I believe sometimes God just does things because He can. He did one of those things for me today. After almost two weeks of learning new policies, procedures, and computer documentation at my new job, I was finally going to begin my orientation on the maternity care unit. I was really nervous and anxious as I have been out of hospital nursing for more than 2 years. The day was going along alright, yet, I felt very overwhelmed and sad. I missed our ministry in Guatemala. I never thought I would return to hospital nursing again. I know that God led us here, but sometimes He is hard to follow. Well, the day was almost over and a new patient came into our unit. She was not my patient, but since she only spoke Spanish, the nurse assigned to her asked me to translate. I went willingly and prayed that I would be able to understand her Spanish. It turned out not to be a problem at all as she was Guatemalan and lived less than a 10 minute drive from our old home in Guatemala!!!
I don't believe in coincidences, but I do believe God gives us little gifts sometimes just because He can. And that is exactly what He did for me today.
*Chrissie
Friday, April 11, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Time to Catch Up...
So much has happened in the last month or so... We finally have time to sit down and catch everyone up a little on life for us.
We left Guatemala at the end of January and it was very hard to say goodbye to our home and our good friends. We cried a lot and prayed even more. We know that God led us to that point, but it was still hard to follow Him without knowing the next steps.
We were able to spend a few weeks in Florida with our family. We bought a car and Chrissie got Lasik surgery. Both went well! We traveled from Florida to South Carolina to North Carolina visiting friends and churches. It was good for us to have a chance to catch up with many friends and our churches during this time.
Then, we began our cross-country trek from Florida to Minnesota with Marissa armed with a portable DVD player, Penny (our dog) sitting in the back, and a U-Haul trailer with all our luggage. We tried to take our time driving up north and were able to stay with some friends along the way. We only ran into bad weather during our last day of travel, but God kept us safe.
We spent our first week settling into our new, very small, apartment. We both had interviews within the week and God was faithful. Last week Chrissie was offered a job as a labor & delivery nurse and Enrique was offered a ministry position with the Salvation Army in St. Paul as the Outreach Ministries Coordinator!!! The Salvation Army is very excited about our entire family being a part of the ministry. Enrique will be working in an inner city community center and responsible for all youth / family activities and outreaches.
We won't be able to start our new jobs until the end of March or the beginning of April due to paperwork, background checks etc. Continue to pray that all the paperwork goes through easily and quickly and that God will continue to meet our needs.
We want to thank everyone for your continued prayers for our family during this difficult time of transition. We will still be posting updates as God continues to use us in our new ministry.
Here is a picture of Marissa hanging out at our new apartment. Although we don't have a tub for Marissa, this is not the norm, so don't worry, she was just goofing around.
We left Guatemala at the end of January and it was very hard to say goodbye to our home and our good friends. We cried a lot and prayed even more. We know that God led us to that point, but it was still hard to follow Him without knowing the next steps.
We were able to spend a few weeks in Florida with our family. We bought a car and Chrissie got Lasik surgery. Both went well! We traveled from Florida to South Carolina to North Carolina visiting friends and churches. It was good for us to have a chance to catch up with many friends and our churches during this time.
Then, we began our cross-country trek from Florida to Minnesota with Marissa armed with a portable DVD player, Penny (our dog) sitting in the back, and a U-Haul trailer with all our luggage. We tried to take our time driving up north and were able to stay with some friends along the way. We only ran into bad weather during our last day of travel, but God kept us safe.
We spent our first week settling into our new, very small, apartment. We both had interviews within the week and God was faithful. Last week Chrissie was offered a job as a labor & delivery nurse and Enrique was offered a ministry position with the Salvation Army in St. Paul as the Outreach Ministries Coordinator!!! The Salvation Army is very excited about our entire family being a part of the ministry. Enrique will be working in an inner city community center and responsible for all youth / family activities and outreaches.
We won't be able to start our new jobs until the end of March or the beginning of April due to paperwork, background checks etc. Continue to pray that all the paperwork goes through easily and quickly and that God will continue to meet our needs.
We want to thank everyone for your continued prayers for our family during this difficult time of transition. We will still be posting updates as God continues to use us in our new ministry.
Here is a picture of Marissa hanging out at our new apartment. Although we don't have a tub for Marissa, this is not the norm, so don't worry, she was just goofing around.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Interwoven Threads - January 2008
INTERWOVEN THREADS
In Mayan culture, every fine weaving tells a story. This is our story. . .
January 2008
The Final Chapter
A New Year & A New Beginning:
Each year begins with new expectations and promises as we look towards the future. Yet, this year is beginning very differently than we had imagined. Unfortunately, RMI has suffered some losses over the past year especially in the area of US sister churches. As a result and after many months of prayer, we know that God is leading us in a new direction. Therefore, as of February 1st, we will resign from RMI and return to the United States. This has been the hardest decision of our lives, yet we are at peace with God and know that He is guiding us each step of the way. Enrique is currently pursuing new avenues of ministry as he desires to continue to work with Hispanic youth in an inner city setting. Chrissie is also pursuing available opportunities where she can use her abilities as a nurse as well as continue to partner with Enrique in ministry.
Looking Back at Guatemala:
As we look back over our time here, the one thing that we will miss the most is the people. Guatemala has become our home and we are fortunate to consider many Guatemalans family. We have seen huge changes in the church bodies that have been a part of The Sister Church Program. Pastors have grown in their knowledge of the Bible and in their desire to reach out to their communities. Church members have begun to show Christ’s love to their neighbors. And many have come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We do not take credit for any of this, but rather feel privileged that God let us be a part of His work here in Guatemala. We also believe that God strategically placed other ministries in the area that will continue to teach and build up these church bodies. Although, we are overcome by sadness as we think about leaving our brothers and sisters in Christ, we know that God is with them and will continue His work among them.
Next Steps:
First of all, we want to thank each one of you for all your prayers and the financial support that you have given us. Your partnership with us and RMI in ministry has been invaluable. Please continue to pray for us over the next several months as we begin to adjust to the many changes ahead. RMI has graciously offered us severance pay through April as long as our monthly support continues. Therefore, we are asking our support team to continue their monthly giving through the month of April. Also, we wanted to remind anyone who is currently giving automatically to please notify the RMI office regarding your final gift date. Thank you again for your partnership in ministry.
May God Bless You,
Enrique, Chrissie, & Marissa Coreano
In Mayan culture, every fine weaving tells a story. This is our story. . .
January 2008
The Final Chapter
A New Year & A New Beginning:
Each year begins with new expectations and promises as we look towards the future. Yet, this year is beginning very differently than we had imagined. Unfortunately, RMI has suffered some losses over the past year especially in the area of US sister churches. As a result and after many months of prayer, we know that God is leading us in a new direction. Therefore, as of February 1st, we will resign from RMI and return to the United States. This has been the hardest decision of our lives, yet we are at peace with God and know that He is guiding us each step of the way. Enrique is currently pursuing new avenues of ministry as he desires to continue to work with Hispanic youth in an inner city setting. Chrissie is also pursuing available opportunities where she can use her abilities as a nurse as well as continue to partner with Enrique in ministry.
Looking Back at Guatemala:
As we look back over our time here, the one thing that we will miss the most is the people. Guatemala has become our home and we are fortunate to consider many Guatemalans family. We have seen huge changes in the church bodies that have been a part of The Sister Church Program. Pastors have grown in their knowledge of the Bible and in their desire to reach out to their communities. Church members have begun to show Christ’s love to their neighbors. And many have come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We do not take credit for any of this, but rather feel privileged that God let us be a part of His work here in Guatemala. We also believe that God strategically placed other ministries in the area that will continue to teach and build up these church bodies. Although, we are overcome by sadness as we think about leaving our brothers and sisters in Christ, we know that God is with them and will continue His work among them.
Next Steps:
First of all, we want to thank each one of you for all your prayers and the financial support that you have given us. Your partnership with us and RMI in ministry has been invaluable. Please continue to pray for us over the next several months as we begin to adjust to the many changes ahead. RMI has graciously offered us severance pay through April as long as our monthly support continues. Therefore, we are asking our support team to continue their monthly giving through the month of April. Also, we wanted to remind anyone who is currently giving automatically to please notify the RMI office regarding your final gift date. Thank you again for your partnership in ministry.
May God Bless You,
Enrique, Chrissie, & Marissa Coreano
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Christmas Eve a Night to Remember
I know this is a little late, but we still wanted to share it with you. We spent this past Christmas here in Guatemala and what an incredible time it was. First of all, my mom and stepdad came down and spent about 10 days over Christmas here with us. It was great to have them here and they really enjoyed getting to have first hand knowledge of our everyday lives.
Christmas Eve is the big time of celebration here. The entire day and night is spent visiting with family and friends. We were able to go and visit a few of our friends homes and a few came to our home as well. When you visit someone or they visit you they give you tamales. So, we had a refrigerator full of tamales by the end of the night. The entire day was great, but the most amazing thing about the entire day happened right at midnight. Everyone and I mean everyone lights off huge fireworks from their homes. I know this is not the safest practice, but it was like nothing I have ever seen before. Imagine the best firework display you have ever seen and then imagine that you can see it everywhere you look. It truly was magnificent. Marissa was amazed by all the lights and sounds, but very quickly fell asleep on the roof with us. We are so thankful that we got to spent the holidays here with our family and friends.
-Chrissie
Christmas Eve is the big time of celebration here. The entire day and night is spent visiting with family and friends. We were able to go and visit a few of our friends homes and a few came to our home as well. When you visit someone or they visit you they give you tamales. So, we had a refrigerator full of tamales by the end of the night. The entire day was great, but the most amazing thing about the entire day happened right at midnight. Everyone and I mean everyone lights off huge fireworks from their homes. I know this is not the safest practice, but it was like nothing I have ever seen before. Imagine the best firework display you have ever seen and then imagine that you can see it everywhere you look. It truly was magnificent. Marissa was amazed by all the lights and sounds, but very quickly fell asleep on the roof with us. We are so thankful that we got to spent the holidays here with our family and friends.
-Chrissie
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Dia de Gracias
Who says you can't celebrate Thanksgiving in Guatemala. We just celebrated our 2nd annual Dia de Gracias with about 15 of our local friends. The food was great and everybody had a good time laughing and eating and eating and eating... We were able to use this opportunity to share with our friends the reason that we give thanks in the first place. Overall, the night was a lot of fun and it was the first time that the RMI guesthouse was used for a different kind of ministry.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Day Has Come...
We knew this day would come, but we didn't realize it would come so quickly. Marissa learned how to climb out of her pack-n-play last week. She had already started sleeping in her big kid bed during nap times, but didn't want to sleep in her bed at night. Well, last week we were traveling with a Sister Church team and Marissa did not want to nap in a normal bed. So, I put her back in her pack-n-play and within 5 minutes she had climbed out. When Enrique returned to our room, I put her back in and said, "Show daddy what you can do." This time within 10 seconds she was out of her pack-n-play. So, the pack-n-play is finally packed away for good!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Bilingual Baby
Recently, I have noticed that Marissa has really started talking in two languages. She’ll say “Mami no esta,” or “Paty se fue” or “I need a hug.” She even speaks a little spanglish such as “Let’s go arriba.”
The really amazing thing for me is that she has all of a sudden started talking about random things from the past. For example, when we were in the states, Marissa and her cousin Preston watched DVD’s of the Wiggles (a kid’s show). She was enamored with them. It has now been about three weeks since they have been brought up in conversation. Two days ago she was muttering something about “wehhaa”. She kept saying “wehhaa” for almost a week. We listened attentively and tried to figure out what she wanted, yet without any luck. Finally, Chrissie, who understands Marissa’s vocabulary better, said “The Wiggles.” Marissa started jumping up and down and shouting “si” “si.” She was so excited! It was the cutest thing I had seen her do in some time. Too bad we forgot the DVD’s of ‘The Wiggles’ in the states. I guess she will just have to wait until Christmas for Grandma to bring them down.
The really amazing thing for me is that she has all of a sudden started talking about random things from the past. For example, when we were in the states, Marissa and her cousin Preston watched DVD’s of the Wiggles (a kid’s show). She was enamored with them. It has now been about three weeks since they have been brought up in conversation. Two days ago she was muttering something about “wehhaa”. She kept saying “wehhaa” for almost a week. We listened attentively and tried to figure out what she wanted, yet without any luck. Finally, Chrissie, who understands Marissa’s vocabulary better, said “The Wiggles.” Marissa started jumping up and down and shouting “si” “si.” She was so excited! It was the cutest thing I had seen her do in some time. Too bad we forgot the DVD’s of ‘The Wiggles’ in the states. I guess she will just have to wait until Christmas for Grandma to bring them down.
*Enrique
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