What are you giving?

This has been a tiring few weeks. We have had teams, moved countless wheelbarrows of dirt down a hill only to he to walk back up and shovel more, had  a concert with Peter Furler, and poured a Church floor in Membrillal only to have the portion over the cistern collapse and have to be re-poured. I am not complaining. As a matter of fact, I have enjoyed most of it. I especially enjoy every day that I get to go to one of the schools and spend time interacting with the kids. I get to do that often. I am just saying that I am tired.

I wanted to share a revelation this morning that I received while listening to a message by my pastor back in the States, Jon Nebbeling. He was talking about the feeding of the 5,000 men plus all that were with them. I was struck by Andrew as he shared the story. We have all heard it countless times but it impacted me this morning as a new way. Andrew brought a boy that have 5 small loaves and 2 fish to feed thousands. I am sure the disciples laughed but not Jesus. For Him, it was the launching point. He said, "Tell them to sit down".

This story got me thinking about the need around me and what I have to offer, or more correctly do not offer because it seems so small. How many times have I held back because what I had seemed barely enough to meet my need let alone that of anyone else. Whether I am in Illinois or Guatemala, I am surrounded by people with such large needs that I feel completely inadequate. I let that feeling keep me from offering to God what I do have. I am stopped by what my senses dictate.

Do you ever do that? Do you ever hold back because you know that there is no way you have what is needed for the task? What should our response be?

As I was thinking about this, I came to a conclusion. The things God is calling us to will always leave us feeling inadequate. We will never have enough to accomplish it. Our gifts, talents and resources will never be enough. You might ask why that is. If I can do it without God, I can take the glory for it. He wants to do things that we cannot do in our own strength. But, He also wants us to participate in what He is doing. The way that we do that is to bring whatever we have and offer it to Him completely. When we offer the little we have, He tells the people to sit down and then begins to multiply our little to meet their need. God is the one who multiplies. We are only called to offer Him what we do have. He knows our limits but those are the very things that He uses to bring Himself glory.

What area are you feeling drawn to today? What frightens you about going into it? Step out. Offer God what you do have, knowing that it is completely insufficient to meet the need and then watch Him multiply your offering.

When the Rewards Come

Last week was a rewarding week. Along with the team from Hinton Alliance, we went to work in Zapote. We had two houses to build in three days. The first house was full of rocks and we thought that there was no way we would get two houses done because the digging took so long on the first.  By the end of the first day all that we had done was to set all of the support posts. While some of us went to that house a second day, 2 others went with Rudy to the second house to begin tear down and digging to prepare that lot for building. That was when the fun began.


The second lot had rocks but that was of little consequence. It also had numerous boulders that were 2 to 3' in diameter. They must have weighed a ton each. Kelvin and Rudy spent the whole day there digging around one that could not stay if we were going to build on this tiny lot. When we came from the first house at 3:30 to help them, they were trying to move it out of a
2 1/2' deep hole with large breaker bars. We strapped it with a tow strap and pulled while they pried. after about 10 more minutes, we had it moved 20' and out of the way.

When we went back the next day we encountered many more of these massive boulders. We tried for a couple of hours to move them but eventually realized that we would never finish the house if we continued this effort. The decision was made to bring in several truck loads of dirt to level the lot. While some did that, others began building. even though we had such a late start, I am happy to say that at 6 o'clock Wednesday evening we finished and dedicated it also. These accomplishments were rewarding but there was something else that was the highlight of the week for me.

Before we began the first house, Pastor Jose Louis told us the story of the family that we were working to help. The mother was a widow with four daughters. One had a young son that also stayed with them. One of the daughters is wanting to study accounting but needed to work and save money so she could go to school. This is an uncommon thing in this remote village. Last year, she did not go to school but when to work in Peten,  a northern department 12 hours away by bus so she could save money for school. Around Christmas time, she was robbed and severely beaten. All of the money she had saved was robbed and she was in very bad shape for over two weeks. She still has the remnants of scars and swelling in her face.

Milvia, the girl that was attacked and robbed.

When she came home, the family called Pastor Jose Louis to come pray for her even though they were not part of the Church. As he ministered to the family, The Holy Spirit moved. As a result of all of this, 17 people in this family surrendered their lives to Jesus. There was a transformation. The girl that was beaten seemed to be at peace. She did not seem at all anxious around us strangers and was helpful and talkative. You could tell God was at work in her life healing and restoring all that the enemy had tried to steal. I think every one of us also felt like we were suppose to be part of the restoration process. While we never give money to the families we serve, we all felt the prompting of God to give to her. In order to preserve the ministry and not create unrealistic expectations, we gave it to Pastor Jose Louis to give it at the right time. She has now left to return to work and is still planning on going to school next year. Please keep this family in your prayers.

It is stories like this that make this whole experience worth it. When we get to see the love of Jesus flow into people's lives as a result of the ministry that the work makes possible, joy is natural. I feel so blessed to be part of a ministry that keeps men like Pastor Jose Louis in the field. He is able to minister in ways that would not be possible without the resources that come and allow the love of God to be seen in tangible ways. Thank you for your support and prayers. This story is part of of what you all make possible.

Getting Prepared.

It has been a very busy two weeks here as we prepare for 2015. There have been construction projects, repairs, cleaning and many little tasks to finish in order to be ready for our first team of the year. When I arrived, work had already begun on the first major project. Our storage room was being turned into another bedroom and bathroom for people. This involve carrying and cutting many cement blocks, mixing cement and concrete by hand on the ground and bending and tying lots of re-bar. Because we are going to have two teams, working on two different projects at the beginning of February, we will need to house 35 people. This is about 6 more than we have done before. We completed the rooms, got them painted and cleaned about 6:00 last night. That was good timing because we had our first team of 6 arrive at 10:00 last night.

I also have been able to spend some time working with Mike and Cindy Harrington. We went to the Children's home in Santiago earlier in the week and worked on a few small projects to help them out. We built a work bench for the wood shop, repaired bikes, fixed screens and other minor tasks. It was fun to get to hang out with the kids and help out a little at the same time. I always love to spend some time there. The kids make life interesting but it is always fun.

A lot of the work that we have done is difficult or tedious and many would ask why I come here to do things like this. I wanted to share the thought that keeps coming to me for the last few weeks and hope that it blesses you as it has me.

We have limited time to accomplish anything on this earth. Whatever money or possessions we acquire here will eventually decay, break or burn. We work 40 years to have 15 or 20 years of retirement when we are mostly beyond the age of doing many of the things that we dreamed of when we were younger. Life as we understand it is short. Why live for it? In eternity will we be bragging about the car, house retirement plan, vacations or any other thing that we worked so hard for on the earth? We all will die. Why not make the most of the time we are here?

I think that God is telling us to build an eternal retirement. More than that, He is calling us to invest our time here in an eternal inheritance. If we are co-heirs with Jesus and we are Sons of God, doesn't it make sense to forget about the things that we hold fast to and spend ourselves on  building the kingdom of God? Is there any other thing that will pay dividends into our eternity? To build His kingdom means to invest our lives in people. Get to know them. Help them in their need and also help them prepare to live beyond need in the place of their Father's love. It means to live from a Heavenly perspective looking to see the Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. Mostly, it means to lay down our lives in worship to the one that created and redeemed us and allow Him to direct our every interaction. I think that this may lead to some difficult places and it may have a cost temporarily but I believe the eternal rewards will outweigh all of that.

2Ti 1:9-12 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

Do you know that you have been called and entrusted? Do you know that you can trust God to hold and to multiply that which you hand to Him? Do you know that your choice as a believer is to work for the temporary, fleeting rewards of this life or to invest in a Kingdom where you have an inheritance? Are you working as hard on the eternal as you are in your preparations for today? Now is the time to prepare.

On The Move

I have not written in a while and this will be a short post. I just wanted to let everyone know that 2015 is in full swing and I will be returning to Guatemala in 2 days. I have spent the last few days saying my goodbyes to my family and amazing friends. My bags are almost all packed. My ticket is purchased and I will fly out a 2:45 on Saturday afternoon.

I am looking forward to continuing the work that we started last year. We will start the year off with construction on the Church in Memrillal and a concert with Peter Furler as a community outreach in the town of Patzicia. We will continue to work in Zapote as well. This will be another year full of construction and food production with the goal of making Jesus known and His love visible through His body.

I am on track with my fundraising. My goal was to reach 1/2 of my $9,500 budget for the year before I left and I am almost there. If I reach the goal, I will be using a large part of that to go to Spanish School when I have down time. Other funds w ill cover airfare and living expenses. through the end of August.

Here is my prayer requests for the next few month.

1. I would ask that you be in prayer for the teams that come. Pray that there would be unity in them and with us. Also pray that they would have a vision of working for  the glory of God and to make His love evident to people. 
2. Pray that the glory of God would be evident in all that we do and that we would work with humility towards one another.
3. Pray for safety and good health for me and for the friends that I will be working with.
4. Pray for the finances for me and for all of the work that we hope to accomplish this year
5. Most of all, pray that the hearts of the people we work with are open and prepared to receive the love of Jesus that He longs to pour out on them.

If you would like to support me this coming year or would like to contribute to a project, you can mail tax deductible contributions to

Life Church, Morris
P.O. Box 679
Morris, IL 60450
in the memo line write Guatemala, missions or the name of the project

Thank you all for your love and support.

Support Letter

This week I am sending my support letter in place of my regular blog.

First I would like to say thank you for all of the prayers, encouraging words and support that I have received from you all. Over the last two years, I have been able to work in Guatemala with Iglesia Galilea for approximately 8 months. We have hosted about 18 teams. With them we have worked on hydroponics projects, medical clinics, constructed 7 houses and approximately 16 stoves, worked on 2 schools, and helped get a church started. Along with these team projects, I also helped as needed on various projects around the Church in San Lucas.

                In the coming year, we will have about 10 more teams beginning in January and going into November. While I was not able to work with the two teams that came in the fall this year, it is my intention to be there and work with them this year. In order for that to happen, I will not be spending nearly as much time in Illinois this year as I have in previous years. I do plan on coming back for a few weeks in late summer and then also for the holidays but gone the rest of the year. The schedule that I currently envision would have me there between 9 and 10 months in 2015.

With the teams that come this year, we will continue on construction of the Church in Membrillal, finish a couple more classrooms on the school there and continue working on the school in Zapote. We will do many more stoves and a few houses in Zapote along with two medical clinics there. We will host a Christian music festival in Santiago along with BMX and skateboarding demonstrations. The Church will hold and evangelistic outreach in San Lucas. We will also continue to work on honing and perfecting the hydroponics projects until they can be easily duplicated and successful for the average person, with inexpensive supplies and nutrients that are available to them. All of these things are done with the goal of promoting the Gospel of Jesus and making Him known in Guatemala.

You may ask what I will be doing when teams are not there. This year, I feel a pressing need to improve my Spanish. While I can get by most of the time, I am far from fluent. I desire to be able to convey the Gospel in Spanish as readily as I do in English.  In order for that to happen, I need to study and be in an immersive environment. I am not sure where but I will wind up but have been looking at schools in a couple of places about 2 to 3 hours’ drive away from San Lucas. I plan on attending one of them whenever scheduling allows. We will also be working on the Church building and property in San Lucas as we move toward construction of a new sanctuary to make room for the growing congregation there.

Because of the length of this trip, my expenses will obviously be considerably more this year than in previous years. This letter is not to cause anyone to feel compelled but only to inform.  I wanted to give you a breakdown of my anticipated expenses and ask you to pray about what role God is calling you to play if any. The one thing that I would ask of everybody though, is that you pray for success in work and study. I want to thank you in advance for that.

               

2015 anticipated expenses

$1080   Spanish School $135 per week for 8 weeks

$1500   Airfare for 2 round trips

$  960   Living expenses for 16 weeks with teams

$  800   Living Expenses for 8 weeks of Spanish School

$2400   Living Expenses for 16 weeks with no teams

$  500   Internet

$  520   Telephone

$  365   Travel and Emergency Insurance $  750   Personal Medical Supplies

$  550   Replacement Laptop    Total      $9425

                This list of expenses is for basic expenses. They do not cover any extras that may arise. I have tried to be realistic but I kept my list to a minimum. I am planning on having some dental work done and would like to have transportation available. I can use the bus system but it is not always safe and the Church vehicles are not available much of the time.

                If God is putting it on your heart, you can give anytime. I am hoping to have 50% of my expenses in before I leave and the rest over the next 8 months. Please do not put my name on the check. Write Guatemala in the memo line. Monetary donations can be mailed to:

Life Church, Morris

P.O. Box 679

Morris, IL 6045

Thank you sincerely for everything

George Kresse

Getting Prepared

As you have seen in my previous posts, I am preparing to go back to Guatemala at the end of the year and will be staying for an extended time.I am not sure exactly how long as of right now but it will be for several months, not just a few weeks. I wanted to take a little time and answer some of the questions that I am frequently asked.

1. How do you make a living?  
1. As of right now, I spend all of my time in ministry related activities. While I will occasionally do s small electrical job to help out friends, I do not make much of anything as a result of that. I am supported by a few people that believe the work I am doing is important enough to want me to continue it. Whether I am in Guatemala or helping out at CYC, my needs are met by people supporting me.
2. What exactly do you do? 
1. I pray that the purpose of everything that I do is to bring God glory and help a lost and hurting world to see the inexplicable love of Jesus in me.
2. When I am in Morris, I spend many hours each week at CYCM. I try to be available to people that walk in the door to talk to them and share our ministry with them. I spend time with many kids through the course of a week and do what I can to let them know that Jesus loves them and that He has placed people in their lives to demonstrate that love.
3. When I am in Guatemala, I spend much of my time working with teams that come to San Lucas to work with Iglesia Galilea. We currently are working on 2 schools, and a Church building. We build safe wood burning stoves and provide houses for those living in uninhabitable conditions. We are working on various hydroponics and aquaponics projects to help villages learn to become self sufficient for their food. We also provide support services to other Churches under the Iglesia Galilea banner in Guatemala. We have a goal of introducing communities to the love of Jesus and of helping those communities become less dependent on outside help for their daily needs.
4. How do you know you are called?
1. I did not have a clue what God was doing in my life. I just said yes when asked if I would go the first time. I experienced life and joy as I traveled through Mexico and to Guatemala.
2. Matt 28 makes it clear that we all are called. Some will share the Gospel and make disciples at home. Others will go to the ends of the world. Every follower of Jesus is called to make disciples
3. I do not believe that every Christian is called to leave their home and move to a foreign country to be a missionary. I do believe that every believer needs to occasionally go out of their comfort zone to another country to work with our brothers and sister there for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. I tell this to everybody that will listen because I believe that it is the most life changing and faith strengthening thing they can do.
5. Are you going to move to Guatemala?
1. It seems like I spend more time there each year and I do love it. I may move there but I want God to direct that decision. There are other places that are also in need of help and I want to be available if God calls me to one of those places also.
6. What things can I do?
1. Missions always needs the backing of good prayer support. Ask the Holy Spirit what He wants to do and then join your prayers in agreement to what He shows you.
2. You can support the work of missions wherever they may be.
1. Remember that most people in missions have no outside sources of income. They are dependent on the giving of others. God does not expect you to be a source of funding for everything that comes along. Ask Holy Spirit who you should support and for the amount. He is faithful to show you.
3. Put together a team and go. The most encouraging thing is when family and friends come alongside and work in the field on projects that we are doing.  It is always encouraging and affirming to have people that you know and love join you in the work you are doing.
4. When someone is back in their home area for a break or furlough, ask them what they need. Long term missionaries usually come home for a month or so each year and they have several needs, 
1. Transportation - They do not maintain a car for such a short period of time.
2. Airport pick ups - it is hard to ask for a ride from the airport when you have not seen someone for a long period of time.
3. Someone to go to other Churches when they go to share their work. Even though they are home for a month, there is often supporting Churches that desire first hand updates so you may only see them once in their home or sending Church. It is always good to have a friend with when you go to a place that you are not familiar with.
4. A place to stay. When travelling, hotels can be expensive for someone living on missions giving. people offering food and lodging can alleviate a big expense.

When you are spending money that comes from other people, it can be a very humbling thing. It helps you to understand that people love you and want to support you. It can also be difficult because you second guess much of your spending. You wonder if you can go out to eat with friends because it is not your money that you are spending. Encourage the people that you know in missions. They are not doing this to get rich but I believe God wants them to live and not walk in fear of spending a little on an occasional meal, movie or group outing.

Thank you for all the prayers, encouraging words and financial support over the years. I look forward to seeing you in Guatemala soon.

If you would like to support me and the missions of Iglesia Galilea, you can send checks to
Guatemala Mission
Life Church Morris
P.O. Box 679
Morris, IL 60450

December is closer than you think!

The last two months have been amazing for me. With a new director at CYC and new pastor and name at Life Church, Morris I have had a lot going on. Building relationships with Jon and Caleb and hoping to help and encourage them in their new ministries has been fun. God has really been blessing my time in Illinois.

He has also allowed me to spend time with the kids at CYC. They may not always realize it but they give me joy. Some of them are going through difficult times right now but they keep coming back to us. I think that CYC's most important jobs are to be a beacon of hope when life is hard and to show the love of Jesus to people that may not often feel loved and valued. What an incredible blessing it is to be able to serve them.

In a little over two months, my focus will shift again. I will once again be leaving the people and ministries that I love here to return to my friends in Guatemala and to serve alongside my second family. While I have been enjoying my time here, I know that God is calling me back there. I am sure that I will be sad to leave but look forward to see what the next year of ministry is going to look like. 

People ask why I have not settled in one place but continue to go back and forth. Next year, I do plan on spending more time in Guatemala and it feels like home when I am there but I think God is calling me to be flexible. The world needs Christians that are available to go wherever and I want to be one of those people. I love my family and friends in both places but want to not be set on determining where I am going to be. God has called us to be mobile.

When I was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, the doctor told me that I had maybe 5  years so I should do everything that I intended to soon because I might not have an opportunity later. I never feared that I was going to die quickly but his words did help me to realize that we don't have a lot of time so we should find what God is calling us to and then be busy doing it. I have tried to embrace that idea

I will be leaving for Guatemala in a 2 short months but do not be surprised if you hear that I am trying to get a Guatemalan, American or mixed team together to go somewhere completely different. Time is short. God is moving and desires for us to move with Him. We miss out on great blessings when we become locked into a daily routine.

If you would like to support me in prayer or finances, contact me at thegeokr@yahoo.com or call me at 815-585-2844. I love to go and serve but it is only possible with your help. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do.