Personal Update
We are thankful for all God is doing in our lives, marriage, and ministry! Maria and baby are doing very well and we are excited to officially find out if it’s a boy or girl within the next few weeks (we feel strongly that it’s a girl). Maria is currently finishing up her last few college classes, serving in the foundation, participating in baby classes, and is becoming more beautiful each day. She is growing a lot in missions and her passion for ministry and fulfilling the Great Commission! Jonathan continues working hard in the ministry and is preparing himself as a father. He is learning to just be with God and enjoy His presence rather than asking for so many things. We will be celebrating two years of marriage this month on the 13th!

Enciende El Fuego Update
God is doing so much through our ministry and is growing it even more and is giving us more partnerships, funds, and connections! We are seeing changes and growth in many of the kids. Although we don’t measure our success by numbers, we generally serve 70-100 kids each Saturday. We are thankful to have a building to use, but we are still praying for our own space. God is also raising up donors from Colombia to support the foundation, which is super exciting! Our team is now at 15 persons and we hope to add two short-term volunteers this summer, both from Bogotá.

We are currently 17 days away from our first mission trip as a ministry! We will be partnering with a church to work with the kids in a community outside Plato, Colombia from April 17-21. We are taking a team of six and will be doing VBS in the mornings, evangelism with the kids, a soccer tournament, and preaching/healing services in the evenings. We have been fasting, praying, and meeting together once a week as a team to prepare ourselves spiritually. We are pumped for all that God will do! The month of April we have several invitations and activities that we will do, including in a Christian school and in a neighborhood, as well as activities for Kids Day on April 26 and 27.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7

​En Cristo,
María y Jonathan

Enciende El Fuego Ministry        
The Lord continues to grow this ministry mightily. We give thanks that we have been able to use our new building for two weeks now. On our first Saturday in the new house, 100+ kids participated and already the new place is too small - a good problem to have! We continue to go through the Samaritan’s Purse discipleship program with the kids and have started a new dance ministry that we are praying grows greatly. We did evangelism this past Saturday with about 40 kids!
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We are a month and a half away from embarking on our first mission trip to Plato, Colombia on April 18-21. We are currently at about 40% of our fundraising goal. We know God has a great purpose for us on the trip and are expecting big things from God! We are planning on doing a three-day VBS, evangelism, a soccer tournament, and services at night there. Please be praying for our team: Jonathan, Jake, Nubia, Valeria, and Mario (and possibly Maria) and for those who we will be ministering to.

We also give thanks to God for an expanded ministry this year. We have been able to visit three different Christian schools in different parts of the city. We were able to do devotionals, worship, games, crafts, and gospel presentations! In our Divino Niño location, we are heavily focusing on teaching the kids how to evangelize and practicing it. We also feel the need to start fundraising/saving for our own building as our current building is already small and shared by a family living there.

A Personal Update
Maria and the baby continue to be healthy and well. The official due date is August 29, and we are deciding when we will visit the States next. As of now, we are planning on having the baby here due to the fact that we don’t have medical insurance in the United States. We know God has a great purpose for our child and that His hand of favor is upon him/her.

About two weeks ago we were visited by two guys from First Love International, our mission sending organization, to get to know us, know how to support us, and see what God is doing in Santa Marta. We had a good four days with them and now feel better connected with First Love.

God is teaching us to take action and let Him guide us. He has been teaching us wisdom and patience, and is increasing our faith and trust in Him. We are beginning to pray more specific prayers for what we want and need. It is a great privilege to chosen by the Lord to do what He has chosen for us to do in Santa Marta and beyond!

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7

In Christ,
Maria and Jonathan 

We have had a great start to the new year in our marriage and ministry! 2019 will be a year filled with changes, new opportunities, and more of an outpouring of God’s presence. One exciting change is that our family has grown from two to three persons! Maria is pregnant with baby coming around late August/early September. We are excited and a bit nervous as we enter this new stage of life as parents. Together we have been learning patience and are challenged to a deeper trust in God.

We give thanks for all God did in 2018 with the foundation, and we pray and declare that this year will be a year of an even greater extension of our ministry. We have had a bunch of new kids join our foundation in the past few weeks in Villa Aurora. We continue to do evangelism with the kids the last Saturday of each month and have see several of the kids grow in their passion to share Christ. On January 10-12, we did a three-day VBS with the kids in 17 de Diciembre. This past Saturday we handed out the shoebox gifts from Samaritan’s Purse and will be doing its three-month evangelism course with the kids. 

We also have been blessed with tons of donations, some of which we will be selling to raise money for our foundation’s mission trip April 18-21. A church outside the town of Plato (about 6 hours by bus) has invited Enciende El Fuego to go and do activities with the kids. We plan on taking myself and four others to do a VBS and other activities for the kids there. This will be the first “missions” experience for several of the team members, and we are trusting God to do great things on the trip. We are blessed to have Valeria from Bogotá move here to continue working with the foundation and also Jake from the U.S. to help us for three months!
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“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7

In Christ,
María and Jonathan

Enciende El Fuego
This month we were able to do two three-day VBSs in different neighborhoods. We taught about celebrating Christmas by celebrating the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and did crafts, games, snacks, and activities. Most importantly, we were able to share the gospel and the love of Christ with close to 100 kids! We also did one-day activities and a Christmas message for kids in another neighborhood as well as in our own apartment complex!

We had our year-end Christmas party on December 22 for our foundation. God gave us a special place to have the party, and we were able to bless the kids with many donations from persons in the United States and Colombia. For 2019, we are looking to improve and add many things to make the ministry even better. We are also praying and waiting for God to reveal our own space (to rent or to buy) for the foundation as we currently don’t have a fixed place. We know God has big plans for His ministry and are excited to watch it grow and touch many lives. We are amazed by all that God has done this year.

We are so thankful for our staff who have helped us so much and been a huge blessing! We are now a team of 11! Valeria from Bogotá has been with us since December 11 and has also been an enormous blessing. She is praying about moving to Santa Marta to work and help with the foundation. Another exciting detail is that a young man from the U.S. has recently confirmed that he will be coming to volunteer with us for three months (February to May) and will be staying with a host family.

Looking Behind and Ahead
We give thanks and praise to God for all He has done in 2018 and are looking forward to what He will do in 2019! We have seen His provision, grace, and guidance in abundance in our marriage, lives, and ministry and are humbled that He has chosen us for this great purpose here in Santa Marta. We have experienced a lot of opposition recently, but God always gives us the victory and backs us up. We are challenged to persevere and be faithful and obedient and let God act. We have been reflecting on what we are doing with what God has entrusted us. He has been reminding us constantly of our need to be thankful in every situation.

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thess 5:18

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” - Mt 6:33

In Christ,
María and Jonathan

Enciende El Fuego
We are excited and thankful for all God is doing through Enciende El Fuego! We continue to see God’s favor and blessing upon what we are doing. We are seeing kids being transformed and volunteers have a passion for ministry. We will be receiving 50 Samaritan’s Purse shoebox gifts and will be doing a three-month discipleship next year with the materials. Many persons have donated cash, toys, clothing, and other things to bless the kids at our year-end party that we are planning on December 22. During vacation from school here, we will be doing several 3-day mini VBSs in the different neighborhoods where we are working where we will be doing activities and talking about Christ/Christmas. We are also blessed to have a new couple serving with us, and they have already been interceding for us and the ministry. This coming Tuesday our volunteer Valeria from Bogotá will be arriving to help us for a month and will be staying with us. We are excited for all she has to offer!

We have been experiencing a lot of spiritual opposition with the ministry in 17 de Diciembre as well as in our personal lives. We have felt that God wants us to give us our own building/space and have been praying and searching for a place. We are currently considering renting a church building in a nearby neighborhood. This past Tuesday we moved all our things out of the community building as we had been experiencing a lot of conflict with the community president. We will be temporally meeting in another outdoor place nearby until we find our own place. We feel peace in this time of transition and know that God has something super big for Enciende El Fuego and that He will give us our own building!

Life in Santa Marta
God has been teaching us about being grateful in everything. We have realized that we still need to grow a lot in this area. We are also learning to pray, trust, give up control, and let God act and fight for us. God has been getting our attention to raise up in prayer together and individually. We celebrated my 32nd birthday on the 21st and also had a Thanksgiving dinner meal with family and a few others. We were also able to help a ministry volunteer to go on a retreat, and he returned with a passion for God. We even “adopted” a puppy named Lulu about a month and a half ago. We are praying and asking God want He wants from us and what He wants with the foundation. And still waiting and trusting God for our kids to arrive.

“Rejoice always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Jesus Christ.” – 2 Thess. 5:16-18

In Christ,
Jonathan and María

Enciende El Fuego          
God is doing awesome things among the kids of 17 de Diciembre! We are sure He is doing a whole lot more that we can’t even see yet. We are so proud of the kids and so blessed to be a part of their lives! On October 27 and November 3, we did evangelism with the kids, and God used them to bless others and preach. We divided the kids who wanted to go into three groups and went into different parts of the neighborhood to share the gospel message and pray for the people. The kids did the preaching and praying! We are already seeing a strong desire among several of them for this work! God has shown me several “visions” of what He is doing with Enciende El Fuego in Santa Marta and it is very powerful!

One new thing we have started doing with the volunteers is fasting/praying from 7-9am every other Saturday. It has been a huge blessing! Two Saturdays ago two students arrived super early and prayed with us. We felt led to pray over them individually and God moved and spoke to them powerfully! Many people have seen that our ministry is like a big family. We feel we are “parents” to these kids and great friends with our volunteers. Next year there is the strong possibility of having a Christian school do its service hours with our foundation every Friday afternoon, which would be a huge blessing! We have begun planning and preparing for the year-end Christmas party as well! Valeria from Bogotá will be volunteering with our foundation for one month starting December 10, and we know God will use her mightily here!

We are also giving thanks to God for opening a door in Barrio Divino Niño. I have been working for several months there with a drawing teacher, but I felt the need to do more in this neighborhood. A pastor from a church close-by opened the doors for me to do activities and Bible teaching with the neighborhood kids on Friday afternoons in the church. After just two meetings, we are already seeing that we will soon have large numbers of kids that the church won’t be able to hold comfortably. We are trusting that God has great things in store through this partnership with the local church.

During the week-long break from classes in October, we went to the community of Pica Hueso where one of our volunteers has a kids’ ministry. We did a Bible teaching and had a soccer tournament. It was great! We also did sports activities in Barrio Santana where we have a partnership with two pastors with a kids’ ministry. One thing that God has put on our hearts is the need/desire to form missionaries among the kids and our volunteers…not just disciples and warriors, but also missionaries. We are seeking God about how to best go about this. We hope to sponsor two of our volunteers next year to do the missions training school with Coparena.

Other Ministry
Maria is finishing up her time at El Shadai teaching English. She has grown a lot as a teacher and has been a blessing and a light to so many of the students. She is not planning on returning next year. I have finished my time at the 17 de Diciembre public school for this year. God has used my time there to speak into the kids’ lives and see a bunch of them participate in the foundation. I will probably not be returning there next year. Each Friday evening we are doing sport activities with the kids here in our apartment complex and have been inviting them to our Bible study group on Thursday evenings at our apartment. Our home group that we started about two months ago has had low numbers, but we are trusting God to grow it to be able to reach many people.

We have been supporting the Coparena mission team (one of our ministry partners) in prayer as they are on their mission trip. They have already ministered in Bogotá, are now in the Amazon, and are praying for funds to be able to go to Mexico. God has used them in tremendous ways already, and they are praying and trusting for a miracle as they have only a few days left before going to Mexico. We were honored to be able to meet two pastors from New Jersey a week ago in our church. They were part of a team who had a tragic car accident here in Colombia where two persons died (a missionary and also the mother of our youth pastor) a week and a half ago. It was encouraging to see their faith and resilience in continuing with their mission in spite of all this.

Personal Update
We celebrated a year and a half of marriage this past month! God has certainly blessed our marriage and has used us to be a light and testimony to many people. God has showered His favor upon us in every area of our lives. We feel like our kids and getting closer to arriving, but we are leaving it in God’s hands. After Maria graduates this year from college, we are surrendering next year to the Lord. We feel God has even greater things in store for us and the foundation, and that He will give us speaking and/or ministry opportunities in other cities and even countries. Maria has happily been learning to bake and God has been awakening her desire for missions and the Great Commission! We just know we have to continue to be faithful and obedient in what we are doing and let God do the rest!

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21

In Christ,
Jonathan and María

Enciende El Fuego
God is doing a mighty work in Barrio 17 de Diciembre and is raising up an army of children Christ followers. We have seen that the ministry there is bearing fruit and God is showering His favor upon all that we are doing with the foundation. It is a privilege for us to be chosen by God for this great work! Maria a few weeks ago had a prophetic dream about multiplication, and shortly after we began seeing this multiplication at the foundation and at times have received about 90 kids.

During the month of October we will be teaching on the Great Commission, teaching the kids how to share the gospel, and then sharing the gospel in the community. Three girls who dance in the church are volunteering teaching dance to the foundation girls as well. In November, we will be focusing on the armor of God and teaching them how to use it. Shortly, we will begin planning and contacting businesses and people for donations for our year-end Christmas party and gifts for the kids.

We are so thankful for the amazing staff that God has sent us, persons who volunteer from their hearts not asking for anything in return. God has been reminding us that we also have a ministry to them and their spiritual development and also to ignite their passion for evangelism, ministry, and missions. We had our first staff fast/time of prayer this past Saturday and God poured out his presence and united us even more. We will continue do this every other week as a staff.

I have been working in Divino Niño, another neighborhood not too far from 17 de Diciembre. We have been supporting a drawing teacher (who isn’t a Christian…yet) there and have been teaching the Bible and having soccer games. I feel we need to do more there and have contacted a local church to help in that ministry. We have been invited to visit and consider working in other neighborhoods and will also be visiting a Christian home for indigenous teens who come from persecuted families to see if we will support them. We just ask that God leads us to the right places.

Life is Good
We have really been enjoying life, marriage, and ministry and we are honored to be used by God to be blessings to others! We have recently started leading a home group through our church. Maria celebrated her birthday on September 8 and was showered with much love and blessings! God continues using Maria greatly in her teaching and ministry with the kids at El Shaddai and me at the school in 17 de Diciembre. I also work a few hours most Wednesdays with English assistance at a Christian school.

We have begun having sports activities for kids here in our apartment complex on Fridays evenings and basketball on Monday afternoons. We pray that God gives us more opportunities through this. We were blessed to be able to buy a cheap, nice, used bed for our extra room to be able to house missionaries and others who need a place to stay! God also continues to bless our partnership with Coparena, a missions training school here in Santa Marta. We hope to continue to support them next year as well. God has been so good to us and we continue to see His provision and favor in our lives and marriage. We know that we are laboring only to please the Lord and winning souls to Him!

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” - Galatians 6:7-9

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21

In Christ,
Maria and Jonathan