Happy Guatemalan Independence Day! Today is a super special day for Guatemalans as we get to celebrate 194 years of independence from Spain! Almost every year, I (David) get inspired by the example of patriotism as for nearly a week, Guatemalans run around their nation with torches, throw bags of water at each other, and throw giant parties while the schools send their marching bands to the streets in various parades! Though all of this creates a lot of traffic complications, it is still quite incredible to see just how patriotic this nation is and how proud the people are of being Guatemalans!

In our last news, we talked about how we felt God challenged us to take a leap of faith and begin moving forward in the development of The Spark Cafe, a ministry focused on reaching out to and training street youth and children living at risk of ending up on the streets. Your response has been very encouraging to us and as a result, as of September 10, we held on our hands the keys to the very place where we are going to launch it! The place certainly needs a lot of work, and since we are blessed to have a team from the World Race helping us out, we are quickly making progress in the renovations of the center. We are currently in the initial phase of painting the walls and ceiling, however, soon we hope to move out of this phase and into the phase of decoration and getting the needed furniture & ministry materials. Our goal is to officially launch the center by the end of this month! We have already seen how several of the street youth are excited about what is happening and have also had the help of many of the children who happen to live nearby! In fact, almost every day that we have arrived to work, there has been at least 5 little children waiting on us eager to play and help out with the painting! We do still need your financial help to make this dream happen and have started a fundraising campaign to raise the funding needed for the renovations as well as take care of the 1st year of rent on the space. If you are interested in helping out, click here.

A Quick Testimony!
A few weeks back, we posted a story about a man named Alex who encountered the Father's love and had his life completely changed. Well, this week we had an encounter with another man named Andres who was a former general in the army who had fought in the war. It was clear from the beginning that this man had suffered much and was struggling with the feeling of abandonment by his nation that he once fought for. We talked a great deal about how much we value what he had done for his nation. We also talked about how real his sense of abandonment is and how despite all that has happened in his life, that there is only One who will never leave him or forsake him. We talked a great deal about the Father's love for him and as we did, he began to break down and said that he never knew his earthly father. We then encouraged him, prayed for him, and then asked him if he wanted to experience the Father's love and embrace. He did and once again, the Father showed up and deeply reached into his heart and filled him with a love that has no end! Andres then stayed with us and observed as the team sang worship songs with our street friends. Though he never got involved in the worship, it was clear from the expressions that we now on his face that this encounter had impacted him profoundly and will carry him into his destiny. Please join us in praying for Andres that he continues to discover the Father's embrace!