I have ministered in Guatemala regularly since 2010. If you were to ask, “What is the highlight of your time and service there?” my response would certainly be, “Finding Débora Ramírez and connecting her to seeJesus!”
I met Débora in 2012. I was using seeJesus material for training indigenous groups, and some of it had not yet been translated into Spanish. Débora offered to do this for me as a gift and, in so doing, became very familiar with the content. When I returned to Guatemala each year, I would always ask Débora to assist me in my discipleship training. It soon became apparent that she was gifted in teaching and, as time went on, she became the lead trainer of our two-person team!
Débora journey toward becoming an official trainer with us began in early 2017. After completing our training seminar, a team of us went to Livingston, Guatemala, a small town on the Caribbean coast, for Débora to lead classes for children and adults. While Débora's training had been in how to lead Bible lessons for groups of 6-12 people, her first class had 250 students! She adapted beautifully, and people loved her classes. It was clear to all of us that we needed to find a way for Débora to do more of this!
“My mother always prayed that I would grow up to preach the word of God,” says Débora. “But I didn’t see how that could happen; as an introvert, it was not my personality. Then, God ‘loosed my tongue’ and gave me words, allowing me to speak truth into a young woman’s life in a time of need. It changed her and it changed me.”
In her work as Central America Coordinator, Débora’s focus will be on continuing to develop relationships among churches and missions, teach seminars, and develop apprentices and leaders. She is well known in the evangelical community in Guatemala and has already arranged for several seeJesus trainings in the area. We anticipate her work expanding across Central America and into South America.
“I am thankful God is sending me to speak to my own people about such an important message,” she says. “Pray for God to draw me near to him, to give me a tender and patient heart for the people I minister to, and to use me to teach others.”
If you’d like to support Débora’s work, you can do so here.
