. For many of the kids, I think it was a highlight of their school year. In August we had a very hard-working father-son team also from Washington. We are so appreciative of all the work, support and encouragement we received from you all this summer – muchas gracias!
Hope each of you is doing well and may the King continue to reign in your lives!
Seeking Him for life,
Amanda y Thomas Gutierrez
Previous Letters
December 2011
September 2011
March 2011
December 2010
October 2010
June 2010
March 2010
December 2009
September 2009
June 2009
March 2009
September 2008
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December 2007
September 2007
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December 2006
September 2006
June 2006
March 2006
December 2005
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December 2004
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December 2002
September 2002
June 2002
"dale una luz a los que aman tanto vivir en Nicaragua."
~ Guardabarranco (Nicaraguan duo)