Les & Rita

After leading numerous short-term mission trips, God gave us a vision to serve the people of Guatemala and bring them the love and the Good News of Jesus. We left our home in Kamloops, British Columbia in 2000 in an old Aerostar van loaded with our three youngest children and a few possessions that would help us begin our ministry in Tactic. We drove from Canada through the United States and Mexico, and arrived in Guatemala to begin the process of learning Spanish and of becoming part of the community. In 2008, our family expanded as we adopted Tim, our Guatemalan son.

Since those early years, we have learned to love these precious people of Guatemala! God has blessed the ministry with amazing growth and many new believers have come to know Jesus – lives have changed. We started with less than 100 students in a single school. Now there are eleven schools with over 1,700 students! The children are receiving an academic education and learning to know and love the Lord – and we’ve been here long enough now that we are seeing the students from our schools becoming teachers, directors and leaders in every area of our ministry.

Rita is involved in intentionally discipling and mentoring the up-and-coming Guatemalan leaders and has a special place in her heart for our Vida Children’s Home for orphaned and abandoned children. Les continues to work with short-term mission teams and administer the many areas of Impact Ministries. We both preach in the Rio de Vida Churches and are committed to serving God by serving His children in Guatemala.

While in Canada, we enjoy meeting with pastors, supporters, sponsors and friends to share all that God is doing. We are thrilled to support the vision that the Lord is birthing in the hearts of the next generation of leadership. The work continues and we are blessed to be part of it!

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support.