What a year 2024 was! It was a full one for us— lots of hosting, a lot of ministry and activity inside and outside of our home, some travel (including Mario’s first ever plane ride! We got to go to Roatán, a beautiful island off the coast of Honduras), and so much learning and fun and challenge in parenthood. We had many moments of frustration and disappointment, and even more moments of joy and praise. We ended the year feeling so thankful for the countless ways God has shown us His incredible kindness and faithfulness, especially through the sweet fellowship He has gifted to us (such an answer to prayer!), as well as the unexpected and wildly encouraging generosity we have been shown by so many beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. Praise Jesus!
I would like to share some of the highlights from this last year, as well as some hopes for the year to come…
2024 Highlights:
We had the privilege of seeing multiple people within the church we are a part of as well as some of Mario’s extended family, accept Jesus and enter into relationship with Him! One cousin in particular was someone we have been praying for and pursuing for the last five years and we are so crazy thankful to see the work God has done in his life.
Discipleship development within the church, which has led to getting to see visible growth and maturing of multiple individuals. It has also been an encouraging outlet for us to be able to both give and receive and enjoy deep, authentic community.
Our beautiful new church building is finished for phase 1 (the sanctuary)! This was a huge project for Mario to get to oversee and he went above and beyond in all that it required of him.
We got to do a lot of hosting, which we love. Multiple visits from friends and family, a couple FSI teams (one that painted the local public kindergarten), and a construction project with some friends from Cody to bless a local family by building them a bathroom and redoing their completely-destroyed floor.
Looking forward to 2025, here are some of our hopes (for which we could use prayer!):
As usual, hoping for Mario’s visa to be approved and to finally be able to take him on our trips to the States!
Within our church, we are hoping to develop more outreach ideas to see more people come to know Christ, as well as continue to expand in the area of discipleship + spiritual maturity to see believers grow and deepen in their walk with the Lord. I love discipleship ministry and am hoping to be able to serve more in this area.
Something we have been discussing, praying about, and developing more ideas and vision for is a co-op sort of ministry that we can do within our home. We hope to have something multi-faceted that can bless whole families (with aspects for fathers, mothers, youth, and children), but we will probably start first with kids, then go from there. People don’t homeschool here, so it would just be something extracurricular for fun, non-traditional learning, Bible classes, and hopefully it would act as a platform to be able to minister more to the kids’ parents. This is really exciting and totally daunting, so I need a lot of prayer! And any wisdom, ideas, and tips are more than welcome!
2024 was pretty inconsistent with our café, Taza de Gozo, but I am hoping to get it up and running again consistently over the next month. We’re having some issues with the space and are trying to figure out the solutions to be able to move forward with it… I hope to have good news to include in my next newsletter!
Thank you for being a part of our life and ministry here in Honduras. It is truly a privilege to be able to serve God and the people of La Venta full-time, and that is only thanks to the Lord’s provision and your generosity. We are immensely grateful both for your support and for your prayers. May God draw you in deeper and may He show you His favor and goodness abundantly over this next year.
Bendiciones!
Katie, Mario, Vivienne, and Asher
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