September Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

There’s not much to update since last I wrote, but there is always much to be thankful for and reasons to praise our good Father! Despite the circumstances not being ideal and really wishing that Mario were here with me, God has deeply blessed me during my time here in Wyoming. I love Wyoming more than ever, so being here really is a treat! And having the opportunity to spend time with family, friends, and just really enjoy my community here has been so good for my heart. I’m trying to really just soak in every moment! I’ve also gotten to work some since I got into town, which is another huge blessing. My parents and sister and her husband have a few vacation rentals that I cleaned all last summer, and so being able to do that again and save some money for YWAM is something I’m so thankful for. God has been, and continues to be, so faithful to us. I am so grateful to each of you that God has led to support us; I truly cannot describe how encouraging it is to me and Mario to know that we have the freedom to give our all to ministry and we have people behind us and uplifting us. Truly, thank you for your prayers, financial support, and encouraging words. It has not been easy and we’re not even a year in, but it makes all the difference knowing that there are people who are for us.

As I have been here working and enjoying Wyoming and all that comes with it, Mario has stayed busy in La Venta. For those of you who don’t know, Mario has lived there his entire life so he knows every single person there and has a lot of family there, so he is almost always with friends or family, and often in the context of Bible studies or home groups (or, of course, playing soccer and drinking Coca-Cola;). Being completely honest, we have had quite a bit of attack and even just passive-aggression since starting our home groups (just a lot of slander and backstabbing) which has been really discouraging for both of us. We ask for prayers in that area and just that God would continue to be our strength and that there would be more unity within the people of the village.

As I sort of mentioned above, we are still working toward YWAM and hoping that things will be open enough for us to be able to get UK visas and fly over to England. That is another prayer request that we have as we are really looking forward to that opportunity.

And lastly, I believe I will be heading back to Honduras probably mid-September if everything goes well. There are some things I’m waiting on and then there will be hoops to jump through and there’s always a slight chance that borders will close again at any moment, so please be praying that that all goes smoothly and that I can get back to Honduras on my anticipated date. A month is a long time to be away from my husband, especially as newly-weds!

I just finished the book Celebration of Disciplines with my dear friend and mentor and there’s a paragraph in the last chapter about not taking ourselves too seriously or becoming “stuffy bores” as Richard Foster put it, so here’s a friendly reminder that following Jesus shouldn’t turn us into serious, stoic individuals, but rather that “of all people, we should be the most free, alive, interesting.” So be free, alive, and interesting! Let’s live as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God and share the freedom and life that we have been given!

Blessings,

Katie and Mario Velasquez