Good News from Guatemala

Happy Valentine’s Day!

We are back home in Kapa’au after three weeks of travel. Many thanks for your prayers.

We praise the Lord for His journeying mercies as we traveled to California and on to Guatemala. It was great to visit with dear friends in our supporting churches in San Diego, El Segundo, and Biola (west of Fresno) as we reported about IDEAS.

It was our first time to Central America. We enjoyed Guatemala’s natural beauty, rich history, and cultural diversity - a blend of indigenous Mayan traditions and Spanish influences. Best of all we found our IDEAS colleagues faithfully making Christ known in Word and deed. 

We landed in Guatemala City and rode an hour through the city into the central highlands. We gathered in the charming town of Antigua with our IDEAS Board and Associates. The town was founded in 1543 and is situated in a valley surrounded by three majestic volcanoes: Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango.

Walking through Antigua felt like stepping back in time - many restored colonial buildings and churches. The cobble stone streets and bustling markets teemed with foods, coffee, crafts, textiles, and produce. One lovely afternoon we rode bikes through a coffee plantation where lush plants grow in rich volcanic soil.

Our IDEAS team is uniquely equipped to serve the nation of Guatemala which has one of the highest numbers of spina bifida per capita in the world. In His Gospel-advancing-providence He has assembled this team which bring their skills in language and culture, nursing (three of them!), Assistive Technology Professional (ATP), community development project leadership, a certified prosthetist/orthotist (CPO), and pastoral and ministry experience. In Guatemala they are working to serve communities, families and children impacted by disability. In 2024 IDEAS helped 165 children be fitted and equipped with wheelchairs and other appropriate technology. It was a privilege to share with them and offer our pastoral care.

We went to Guatemala as part of the IDEAS Community Life team, privileged to encourage and pray with our Associates. While there I taught from the book of Titus to our IDEAS Guatemala team. I spoke one morning to our IDEAS Board on “Hearing from the Lord” from Joshua 9.

We were proud to see some of the good work our IDEAS team is doing as they provide whole-person care for people with disabilities through training, resources, and locally appropriate assistive technology devices. Our programs address medical and mobility needs and invite people into a community where they are loved and valued. Our team works to help people experience the fullness of their God-given dignity.

Learn more at: https://ideasworld.org/guatemala

 

Before heading home across the Pacific we enjoyed a week with Nathan and Heather and our three grandsons in Los Angeles. Our bond of sharing included a bad cold that found us all! But the sun came out for our great day at Legoland.

It was good to return back to our family at Kalahikiola Church. I started preaching through the Gospel of Luke for Advent and plan to continue in this great inerrant declaration of the Savior of the World, our Lord Jesus Christ. We appreciate your prayers as we long to make Him known in our community. Later this month we will resume our Wednesday Bible Study, stepping into 2 Corinthians.  

Many are enthusiastic about what they perceive to be a new day of opportunity in our beloved America. We certainly pray so! But remember that only Almighty God can bring eternal, holy, just, and saving change to any nation. That is what we most pray, labor, and hope for all nations. Of course, this requires what we shoulder the cross as disciples daily, renouncing our sins, and rejoicing in our Savior. May God help us in this hard and holy calling! May He make His Name Great…forever!

Until the knowledge of Jesus fills the earth, 

Mark and Dayna Blair

"Hau'oli (happy) Makahiki (year) Hou (new)" (pronounced: how-OH-lee mah-kah-hee-kee ho)

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was great! We had a new baby boy to capture our hearts – and bring a vivid reminder of the precious Son sent from Heaven.

The little guy has a big name - Kukini nu’oli o ke Akua Kupa’a Blair. (His first name means “swift runner with the Good News of God,” middle name means “steadfast”…may God make it so!) Of course, we enjoyed his brothers and parents too! We’re very thankful that Nathan and Heather brought Kekoa, Kana, and Kini to be with us.

 

Kini, Nathan, Mark, Dayna, Koa, Kana, Josiah, & Heather @ Kalahikiola

And then one night during their visit, Josiah walked in the door! Dayna and I had no idea he was coming from Istanbul, he, Nathan, and Heather kept the surprise.  

We are humbled by your continued support for our Kingdom service. We regularly connect and pray with IDEAS colleagues in Jordan, Kazakhstan, China, India, and Bangladesh. They encourage and inspire us! We had the privilege of being part of an IDEAS conference in Jordan in April. We are booked to share in meetings with IDEAS Board and Associates in Guatemala in January 2025. Most of all, we are grateful for your prayers. 

We continue to pastor Kalahikiola Church in Kapa’au, Hawaii. We count it a privilege to preach and teach God’s Word to families in our community. Our church hosted the annual Christmas dinner for the seven Christian churches in our North Kohala community. We had a great evening with about 250 brothers and sisters.

 

We pray you and yours will have a wonderful year of our Lord 2025. How wonderful to  know Him who came to free us from our sins - who comes to fill us with His joy - and who will come again to finish God’s forever new creation!

Gratefully in Him,  Mark and Dayna Blair

 Have you considered the message of these busy days at the end of the year? Christmas is supposed to remind us of God’s coming in Christ for our salvation. Advent Sunday’s count down the great event – hope, peace, joy, love – Jesus’ birth! Did you get that message amidst all your busyness?

 “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Corinthians 9.15).

The calendar we use says that one week after the day to consider the gift of God for eternal life is a day of crisis: an end and a beginning. I just recently learned to write 2024, now I must get used to 2025.

When baby Jesus grew to manhood, he was a divider. Some in Israel called him Messiah, others had him murdered. Some called him liar; others call him Lord. Now all history is split Before Christ or Anno Domini (Latin for ‘in the year of the Lord’). He will carry you to Heaven or sentence you to Hell. He will be your Savior or your Judge.

By the mercy of God most of us will see the year of our Lord 2025. But let it be a reminder that the final, final, buzzer will sound. This year of new beginnings is a time to repent of our sin and receive the Savior – for ourselves, our ohana, and all those we know and love. Like His first visitors, those who really know Him cannot keep quiet, “…the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them” (Luke 2.20).