Hello my friends and God bless you. This newsletter is a little late because in the first days of October, we had two mission groups here, which we will tell you about in October’s newsletter. September is a very important month for Guatemala because September 15th is Independence Day for our country. This was a fun month for the kids in the school. We had a month of joy for the celebration of our Independence. The staff on the other hand had a lot of work and concern this month. We had a lot of preoccupation in our hearts because of the lack of rain, and we had difficulties in the economy for the families in the village. But God is always taking care of us and is faithful. After prayer, God gave a huge blessing of food for more than 1,000 people, and this is a miraculous blessing because each family that received the food will now have enough food for three or four weeks. This filled the children of each family with joy and brought a calm to each of the parents.
I want to take this time to give you thanks for being a part of all of this. Thank you for running with us in this Vision that God has given Global Missions of Mercy and for working in the Mission together for our Lord. We are a team, and the best gift God has given us is to be able to love each other, pray for one another, and support each other. The beauty of God’s love is that His love is known to others by the way we love one another.
Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your love. And lastly, many thanks for your support, because your support is very important to our children and families. I pray that the love of God remains in your hearts. God bless you.
In love,
Sarita Carson
Jeremiah 31: 35 to 37 "This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar - the Lord Almighty is His Name: 'Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,' declares the Lord, 'will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.' This is what the Lord says: 'Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,' declares the Lord."
This is the Word of God and this Word is life. Although we see that God is talking about the people of Israel, we can see that we also receive the mercy of God as His children.
Activities at the School
· On Wednesday the 2nd, we had a Civic Moment (A moment to recognize our civic symbols.) in honor of our national bird, the Quetzal. 
· On Monday the 7th, we gathered together for another Civic Moment in honor of our national flower, the White Monja.
· On Wednesday the 9th, we had our last Civic Moment in dedication to our national shield.
We celebrate all of these Civic Moments so we can remember to be patriotic for our Independence and to form in the students a civic valor, a love for their country, and a respect for the patriotic symbols.
· On Friday the 4th, we had a meeting for the students’ parents. We always do this with the purpose of informing the parents of the students’ performance in their classes in the school.
The main points we try to cover are:
· The importance of the students’ attendance in classes
· Talk with the mothers about how important good personal hygiene is for the students.
· Go over the students’ grades with their parents.
At the end of this 
meeting, we invited the parents to an activity on the 15th of September to celebrate Independence Day.
· On Monday, September 14th, we had an activity to celebrate the day of the Liberty Torch. We went to the customs in Florido, Franteral of Honduras and Guatemala with all of the students in the school to carry the torch of liberty. This activity ended at 4:00pm, and we left the Fronteral of Honduras and ended up at the school at 6:45pm with a scream of liberty. And then the students returned to their homes with patriotic smiles.
Celebration of Independence Day, September 15th
On Tuesday, September 15th, with lots of enthusiasm, we had an activity in the school to celebrate our independence,. At 6:00 am we raised our National flag, and afterwards, we had a parade with the students in the school. We marched and we were accompanied by a marching band, which was formed with some of the students in the school.
In all of our civic activities, the student with the highest average in the school led us carrying our national flag, which is Elmer Ardon Pesquera. The two students with the second highest averages, Oscar Ramirez and Maria Andrea Garcia, followed him also carrying a flag.
At 9:30 am, we had a presentation with the “Independence Girls” that represented our school also.
And at 10:00 am, we continued our celebration with cultural moments where the students conducted dramas, sang songs, and read poems. Also, we had a recreational activity with a piñata.
We ended this fun day with refreshments for all of the parents, teachers, and students.
English Classes
The English classes are going well, and they are held one day a week. Each of the six classes receive English lessons every week. The Kindergarten, First grade, and Second grade receive 20 minutes of English, and Third, Fourth, and Fifth grade receive 30 minutes of English.
The lessons I teach are little more informal than the students’ other classes, just because I only teach one day a week. For example, in the younger classes, I am teaching them the numbers
from 1 to 15 in English. In every lesson that includes numbers, we make our “Number Train” and choo-choo all throughout the classroom shouting our numbers in English. The older classes are learning verbs and the personal pronouns. So, I have them write and pass notes to one another in English. Of course, this is the only time they can write notes in class and get away with it, so they seem to enjoy it.I pray that they are learning, but above all, I pray they are having fun and know that they are capable of learning another language. I praise the Lord and thank Sarita Carson for the opportunity to teach at Highland Park Christian School in Guatemala.
A Blessing from Guatemala
On Saturday, September 26th and Sunday, September 27th, we had a visit from a ministry from Guatemala City called “Kabod Ministries”. The word “Kabod” means for the Glory of God. In the last newsletter, I shared with you about this visit, and this month, 40 people came and evangelized and brought clothes, food, and various medicines. The huge blessing of food and clothes that they brought were enough for 1,500 people, which accounts for more than 300 families. Also, they had a time of teaching the Word of God, and it was truly marvelous. This group brought a theatric group from their church, and their presentation was very professional. They presented a children’s production that the kids in the village had never had before. All of the actors were very colorful and beautiful. The children and their parents and the staff all had a wonderful time. Also, the GMM staff truly admired the enormous blessing that this ministry brought to the village. God is good, and He is always merciful. We give Him thanks and we also thank Kabod Ministries for their love and care for our village. God bless you!
Men’s Ministry
The men’s ministry has been very exciting and has not stopped growing from day one. We meet every Thursday afternoon at 4:30 pm after the men get off of work. They come straight from working all day long to come and sit and study God’s Word. We were given an offering to buy study Bibles for the men, and every man that has received a Bible has returned to the meetings and are ready to comment and share what they have read that week. Their hunger and thirst are evident through their expressions and excitement while studying the Bible during the meetings.
We have about 42 men coming to the studies and growing deeper in the Word of God. The group is already growing closer to each other and developing more accountability and better friendships every week. Please continue to pray for these men. Please pray that the Word that enters their hearts will not only change their lives but also the lives of their families, friends, and the entire village.
A Calling to Guatemala
My name is Mme Jo Beaver, and I a registered nurse from Town Creek, Alabama. Quite a few years ago, when both of my two children started school, I felt the need to further my education and do something productive, never having any idea it would lead me where I am today. After several short-term mission trips with various organizations, I came to Guatemala this past April with some friends for ten days. When I stepped off the airplane in Guatemala city, I had an amazing peace come over me, and I felt like God was telling me this is where I belong. I have always had a “soft
spot” in my heart for people south of the USA. The whole time I was here in Guatemala back in April, it was like a dream. I asked a million questions and saw as much of Chiquimula, the village, and the school as I could with this deep excitem
ent growing within me. Sarita and I talked about the need for medical care of some kind at the ministry while I was there also.When I returned home, I just could not settle back into my usual routine. The truth is my heart was still in Chiquimula. After much prayer, seeking God’s will, and discussions with my family, I wrote to Sarita asking her if I could come and work at the ministry as a nurse and also help her in any way I could. This was what God wanted me to do. While waiting on her reply, I began preparing. I do not speak Spanish, so I purchased the beginning of the “Rosetta Stone” software for my computer and started working. I got a new laptop computer to help me and to communicate with my family back home and did several other things to prepare myself. There was much to be worked out, but God began fitting the pieces together. Today, I am here! My Spanish still is not very good at all, but I continue to work on that. At the ministry, I have “set up shop” in a temporary space, and things are progressing. Although I cannot be in Guatemala all the time, I will be here as much as possible. God is SO good
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