Meet Forrest
and Carol Kendall. They have been
married for more than 30 years, and have four children and six
grandchildren. Five years ago, Forrest
and Carol were living on their multi-million dollar farm in Virginia when God
told them to sell everything and move to Guatemala to become full-time
missionaries. While unsure at first,
they were obedient to God’s calling on their lives, and have been amazed ever
since at God’s faithfulness and constant provision. “We are humbled to be called His servants.” When asked how long they plan to stay in
Guatemala, their answer is always the same: “Until the Lord sends us someplace
else.” Today, they have impacted more
lives than they could ever possibly imagine, including mine.
Forrest’s and
Carol’s ministry is called Servants 4 Him.
They work with churches, mission organizations, and other missionaries
to teach health education while spreading the good news of Jesus Christ in
developing countries. They have opened
their home to almost anyone and everyone who is passing through Guatemala. This includes us! Their hearts are made of pure gold. When Carol isn’t handing out homemade cookies
or making us fresh coffee, she’s driving us to and from work sites, or teaching
us fun and creative ways to communicate with the indigenous people here.
Forrest and
Carol believe that, when the local church is involved in meeting the physical
needs of the community, there are many opportunities to address spiritual
needs. They call this “good deeds
evangelism.” Forest and Carol build
water filters, teach health and hygiene classes, host mission teams, and build
relationships with the people in the villages they work in. Their focus is to encourage churches
worldwide to expand their world mission vision, helping people to develop a
heart for Guatemala, and other developing countries.
Everything they do, building filters or teaching classes, is to share the
love of Jesus Christ with the people they serve. Learning to do this in
Spanish has proven to be quite a challenge, more for Carol than for
Forrest.
We
have the pleasure of working with Forrest and Carol for the rest of our time
here in Guatemala. Contaminated water
for drinking and cooking is a significant problem in much of the world. Harmful
bacteria in water used for consumption is a leading cause of health problems in
Guatemala, including diarrhea. Dehydration from diarrhea is the leading
cause of death here, especially among children.
We will be working closely with Servants 4 Him to build bio-sand filters to
address this problem. The bio-sand
filters remove or kill parasites, harmful bacteria, and viruses, making water
safe to drink.
Many spiritual parallels or examples
can be drawn from the need for filtering water and the work of the water
filter. Therefore, the filters become a great “door opener” to
talk to people about Jesus Christ. By
meeting a physical need, clean water, there are many opportunities to discuss
spiritual needs.
Please join us in praying for
Forrest and Carol, that their ministry would be blessed and continue to bless
others. Please pray that hearts would
continue to be changed here in Guatemala, and that people would come to know
God’s love in the most intimate of ways!
For more
information about Forrest and Carol, or about their ministry, please visit
their website at http://servants4him.org/.
