Posted by Jordan & Hannah Self

I guess to begin this newsletter we will announce that we are expecting baby #2 in June of 2010! We are so excited! Of course there will be a small amount of rearranging things around the due date, but for the most part we are moving forward as planned. Since Hannah had to have a c-section with Solomon, we will be here for the birth, but if all goes as planned we will depart for Guatemala a few months later.

Our next major goal in our fundraising is our pre-field training. Once we reach a certain percentage of our support we will go to North Carolina for nine weeks for some intense training specific to Guatemala. After that we will only be a few small steps away from Guatemala. We think it is important to go through pre-field training and have most of our other preparations ready before the baby arrives so we will be very busy in the next few months in hopes of making that happen!

Our home church, Meadowbrook Baptist Church, just had an amazing missions conference that we were able to be a part of. At the conference we were able to hear from other missionaries from Lebanon, Zimbabwe and Moldova. We are so blessed to be a part of a church that is so involved with not only their community, but the rest of the world. The body of Christ is doing amazing things all over the globe!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. We couldn’t do it on our own. We pray that you have a Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


God Bless You!


Jordan, Hannah & Solomon Self

P.S. Throughout our journey of fundraising we are asked many questions. I would just like to take a few moments to make the process a little clearer by answering some of our most frequently asked questions:

When are you going to Guatemala? We have to have 100% of our monthly support pledged before we can go. Even $10 a month gets us closer to the field! We are at about the 60% mark right now. Since we are not in Guatemala yet, the funds given monthly roll over into our “one time” fund that will cover things like a car, furniture, etc. Money given now is needed, but it is also ok to give once we actually depart for Guatemala. The most important thing is to send a pledge card to CAM so we know what support to expect.
How much do you need monthly? When we sat down with our friends at CAM to discuss our support needed, we were terrified at the amount given! We need around $5,000 a month. That seemed like a ridiculous amount to us, but when it was broken down we realized that it was necessary and that we were not going to be living the “high life”J. Much of the funds go toward health insurance. Unfortunately insurance is difficult to get for a missionary in a foreign country, but is absolutely needed. Other expenses include a small percent that CAM uses to run things, living expenses and ministry money.
How long will you be in Guatemala? We plan on being in Guatemala for many years to come! Our terms last for 4 years and then we have a year of “home assignment” to reconnect with family and supporters. After that we will return. We may be able to visit for a couple of weeks during the summers, but we haven’t worked that out yet.

If you have any other questions, feel free to call or email us at any time!