Prayer Requests

...since the CICIG entity (Commission against impunity in Guatemala), which belongs to the SOROS Foundation, wants to introduce an approval law for abortion and gay marriage to the country.  The Soros Foundation is a New World Order organization run by George Soros.  Soros is a Jew-Hungarian.  He is gay and promotes abortion and gay marriage around the world. This man belongs to the OAS and has invested 20 million dollars to introduce this to countries like: Guatemala, Costa Rica, Chile, among others.  Then, CICIG wants to promote political instability in the country and introduce a Pink sociology.  The Guatemalan president has asked them to withdraw from the country and there is currently much political unrest.

If this law enters Guatemala means that we will not be able to give Values ​​in government schools, we will not know if this will have any effect on the private schools too.  This new law if passed could have a devastating effect on us as a ministry. If the President and our government are able to keep them out now, they are sure to keep trying to enter our political system later.  This is the time to raise a cry for our country and stand firm to discern the times.

Help Us Pray for:

Guatemala

-We pray that God will give wisdom, discernment and strength to President Jimmy Morales

-We pray that God will prevent this law from entering our country

-We pray that in the time that God allows us to be in the public and private schools we can continue to win students to Christ, disciple them as believers, and then sending to the Guatemalan youth to the lost in all the nations.

-We pray that God will establish His Will in Guatemala.

New Generation

-God gives us the strength to continue forming children and young people within the schools. 

Missions Trip 2016

I want to change the way on posting our blog this time…See I always talk and give my opinion or comments and so on, this time I am going to post some of the comments of the students that went to this 2016 trip. This time we went to Huehuetenango-Guatemala and then San Salvador, but before doing that! Please let me remind you why we do these Missions trips: (Mathew 28:19) 1. to fulfill the Great Commission on the part on “GO”. 2. These Missions Trips open the heart to the students to be aware on the need on their own culture, but also for other cultures and be open to say “YES” to the call of the Lord on going for the long term and “MAKING DISCIPLES” in other countries that never heard about Jesus before. 3. Students that does not receive a call to GO and MAKE DISCIPLES, then can: pray, give and help send other students.

“So, as New Generation (Nueva Generacion) we invite you to be part with us to REACH, DISCIPLE AND SEND The Guatemalans to their own communities or other Nations”. Merry Christmas to all of you!,

Sincerely

Luis Castillo

Ok, this year we went to Huehuetenango and then to San Salvador, so it was three days in Huehuetenango City and four days to San Salvador…Why? With the vision on teach them to reach their own country first and then outside Guatemala. No more words… let´s here the students. They answered this question: What things the Lord did in your hearts through this Missions Trip 2016?:

“Hi . I'm Jarelyn Marroquin, Chimaltenago-Guatemala:

This trip was the first for many of us and it was a great blessing.

God was always with us and He supported us. Believing and having faith during the process it was a bit difficult and realizing that He never left us, was one of the best parts, and knowing that He has mercy on us to bless the lives of others and to share the good news is the extraordinary part!

Well my brother and I had the idea of ​​working with adults, but most of the time it was not like that. Working with children for me it was the best part and my passion. To be able to speak to them of the love of God, God is a good root for their lives. Also to be able to share that together we can fall in love with God and that He is the center of our lives”.

Jouse Marroquin, Chimaltenango-Guatemala:

"Well, God worked in a great way in my life. Because He spoke to me in so many ways, and He broke my heart into pieces, He allowed me to see all the need that this World has- the need of God. I also saw that it was time to give and not only to receive. There are people who need to hear about Him. There are a lot of people to wants to hear God through someone else. When the Leaders shared something inside of me was filled and not only when the leaders shared, in fact, it was when everyone spoke, because God used them in so many ways! And I can say that God is real and that He loves us and ha perfect plan for us”.

Ashley Santos, San Antonio Aguas Calientes, Guatemala:

"The awesome things of God are good and new every morning. So, the process that I pass though this trip it really opened my heart not only to God but to the people that need Him. It was awesome to see How the Lord touches our heart in so many different ways and no matter where are we He always is going to be with us. He is the only one that fills us completely”.

With Gratitude…

(Claudia, Mishel, Lariza, Ximena, Lesly, Sergio and I), in our hearts. We are so proud for this group of kids that went to Estelí, Nicaragua. I am amazed to see how they raised their funds; they attend to their Missions training and prepare for their trip. For one month they were praying every single morning at 5:30am. They developed a good unity among each other that was reflected in the service they gave. This group of multiple talents and different ages went with the open heart to say YES to the calling of the Lord. Not only to serve and evangelized or to live the experience that a Mission trip bring, but with an open heart to search inside if they have the calling to become a Long Term missionary. The Lord talked to them in many ways and in different aspects. The only thing I have to say to you is: "we are going to develop a Formal Missions School for people like them or other people that the Lord is calling to the nations". In countries that never heard of Jesus. So pray for Claudia, Mishel, Lariza, Ximena, Lesly and Sergio so they keep walking in their calling. Pray for the Missions School that we are developing for 2016. Pray for the new disciples of Jesus that are going to come along. Pray for an awakening in the Guatemalan Church. Pray for our next Missions trip. Thank You for your generous contributions this the reason of our calling: REACHING, DISCIPLE AND SENDING the Guatemalan Youth to the Nations…

THE FRUIT

The fruit is something that every people expect. Let´s be honest every one of us expect a result, in other words, we expect the fruit. “In whatever area you invest on-you will expect a fruit”. I do not know if you had the privilege on planting a seed. In many Guatemalan schools they ask the students to bring a black bean seed and they put it inside a glass cup with a piece of wet cotton. One week later you see that a green branch starts to grow. Several weeks pass by and you see several branches with a lot of leaves. The next step is to plant the new flower into the ground. Sometimes you have success and sometimes not. But every time you do that, you want to see the fruit of that flower; in this case you want to see black beans. Well, I know this is nature, and this is the course of life- Right? But we also want to see the fruit in all the things that we do. In the Bible we hear some expressions such as: “The fruit of your labor”, “The fruit of the Spirit”, speaking about the branches in John 15, “the good fruit”, and the list goes on and on. In Nueva Generacion/ New Generation we want to see the fruit. We want to see His fruit in our lives-This is my prayer: “to live what I preach” and we want to see fruit in our work: “we want to see the lives of the students transformed by the power of the Love of God”.

In the first week of June we had our annual retreat. This time we took 24 students that we have in our program of Classes of Values and in our Discipleship Program. A team of 12 students from ORU (Oral Roberts University) came to help. They gave most of the talks, brought resources and lead worship. But one of the highlights of this event was the last day in the baptism. One girl that got baptized really touched my heart: Blanca Marleny is a 17 year old girl from one of the schools that my co-worker Claudia Escobar is a teacher. Blanca knew Jesus since she was a little girl, but she had a very hard life and she went away from God. Also her parents did not allow her to go out by herself. So what happened? The Lord started to touch Blanca´s heart through the Values Classes in her school to the point that she wanted to attend the retreat. After she received the invitation she asked permission to her parents to attend and the first miracle happened, her parents said “YES”. She likes to play soccer and before the date of the retreat she got injured.  She injured her left foot. But her foot was not an obstacle to attend the retreat. Then the second and the third miracle happened in her life, the Lord touched her heart. She was fighting against Him, but the Love of God was bigger than her pride and she just accepted the love of Jesus and when we were baptizing the other people she went running to change her clothes, and said: “I want to get baptized”. She came back saying that the Lord said to her: “What are you waiting for”. She was crying and confessed that Jesus was her Lord.   After she came out from the water, she realized that she didn´t have the pain in her foot anymore and she realized that she was healed.

This is the fruit of our labor. This is why we exist, to see lives being transformed by Jesus.

But the story does not ends here…Blanca is one of the students that is going to go on Missions to Nicaragua in November and the story goes on…This is one of several testimonies that we can see because of God and You. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US IN THIS ADVENTURE THAT WE CALL LIFE.

John 15:16

You did not take me for yourselves, but I took you for myself; and I gave you the work of going about and producing fruit which will be forever; so that whatever request you make to the Father in my name he may give it to you.

(Blanca Marleny is the girl in the middle, of course)

SENDING-Honduras Trip

I just remember- Poptun, Petén-Guatemala. It was maybe 20 years ago. We were leading a Spiritual Retreat. Two female missionaries were in charge of the church. For our group was weird. You know "Two female missionaries". See most of the people that wanted to serve the Lord in our youth group were men. We had a lot of women in our youth group, but only a few wanted to give their lives to missions. Well, for us was intriguing. We wanted to know, why? They were there. So, one night I just pop the question. But honestly the answer I was expecting was not the one we received. Both of them told us: "we are here because men did not obey the call of the Lord to come to this place". The answer I was expecting was something like: no-one in our church asks us out in a date, so we are single and that´s why we came here to live in this remote place in Guatemala. No, the answer was wrecking. And it was like Jesus was saying to me it is your fault that these ladies are here. After that little meeting I had with them, I was in tears praying to the Lord and telling him: "Here I am-Send me to the Nations".

A long time pass by. That was the moment that I received the passion and the call to the nations. But it was until this year I am starting to fulfill it. How? Leading a short term trip to Honduras. New Generation is a ministry that is working to reach the Great Commission. We reach, disciple and send the Guatemalan Youth to the nations, and we do it intentionally. It takes a lot and a long time to disciple. And it takes another big step to go or send. But yet, we are so happy with the results. We went 6 people including myself (and 2 Americans). And we went 6 because the other students that were in the process had some migratory issues. I am so proud with the people that went there. Everyone went with the right attitude. Everyone used their skills and gifts. I learn and bond with this team more than ever. At the end I have to say that these people were not looking for an experience. You know they were not the kind of folks that said: “Had been there done that". NO, these people gave their lives and most of all they follow the call of Jesus. I will not be surprise if they go and serve as a long term missionary in another country.

So we are not looking to have an experience. We are looking to have the following:

1. To fulfill the Great Commission.

2. To expose the participant to another culture.

3. To expose the participant to have a long term call for missions

4. To create the awareness to missions and invite the participant to start praying and giving to a specific organization or missionary.

And right now we are praying to see where we are going to take the next group of Guatemalans for the next short term missions trip. Thank You Jesus because you are allowing us to fulfill the vision you gave us as your people…

Youth Center...is not a dream anymore

Let me tell you this exciting story. About 3 months ago the Lord spoke to me and Mirella and during that time He told us to start the process for getting the place for the ministry, you know, to start the Youth Center. I am always excited when He does that because when He gave us an order we know He will provide. Of course, we did not have any single penny for this, but we had the faith to believe it. Through the help of an awesome team that we host for two months (Love you guys). We started the process of finding a house. Every week we went to see houses for rent-Mirella was in charge of that and I was working in the schools but nothing. One day finally after some weeks the real state lady called us and we went to see a house in San Miguel Escobar(two miles from Antigua) immediately when we saw it, we said we liked it and the last question was: "How much?"  sweet the price was great, everything was good, I looked at my wife and shook my head: " we take it" and then the real state lady said: " Mister Castillo" is already taken, what do you mean is taken? Yes I am sorry. We where so disappointed. So our adventure kept going for more than two months but finally. A friend of my wife called us saying that one of her houses was empty and we went to see it, ask for the price, etc. and we said Nueva Generacion has a new home. The house is going to be for discipleship classes, counseling youth and parents, to have the office of New Gen, a place to host Mission Teams( so please send your teams over here), youth trainings, retreats and so on.
I just want to share this video with you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCcRLcONQbE

. I was asking the Lord how to share with you the opportunity that everyone has to invest in His kingdom. And I came up with the Movie of Love see I do not want to ask you How many times you go to the movies in the month. But let say that you go once a month. The movies are in some places about $12 plus pop, plus popcorn easily goes to $20. For a little investment you get a lot. With those $20 in a monthly basis we can reach more youth, we can equip the Youth Center, more trainings, etc...I just wanted to ask you one thing can you pray and ask the Lord? if you feel the Lord leading you on this go to: https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/MissionImpact/OnlineGiving.html

2. Or Send your gift to Mission Impact PO BOX 45797 Madison, WI 53744

3. Or share this with other friends.

4. Please share with us and contact us, we want to know from you...

5. If you want to contribute to equip the Youth Center. We need this:
-14 bunk beds

-Changing part of the roof and other repairs

-We need a stove of 30 inches

-We need sheets, pillows, shower curtains

-2 Tables- 24 chairs

-White board

-Furniture

Productivity vs. Busyness

I remembered the first time I visited the USA. It was a great experience. I saw it from the airport and I went outside for a few hours. I was traveling to the Middle East; to be specific; I was going for a mission trip in Turkey.  And I had to wait for more than eight hours in the airport of Atlanta. I was amazed about technology, modernism, food and especially about the pace of the people.  Everybody was minding in their own business, but there was a lot of movement at the same time. Well, maybe not for the people that was waiting to get inside the airplane. The pace of everyone was harder than Guatemala. People just spend a lot of hours in activities. Not only in work. A friend from Canada told me it was the same in his country. So, from that fast pace I learned something good. I learned that busyness can be far apart from productivity. I just want to start talking about busyness. In the Dictionary you will find that the definition of busyness: 1. Engaged in activity, as work; occupied. 2. Sustaining much activity: a busy morning; a busy street. 3. Meddlesome; prying. 4. Being in use, as a telephone line. 5. Cluttered with detail to the point of being distracting: a busy design. So, from this perspective I learned that sometimes we are involved in a lot of things. Maybe these things are good. But they are just far away from your personal goal or vision. In other words, they can be a distraction from your productivity.

A few weeks ago I was starting to feel tired; with a lot of anxiety and stress. Finally, I felt I was getting closer to the point of wanting to say: “I just want to quit”. But, instead of slowing down, I just kept going. With the sensation that I was so busy: “Yes, I’m being so productive”, “We are doing so many things in the ministry”. To be honest with you I was far away on being productive. See, I was not praying too much. I was not reading my Bible so often. I did not have a lot of time with myself or God. I did not have a lot of time with my family, until the Lord gave me a different situation.  A friend of mine asks me to help him. He said: “Because you are a translator, I need your help with someone that is going to come from the States. He is going to talk to a bunch of pastors in Ixcan, Quiche (Quiche is a city state in Guatemala). And you are the right man for that job. Do not be concern on your expenses. I will cover all your expenses”. Honestly, after he invited me to come I just wanted to say NO. But something inside of me said YES. So, I thought about it and I meditated on that. Then, I figured out, someone can replace me in the schools and other activities. So, I went. The traveling was not so bad. When, we arrived I was surprised. The pace of that village was so slow. The people were very polite and warm. I had to sleep in a tent. The bathroom was rough. Maybe in another time I can show you some pictures of the bathrooms. But, you know what, it was the medicine I need it for my soul.

See, productivity means: “is an average measure of the efficiency of production”. So, I realize that I was busy but not producing too much. I was lacking of the presence of the Lord in my life. I was talking about Him, but I was not drinking or feeling up of Him. Also, I learned there are other things that not necessarily had to do with your goal. So, I am starting to say NO to some things. And to spend my time in the things that are relevant, for me, for God, for the ministry and for my family…God bless you all

Luis C.

The Counseling Clinic

I do not know if this term really exists, but if not it is going to be one of the terms that we are going to be pointing out now and then in Nueva Generacion. Let me tell you the story behind this term. Claudia Escobar one of our staff teachers is ministering in one of the schools of the town of Santa Lucia Milpas Altas, close to Antigua Guatemala. She mentioned me the urgent need that the school has. She told me that only in one class of 20, 14 students were having suicidal thoughts and they wanted to do it. That´s only in one class, but she had more students in the entire school. We have a small group of discipleship in that school, but we needed something more aggressive for this matter, we talked with Claudia and pray about it. During this time we had the visit of the incredible missionaries of the World Race (once again the World Racers strikes back). We got one class, we put three different groups (six people working) and we started to call the students. At first the students were really shy, but then they were coming by groups, we stayed for about three hours over there and more than 25 students went by. We prayed, counsel, talked, everything, introduce to them to Jesus, but most of all we saw how the Lord glorify on the students, we heard a lot of bad stuff and we have a lot of stories that we cannot share in this media. But we encouraged you to pray for the students and for the big work that Tania (our staff in charge of Discipleship) has to do just in this school. God bless you…

OUR DREAM

Let me tell you a story about Jacinto (this is not his real name). Jacinto, is 19 years old and is very smart. He always was upset with me, especially when I talked about God or spiritual topics with him. He said to me that he was an atheist. I always was very gentle and patient with him.

One day he said that he wanted to speak with me after class. We started talking about his beliefs and he confessed me that he was involved in drugs and had a very bad addiction until he found Jesus. Yes I was surprised!  He believed in God. What happened to Jacinto was that after he became a Christian he did not have a good follow-up or discipleship. He started to associate with the wrong crowd. He started to hangout with people that were involved in Fascism (Hitler´s Fascism) and from that he moved away from God and into atheism.

Right now Jacinto recommitted his life to Christ and he is involved in one of the small groups that Nueva Generacion has. This is just one story of many stories that we face every single day. This is just one issue of many other that we deal with such as: bad behavior, drugs and other addictions, bulling, sexual abuse, growing up without parents or without a dad,  gangs, etc.

Nueva Generacion has developed a very strong biblically based discipleship program that is addressing the problem of the lack of mentorship, accountability, counseling and discipleship.

Luis Carlos has been working with disciplining young people for more than 10 years in Guatemala. Nueva Generacion has professional staff trained to address these needs.  Our dream is to have a good facility to meet these needs and opportunities among the youth of Guatemala.

The area of Antigua Guatemala has just a few places that are addressing this need of going deeper with discipleship.  In this area there is no youth centers or a safe place for young people to gather and learn more about Jesus. In Guatemala 61% of our population is less than 30 years of age. New Generation has access and an open door to the public and private schools to talk about God and the Scriptures. There are a lot of teenagers that do not want to get close to a church but will come to a neutral place. We are sharing with them about how to have an intimate relationship with God instead of having a religion.

After one year of praying and looking for the Lord’s direction and counsel from other wise leaders, we came to realize that we need to have a physical place to fulfill what the Lord is calling us to.  A place for growth groups and Bible study, counseling, youth meetings, retreats, camps, sports activities and much more. We have a two-year time frame for this project.

Nueva Generacion is serving about 3,000 students per week with the Character Development program and we believe 10% of these students want to grow in their faith in Jesus through discipleship and growth groups. Young people from 12 to 20 years of age can have this opportunity to grow and deepen their walk with Jesus Christ.

Like Jacinto we have many other students that can benefit with this center, not only in the area of Antigua Guatemala. This center has a space to host mission groups and could be used to host many types of Christian activities.

How much is this project going to cost? Around $250,000. Our budget is $125,000 to buy the land that is large enough to include the youth center building, a basketball and a soccer court, plus space for a parking lot.  We need an additional $125,000 to construct the Youth Center building.

We wanted to ask you three things:

1.    Pray for this project and pray for us in New Generation. It is very important that we have people committed to support us with prayer. This vision is not something that we just imagined by ourselves, it came by prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

2.    If you want to make a one-time donation, a monthly donation or any other gift like donate your time to come to build, send groups from your church to help us, make a donation in materials, please contact me or Mission Impact!

3.    Would you be able to talk to someone about this project? Can you commit yourself to talk with 5 people about this youth center project: family members, neighbors, businesses, churches, small group, friends, co-workers, etc.?

THE TESTIMONY

I was invited to a missions conference in Yucaipa, CA. I went with my friend and Director of Mission Impact, Jeff Sprecher. The First Baptist Church of Yucaipa kindly cover all the expenses of this trip, and also I had the opportunity to share with the youth of that church- about missions and also my testimony. Two friends made this video that I want to share with you, I do not know if I ever shared my testimony with you, I hope it can be encouraging for your life, God bless you and I want to hear about you, blessings

Luis C