August Newsletter

When we set out on this adventure to Guatemala we thought we would be here for a very long time. Maybe because we felt God calling us to Guatemala so strongly, we thought we would be here long-term. But because of many factors that we will share with you, we have decided to come back to Kentucky.

As you know, we have been working with the Greene family and Catalyst Resources International. When we first met the Greene’s, they were hosting between twelve to fifteen mission teams each year. That number has grown tremendously and continues to grow each year. While we are thrilled that churches are sending more teams to Guatemala, hosting and leading this number of teams each year is not good for our young family.

While we appreciate the work that the Greene’s are doing, we do not feel like we are being used effectively. We don’t feel like they need two families to do the work they are doing in Guatemala. We expected to be a part of the team, but many important decisions have been made without communicating with us.

Aside from Catalyst not being the best fit for us, there are other factors that led us to make this decision. Our support has never been at 100% so we made some changes to allow us to get by. We did not send Cohen and Leah to preschool and did not put money into our retirement account. This was fine for the year, but we could not keep going like this. We want a good education for our kids and need to be wise about retirement.

Cohen and Leah also continue to be sick. It is so common that they have incorporated it into their play. Leah asks her dolls if they feel bad and if they need to sit on the potty. We can deal with the stomach issues, but it is very difficult watching our kids have to go through this so often.

We know that we all have seasons in our lives and we are thankful for our time in Guatemala. During our time here we have definitely been immersed in Spanish and feel comfortable speaking (although far from perfect) Spanish. Our faith has grown tremendously as we have had to rely on God more than we ever had in the past. Relationships were made, lives were changed here, and you were all an important part of that through your prayers and support. We can’t thank you enough!

We trust that God will use the experiences we’ve had and the things we’ve learned here in Guatemala for the work He has for us in the future. Right now we don’t know exactly what that will be. Robby would like to work with Edge Outreach in Louisville on training others in water purification and traveling on short-term mission trips with them. Lori would like to meet and support Spanish-speaking mothers living in Louisville. We are also looking into fostering children through COTA (Children of the Americas) who come to the States for surgeries like cleft lip repair.

We hope you will support us in our decision to return to Kentucky. This is not a decision we have made overnight. After many discussions and prayers, we feel that this is what is best for our family. We plan to return on November 21 and Robby will start back at the Corps of Engineers in December. Until then, we will enjoy our last little bit of time here and keep you posted on the work we are doing.