“ As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

Isaiah 55:8-12

One morning while in prayer, the Lord spoke to Carla through this verse in Isaiah. We were in the preparations for the Covid-19 Campaign, purchasing and packaging food; requesting permissions at the municipality to leave town, and so forth.

Guatemala has been in quarantine, with restrictions and curfews, for 4 months now. People are scared, they are worried, they are anxious. Many have lost hope, jobs and/or loved ones. Through this campaign, we had a call to bring, not only food and hygiene kits to people, but also the most valuable item: spiritual nurture. And we had a door opened by the Lord through Proyecto Fe and all of those who donated and prayed, to restore hope and trust in the Lord, but most importantly, to share the good news of salvation to many that have not heard it still, to continue planting the seed and fulfilling the great commandment.

David González volunteered to join me (Bernardo) while traveling. In 6 days, we visited over 30 churches both in the cold and hot lands. Several changes of weather throughout those few weeks of delivering packages. In total, 230 families were blessed, which means over 1000 people, of which 734 are children. We kept a detailed record of how many kids were being blessed. Each package contained rice, black beans, oatmeal, cooking oil, salt, sugar, cream of wheat, pasta, toothpaste, hand/body soap and detergent.

We went to some homes to deliver packages because many were for elderly people that couldn’t come to collect them, but mostly we met with people at churches or at meeting points and gave out the packages. Every single time the gospel was shared. The word was proclaimed. Prayers were lifted. Since we couldn’t hug people, we would do the “elbow shake” to the amusement of many who quickly joined in the fun. The importance of touching people (even if it is just the elbow), while saying, “hey, God is near, He loves you” makes a profound impact in their lives.

When distributing the packages, we followed the safety guidelines to keep people safe, and we also instructed them over and over on the importance of washing their hands often. It all ran very smoothly; people were so deeply grateful. The Lord led us forth in peace, indeed.

It was a blessing. There is not other way to describe it.

Thank you to Proyecto Fe for supporting this campaign, to the staff in Guatemala for the collaboration – there was no small part to play in this campaign. And, to David and Elena for their volunteer work.

Thank you, again, for being part of this. Thank you so much for praying, those prayers were felt.

Bernardo & Carla Montenegro

July 2020

Packing the food items per bag.