The Hastings Family

Dear Friends,

Many of you know Mariela who has worked for AMG Guatemala for several years. This past Saturday, Mariela was married to her sweetheart of many, many years. Hardi and Mariela have been friends and have known each other most of their lives and now have begun their lives together as husband and wife.

Please pray for them. Next Saturday they will be moving to Rhode Island where Hardi has been living for the past year and half. Some of Hardi's family are living in that area of the US and that will become home for them for the immediate future. Please pray for God's provision for them as they begin their new lives, especially for Mariela as this will be very new for her.

Here are some pictures of the wedding day:

Dear Friends,

We hope you enjoyed the rest of your summer.

We arrived back in Guatemala on August 19th and the girls started school right away on the 20th. We are all glad to be back and have jumped back into our respective roles and activities.

One blessing that we are thankful for is our church here - Centro Biblico El Camino. We are really being blessed by being a part of this community of believers. We have been able to participate in the ministry by being part of the music program. Once a month now Melody, Robin and I are part of the worship team. Singing in Spanish can still be a challenge but we are very much enjoying being part of a church music program again.

I wanted to give you an update about our residency process here in Guatemala (see July 21st post for more background info).

This past week, we went back to Immigration to receive their decision. First, they told us that there were three additional requirements that we needed to present. Thankfully, all three of them could be obtained here in Guatemala so we are working on this and will have them to present next week. Also, the lawyer who reviewed our case made the decision that we did not qualify for religious visas....he read all of the documents about AMG very quickly and didn't understand our ministry. I made an appointment to meet with him and explained the ministry to him and now he is going to reconsider granting Robin and I religious visas and the girls will have to have normal visas as they are students and don't work here at the mission. AMG US is providing us with yet another letter and some legal documents to clarify to the lawyer our purpose as a mission and we will present them as soon as they are received.

Please pray that mine and Robin's religious visas will get approved as the normal visas are 10 times the cost of religious ones.

The ministry is going well. We just finished "Bible Month" at our schools and daycare centers. The children enjoyed learning about different Bible characters and stories and once again "took to the streets" in the form of a parade, dramatizing what they had learned in their classes.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..."

Thanks for your prayers, we appreciate them!
I'll let you know when we get a final decision about our residency.

Much love from all the Hastings