NLAI Ministry Update | May 2020
"And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” 1 Samuel 17:47 (NLT)
Dear Friends,

Life as we know it has changed. For the last seven weeks, Guatemala has been under a state of calamity. The country closed its borders on March 17 and imposed a 4 pm to 4 am curfew (recently changed to 6pm - 4 am). Masks are required anywhere in public. The country currently has 1114 confirmed cases and 26 deaths.

At NLCH, we have had to make some significant changes to our day-to-day operations while trying our hardest to keep a sense of normalcy for the children in our care.

As a children's home operating under a judicial order (meaning we accept placements of children via the Guatemalan court system ), we are still open and caring for children. Our Guatemalan staff are coming in and taking all necessary steps such as taking their temperatures, and wearing masks in the office.

Luckily, some parts of life have stayed normal for our NLCH kids. They don't have to wear masks on property, and they are still able to play outside in our yard.
But, some other areas of their daily routine have totally changed. New Life Christian School, with an enrollment of 565, closed its doors on March 16th. Students in 4th-9th grade are currently completing their assignments via Google classroom, and our younger children in 1st-3rd grade are working on packets downloaded from our school website with the help of their teachers in a Zoom call.

This has created a lot of challenges, to say the least. We are beyond grateful for NLAI missionary Josh Terry, who has provided technical support to get our school running online. Other missionaries are pitching in to help our kiddos complete their lessons, provide tutoring as needed, and even create a much-needed charging station for the Chromebooks that La Croix Church donated to us in June of 2019.
We are doing Zumba twice a week and other activities to keep the kids moving and out of boredom. They are still enjoying the swimming pools from Semana Santa out in front of the their houses. We have added a couple of Bible Studies for our older kids, a weekly movie night featuring Season One of "The Chosen", Sunday morning worship on-campus, game nights, etc.

The country of Guatemala itself has been hit hard, even though the numbers may not show it. Many families are flying white flags out of their windows to show that they are out of food and out of money.
Our older children have packed and distributed donations to families in our area. NLAI missionaries Roblans and Jessi Mejia are continuing to reach out to at-risk children and their families by distributing food and checking on their well-being.

We covet your prayers. Scroll down to read some more specific prayer requests from our missionary team.

We also know that many of you have been financially affected, which makes us even more grateful for you and amazed at your generosity and commitment. If you find yourself in a position where you are temporarily unable to give, please continue to pray and stay connected with us via Facebook or Instagram .

We are grateful for you and pray the Lord's richest blessings and protection over your lives.

Kendon Wheeler
NLA President
Prayer Requests
  • For our focus to remain on the Lord. As the scripture above, 1 Samuel 17:47 says, "This is the Lord's battle."
  • Continue to pray for the situation with school finances, as well as for the parents who cannot pay because they have either lost their source of income or it has been greatly reduced.
  • Pray for Oscar one of our accountants. He has diabetes and is having to go in for dialysis. This also puts him in the category of folks most vulnerable to the coronavirus, so pray for protection for him.
  • Pray for the economic and food situation. We are just starting to get a glimpse of how bad this thing could become in terms of people, especially children, starving. We are praying and asking God in his mercy to provide for people's needs.
Praises
  • God's continuing provision. We have received donations of food and supplies. Through May, donations for the Children's Home have continued to be pretty constant.
  • Praise God for His protection over our health. None of the children or staff have gotten the virus and sicknesses have actually been very minor these last couple of months.
  • Praise God for the extra time at home with our older kids. Since they either cannot go into work or are working from home, we have had more time with them than we normally do. Pray that God will bless and use this in continuing to work in their lives.
New Life Advance International | 832.242.7750 | PO Box 903, Stafford, TX 77497