January + February!!!

Olivia Ransome
Feb 25, 2024
6 min read

Hi!! I’m praying that you all have been so good! I’m so sorry for getting this newsletter out so late; it’s been super busy so I haven’t been able to work on this newsletter very much, but I’m super excited to share about these past 2 months and what God’s been doing here! These past months have been filled with so many moments of healing with the Lord here in Guatemala! Overall, it was a pretty hard few weeks, but it was full of a lot of growth. Our team has been going through a lot with family stuff back home, and 2 of the other girls and I got bacterial infections in our stomachs too. The enemy really has been attacking our team in different ways. But, through it all, the Lord has been incredibly present, and I’ve felt Him walking so closely beside me through each moment! Its hard for me to believe that we’re over halfway through, and I only have 3 months left here :( I’m super excited for what the next 3 holds though!!

A few weeks ago, we went through a long week of training that was so great. I learned more of how to be a disciple that makes disciples, and how important it is to be missional no matter where you are and what you’re doing. If you’ve been made new in Christ, we’re all missionaries. We’ve all been given the message of reconciliation to bring to those in darkness. Being a missionary isn’t just someone who goes overseas, but for EVERY person who calls themselves a follower of Jesus. Many people are dying and going to hell every day because the church today is believing that sharing the gospel is for a certain group of people. But, God calls each of us to share about who He really is through our daily jobs, whether that be college, a 9-5, or a job in ministry. And in all reality, that’s the reason why we’ve been made new and set free, not so we could live our lives comfortably and live for our own dreams and desires, but so we could go and tell others about Him and make His name known (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

These past weeks in ministry have been so amazing to witness. As I’ve said before, our whole entire goal with our ministry is making disciples that make disciples with the local Guatemalans, so that when we leave, the work of the great commission is continued without us. So we train them, and walk alongside them in being a true disciple of Christ with the hopes that they’ll come out with us in the community when sharing the gospel, and start to do it without us. So, with the Guatemalan women we’ve been meeting with weekly, we’ve really started to see them catch the vision for the heart of God: that none would perish! They are learning and being trained with excitement, and being extremely bold with the people in their lives, sharing their testimonies and the gospel often! One of the women we meet with is a sweet older woman, Julia. She’s been walking with Jesus for a while! A few weeks ago she started her own bible study and is committed to training the women that attend in how to share the gospel. Another woman we’ve been meeting with, Andrea, who’s 21, has such a boldness for Him. She’s so eager to go out with us and share her testimony and it’s so encouraging. And it’s the same for the other two groups that do discipleship in the community during the week. Each group has seen Guatemalans see and believe that God’s heart is that none should perish, and they’ve started to bring that into every moment by coming out into the streets with us to share the gospel, sharing with the people around them, and personally discipling people on their own.

On one of our community days, some of the other girls and I were able to go serve in the special needs home a few streets away, and it was amazing. Getting to see the way they were cared for and loved as God’s children was so sweet.

Recently, my parents were able to come for a week in the first parent group. It had been 5 months since I last saw them, so I was of course so excited to see them. And getting to show them where I live and what I’ve been doing here for the past few months was so fun. God moved SO MUCH over the week that we had some of our family here. One of the girls on my team decided that she wanted to rededicate her life to Jesus and get rebaptized, and because of that, 2 other siblings that were visiting realized that hadn’t really been fully surrendered to Christ, and got baptized and gave their lives fully to Him as well. That same week, one of the groups was out in the community, and came across a house made of tin, like most of the houses here, but something was different about their house: all the walls were tin, but their door was a beautiful wooden door.

So they were outside of the house looking at the door, when the owners came to the door and invited them in. While they were in the house, they shared the gospel with the family, and 4 of them started to cry while they were telling the story of what Jesus did for us, and all 4 of them gave their lives to Jesus that day, and accepted Him into their hearts. That same day, another one of the groups was in the street and encountered two people, shared the gospel with them, and they too gave their lives to Christ. So, just in one day, we saw 6 salvations. And just the other day one of our groups was in the community and they prayed healing over a man, and his shoulder was healed completely. God is doing something divine in this community, there’s truly a move happening here. Over the past few months, we’ve seen many salvations and healings, and only Holy Spirit could do it.

Lately, I’ve been learning so much about the Lord and who He really is and about the reality of what a true disciple of Christ is. It’s someone who hears the voice of the Lord in their life, and they have immediate, radical, costly obedience to it, and they don’t look back. It says in Matthew that we’re to put our hands to the plow and not look back, and that’s the cost of discipleship. It should be costing us something, it should be sacrificial. But He’s worth it! I’ve also been seeing that through the hardships I’ve been going through here, and being away from home and family and comfort, that when we feel like everything else is stripped away, we’re called to worship Him, and give Him glory always.

This past week, we had the second group of parents come in, and it was such a sweet week! We experienced TWO amazing life transformations!! The first was with a man named Melvin! A few weeks ago he accepted Jesus into his heart, but started to fall back into old habits, and struggling with his marriage, but the Lord spoke to his heart, and he decided to get baptized on Thursday! The other life transformation we saw was with a 12 year old named Gustavo! He had been having a rough time figuring out his faith because he was worried about what his father would say, but realized acceptance from His Heavenly Father was more important, and he gave His life to Jesus on Thursday as well! Praise God!

Prayer Requests

Please be praying for our town and the people because there are forest fires starting in the mountains all around our house!
Spiritual warfare in our group is heavy, as God’s really showing up in our community and what we’re doing. So please be praying for my team through this!
Our whole team praying about what’s next for our future, after this trip!!
A continual movement in this town — God opening the hearts of the people here to the gospel.
That the people we’re discipling would take up the vision, and continually be bold in their faith!
For those that have come recently, parents and siblings, to continually seek Him in their everyday lives, and to be bold + encouraged to share the gospel :)
There’s a big forest fire on the Volcano next to our town, Aguas, so please pray for the town and the people it’s affecting!