Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil 4:6

8 months of this year have passed by…and I’ve truly been challenged by God in many different ways…Its also been a while since I last blogged (I do apologize for that). As I try to share and sum up the past 8 months and realize what God has and is doing in my life, one word comes to mind, CHANGE.

There have been lots of changes, not only in my ministry site, but in my life. I discovered that I don’t do well with changes, and God is definitely helping me with that. Still a long ways to go…but who is perfect?!!

I’ve come to understand that as humans we have to go through processes in our lives and that is how God shapes and molds us. My pastor was sharing at church on Sunday that in each process or trial we are being tested with the following: Maturity, Faithfulness, and Perseverance.  It got me thinking about how much maturity I’ve shown in different situations I’ve been dealt. Or how faithful I am to seek Him daily?

I can now say that changes happen for a reason and as one of my leaders shared with me, they mean that, “God has not forgotten about you,” change is good. I’m learning that God has not forgotten about me, which brings excitement…!

Ministry site…

The sponsorship program is growing and changing so much. We now have 3 schools that we are partnering with –that makes for a total of 300 kids and we have about 190 kids sponsored. I’m happy to share that we have our first 4 high school kids within the sponsorship program.

Our girl’s club continues to grow. I’m blessed by them and challenge to reflect Jesus in every aspect of my life. We meet once a week and in one of our past meeting 2 girls accepted Jesus as their savior. God is good!!

Also, a new staff has joined the sponsorship site, so we are ready to divide and conquer! I’m excited to have her on board and praying that we can be a great and effective team.

Financial support…

So let me share about my financial support. I tend to make excuses when it comes to sharing about how much supporters I need to meet my financial aid, such as: “We still have X amount of kids that still need sponsors” which results in me not even mentioning about how much help I also need. This is not an easy thing for me to share, but I feel it’s time to. Currently I’m at $290.00 per month, but I need to meet my goal of $800.00 monthly! And for that I need:

2 people with $100 each per month

4 people with $50.00 each per month

8 people with $25.00 each per month

10 people with $10.00 each per month

10 people with $5.00 each per month

So would you prayerfully consider partnering with me to support the ministry I’m currently doing as I serve with Students International?

Prayer requests…

*That I can continue to let God work in my life.

*For my financial support.

*For the girl’s club

*For the current sponsors and sponsored kids!

 

Much Love,

Nivia

Ready….Set…Go!!!

Ready…Set…Go!!!
New year, new goals, new challenges, new projects, But I’m excited for 2013!

Even though is April…I’ll start by telling you that I had wonderful, well deserved vacations in my beautiful country Panama… It’s been 4 years since the last time my family was there… It was a great time to reconnect with my mother’s side of the family and my own family because as you know, in 2012 Marlene was gone for 6 months (doing her discipleship training in Panama) and Nelita lives 6 hours away from home. I could disconnect completely from my work and from school. It was wonderful to recharge my battery for the New Year. I think that during my time away from home I could appreciate and value all that I have… when we start our daily routine we forget what God has given us little by little. For me, my vacation time was not just a time to rest but also evaluate all that I have and my responsibilities before God. For example: from the smallest things like my bed and my dogs… to the bigger things like my family and job.
I am very ready for all of the things that this year will bring. For example the sponsorship program is growing incredibly! There are 178 kids in the program and they are distributed in this way:
Kindergarten: 14
Elementary: 122
Junior High: 42
Though these numbers are incredibly big, it is a blessing. Can you imagine handing out all of the benefits that come with the program as well as purchasing all of these things to be handed out? What an adventure!

School shoes!

You may ask if I have finished university yet… almost! I just have one more very important test in order to be able to graduate. Though it bothers me that one final test will define all the effort that I’ve put in during these last couple of years, I have to accept that this system was established way before I entered into it! But after this last test I will be able to -for the moment- be free from university! I still can’t believe it!
As I began saying that this year is full of many new things in my personal life as well as my work, here is my list:

*New goals
Learn to drive
**Program for communication between sponsored kids and their sponsors

*New challenges
My final exam of university to graduate (April 11th and 12th )

*New projects
Girls’ Club (which has already started and there are 9 girls currently participating!!)
Buy my first car!

**Pretty son I will give you more details on this new Project that I have in mind to bless the sponsored kids as well as sponsors!
So I ask you for your prayers over these new things in 2013 and I pray that God would complete these things in HIS timing, and not mine!

Please let me know how I can pray for you guys… and what are your new things this year?

Hugs from Guatemala,
Nivia

Summer is over!!

It’s so crazy to think that the summer is already over!!! We had 7 teams, one after the other. I also had the opportunity to work with our summer staff again. it was a blessing. Many lives were changed and impacted.

During the summer God taught me about patience, grace, strength, and flexibility AGAIN!. And I think that the best form of learning and participating is to be in situations that challenge you.

Looking back over the months, I am just so thankful for not being alone. I had to take an extra class 4 times a week for 7 weeks between the semesters. This gave a 360 degree turn to my schedule and calendar!! But His grace was sufficient. Thanks to God for good coworkers and bosses! I was able to complete my class and now I find myself finishing up my last semester in University!! To be more exact I have 6 Saturdays left to finish!! And now more than ever I am convinced that God doesn’t let us pass through trials that we can not hanle, even if in the moment it doesn’t seem that way.

Asking about our birthday parties…?? Well, it has been a huge success. The kids have enjoyed this new activity… as much as me! It is a great blessing to be able to show them how special and loved they are. In the previous months we have had birthday parties with 5 to 13 kids, and I was always asked when everyone celebrated their birthdays. Let me tell you… in November we have 22 and in December we have 23!! So it will be an exciting challenge for which I can’t wait!!

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The program is growing an incredible amount. We have about 160 kids sponsored! It’s a great blessing to be able to reach and change the life of these kids and their families at the same time. And I know that soon we will achieve our goal.

During the year we had many visits by sponsors, and this is personally what I enjoy most about my job. I am a “bridge” 365 days of the year between kids and their sponsors. But when the sponsors come to visit, their encounter reminds me why I do what I do!!  So thank you to all of you that came down and visit!! 🙂

In Guatemala we celebrate Children’s day. And I was invited by the school in El Gorrion to celebrate. They asked me to bring cupcakes for dessert… Without thinking twice, I said yes… and I ended up baking 120 cupcakes! It was crazy, but the kids deserve it!

The relationships that I build with time are impressive. I am thankful for the good relationship that I have with the teachers and directors of the schools where SI works. As well as the kids and their families. It makes my job much easier.

I would like your prayers for the following:

* That God give me strength and wisdom to finish college (6 weeks left!)

* Wisdom to manage the sponsorship program

Blessings,

So far…so good!

It’s already March?… uff Where did Christmas go?!!! Let me tell you that in December we handed out Christmas gifts to the sponsored kids. They were 123 gifts to prepare but sincerely I would not have been able to achieve this alone. Thanks to God I had a lot of help to hand them out!

 

So let me share how things are… in December we handed out the Christmas gifts… but in January I handed out: school supplies, backpacks, uniforms, and shoes!! Definitely 2 very busy seasons in this site. But I want to thank everyone that helped to accomplish this!

 

Absolutely a busy season, but also lots of learning. The biggest personal lesson was for me to trust in God completely. Even though my schedule was planned for each day and it appeared that things would all go perfectly… circumstances said the opposite! So I learned to trust that God has control of my schedule and I learned to relax and enjoy one day at a time!

 

Something that I’m dying to tell you is about my new project… I call it “Birthday celebrations!!!” This is definitely my favorite part of my job. Starting this year I will be celebrating the birthdays each month for our sponsored kids.

 

One of the things that impacted me the most was to see that such a special day, for many of the kids, had to be just like any other day. And many of the moms didn’t even remember that it was their kid’s birthday. In my childhood, my parents made sure that I had a celebration for my birthdays…I never went without my cake and piñata!! And that is something I will always remember and be thankful for…!

 

So, I said… How difficult can it be to organize one birthday party each month?! The worst thing that could happen would be that the kids don’t show up! But for my surprise all the kids came! Our first celebration was a success… There was cake, games, gifts and of course a piñata!!!!

And for February all the kids already new we would be celebrating birthdays… and also all of the birthday kids came for our party, and we had a great time! Now we look forward to the celebration for the March birthdays!!

 

 

Another program in which I will be involved is a tutoring program… where I will have Abbey’s help. She is the leader of the education site in Magdalena. Together we will work in this new project in the afternoons. And basically we will be helping the kids with their homework. Down the road, I will let you know how this program has evolved.

 

So, new projects, more time involved in the ministry… But also my last year of school! I can not believe how fast this has happened… I am very excited to finish my studies for now!

 

And a little information about the Saravia clan: my sister Nelita is in Izabal… 6 hours from Antigua, serving in a missionary organization! It is a blessing for me to know that she is also a missionary and serving God now. (If you want to read about her adventures, this is her blog: www.nelitasarvia.blogspot.com)

 

My parents return from their sabbatical! … It was really nice to have them at home during all this time. I know that they renewed their strength and they are ready to start again… and for me personally, I am very excited to have them back!!

 

And that’s all for now… Thanks in advance for your prayers that God would strengthen me to continue serving Him with all that I have!!!

 

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Big hug from Guatemala!

Nivia

Patience + Strength + Grace + Flexibility = SUMMER!!

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 I don’t know where to start! I guess I’ll just start by telling you that this has been an incredible summer. It was the first summer for the Sponsorship ministry site and each team we received was a blessing for us.

One of my favorite things about SI is to see how we as full time staff are the bridge that connects our students/volunteers with the people in the communities which we serve. And for me it was a huge blessing to see how God has transformed the lives of my students through the work we did together, which is still being done today.

I also had the opportunity to work with the summer staff directly. I was part of the summer staff coordination team with Maurine Bekaert and Britney Villhauer. In our first session we had 7 summer staff and 6 in the second session. Each group was special and it was a blessing for me to work with each all of the summer staff members. We quickly became friends and it was amazing to see how God was transforming their lives and to see them growing in Him.

We had two very special activities that happened within the Sponsorship site this summer. The first being the beginning of the vitamin program for the children in the schools. All of the children are able to receive vitamins, whether or not they are sponsored. The SI pediatrician, Dr. Sara Romero, collaborated her expertise in this area by choosing the vitamins for the children and by informing the professors how to give the vitamins to the children.

Our other special event was a special eye exam clinic. It was the first time for the students in the El Gorrion school to ever be examined by Dr. Fernanda, who has worked with us the past three years. Many of these kids had never been seen by an ophthalmologist before. And there was a great need for glasses for many of the kids. It was an incredible experience…I had done this for the 78 kids in the Monroy school last year, but the magnitude of this summer (117 kids in 3 days) was amazing! I don’t know how I survived!!

I know that God has been, and will continue to be faithful in my life. I have seen His blessing and His hand in everything I have done this year. He gives me the strength and wisdom to continue… I believe that without Him, my brain would be fried!

In other news, I finished my third semester in my university and I have already begun my 4^th semester. And of course, each semester is more difficult than the last. This semester I have to do internships, which I will be doing in the National Hospital in Antigua. It will be a new experience for me. The other day I realized that THIS is what I have been preparing myself for. I am about to diagnose real-life human beings. ( I know that sounds dramatic, but I’m serious!) But I am ready. And I can’t wait to see all that’s in store for me this semester.

And of course, the part that some of you were waiting for… The majority of you know that my parents are on sabbatical. And during their absence Seth Jurgenson is in charge. This summer without them brought a mix of emotions for me. They deserve this rest in their lives more than anybody. They have worked for 25 years serving the Lord, 13 being with SI. And I can’t be more proud of them. It is by their example that I am serving how I am.

Many of the teams this summer asked for them and wanted to visit them. Some of the leaders were able to see them. And of course many missed my dad’s pizza and my mom’s cakes at the banquets! But through all of this I could see just how much they are appreciated and loved.

During these 7 months I have learned so much… And I would never be able to finish thanking everyone for their friendship. From my leaders to my partners in ministry, I have felt like a sponge, absorbing ideas and help from everyone. So thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences with me!!!

So that pretty much sums up my summer. Thanks to all of you for your prayers, support and words of encouragement. It is a blessing for me to know that I have such great support in you. Thanks also to everyone who came to work in the Sponsorship site and for making my first year a great one!!!

Much love,

Nivia

 

My new chapter….

As I begin to write this blog, it is difficult to find the words to express how I feel about this exciting new chapter of my life.

My grandfather always encouraged me to write, he passionately believed that I could write a book, or at least a blog. So here I am starting my blog to give you a glimpse into my life. Sadly, I never started writing this blog before he passed away, which leads me to dedicate this first blog to my grandpa. Because I know in my heart that if he had the chance to read this, he would totally enjoy it!

I will start with the blessing of being a student. I’m in college now (hurray!) and enjoying my studies. I will graduate in Speech Pathology (Speech Therapist) in a year and a half and I can hardly wait!!
You might be wondering…How did I decide to study this? After letting God truly guide me through all of the tough decision making early last year(because it was too much to do it by myself). I prayed and said: “Lord all I want is to find something that I can use in the mission field to serve you. Please show me where I fit right!” And so He did. I truly love it. I am very excited and cannot wait to be done!

Studying and school is on Saturdays, but I bet you’re wondering what do I do the rest of the week? Let me take you on a fabulous ride of blessings, excitement and joy in my life. I have the wonderful opportunity of working with Students International here in Guatemala.

I’m in charge of the Child Sponsorship Program and I get to work with 179 children that are in the two schools that we partner with. These schools are located in Magdalena and El Gorrion. I have the privileged of shopping for their birthday presents and coordinating different activities for them. In addition, I visit the schools and offer help to the pre-K teachers; they are the ones in most need of an extra pair of hands! I absolutely love my job and love where God has me placed.

In between school and work life is keeping me busy, but I cannot complain. I feel very blessed to do what I’m doing not to mention what I’m studying. For years I’ve been labeled a ‘Missionary kid’ and words are not enough to express the great blessing and joy that has given me.

I’m thankful for my parents exposing me to this missionary environment. But now I’m changing titles…to ‘Missionary’…as scary and challenging as that sounds, I feel privileged to share the good news with the people here in Guatemala and make Him proud!

Please join me in prayer and support in this new chapter in my life. That His light and love will shine on me and that I’m able to reach those who are thirst for Him.

Blessings,

Nivia

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Giving out January benefits to the Sponsor Kids