meet karen.

Karen Zimmerman spent most of her adult life overseas in Kenya and Mozambique serving as a missionary. She and her husband, Paul, are now “retired” and currently reside in Tennessee near two of their children. Karen also happens to be a sister to one of our team members here at GFG. That’s how we knew of the situation. Anyone who knows Karen knows that you don’t have to be in a foreign field to serve God full-time. Karen fills her time giving selflessly to others in her church and neighborhood. She would truly give the shirt off her back to anyone in need and literally has. In recent months, Karen had the desire to learn to play guitar. She picked up a very old, small children’s guitar that had been given to her by a neighbor and started to learn basic chords but was frustrated by the size limitations of the instrument and put the guitar away. In her mind, the purchase of a new guitar was out of the question and felt frivolous. That’s when we decided to step in and surprise her. We knew she would not feel worthy to receive it so we sent it with a letter stating a few stipulations. The most important one was that she received it with grace as a gift from a loving God and let it encourage and strengthen her heart. In the video that her son took, a combination of tears of joy and a sense of overwhelming unworthiness can be seen in her response, as she unpackaged the instrument upon receiving it. She promises to use it for the glory of God and we have no doubt that she already has and will in the days and years ahead.

World EMBRACE

We teamed up with Reynold from World Embrace, who is currently in Uganda working on some big things! Reynold and his team have the dream to start the first music school in northern Uganda. They’ve teamed up with an online teaching music program to learn more, but were lacking the instruments to learn on! This is just the beginning for them, as they hope to launch early next year - we can’t wait to see what beautiful things will flow out of that school.

Live to Worship, Meet Herman.

He and his wife are incredible people. As worship leaders, they and their daughter are following God's calling across the country of Belize, bringing music and worship into churches that are in need of that ministry. Herman's vision to serve the people of Belize in leading, teaching, and equipping churches with worship through his ministry aligns with the vision of Guitars for Glory. So when he told us his needs, we wanted to help. Some time back, Herman's guitar was blown over and the neck broke. Since then he only had access to using his church's instruments, but has had nothing to practice on outside of the church or take with him when visiting other congregations. That hasn't stopped his family in their passion to serve, and in perseverance they continued leading worship. We had the humbling opportunity to equip this great man and his family with a guitar and cajon to be their own and to use to continue their ministry in a moment where they were unsure of how they would continue without these resources.

Meet Jasmine.

Jasmine, a music therapist, has been making beautiful music with her current acoustic guitar, despite its broken nut and cracks in the soundboard. While the repairs were too costly to make sense of for this well-loved instrument, she’s always found ways to keep playing.

Unfortunately, her 3/4 size acoustic, purchased to use in therapy with children, was stolen. One of our close friends told us Jasmine’s story, and we were able to surprise Jasmine with a brand-new Martin guitar! This guitar will help her continue to spread joy and healing through music, just as she has done for so many.

Meet Luke.

Charis focuses on the unseen spiritual needs and the seen physical needs of people in Haiti. We partnered with Charis to get an instrument in the hands of a young Christian man named Luke. Since receiving the guitar, Luke has practiced every day. He uses the guitar weekly for Charis’ house church, which has grown from 56 people to over 200! www.charis4haiti.com

Meet David & angel

This picture was shared by our friends working in Guatemala. A GFG guitar being used at one of the church plants way up in the mountains. One of the guitars was gifted to the church and is used by several of the guys who live there in the area and know how to play (that’s the guitar on the left, played by David). Angel is playing another one and he’s a young, talented man who loves to sing praise songs with his dad (the singer). Absolutely love getting reports like this back!

Meet Kanaiyo.

Our friends introduced us to Kanaiyo’s story and we had to get an instrument in his hands. He is from a remote village in East Africa, and after becoming a Christian and starting Bible college he is now highly involved in his church and school: taking as many classes as he can, leading on the worship team at church and writing his own songs. He is always looking to learn how he can better reach his community’s spiritual and physical needs. His desire for a guitar fits well with his passion for church ministry, and we are grateful he finally has a guitar of his own.

Meet Doris Castillo

This is our friend Doris, who we met when we went on a GFG trip to Spain! We'll let her share her story: "This is me still trying to figure out how this beautiful guitar is mine now, thanks so much guys for this incredible present...I'll be forever grateful with God for your lives and that he gave me the great opportunity to meet such a wonderful group of people. Worshipping with you guys would be something I'll never forget, thanks again for leading us closer to God. Thanks Lord for what you do through their lives, I could literally see and experience your love through them. It's really amazing how you made things work together for our good. I'll keep praying for you guys so that you might continue touching people's lives as you did in mine, and let God's name be heard all over the nations. Love you all! P.S. I named this beautiful guitar "Valerie."

We received this card and picture from a friend a few years ago. It included a message of her own "Guitars For Glory" moment, giving a guitar away to a young worship pastor in the Ukraine. It was so encouraging to read her story and words of encouragement. She also included a donation to GFG. The fact that resources continue to flow into GFG during a time where so many are struggling to pay for groceries, brings us to our knees with gratitude. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The economics of God don't make sense. Generosity always wins.

Mission Bulgaria

We teamed up with Mission Bulgaria in October 2022 to get some guitars in the hands of some of the churches in the Roma Villages of Bulgaria. We were able to give one to a church to give them more access during their street outreach ministry, and the other went to their main missionary Dinko, who is raising up worship pastors and pastors and is constantly teaching guitar to students who do not have a personal guitar. Mission Bulgaria has 47 churches that have helped plant in the most impoverished villages of Bulgaria (and all of Europe), and we’re so excited to get guitars for some of their leaders!

Meet DANIEL.

A few months back we posted about recipient, Luisa, from Colombia receiving her new guitar. Because of our new friendship with Luisa, we were able to learn about the need for a guitar that her brother-in-law, Daniel had. Daniel is worship director in Colombia. He has been the worship director at his church, and a huge focus of Daniel’s work is leading and teaching youth in music and the arts, with the goal of taking art as a tool to carry the message of Jesus to other generations. We love Daniel’s heart for encouraging and leading the next generation!

Meet Theo

Our friend John was able to deliver a new guitar on behalf of Guitars for Glory to Greece. The guitar was placed with Theo Goutzios, who together with his wife Sandra leads the Kingfisher Bible school in Skopelos, Greece.

Kingfisher Bible School project launched over 25 years ago as their response to Christ’s call to be “fishers of men”. The project has since expanded to include; discipleship training schools, spiritual retreats and family and youth camps. There are biblical site tours in the steps of Paul and recreational activities around the island, also engaging with the local community through crafts, games and other social events.

india connection.

We had the opportunity to partner with India Connection, an organization that works with pastors, rescues girls from the streets and gets them in school, provides theology training and medical assistance. We were able to get a guitar to Pastor Jacob, who is a church planter in tribal areas. We hope this instrument encourages Pastor Jacob & his team while they continue the incredible work that’s being done!

LifeLink International

Two more GFG guitars have a new home! LifeLink International is an educational ministry in Nicaragua. We partnered with our friend Deborah, who has been working in Nicaragua for almost two decades. The need for education was pointed out early in Deborah’s time there, and LifeLink School was started! 10 years later, Deborah & her team teach and feed 450 students! Many of those students are musically gifted, however most would never be able to afford an instrument or pay for lessons. Deborah wrote, “In our eyes poverty shouldn't stop a child's dream of learning music or an instrument!” She’s right. Now LifeLink has two new guitars to teach kids to play & worship together in chapel services. Thanks for helping love these kids.

Global Surge

We connected with Global Surge, whose ministry focus is church planting. In February of 2020 Pastor Rodno launched his church. Then, 3 weeks later, just after he had this huge burst of momentum the country went under an enhanced community quarantine. Thankfully pastor Rodno had a strong community group and discipleship network already in place and he's continued to reach people even through this difficult time. The day he was planning a visit to their main office to talk with the finance team about purchasing a guitar-- Jeff (their music/equipment leader) met up with him and handed him a beautiful guitar of his own. Pastor Rodno & his team couldn't stop saying THANK YOU over and over again. They were and still are in awe of how God answered this huge prayer!

Empowering Quechuas

This was the guitar that was sent while our team member was in Peru with Miguel from Empowering Quechuas. Miguel was finally able to bring her the instrument - She lives in a community called Paqcha. She is a musician and in every workshop that she helps in or church service that she participates in she plays her old guitar. She got so excited when he gave her this new acoustic guitar. She thought Miguel was just letting her play it so she was so surprised when he told her it’s yours from God, so you can continue worshiping. Such a special moment!

Meet Gideon.

Gideon is a 15 year old orphan who lives in Nepal. Over the last couple years Gideon has learned how to play on one of his friends backpack guitars, but has only ever dreamed of owning his own guitar. Gideon has a passion for music and leading the other orphans in worship. Our missionary partner met up with him and the other orphans, and when it was time for some music, they asked Gideon to lead on the new Fender acoustic that Gideon believed belonged to the missionaries. It was at that time they surprised Gideon and the other orphans by letting them know the guitar was now theirs. The guitar will now be accessible to all that live in the orphanage. Our partner said "Gideon was beyond words when he saw the guitar. He wants to be a worship leader at church when he’s old enough, and go into ministry when he’s done with high school."

Noah, Africa New Life

We were blessed to connect with the people at Africa New Life, who has the mission of “breaking the cycle of poverty in Rwanda by providing education, spiritual care and basic necessities to children and families.” We heard about Noah’s story and his love for music from Africa New Life, whose team spent countless hours loving and caring for this sweet boy with a heart of gold and a desire to create, lead, and love those in his community.