Dear PBM Family,

Thank you for your Prayers and for Building ETERNAL Relationships through Christ Jesus our Lord! Please know that we (and 50+ Guatemalan Pastors and congregations) are Praying for you in these extremely challenging times. The hidden blessing within the difficulties and darkness is; that it ofttimes draws us closer to HIM who alone can shatter the darkness with HIS Glorious light! Please keep Praying for us as we continue to Pray for and seek to fill each of you!

Bread is used throughout our Lord’s Word to describe life. Sustenance and thus life, physically and spiritually, earthly and Eternally. Ponder with me the bread (thus life) that our Heavenly Father gifted the Israelites daily as they wandered through their own wilderness, not so unlike ours

The Israelites were only about 45 days into leaving Egypt, and yes, their lives had turned completely upside down. They were enslaved for generations, and there had been a sort of comfort for them in the known, vs. the unknown (and hunger) that they were now experiencing. They were starving, and as the story continues in Exodus 16, the “whole congregation” (numbering in the millions) rose up and complained against Moses. They longed for their past life (slavery) and were disgruntled with their present circumstance (freedom).

Our Lord, in HIS incredible Love, gifted mana to this multitude of millions. Think of the magnitude of this Daily Bread miracle that sustained and gave life to such numbers (it seems we hear a lot about “numbers” lately in every news flash). The unmeasurable tons/truckloads (flake by flake) of the “fine flaky substance…tasting of a wafer made with honey” that it took to sustain the millions for just one day would be staggering, let alone for 40 years or 14,600 days! Never before had mana appeared, and after the Israelites reached the promised land, never again did it fall from Heaven. I wonder, “Can HE then take care of each of our needs in unprecedented (miraculous) ways through these unprecedented times?” Yes…but there is so much more!

“I AM the Bread of Life!”, Jesus cried out… “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again…” Jesus had already fed the 4,000. Then HE provided another meal of meat and bread, with leftovers, for the “…5,000 besides women and children.” Then in John 6, HE invests even more time sharing of Eternal Life through bread, kneading in the story of the Israelites and the mana. “Very truly I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from Heaven, but it was my Father (Jesus was with God and thus could testify) who also gives you the true Bread from Heaven. That Bread of God is HE who comes down from Heaven and gives Life to the world. I AM the Bread of Life!

The lives of the Israelites were turned upside down. They grumbled and complained, yet our Lord provided. We realize that Praying for “our Daily Bread” has taken on extreme significance for so many, not only in the U.S. but around the world. Know that HE is still providing today in miraculous ways for those who cry out to HIM. Pray with us, as together we share the “Bread of Life” with “…the least of these!”

You have become like mana (a miracle from Heaven) to us in providing for the precious lost sheep HE has called us all to! Since the moment the Holy Spirit placed upon our hearts to launch PBM’s Daily Bread outreach, we have been filled with awe at the response from you, our PBM family. Thank you that even in the midst of your own need, you find it in your heart to Pray, to give, and to thus sustain this, HIS ministry.

Daily bread is being shared, well “daily,” within Open Doors Orphanage. The precious children entrusted to us all are doing amazingly well and continue to fill us with laughter and Love! Since mid-March, all of our caregivers and essential Guatemalan missionaries have been on complete lockdown. No one coming to or leaving the mission base for three months. “Lockdown” in Guatemala is militaristic in nature, much different than in the U.S. Please invest considerable time in Praying for Open Doors and the Daily Bread it takes (just like the mana) to lovingly care for these beautiful children!

Discipleship and Church Planting continues through you within the villages where we have PBM Pastors and Bible Institute graduates planted! All are maintaining their social distancing, as gatherings are not permitted. As we follow Christ’s example, ponder how much ministry was accomplished in the intimate settings with HIS disciples, one on one…intimate today, even at 6’ apart! We also mourn with the villages that we have not been able to plant a Pastor or graduate in. They are struggling deeply without spiritual leadership present during this pandemic, and they need your amazing Prayers…daily. We are reaching out to these villages digitally, but they hunger for much more, and we Pray to be with them soon.

From Nelson, our Action Bible National Director: “God’s amazing Love and faithfulness is evident as HE continues to bless our Action Bible Program in Guatemala. I received a request from an Education Supervisor, who desired that students be provided with beautiful Action Bibles to encourage them while at home with their families. As a result, we were delighted to distribute Action Bibles with our curriculum, directly to children in their homes! We were able to coordinate these deliveries with local food distribution, thus…“Daily Bread”, and “The Bread of Life!”

“…a cup of cold [CLEAN] water in Jesus name” continues to gift health, strength, and life to thousands of less fortunate in the remote villages with water filtration provided by you our PBM Family! This is life physically as they prepare for the likely infection of their village, but also Eternally as the Gospel is intricately woven throughout each of our PBM programs because of your unending Prayer!

The COVID-19 lockdown in Guatemala reached militaristic proportions in early June. Three areas of Guatemala came under a State of Siege by the Government due to the unrest. If that is not enough, tropical storm Amanda slammed into Guatemala with torrential rains, flooding, and mudslides, bringing with it even more death. Hunger, disease, chaos, and a myriad of other darkness is rising exponentially.

White flags fly at tens of thousands of homes, signifying that family is out of food. Others with white flags and children in hand, stand along nearly empty roadways hoping that someone would provide a morsel for them and their children. Many do not know how they will survive the next few weeks. My friends, these are critical times as people hunger for their Daily Bread, that our Lord has gifted us all with. Mana (a miracle in this wilderness) is so needed right now. Pray with us unto the Great Provider.

HIS servant,
dan

ps: Our Heavenly Father, through you, has provided “our Daily Bread” for April and May. Pray with us for the historically low (even before COVID-19) giving months of June, July, and August and especially as the restrictions lift and critical outreach dramatically increase. Our goal; A Prayer a Day (by everyone, around 8,000 of you) and a dollar a day (by those who can) to not only help sustain PBM, and the precious children of Open Doors Orphanage, but to allow us to share with everyone we can; “our Daily Bread” and thus “The Bread of Life,” who is Christ Jesus our Lord!

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