We Want to Finish Well

On June 13, 1986, 35 years ago, the Stewart family of 4, boarded the re-scheduled Aereo Boliviano plane in Miami Florida for the 12 hour flight to Santa Cruz, Bolivia with stops in Panama City, Panama and Manaus, Brazil.

We had 18 pieces of luggage packed in duffle bags and steamer trunks.  Our carry-on luggage must have weighed 75 pounds each.  Our life. Glenn had packed most of his aircraft tools in these carry-ons.  Those were the days when there were no restrictions to contents and weight of the luggage.

I was scared.  I said good bye to my parents 10 days before.  We were traveling with a group of college age mission trip students who helped us with our 2 year old and 4 year old and our excess luggage.  We had an empty home waiting for us.  2 beds and a table. 4 cereal bowls and milk.  I cried as we settled in the first night.  Strange noises.  Unfamiliar surroundings.  No friends. Will I survive? 

Fast Forward.  That was 35 years ago.  The Lord has gone before us and is with us.  We spent 15 years serving in Bolivia, raising our family and loving to serve.  Our ministry changed through the years.  From aircraft mechanic to church planting to various leadership roles to more involvement in missionaries' lives. 

Now, we have been serving in Guatemala for 15 years as empty nesters.  We have said 'good-bye' to many co-workers and we have seen the country struggle with Covid-19.  We love our job as Member Care givers.  Its perfect for us.

We have been blessed by faithful prayer warriors and supporters through this 38 year missionary journey we have been on. We smile when we think of how the Lord has creatively supplied our needs.

We believe that Member Care is VERY important, especially during these recent days with the missionaries having to change their routine, being locked out, learning Zoom or even the challenges of on-line teaching in the seminaries.  These days folks suffer from burn-out and fatigue.  We're thankful for the job and role we can serve in here in Guatemala and wherever we travel.  

In reality, the bulk of our financial support has drastically dropped with friends and family needing to decrease and end their support for various reasons such as retirement, job change and death.  Some churches' focus has changed which meant we were not included.

All this to say, I keep reminding myself that God is Faithful.  He will take care of us as He always has.

We just wanted to let you know of the urgent need for our monthly support quota.  We want to finish well. To help us with this need you can go on-line at avantministries.org and use 89260 account number.  Thank you!

Check out our new Avant giving page. with Bio and giving page.

Avant Ministries

10000 North Oak Traffic Way

Kansas City, MO 64155

Account number

89260

Until He comes...We will continue to serve our God!

Guatemala and Covid 19

Pray for the current COVID resurgence in Guatemala.  The hospital system is near collapse.

Mask mandates are everywhere.  The stores and restaurants have 25% capacity loads.  Our temperatures are checked at each store and restaurant.  And of course we must wear masks.  Schools are still closed.  There are few public gathering and many churches still have their doors closed.

The US embassy warns of recent attacks on individuals.  We are encouraged to avoid high-risk areas and be to diligent.

There has been lots of corruption and violence here in Guatemala.  One example is that Guatemala paid for some vaccines from Russia and the country has yet to receive the vaccinations.  There has been a little help from other countries.

Check out these 2 article about caregivers here in Guatemala.  Health workers Coronvirus in Central America

Visiting Helen

Helen Ekstrom has been a missionary all her life.  She met David while in high school boarding school.  She arrived in Guatemala in 1951 and did 3 complete Bible translation projects over the years.

She has no children, however hundreds of Guatemalans call her "mom".  Currently, she is staying with a doctor who has been taking care of her these past few years, just blocks away from the central plaza in Guatemala City.

She thanked us continually in our short 15 minute visit for stopping by to see her.  She recognized us and smiled big. In years past, she had enough strength to play the piano in the reception area of the doctor's office.  She would say "the music would calm the patients' anxiety before their office visit."  How true.

Helen is one of God's special servants!  Thank you for serving.

Visit with my parents

After dropping David and Elizabeth back in Illinois from their visit here in Guatemala, I had an unexpected layover in Dallas.

Because of mechanical problems on the plane, I was put up in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Dallas.  The Reunion Tower attached to the hotel was where Glenn proposed to me 42 years ago.  

What an unexpected surprise to have an extended layover so I could visit Mom and Dad.

I even got to take them to the outdoor worship service at Northwest.  It had been 1.5 years since they had been able to attend Worship service in person.  They were thrilled and many folks made sure they came over to our table to visit. 

My dad's 92 year old heart was full and over-flowing!

Camp Guatemala 2021

My Grammie heart is full and overflowing.  We had the opportunity to have David (nearly 10) and Elizabeth (4) here in Guatemala with us for 10 days.  It was great.  I loved every minute of it.  We called it "Camp Guatemala 2021".

While in Guatemala, GrandDad (Glenn) helped Elizabeth build a doll house out of old cardboard boxes.  We played with legos.  I got to read to David and Elizabeth.  David was able to continue working on a DogMan book project.  I got to put Elizabeth's hair in pony tails each day.  And we took daily naps. 

We spent one morning at the zoo.  The kids played on the playground too.  I also was able to give David some cross-stitching instructions for a small project. 

Elizabeth loves airplanes.  She could hear them fly over and we would constantly be looking in the air for airplanes.

I would say, "Elizabeth, I love you!" and she would reply without skipping a beat "I love you M.O.R.E.!" 

Below are some photos of our time with David and Elizabeth.  Please come back again!

The Listening Road

The book is out.  The Listening Road, by Neil Tomba. (One man's ride across America to start conversations about God)

During June 2019, Glenn and I were on the support team that drove the Chevy van from Coast to Coast.  The #ConversationsCoasttoCoast.

Now, Neil has published a book about his daily journey of having conversations with folks along the way. The book is an easy read.  It encourages you to take simple steps to have easy to start conversations with folks you encounter daily.

The book can be found on Amazon.  The Listening Road

Glenn and I attended the book signing celebration of the his book, at Northwest Bible Church.  It was so fun to reconnect with the cyclists and see the other support folks.  

Now that the book is out, we are enjoying reading about Neil's conversations with folks.  We did not hear all these stories, as we were busy restocking the coolers with ice, or looking at options for our next stop or handing out energy food for the other cyclists.  I'm thankful to hear about and now read the stories that Neil shares.

Being on the support team was one of those experiences that you thank God for, and for the opportunity to serve in that way.  It was was life changing in the way we could experience how easy it is to have conversations with people we meet everyday.  I pray that this book will be an encouragement to folks to have easy to start conversations about life, family and God.