The Selfs in Guatemala:

We Moved!

2011-09-08T17:06:00.002-05:00

We've moved from Antigua to Guatemala City, but we've also moved to a different website as well! You can find our new and improved website/blog here:

www.entrusttruth.com

Take Some Pictures of the Locals!!!

2011-08-07T21:04:00.003-05:00

Jordan is always telling me (Hannah) to take more pictures of the locals so people back home will know what we see on a daily basis.

I always feel conflicted when I get an opportunity to take a photo of a local. In Antigua there are so many tourists from the United States and other countries. Many of them take endless photos of the people here because they are very different than they are used to.

Many of the Guatemalans in Antigua (especially the women) dress in their indigenous clothing. Many are poor and some don’t have shoes. They look rough because they’ve worked hard every day of their lives. They have lost loved ones to preventable diseases. They’ve lost teeth. They’ve lost husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers to war and violence. Many of them live in homes with dirt floors. They are different from us.

They are different, but they are no less intelligent, loving, witty, or charitable than us (I’ve seen poor Guatemalans give to beggars that I walk past everyday and don’t normally give to). So when I get a great photo op I have to stop and think: Would I want random strangers taking pictures of me and my children several times a day? Just because I look strange to them? It just seems wrong…

Having said that I know that most of my friends and family in the US won’t know what life is like here unless we show them through pictures or better yet if they come and visit. Hopefully the few pictures that we do take of the indigenous people will spark your curiosity about Guatemala. Maybe you’ll come visit and see even more. Maybe you’ll decide to stay and find a way to help in some small way.

Whatever you take from these photos, please let it be with respect and awe of these beautiful people and nothing less.

Day at the Finca Filadelfia

2011-08-03T16:44:00.002-05:00

Less than ten minutes from our house in Antigua is a 700 acre coffee plantation called “Finca Filadelfia”. We decided to take the tour to learn more about one of Guatemala’s greatest assets.

There are more than 125,000 coffee plantations in the country of Guatemala. Many people agree that Guatemala has the best coffee in the world!

Here are the coffee beans green on the plant:

These are the little sprouts. You can see the coffee bean still attached. They splice the robust seedlings with the weaker, but better tasting ones for the perfect plant. Only women can do this splicing because their pH levels don’t destroy the delicate seedlings. Our guide said women can make over 150 grafts in an hour and feed their babies at the same time!

This is what the beans look like when they’re ripe. The skin is edible and has the caffeine equivalent of an espresso. I ate two…and am wired!

These are raw beans, ready for roasting:

Roasted beans:

Packaged:

The finished product! Yes, I am typing this with eyes WIDE open!

More coffee please!!!

Fourth of July and Language Learning

2011-07-20T22:42:00.004-05:00

This 4th of July we tried to make the day special for Soly & Grace. We got all decked out in our red, white and blue and had some fun at a park. After that we ate hotdogs, chips and dip, and chocolate cake. You know, all the essentials. We listened to some patriotic music on Youtube and then ended the night with a literal bang by shooting of some fireworks! With every holiday we miss our friends and family back home, but we also get a chance to create new traditions for our family.

Ok, seriously guys, let’s try to be ready for the next shot!

Language learning is going really well for me (Hannah). It’s probably one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. If you’ve never learned a second language to the point of communicating fluently in that language it’s easy to have grandiose ideas about what it would be like to learn one. Me, being the imaginative idealist that I am thought I would just naturally pick up the language during my every day activities. I mean, I just have to listen to some Spanish praise and worship songs right?

Yeah right. The truth is it is really hard work. The only way to really learn is to put in the time and effort and practice with real people a LOT! So far I have successfully been able to shop at the grocery store (this includes ordering ground beef and bacon at the meat counter), play the bargaining game at the market, spend a night in the hospital with Soly when he had a bad case of croup, and go to the dentist by myself among other things.

There are times when I want to rush through learning Spanish and begin our “real” ministry, but almost everyday I am faced with the need to communicate with Spanish speaking people. It is vitally important for our family’s survival here to become as fluent as possible. We have heard stories where the wife of a missionary wasn’t required to learn the language. Many times the outcome is a wife who feels trapped in her own home and a stressed out family. I am so looking forward to all of the ways that I will be able to use my Spanish to communicate, help and teach others!

My Spanish teacher, Yolanda, and Me at the Cerro de la Cruz. Yolanda is an incredibly smart amazing teacher! God knew who the right teacher for me would be!

Through the Eyes of a Child…

2011-06-02T17:05:00.002-05:00

Thank you Springville Road Community Church Children for your sweet cards! It is so encouraging to know that children are praying for us and learning about missions. The kids had some really cute comments from “Mrs. Hannah do you have a lot of laundry? My mom does.” and “I love you very much that I can’t breathe.” to a simple “I am praying for you.” We love it! Keep ‘em coming!

“But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.’” Luke 18:16

The Life of a Missionary Kid…

2011-05-15T20:34:00.002-05:00

So much has happened since we arrived in Guatemala over three months ago and yet it’s difficult to sum it up into words. I (Hannah) am taking Spanish classes for four hours a day. Almost every day I get to use my Spanish that I’ve learned, but almost every day I realize just how much I don’t know. I can’t even count the amount of times that I have said ridiculous and possibly offensive things to people thinking I was saying something else! I have an incredible teacher who has given me the confidence to keep talking even though I make SO many mistakes. I have learned that speaking Spanish will be a lifelong learning process, but that the LOVE of Christ is a universal language!

(My view on my walk to Spanish class)

While I am in language school for the next few months, Jordan is helping me by taking care of Solomon and Grace in the mornings. He was worried that he wasn’t going to be used by God in any way during this phase of our journey. God has once again taught us amazing things and proven us wrong! Jordan has such a heart for people and specifically youth. There are so many young people in the central park in Antigua who shine shoes or sell goods to help support their families. Many people walk by without even acknowledging them, but Jordan has befriended a few and has spent many afternoons getting to know them. One boy named Jonathan David recently accepted Christ! The last time we talked with him he had almost read the entire New Testament that Jordan gave him. If only we all were so eager to read God’s word!

(Jordan & Jonathan David)

(Solomon is 3 and Grace is walking!)

I am finally getting a glimpse of what it means to be a missionary kid. Jordan told me stories of his childhood experiences and I read books but I could never really understand. In these few months here in Guatemala I have had many precious people come into my life for a few hours or a few days or a couple of months and then they had to return to their home or the next place that they were going. It’s easy to love with half of your heart when friends come and go so quickly. I am learning to love boldly and realize that I’m just extending my lifelong friends. As my friend Judy says “Small world, big family.” I am thankful that God has allowed me to learn this as an adult. I can only imagine what this life feels like for a child or youth and I am thankful to be a part of helping some MK’s appreciate and grow from their lives in Guatemala! I have included an excerpt from a poem written by an anonymous MK that has given me the best understanding of who a missionary kid really is:

Who is an MK? I am a combination of two cultures. I am neither and I am both… I am the six-year-old who cries herself to sleep the first two weeks away from home…I am the one who desperately worries about fitting in, but I am the one who wears my native wrap around the college dorm and doesn't care what anyone thinks. I am the one who has lived under strict school rules, and I am the one who returns to America and questions what my real values are. I am the one the churches make a saint out of, and the one some people pity and laugh at. I am the one who traveled halfway around the world before I was four, and I am the one who has no home. I am the one who promises to write, but never does because it's too difficult to deal with the reality of separation…I am the one who knows and understands world missions, life and death, heaven and hell. I am the one who has seen God work miracles. I am the one who knows prayer works, but I am the one who sometimes finds it difficult to pray…I am the one who has learned to live with a politically unstable government, and I am the one who waits impatiently by the phone for news that everything is safe. I am the one who has spent only three months a year at home. Yet I know, beyond question, that my parents are the best in the whole world. I am the one who speaks two languages, but can't spell either…I am the one who wears a thousand masks, one for each day and time. I am the one who learned to be all I'm expected to be, but is still not sure of who I really am…I am the one who laughs and cries, sings and prays, gets angry and doubts, fears and questions, expects and receives, hopes and dreams. And I am one who cares. I am an MK, and I am proud of it!

We thank you for faithfully praying for us every step of the way! Love,

Jordan, Hannah, Solomon & Grace

(My super sweet friend Hillary who I met my first day of Spanish class. Miss you Hillary!)

(Antigua is beautiful! Even and old wall looks like art!)

(The Guatemalan Mother’s Day is a few days after the one in the US so I got to celebrate twice !)

Look into her eyes.

2011-02-02T08:06:00.003-06:00

As I look into this little girls' eyes I see beauty and sadness. A life that is mainly lived on the street with her mother and sister. They sell small meals for people so that they can barely eat for themselves. As I gaze into her eyes I realize that my selfish world needs to be shattered!
Prayer: Oh Lord, break my world apart! Change my way of thinking! Help me to see life through others' eyes.

Jordan

Guatemala Zoo

2011-01-29T17:44:00.004-06:00

Some pics from our recent zoo trip. It only cost $15 for 4 adults and 2 kids! It was really nice.

This is not an albino peacock. The Spanish name for peacock means “royal turkey”

Solomon said this elephant was in time out

Why Don’t American Women like their babies?

2011-01-25T13:50:00.002-06:00

I met a new friend named Carol who works for Servants 4 Him in and around Antigua, Guatemala. After supper last night I was trying to get Grace to fall asleep and was wishing that I had brought my Moby wrap. Carol said that the women in the villages that she ministers in have asked her “Why don’t American women like their babies?” She asked why they thought that and the women replied “Because they leave them at home when they go to the market or to work. They also kick the children out of their homes as soon as they turn 18. Our children stay in our homes until they get married and even then our sons usually bring their wife home to live with us.” Carol explained that American women do in fact like their children, they just prefer to be hassle free in the market. Also she told them that in America we like our children to become independent of us and have homes of their own. We like to spend time with them, just not all in one house all of the time. In the villages here the women pretty much toss their baby on their back and wrap a blanket around themselves to hold the baby on. They carry them around all day no matter what they’re doing. This goes on until the child is at least two years old. Children in villages here don’t really ever crawl. They just go straight to walking. I asked Carol if she knew why they did this and she said the women think the ground is too dirty for the kids to walk on.

It’s easy to look at the ways that people here do things and think they are silly or weird, but it makes sense to them. In a village where clean bathing water is hard to come by it does make sense to not let their children crawl around on the ground. I personally LOVE having my own home and get a little overwhelmed when I spend long periods of time with any friends or family other than my husband and children (and even then I need to get away ). But you could argue that the Guatemalans have it right. They are more concerned with quality time with family then getting their children to the right college or the right job. They are almost never too busy to have a conversation with you. I’m excited to see what God will teach me through Guatemalan culture. I’m planning on taking a trip with Carol into some of the villages that she goes to as part of my language learning!

We made it!

2011-01-23T21:12:00.002-06:00

Almost exactly three years after our survey trip to Guatemala we have returned to live! A lot has happened in that three years including the addition of our two sweet babies. Our flight here went as smoothly as it possibly could have. The ice melted enough for us to drive to Atlanta and take off almost on time. We had to edit down all of our belongings that we were taking to eight suitcases and six carry-ons. Most of our team was at the Guatemala City airport to welcome us and make us feel more at home.

Since we arrived we have been basically living out of our carry-ons. We are staying with Glenn and Judy Stewart for a few weeks in Guatemala City until Hannah’s language school begins. We have already gotten bank accounts, cell phones, and found an apartment to rent. Our next step will be finding a vehicle.

The kids have adapted well. The first day we arrived we ate lunch at a fast food restaurant called “Pollo Comparo”. As soon as Solomon saw the playground he jumped right in with the local children. He also went to the kid’s Sunday school class at a local church and loved it! He will be teaching us the correct way to speak Guatemalan Spanish soon. Grace gets a lot of positive attention here just because she’s a cute baby that obviously isn’t from here!

We will have many obstacles ahead while we continue to adjust and learn the new culture. We can’t drink any of the tap water here even when brushing our teeth. Fruits and vegetables have to be soaked in a special solution before we eat them. We line dry our clothing here because of the high cost of electricity. Many nights we have been awakened to fireworks that sound a lot like gunfire (not what you want to hear when there are armed guards at every neighborhood).

There is a lot to be afraid of in Guatemala, but there are so many more reasons to fall in love with the country! We get to see one or more volcanoes at almost any time. There are tons of fresh fruits and vegetables and beautiful foliage everywhere. It’s been sunny and 75 degrees every day that we’ve been here so far. Many people here don’t make much money, but will go out of their way to be friendly to you. We met a woman named Irene who travels on the dangerous public transportation buses two hours each way just to work as a maid in a middle class neighborhood where she makes less than $15 a day. Instead of wasting time on the bus ride she preaches the gospel to anyone on the bus who will listen to her!

We are excited to get through language school and start working at the Christian Academy of Guatemala. There is much need there and they are anxious for us to start. We are equally excited about the people that we will meet and opportunities to minister to others during Hannah’s time in language school. Please continue to keep us in your prayers! Paul tells us in Ephesians that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” We have to remember that while we have many physical struggles, we will also have spiritual struggles in which “the effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much”. One part of our journey has ended and now an even more difficult part has begun. The financial support of our partners is a necessary avenue to keep us here, but prayer support is even more important. Please feel free at any time to drop us a note through email, Facebook, Skype or our blog to encourage us or let us know that you are praying for us.

May God Bless You!

Jordan, Hannah, Solomon & Grace

Life is good!!!

Poor Soly got bitten up by mosquitos. No more sleeping with the windows open at night!

The view from Glenn & Judy’s apartment.

We’re leaving on a jet plane!

2010-12-22T14:06:00.002-06:00

After many months of not knowing exactly when we would leave we finally have a date and plane tickets! We will leave January 14th. We can’t begin to express how thankful we are to everyone who has prayed for us or helped support us financially.

God has taught us so much during this time. We have been able to minister to others even while we’ve been here and we have been ministered to by others. We have been taught patience (a little) and we have seen examples of how to be more of a servant from others.

The most important thing we have learned is that we have to trust in God for everything. He desires for us to need Him and only Him. When we begin to worry about all of the details He reminds us that He already has them worked out and that we need to trust Him. God is and always will be faithful and trustworthy!!!

Please continue to pray for us. Part of our journey is ending, but a new part is beginning. We will have many obstacles and fears to face in the near future. In the immediate future please pray that our flight/baggage/etc will go as smooth as possible. After that we will be completing our visa process, finding an apartment and car, starting language school and just getting used to the culture. Pray for the kids too. I know this will be a big adjustment for Solomon especially.

God bless you and have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Almost Home!

2010-08-14T10:57:00.000-05:00

Solomon’s vocabulary has really exploded in the past few months. One of his favorite things to say when we’re riding in the car is “almost home”! It always makes us laugh, especially when we still have an hour or two before we’ll actually be home :).

We feel the same way right now about Guatemala. We are “almost home”! We are picking up the pace on our preparations for Guatemala. Some of our preparations include sending in our applications for Solomon and Grace’s passports, more frequent communication with other missionaries in the field, and putting our house up for rent in the next couple of months. It’s feeling very real now!

We have been so incredibly blessed by friends and family who have supported us through their finances, prayers and other means. We never would have known just how gracious people can be until we started our journey as missionaries. When our car was about to give out, a sweet family from our church offered us their car until we leave. When we were preparing our house for renting, our church sent out a team of guys to help. God is always reassuring us along the way that He is able to do much, much more than we could ever ask or think!

Our plan is to leave for Guatemala late this Fall. At this time we have 92% of our monthly support raised and 85% of our outgoing expenses. That means that we need about $500 more of our monthly support and $7 ,000 more of our outgoing expenses. We would like to challenge you to pray about helping us get to our 100% that we need to be able to leave on schedule. That could look like only five more supporters at $100 a month, 10 more supporters at $50 a month or 20 more supporters at $25 a month. We are so thankful for anything that you can give, especially your prayers! Please let us know if you have any questions at all about our ministry or if you would like for us to speak at your church/Bible study/etc.

In other news, we welcomed our beautiful baby girl into the world June 3rd. She weighed six pounds and fourteen ounces and was 19 inches long. She is such a joy! Solomon loves her and seems to be very protective of his baby sister. Next step…potty training!

Thanks again for all of your prayers!

God Bless You,

Jordan, Hannah, Solomon & Grace

We're Back from CIT and Awaiting our Newest Family Member!

2010-05-13T10:09:00.003-05:00

We are back from our pre-field training! Our time at the Center for Intercultural Training (or CIT) was even more valuable than we could have ever imagined. We learned about learning a culture, how to deal with culture shock, how to learn a language more quickly, how to be a part of an effective team, interpersonal skills, and so much more. We even had a class on missionary kids and the unique trials that they go through. Going to Guatemala without this training would have been like jumping into water without knowing how to swim! We are so thankful that CAM knew what they were doing when they required us to do the training.

We are also so thankful for all of the people praying for us and supporting us financially so that we could get to this point! We have reached about 80% of our monthly support needed to depart for Guatemala. Our goal is to have 100% of our support in by this summer so that we can spend a few months getting our final preparations ready, and then go to Guatemala by October. At that time Grace will be about four months old and we should be well adjusted to our family’s newest edition by then.

Speaking of Grace, Hannah is due June 5th. We can not wait to meet our little girl! We aren’t sure how we will adapt to doing girly things after being used to all the boy things that Solomon brings. Solomon likes to talk to Grace, but we don’t think he knows that he will actually have a baby sister living in his home in about a month!

Thank you so much for sticking with us throughout this long process of support raising. We are beginning the home stretch before departure and could not have done it without your prayers and support. At times it has seemed to take so long, but looking back we can see that everything has happened at the right time. Our desire is to minister in Guatemala for many years to come, so this time doesn’t seem so long when we look at it that way. Please continue to pray that we will take every opportunity that God gives us to glorify Him while we prepare for our departure.

Solomon is 2!

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” ~Ephesians 2:10

God Bless You!

Jordan & Hannah Self

Who is an MK?

2010-03-10T06:43:00.001-06:00

Who is an MK? I am a combination of two cultures. I am neither and I am both. I am the brat who throws a temper tantrum and refuses to dress native for the American church. I am the six-year-old who cries herself to sleep the first two weeks away from home. I am the one who complained about eating oatmeal everyday of my life, yet I am the one who orders oatmeal at the restaurant just for old times' sake.

I am the one who desperately worries about fitting in, but I am the one who wears my native wrap around the college dorm and doesn't care what anyone thinks. I am the one who has lived under strict school rules, and I am the one who returns to America and questions what my real values are. I am the one the churches make a saint out of, and the one some people pity and laugh at. I am the one who traveled halfway around the world before I was four, and I am the one who has no home. I am the one who promises to write, but never does because it's too difficult to deal with the reality of separation. I am the one who has seen the devil dancers, and I am the one who has seen the rock concerts.

I am the one who knows and understands world missions, life and death, heaven and hell. I am the one who has seen God work miracles. I am the one who knows prayer works, but I am the one who sometimes finds it difficult to pray.

I am the one who has learned to live with a politically unstable government, and I am the one who waits impatiently by the phone for news that everything is safe. I am the one who has spent only three months a year at home. Yet I know, beyond question, that my parents are the best in the whole world. I am the one who speaks two languages, but can't spell either. I am the one who has devotions from a Spanish Bible.

I am the one who wears a thousand masks, one for each day and time. I am the one who learned to be all I'm expected to be, but is still not sure of who I really am. I am the one who chooses my college by where my friends are because nobody understands an MK like another MK. I am the one who laughs and cries, sings and prays, gets angry and doubts, fears and questions, expects and receives, hopes and dreams. And I am one who cares.

I am an MK, and I am proud of it!

--Anonymous MK

2010-03-07T16:36:00.002-06:00

Hola from Union mills N.C.!

We are learning so much at C.I.T.! Good training for going on the mission field. We have learned more about our personalities, culture, and how to relate to the local people on our mission field.

We have also learned about what to do and not to do in our new mission field. We just got some training on what to do if you get kidnapped in a forign country.It was very sobering to see and learn about how dangerous the world really is. We are almost finished with our 15 page paper on Guatemala that is due this week. It has been very informative.

Hannah is doing well, and Solomon still has a cold, but is making a lot of new missionary kid friends here. It's so great to see all of these missionary kids running around and playing together. They are going to have a great life ahead of them!

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support! Thank you for enabling us to do God work!

CIT: Week 1!

2010-02-16T12:55:00.002-06:00

"The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever." Pslam 121:8

So, we've made it through week one of CIT. We started out rocky with Hannah getting food poisoning and Solomon getting a bad cold, but I think we will make it :). We have already learned so much in one week!

Much of our first week was orientation, getting to know our teachers, and homework. We also looked at our different personalities and how each one of us deals with transitions, stress, working with others, etc...This will be so helpful when we begin working with so many new people in Guatemala.

This week we have begun the difficult class on Transitions. The reality that we will soon be leaving our "home" and going to a new country is really setting in. It is going to be more difficult than we can imagine! We are so thankful to be learning about how to make the move the right way.

We have also been blessed to spend our time here with other missionaries who are going through the same things that we are going through. We are looking forward to all that God is going to teach us during this time!

2010-01-24T15:57:00.009-06:00

Big News!

We are going to our pre-field training! We have reached 75% of our monthly support needed and will be attending training in Union Mills, NC from February 9th through April 16th. We have waited a long time to get to this point! We are so thankful to be going now instead of after the baby gets here.

As soon as we got the ok from CAM we started planning our trip. We had a few issues that we started to worry about, but God worked them all out in no time. We were going to fly because our car is unreliable for a long trip, but a couple in our Sunday school class has graciously given us their vehicle to drive for the whole nine weeks! Another member of our church has offered his BP gas card to pay for gas for our trip and we have many more people praying and doing other things to help us while we are away. The most important thing that I have been learning over and over these past couple of months is that God will not ask you to do anything that He won’t provide the means for. He is truly able to do so much more than we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20)!

Our plan from here on out is to complete our training, finish our support raising, and then depart for Guatemala a few months after the baby is born. We have a lot to do in the next few months, so please continue to pray for us. Our supporters continue to amaze us as they give so unselfishly during such hard times. Thank you, thank you thank you!

In other news, we found out that we are having a baby GIRL! We are so excited to have one of each. Her name is Grace and she will be arriving sometime around June 5th.

Thank you again for your prayers and support. If you would like to contact us while we are at training you can email us at jself@caminternational.org, reach us on our cell phones (205)218-8262, or by mail at:

Jordan Self
c/o CIT
P.O. Box 250
Union Mills, NC 28167

UPS:
Jordan Self
c/o CIT
6494 Hudlow Rd.
Union Mills, NC 28167

Picnic at Turkey Creek

Solomon is getting so big!

2009-11-17T22:20:00.006-06:00

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!

May Newsletter

2009-05-06T12:32:00.006-05:00

“Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, but for the sake of My Holy Name.” Ezekiel 36:22

I was reading this passage in Ezekiel to prepare for my Bible Institute class the other day when this verse stood out to me. God was about to help Israel once again even though they had profaned His name and done nothing to deserve rescue. It is easy for me to roll my eyes and wonder why the Israelites couldn’t get their act together. It’s even easier to wonder why God kept bailing them out.

Thankfully we serve a merciful and gracious God who loves us enough to save us even when we make the same mistakes over and over again and when we don’t deserve to be rescued. It is a beautiful picture of the fact that God does love us very much, but ultimately it is not about us. This life is about God and He created us to glorify Him in everything we do.

We are not going to Guatemala just to minister to youth. Most importantly we are going for the sake of His Holy Name! When you go to your job, or when you are raising your children or anything else that you do, you should not merely live out your day, but do those things for the sake of God’s Holy Name!

We have been very busy and have a busy summer ahead of us. We just finished a mission conference at New Covenant Fellowship that was very encouraging. We will be speaking at other churches throughout the next few months. In July we will be taking a road trip to visit our out-of-state supporters and speak to some of their churches/Sunday school classes.
Bible Institute is wrapping up for the summer. It has been a great opportunity to give Jordan more teaching experience and it has helped us to do very well playing against other family members in Bible Trivia :)!

We had a lot of success and fun while teaching the kids of the English as a Second Language classes. Our main kids were the three sons of a young woman named Montse. Kevin, Dalles and Dennis were the sweetest boys! Montse just recently gave birth to a baby girl so they are taking a break for a while. The ladies in our Sunday school class were able to throw her a really fun baby shower.

Thank you so much again for your support and prayers! I know that we say that every newsletter, but we sincerely couldn’t do this without you. This waiting period of support raising is very encouraging, but it is very difficult to wait when we want to be in Guatemala. Please pray that we would continue to be patient and content with God’s timing!

May God Bless You!

Jordan, Hannah & Solomon Self

It's hard to believe that Solomon is a year old!