Dear friends and family:
I know we have said it before, and we say it again.  How blessed and privileged we are to be serving here in Guatemala, and to be a part of the local and broader missionary community.


This was recently impressed on our hearts even more so when a friend, and fellow missionary here in our area of Guatemala had some life threatening health issues with his heart that needed immediate attention.  The missionary community and others, came together to help with the costs of going to a private hospital rather than the public … a difference between night and day … or likely the difference between living or dieing.  He was prepared to go to a public hospital, but thanks to another local missionary who brought this plight to the attention of us all, he went to a private, had a successful surgery and is now back home recovering.

Thankful for Frank, a fixture in the local Missionary community.

​There have been a few other times we have reached out to the missionary community for advice, or medical contacts or prosthetic contacts and have always had an immediate response.    Working together when we can and supporting and encouraging one another.  We have found that it is those on the mission field who truly understand the struggles, the worry, the loneliness at times and also the joys of seeing the Lord work through various situations. 


There are times that we feel completely out of our comfort zone as we sit (for example) in a meeting of Q’eqchi’ speakers with our Spanish/Q’eqchi’ translator, asked to counsel yet trying to be cognizant of cultural differences as we sort through the problems at hand.   We are reminded that God shows His strength through our weaknesses and those are times that we pray for wisdom.  


We have had many meetings with the Santa Marta Church over the last several months over some division issues that have happened within the Church.  Our last meeting of a couple of days ago was encouraging for us and for them.  The situation seems to have come to a point of moving forward with forgiveness, and we give God the glory for working in the hearts of those involved.  

Love the little papaya tree bearing fruit beside the new Santa Marta Church.
In our last container of medical equipment, which arrived about a year ago, and of which we are getting pretty empty, the wheelchairs are always the first to go.  There is always such a great demand.  We have had one wheelchair that we hadn’t found a home for.  It was kind of a big stroller that didn’t fold, made for a smaller person or a child.  We wanted to hold on to it until the right situation presented itself, which it did.
A couple of days ago, we were meeting with Carlos, a  representative from a local Church here in Coban that does alot of outreach in the area.  They had asked for food and mattresses for some elderly in a more remote community.  He was telling us about a young man of 18 years who is severely disabled.  When his mother takes him anywhere she carries him on her back.  We showed him the wheelchair and he thought it would be perfect.  In the photo below it looks like it will be more than sufficient, and will ease the burden for his mother.  

We have committed to the sending of another container of food.  The Gleaners expect to load in the first week of March and we should have it in Guatemala by mid April.  There is an increasing demand for the food and we have gone through our last one fairly quickly.  If anyone would like to donate towards the costs of bringing in this container, please see the donation links below.  Donations are always welcome.  
Two Pastor training classes started up in mid January.  One in our home and the other in a community about an hour away with a total of 25 students. That number will adjust a little within the first two or three months.  Many of them have travelled from communities 3 hours away.  
We have a friend who prays for each student by name every week.  If there is anyone else who would like to pray for them, please send us an email and we can send you the list of names and a brief bio.  We can’t overemphasize the importance of prayer.  For most of them, they make a big sacrifice to come.

Several years ago we met some other Canadian missionaries from Ontario who were bringing in Ontario Gleaners food. We have kept in regular contact with them. They are working in an area of Guatemala about 7 or 8 hours from us.  If you want to read about them here is a link to their website:  https://power-at-work.ca/about-us/team/   

We have on occasion shared supplies and we recently had a visit from them and several of the boys they mentor.  Part of their ministry is to provide bunk beds in families where the kids grow up usually all sleeping in the same bed.  They brought one for Yeimy and her siblings.  They also brought many baby packs which we donated to two clinics run by missionaries and are a blessing for pregnant or new moms.

We had a chance to take them to Semuc Champey, which is a local Guatemalan treasure, an hour and a half from our home.  An area of beautiful pools in the mountains, to swim, and a hike to a beautiful vista.  Pictures don’t do it justice, but here are a couple of photos below.  

​

We are doing well and looking forward to an upcoming missionary conference held once per year in Panajachel, another beautiful area of Guatemala.


Many blessings,
Denis and Eileen

Donation options:
All Donations are greatly appreciated and Tax Deductible

Canadian residents cheque's should be made out to:
Arrow Lakes Alliance Church (write Seeds to Harvest on the memo line)
339 Alexander Road.
Nakusp, B.C.  V0G 1R1

or e-transfer to ([email protected] (write Seeds to Harvest in the message)
or to:
Commission to Every Nation (write Seeds to Harvest on the memo line)
PO Box 22017
11500 Tecumseh Rd. E.
Windsor, Ontario  N8N 5G6

You can also donate online at Commission to Every Nation, CTEN here:  http://www.cten.org/denisnogue

United States residents cheque's should be made out to:
Commission to Every Nation (write Seeds to Harvest on the memo line) P.O. Box 291307 Kerrville, TX 780289-1307

Like us on Facebook?
Facebook at Seeds to Harvest Ministries/Denis & Eileen Nogue
Copyright © 2021 Denis & Eileen Nogue, All rights reserved.  You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Denis and Eileen Nogue's Guatemala email newsletter. 


Our email address is:
noguesinguatemala@gmail.com

And although we are not evangelists, and we don’t know the Q’eqchi’ language, we believe that God uses each and every one of us when we step out in faith, and we are willing.  We use the resources given us and compassion, hospitality and generosity of what we have been gifted with.  1 Corinthians 3:17. Says … It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.

At this celebration we reminded the Church at Santa Marta that we are all missionaries.  Some are called to go to another country.  Many more are called to be missionaries in their own community.  

They are a “young in the Lord” group.  They need a Pastor.  In the meantime Pastor Erick and ourselves will try to go twice a month on a Sunday.  They are about an hour and a half from our home, on a winding, narrow road.

The Santa Marta Church roof is on.  Lots of other work still ahead, but it is amazing to see the progression so far. 
 ​

We made a visit to the community of one of our Pastor training graduates, Mario, who lives in the community Nuevo Amanacer.  It is about 2.5 hours from where we live on a rough road.  It had been raining a lot and is the type of road that if you meet another vehicle, either you or they have to back up to where the road is wide enough to get by each other.  Many steep drop offs, and huge puddles.  Many parts 4 wheel drive only.

I (Eileen) put word out to a few people asking if they could pray.  To be honest, I was feeling a little anxious because of the amount of rain that has been coming down.  We left in the pouring rain.  When we got to the worst part of the road the sun came out and it dries quickly when the sun comes out.  We showed an evangelical film called Magdalena in Q’eqchi’, which has a strong central gospel message.  It was well received, we had ponche, visited, handed out food bags to over 70 families, and as we left the rains started again.  We didn’t end up leaving quite as soon as we wanted and so the last part of our trip was in the dark,  however praise the Lord we made it there and back safely.  The joy on these ladies faces was worth the trip.  ​

Since the installation of the 30 stoves, funds have continued to come in and we now have enough to install about 40 more stoves.  We just met with a new village this week to discuss the stove program, and they are interested.   It looks like we will be lining up the installations with a team from Alabama who are coming on a mission trip in March and are interested in participating in a project like this.  Here are a few more before and after photos.  A big thank you to all who have invested in cleaner air for these people.  
 ​

Pastor training is ready to start Jan 15 with around 25 students.  This will be held in a village about an hour from us and so we will be a little less hands on with this group.  

We made a pre-Christmas visit to see Yeimy, and we praise God for her continued health over these last 3 years.  When we consider all that she has been through, it has been a miracle, and no doubt that God put us in the right place at the right time to help.  We continue to tell her story because we want you to see the goodness of God in her story.  Her Dad continues to recover from his motorcycle accident.  He is still unable to work.  Yeimy’s 3 year old sister is in the photo on the right.  ​

We took a walk through our local market in Coban the other day, all decked out in their Christmas traditions.  It was beautiful and festive.

Sometimes we reflect on and miss the familiarity of the white Christmas’s we celebrated in Canada when our family was young, but just as that was a season in our lives that passed so quickly, we find this season of our lives to be passing just as quickly.  

Each year we learn a little more what it means to live for Christ and that our lives are not our own.  We recognize that much of what we do on the mission field is about what God is teaching us and not so much about what we do for others, although it is all important in God’s plan.   Jesus is with us.  He is never changing.  He is our strength and He is steadfast.  Thank God that our hope is in the one we call Emmanuel … God with us.  

Blessings and wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  

Denis and Eileen Nogue
 
Seeds to Harvest Ministries
Commission to Every Nation

 
Donation options:
All Donations are greatly appreciated and Tax Deductible

Canadian residents cheque's should be made out to:
Arrow Lakes Alliance Church (write Seeds to Harvest on the memo line)
339 Alexander Road.
Nakusp, B.C.  V0G 1R1

or e-transfer to ([email protected] (write Seeds to Harvest in the message)
or to:
Commission to Every Nation (write Seeds to Harvest on the memo line)
PO Box 22017
11500 Tecumseh Rd. E.
Windsor, Ontario  N8N 5G6

You can also donate online at Commission to Every Nation, CTEN here:  http://www.cten.org/denisnogue

United States residents cheque's should be made out to:
Commission to Every Nation (write Seeds to Harvest on the memo line) P.O. Box 291307 Kerrville, TX 780289-1307

Like us on Facebook?
Facebook at Seeds to Harvest Ministries/Denis & Eileen Nogue
Copyright © 2021 Denis & Eileen Nogue, All rights reserved.  You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Denis and Eileen Nogue's Guatemala email newsletter. 


Our email address is:
noguesinguatemala@gmail.com

Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us to put our complete trust in God because his ways and plans are always better than our own and to trust that everything included in His plan is for a greater good. 
“'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord.
Dear Friends and Family
We expected to start a class of Pastor Training in September or October, but we didn’t have enough students to begin.  As we waited and prayed, a graduate from our June graduation contacted us that he had around 50 interested students in a town called Purulha, about an hour south of us.  They asked if the classes could be held out there as many of them live further out in the mountains and would need to travel in.  
After a meeting with the Guatemalan coordinator of Global Action, we decided that we will start with 25 students on January 15, 2025.   Erick will be teaching and he is just finishing some University courses that will finalize in December.  
We also just found out that around 12 men and women are considering taking the Biblical Studies that we will host at our home, starting in January, 2025.  They are all part of a Guatemalan led Christian Ministry centered in Coban.  Just awaiting confirmation as they consider.  It seems God has a plan.  
We are thankful for the willingness of Erick, and we are trying to be cognizant of not putting too much on him as he is a full time Pastor and with his part time work with us, and his studies he has a lot on his plate right now.  

Several villages have expressed needs for food since our return, and so the arrival of our container of black beans a couple of weeks ago was very timely.  This container arrived in port and was released 4 days later PTL.  This was the quickest one yet.  At the rate the food has been going out, we have been giving some thought to coordinating another one fairly soon.

When the container arrived, at short notice this group from a local Church in Coban arrived to help unload at 6:30 am on a Sunday morning. ​

​These two are community leaders in a very impoverished area a couple hours south of us that have had many crop failures over the last few years due to flooding.  They had been waiting for a supply of food and sent a truck as soon as we had the food available.  We had the pleasure of hosting a mission team from the US by the name of Redeemed Steel.  They do a presentation of forging a knife out of steel, and during the process a testimony is shared that runs parallel to the process.  
We took them out to the village and Church of one of our Pastor training graduates.  It was a beautiful presentation and very interesting.  The way they tied it in with the gospel was well done.  We are always amazed at the different ways God uses His people to share the Gospel.

Yeimy, the little girl we have been helping with transportation costs for her cancer treatments over the last 3 years will be heading to Guatemala City in a couple of weeks for one of her bi-annual checkups.  To date she has remained in remission, praise God.  
Yeimy’s Dad was recently in a motorcycle accident.  He was offered a ride to work on a friend’s motorcycle when the accident happened.  He broke his arm and has a head and eye injury and will not be able to work for 3 months or longer.   His type of work would include physical labour, so we ask for prayers for quick healing of his injuries.  In the meantime, we will help support them with their basic needs.

We have had such an amazing response from donors for the vented wood stoves.  To date we have received funds for 40 stoves, and we understand more funding will be coming around Christmas.  To date 30 stoves have been installed.  
Just look at the new and old stove photos below.  Thank you to those who donated for a stove.  The health benefits are immediate and they will use 70% less wood.  A win win situation.
Thank you so much, those of you who donated.  It is life changing for these families and such a beautiful way to share the love of Christ in a tangible way.

We will continue  installing stoves as the funds come in, so if you feel so led, we will happily continue the work of installing them.  

Thank you to those who pray for us.  We were reminded of the importance of praying for one another and were really blessed when a young past team member from the Lavington Church, Christopher, who is now a student at Millar College, wrote to us and asked if he could ‘interview’ us as a part of his course work.  He said he was very impacted by the time he spent with us in our ministry.  
It was a wonderful video call visit with a mature 18 year old.  He asked us some good questions and we were really encouraged by his interest in us personally and our ministry.
We pray that God will use him mightily in the days and years to come.

Many Blessings,

Denis and Eileen Nogue

Seeds to Harvest Ministries
Commission to Every Nation
Donation options:
All Donations are greatly appreciated and Tax Deductible

Canadian residents cheque's should be made out to:
Arrow Lakes Alliance Church (write Seeds to Harvest on the memo line)
339 Alexander Road.
Nakusp, B.C.  V0G 1R1

or e-transfer to ([email protected] (write Seeds to Harvest in the message)
or to:
Commission to Every Nation (write Seeds to Harvest on the memo line)
PO Box 22017
11500 Tecumseh Rd. E.
Windsor, Ontario  N8N 5G6

You can also donate online at Commission to Every Nation, CTEN here:  http://www.cten.org/denisnogue

United States residents cheque's should be made out to:
Commission to Every Nation (write Seeds to Harvest on the memo line) P.O. Box 291307 Kerrville, TX 780289-1307

Like us on Facebook?
Facebook at Seeds to Harvest Ministries/Denis & Eileen Nogue
Copyright © 2021 Denis & Eileen Nogue, All rights reserved.  You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Denis and Eileen Nogue's Guatemala email newsletter. 


Our email address is:
noguesinguatemala@gmail.com

1Peter 3:15. But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
It has been such an awesome summer for us.  A time to reconnect with our children and grandchildren.  We haven’t all been together for 6 years and so it was truly wonderful to see our grandkids connecting.  Spending time with our adult children has been a blessing on a whole different level.   

We also had a chance to share about our ministry at several Churches and some home groups and of course the Gleaners, where the volunteers had a chance to hear stories of how their work at the Gleaners plant reaches people in need.   God has given us a great love for the people of Guatemala, and it is always a joy to share our stories with others.


Although we were in Canada for 3 months the work continues.  We are thankful for a couple of men in Guatemala that are our hands and feet while away, Erick and Marvin.


In our last ministry update we reported on Rolando, disabled from birth who was awaiting a specially made wheelchair to accommodate his disfigured back.  We are thankful to the team at Beeline Wheelchairs who were able to make a customized wheelchair for him.  He received this while we were in Canada so we will be looking forward to having a visit with him.

We visited the community of Santa Marta today and had a look at the construction of the Church, which is moving along.  We are encouraging some of them to take the Pastor Training/Biblical Studies program with us, but they tell us that none of them have much education and they are worried about the studies.  We encouraged them that they are not the first to come with little education.  Please pray for them as they consider all this.  They sent us home with a beautiful gift, see below.  ​

Just after we arrived in Canada we received a request for a wheelchair for a 12 year old girl who had her leg run over when she was 5 and although we don’t know the whole story, it seems she never received medical attention.  As we looked at the photos we thought maybe there was more we could do than just a wheelchair.  We put an appeal out to the Guatemala missionary group and found out that there is a missionary orthopedic surgeon who lives in Guatemala.  He agreed to assess her, which took a bit of coordination due to distance, but we were able to help the family with the travel costs, and his services are free for this type of case.


We just heard back from the Dr. and he said it is a very complicated case.  He has a team of trauma specialists coming in March and he would like her to come back then to be assessed again by them.  He asked that we be praying for her, and so we ask you also if you would pray for her as she comes to mind.  Her name is Susanna.  She has her whole life ahead of her and it would be wonderful to see her walking.

We are still awaiting to see how many Pastor training students there will be this year.  We have often mentioned that “Guatemala time” is a real thing, in that no one is ever on time, but it also includes making commitments to a program like this … is usually last minute.  


We spoke about vented wood burning stoves last ministry update and we have had a great response and quite a lot of interest in the sponsorship of a stove, around 17 have been sponsored, and a couple from Calgary raising funds for more stoves.  


The Guatemalan who manufactures these stoves plans to deliver them to us on Oct 21 and spend a day or two with us as we begin the installations.  These will be ongoing.


A few have expressed interest in possibly coming on a stove installation team, from different areas, so if this is something that still interests you, let us know so we can see about forming a group as this would be easier for us.  Here is a photo of a before and after, someone we helped many years ago.  The device in her hand was to show the reduction of C02 and carbon particles in the air.

The details of the stove project are as follows:


The vented stove uses 70% less wood and removes toxic smoke outside.


Less wood means less degradation of forests.


In order that the families take ownership, we require a buy in of 300Q (about $55 Cdn) plus they will provide the 12 bricks for the base of the stove, and donors will pay the rest, about $180. Cdn. Or $130 USD.  In the Guatemalan culture, not giving the item for free, but asking for a small amount of buy in, encourages the careful and responsible management of the item they are receiving.


If they are widowed or abandoned and without family support we can adjust their buy in to their circumstances.


As we install, they will be required to assist in order to learn how to install the combustion chamber bricks, sand and cooking surface, and learn how to clean and maintain the stove.


The health benefits are immediate.  No more lung infections, headaches, eye irritations and no worries about their children getting burned. 


They will be required to fill out an application in which they agree to eliminate the open fire inside the house and that they use the stove correctly and provide weekly cleaning as instructed.  There will be follow up to ensure the stoves are being properly used.  


We are utilizing a Guatemalan based wood burning stove factory to make the stoves.  We have looked at many, and in our opinion the Chapina Stove is one of the better models.  

Recent news is that as of today, 945 boxes of Black Beans donated to the Gleaners by a farmer in Manitoba, are being loaded onto a 40' container and will be arriving around Oct. 22, 2024.  
We wanted to finalize our update by making a short tribute to a man by the name of Victor Gomez who was really instrumental in bringing us into many communities in the area we live and work now.  He will be missed by many and made an impact in many communities and in many lives.  We shared many laughs with him and he will always have a special place in our hearts.  Here is a brief story below.


Way back in the beginning of our ministry we had been invited to the area we are working in Guatemala by a leader who was a retired police officer and a strong advocate for the rights of the Indigenous people.  His name, Victor Gomez.  He was the one who introduced us to, and advocated for the community of Santa Marta being chosen to receive a maternity clinic.  After a time of working with Victor, we realized how much we needed a Kekchi Interpreter, and Victor didn’t speak Kekchi.  We also realized that although Victor was a Christian, he was also politically motivated and we did not want to be seen as being politically supportive to any party.  So we parted ways amicably and continued to provide him with Gleaners food on occasion as he visited poor communities.  


On July 1 this year, just after returning to Canada,we opened up our local Coban news and the headlines were that Victor had been assasinated as he was leaving his home early that morning.  We were shocked and saddened as he leaves behind a beautiful wife, 3 children and a grandchild.  Unfortunately, in Guatemala, politics and assasinations seem to happen all too often.  He was a wonderful, kind hearted man, and simply wanted better conditions for the indigenous people.  We know he will be missed.

​Blessings
Denis and Eileen Nogue