Exactly one year ago we were sitting in Guatemala beginning to understand that God was leading us to something new but having no idea where that might be. We considered the idea that God was sending us to a new country, but to be honest that felt impossible. The idea of uprooting our family, moving with three kids, starting from scratch in a country we knew nothing about, was terrifying. Now, here we are, a couple countries under our belt that we visited as a family and on the verge of making San Ignacio, Belize our next home! As we have sought out and walked towards a decision God has proved himself over and over again. When He brings it all about in a way where the decision seems to make itself, where there is peace and confirmation at each step, and it all feels right, knowing that our gracious God is guiding us…. It is a good thing!
So Belize it is!
About a month ago we spoke with the national leadership in Belize to let them know that we would LOVE to serve in San Ignacio, Belize. The need is great in Belize. Of the three Foursquare churches, the one in San Ignacio has been without a past or for almost a year and is down to only a handful of members. We will be serving at this church as missionary pastors, to love and serve the community, to help create a place where God is worshiped, His presence is sought after and where hearts learn to love Him. We will be almost starting as a church plant with such few members, and our hope is to show people who Jesus is, to disciple those who choose to follow Him, and train those growing in Him to serve and lead.
When the church was first started in San Ignacio around 10 years ago, they built a preschool and later an elementary grant school (financial budget covered by the government) where low-income families could receive a better level of education with the hope of spiritually reaching out to the families as well. Over the years, as pastors changed, the relationship between the church and the school was growing further apart until it was basically only an administrative relationship. The national church has asked us to take on the roll of school chaplains and work towards re-establishing a deeper relationship with the children and their families.
The reality
We cannot go alone, we have to be sent, covered in prayer and held up through the financial support of many. The cost of living and ministering in Belize is significantly higher than when we lived in Guatemala and we will also have a lot of initial costs with moving and establishing our lives and ministry in a new country. As Foursquare missionaries we are responsible for raising 100% of our personal and ministerial funds and we cannot go and serve without it. We need many to help get us there and we need many to help us be able to stay the course and serve San Ignacio. To help us get to where God is sending us and be a part of what God wants to do in the lives of those we will find there all you have to do is respond through the following link:
http://foursquaremissions.org/give/gutierrez
Please consider giving a onetime gift and becoming monthly committed partners with us in ministry.
The Plan
We hope and pray that God allows us to be moving to our new home in San Ignacio within the next several months but it mostly depends on getting to the point where we have the funds necessary to be able to go.
We drove out to California a month ago, and got to see a few people along the way who mean so much to us. The kids have been loving our journey and when we’re in one place for a while they start to ask when the next adventure starts. Thankfully we had a few weeks to stop and just be home at church with our NewLife family in Pomona. It was absolutely WONDERFUL, to just be in church, to just stop and worship our God, to know that the kids get to be safe in their classrooms learning about Jesus while we sit in peace to be refreshed by God’s word. It has been life to us!
We began visiting churches in California a couple weeks ago and then we will begin our through Washington, Montana, Wyoming and several states back through the Midwest after that. If you are along the way, we would love to see you and if it would work out for us to come visit your church please let us know!
We are ever grateful for the army of those who surround us in prayer, support and encouragement and pray God’s richest blessings over you all!
Gerson and Ami Gutierrez
Foursquare Missions International- Belize
gersonrgm@hotmail.com amilynn79@yahoo.com