Guatemala Wrap Up

Thought it would be fun to do something a little different. Just a bunch of pictures with little comment.

This is a very typical scene at any evangelical church. Concrete floors. Tin roof - not always waterproof. Not exactly like our church, but it does get the job done. (It also gets very loud when it's raining hard.)

One of the few pics I have of the two of us from the trip.

Very often children hang out around the clinics. It's not every day they get to see a tow-headed child. They are such beautiful children and so sweet.

Just a flower after a rain. It was in a pot between one of the churches and the kitchen area/bathroom.

Thank goodness these were cheap Old Navy jeans purchased on sale. Who would do body painting with acrylic paint? The kids loved his handiwork....wasn't a bad job for my child who really isn't that artistic. (No offense, James, but you know what I mean.) After we got in the suburban, one of the other moms said, "I guess I should have gotten the face-painting kit out." Yep. Probably wasn't acrylic paint.

Hermann is always cutting up and having fun. This baby was soooo cute.

This man really touched my heart. Choban played with a band in his church and was a deacon. He was so kind even in spite of being pretty sick. We met so many neat people.

I wish I had gotten a good picture of the older woman, Ambronsia. She was walking around barefooted (a woman after my own heart). Her daughter, Juana, was so kind and encouraging to us.

The pharmacy. Dieter (in the middle) is getting married next month. He's been the pharmacist on every one of our trips. We will miss him.

This is in Masaguas. For those of you have ever had any Spanish, you will recognize that as "a lot of water." Boy, it didn't disappoint. It rained so much that day. I met with Bonifacio early in the day....he prayed to receive Christ. One thing that always strikes me about Guatemala is that appears much easier for an adult there to accept Christ. It's harder there for them to provide their own hope and security so when they are offered something that provides so much hope, they are much quicker to grab onto it.

I could have just brought this little girl home. Too precious. She's showing a picture of Jesus teaching the people - I think she had no idea it is upside down.

Olga was such a sweet mom and her children so well-behaved. They were mesmerized by the evangecube. The doctor thought they all had parasites...a very common ailment here. Fortunately, we had medicine for that.

This is Jensy. Can you believe she's 12? Guatemalans are generally genetically shorter than other people. You can imagine the issues she has being taller than practically everyone else! Along with her height, you could see some rebellion going on, too. We asked her mom to leave so we could talk to her alone. I really felt for her. She looked like she was so uncomfortable in her own skin. She acted like she was only halfway listening. Then, later before we left she came up and gave me a big hug. (Of course, it could have been because I was James's mom. She definitely thought he was cute, but she did seem sincerely appreciative.)

Such a sweet woman. She promised to pray for me. One of those unexpected blessings we get while we are there.

James sharing the gospel. You can't really see Aleida who is the translator sitting beside him. She was awesome. I loved working with her.

Daughter of one of the leaders in the church in Villa Nueva. She was adorable.

The older kids are obviously intrigued, but always keep a bit of distance. They are all always quick to smile, though.

House on the Rock

Every Sunday afternoon that we are in Guatemala, we go to House on the Rock (or Casa Para Ninos). This year would prove to be quite different since we had Hillary with us. Hillary and her husband Chad have adopted two absolutely adorable little girls. One is from Guatemala and one is from Mexico. Going to a children's home was tough for her.

This is Pablo who was absolutely adorable. We hooked up with him as soon as we walked in the door. Unlike any other visit I have been on, we were there during parent visitation. It was pretty tough for me to watch parents come visit knowing that many of them had brought their kids here knowing that they couldn't care for them. What a blessing to have Mike and Dottie who parent over 500 kids.

But, therein lies the concern. How do 2 people parent 500 kids? It does seem like such a daunting task. Hillary left with so many questions and so many concerns.

I guess we have gotten used to seeing all those kids and understanding how they take such good care of the kids. There is a school. They are fed and clothed. Medical care is provided. But Hillary has such a heart for these kids.

We tried to explain that this was a good place and the children are so well cared for. It was raining so we didn't get to get the tour of the entire campus so it was hard to understand.

In the end, God had a plan. A very special plan just for Hillary. When we met the new translators, we found out that there was a very special one. One who had never translated with a team before, but whose first day was absolutely ordained by God.

You see, Hillary was assigned this new translator who's name is Marta. Marta was the first child from House on the Rock to translate for a team. Her first day was the day after Hillary was so worried about all those children. Marta was able to assure Hillary that it is a good place and that they are well cared for physically, emotionally and spiritually. How cool is my God?

Guatemala

I've already told you about landing in the Tropical Storm....the next day was Sunday and we had the opportunity to visit the new church plant in Antigua. I think it was only their 3rd Sunday to meet, but they were already having two services. The service was awesome, but we had a nice surprise afterward. Mario and his son, David, took us on a little walk. Our walk included a tour of the museum at the Casa de Santo Domingo.

The grounds are spectacular. I have tried to piece together a bit of the history from the signage at the museum and from what I could google. Antigua was originally Santiago de Guatemala (or St. James of Guatemala) and was one of the most important Spanish cities of the New World.

The city was built around a courtyard and included a church, convent, homes, etc numbering approximately 50 buildings. This photo was taken in a room underground and is one of the few remaining artifacts from the original buildings. There was an earthquake in 1773 so the capital was moved and the name changed to Antigua Guatemala or "old Guatemala." We were able to see the bases of the columns of the convent....they were massive.

We enjoyed getting to see a little bit the city. It is cleary very old, but is quite beautiful.

The city was first established in the early 1500s. It's pretty cool to walk around and see pieces of history that are 400 years old.

We also were able to tour a jade factory. Real jade is only found in a swath across Guatemala. We were told that Mexico does produce a lot of jade jewelry, they import it. It was also interesting to learn that Singapore jade is actually a different stone. (They told us the two different names, but I of course don't remember that. I do remember that Guatemalan jade was a better quality.) The Mayans placed great value on jade and actually attached it to their teeth as shown on this actual skull. (I know, it's a little creepy. I did at least leave out the photos of the priests, etc in the mausoleum. That was really creepy.) This little piece of cultural history helped me understand why so many women have gold on their teeth. They find it quite attractive.

The grounds were well-manicured and the plants fabulous. It seemed like a really great vacation spot sometime....maybe if I ever get my Spanish brushed up.

Rain, Rain and More Rain

If you don't believe in the power of prayer, you should come to Guatemala. As we were about to go through security, Hermann called to say we might land because the weather map was purple. They started praying they facebooked people here to pray because a pilot once told him they never land when it's purple.

You all know I fly a lot. I can't remember a smoother landing. No turbulence. Amazing and very cool.

It has rained a lot but then it is the rainy season. We visited a new church plant this morning in Antigua. Great service. It was their 3rd meeting and they already are having 2 services. Because we were in Antigua and had an bour to kill while waiting for the 2nd service, we were able to wander around a little . Stories and pictures to come.

The afternoon was at the children's home. More heart-wrenching than unusual since it was the day parents could visit. More on that, too. You may to skip that one...a heartbreaker.

Last Minute Update

This is absolutely a record. 9:15 and I'm practically done packing. I am never really totally done until we walk out the door, but I'm feeling pretty good about things.

We plan to send updates so check out the blog. Should be interesting since a hurricane is bearing down on Honduras. When we get back, I'll give you a geography lesson. Let's just leave it at we were about 10 miles from the Honduras border the first time we went.

I look forward to keeping you updated!

Last Guatemala Story...at least until Next Year

This is the last and probably my most heart-wrenching story. Several years ago we started sponsoring a couple of boys at Mana de Vida. It's a school that is affiliated with the church and ministry that we work with in Guatemala. The two boys, Daniel and Brayan, are roughly James and Christopher's ages. We were so fortunate to be able to meet them when we were there 18 months or so ago. I felt like we had an instant bond.

This year we were able to once again set up a meeting. We were really looking forward to seeing them. Unlike last year when we went to their school to see them, their principal brought them to us, which was a big trip for them. Unfortunately, there is never enough time, but the guys did get some playing in.

They had hoped that Christopher would be with us this time, but they were content with "just" James. After they played a while, we had a short visit with them and Jessica, the principal. She gave us an update on how they were doing in school. It's amazing how much they seems like our guys. Brayan, the younger one, is the class entertainer and is very outgoing. (Sound like anyone you know?) Daniel is one of the best students in the school and more...shall we say controlled. But then heart-breaking part, she said that his mom had tried to pull him out of school before the end of the year. Fortunately, they talked her into letting him stay. (Their school year ends in October.) She was very concerned about next year.

His mom is a street vendor and makes about $12 a month. I'm sure that every little bit helps, but for him to start street vending now means that would be his life. He stood there and just cried. I really could hardly stand it (and have tears welling up again to think about it). We really don't realize how good we have it.

We look forward to seeing them again next and hope and pray that Daniel will be there for us to see.

Guatemala Photo Journal

Most of my favorite shots from the trip with just a few saved for a post of their own.

Part of the week was at the Mexico border near the Pacific Ocean. A lot of tropical floribunda (and malaria medicine)

The first village was high on the side of a volcano - maybe 7,000 - 8,000 feet up. It was so isolated and the people were a little aloof and hungry and in need of so many things.

James participating in the children's program. He told me Miss Susan told him she was glad to see he could finally color in the lines. (She was his Sunday School teacher when he was four.)

This man had the most wonderful smile. He was missing most of his teeth, but it was such a gracious, thankful smile. I tried to get him to smile for a picture, but just wasn't successful. He gave me a great one when he saw his picture, though.

These guys were at that first village. They LOVED getting their picture and videos made.

Some of the team with Pastor Marco Antonio. I really enjoyed trying to chat with him. We worked with him at his church plant.

James sharing the gospel with an Evangicube.

The road to the first village. I use the term road loosely.

This little girl still haunts my memory.

Roadwork

Hope you enjoy.

Home

We're home after a very quick week. Quite a few of us feel like this week went so quick. I have more to share and pictures to share, but it's late and I'm really trying to get unpacked.

As always, it was an amazing trip. I especially appreciated hearing Hermann talk about his vision and what exactly he's trying to accomplish there. Sometimes there I find myself forgetting that Guatemala really is a third world country - they treat us so well and sometimes it feels like the villages we visit are the exception. They aren't and there is so much need there on so many levels. Some need clean water and some need food, but on this trip I was struck how much uncertainty there is. Guatemala borders Honduras, where there are significant political issues. I was more keenly aware on this trip and the concern that some have about Chavez's attempt to expand his sphere of influence, shall we say.

We take our freedom to worship, to get news, to work hard and be compensated so much for granted. I appreciate what this team does day in and day out to transform there country starting where we all should - showing people that our only hope is in Jesus Christ.

We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers. More soon.

Thursday

I had no idea how long today would be. It seemed like it would be an easy day given we only had to drive about 30 minutes. The little church we visited is one that is just getting started. They just had their music equipment stolen so they changed locations and had only been there a week.

I think this was my favorite day. The people were much talkative and open. I had a kind of conversation with the pastor, Marco Antonio. Between my very bad Spanish and his broken English, we were actually able to communicate. It was so encouraging to see him encouraged by our visit. It was so neat to see his heart for Jesus.

I realized during our first trip that these trips are more for us than the Guatemalans. Don't get me wrong....I think amazing things happen, but the way I am changed is also amazing. I see the needy in Atlanta so much more differently. I see needs around the world differently- I am more eager to give. So while our Guatemalan friends could do this without us, I think there wisdom in coming if only briefly.

I hope to get some pictures up soon. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Wednesday Backtracking

It was chilly Tuesday night, but it was beautiful. We were near the Mexican border and the Pacific Ocean. The plants and birds were tropical. I woke up early again - it was dark still and the skies were absolutely gorgeous. Devotion was, well, it was one of Hermann's devotions. I think we wrapped up in about 2 and a half hours. Hermann always encourages and challenges us.

We were then off to the clinic. Breakfast was waiting and was really good. We had some lemonade from a fruit that was a combination of tangerine and lemon. It was so good - it was still warm since they had to boil the water for us. The tortillas were excellent, Mexican style they called then because they were thinner.

Thr clinic was really good, but heartbreaking at the same time. The people were so open to the gospel because they have nothing else to hope in or trust in. I sat with two women who broke my heart. The first, Helen, was taking care of her siblings. Her mother died recently and although she was old enough to leave home, but believed she needed to stay with the kids because her father is so angry. I just felt for her. The other had a precious baby named Fernando. He could barely hear or so. He feet turned in. His mom had such a sweet spirit - they will stick with me for a long time.

We were there all day, leaving around 3:30 for the long drive home. We rode through a gorgeous coffee plantation. It was dotted with shanty-like homes that the plantation owners provided for the workers. It is the rainy season so it rained and rained. It quickly got dark and driving on those roads without lights was a new interesting experience. Radio driving gained a new meaning (they radio to each other when it's clear to pass, etc). It can be unnerving.

It was a late night and we were exhausted.

Backtrack Tuesday

Tuesday found us driving to a very small place near the Mexican border. We left early hoping to avoid the traffic (5am), but nevertheless got stopped behind an accident. In the end I think it took us about 5 hours to get to the church that was serving us breakfast. It was the typical beans, tortillas and picante. This small church is trying to plant churches in even smaller villages.

From there we driver another hour up the side of a volcano - Volcan Tajumtulco. The volcano is about 12,600 feet. We think we were about 7,000 to 8,000 feet up. But, I am getting ahead of myself. We travel in donated suburbans, some of which are getting old. The road wasn't a road at all. It was stones pushed into the dirt an was about as wide as the vehicles. They had obviously been hand laid. This road didn't see much traffic - there were plants growing among the stones. As we neared the top, the rear differential stopped pulling, is, the transmission was acting up. We went to front wheel drive and then that differential started overheating. In His way, this happened at the only spot where there was level ground to the side of the road. We were able to park the suburban and leave it during the clinic.

We were literally perched on the side of this mountain for the clinic. It was so beautiful until the clouds descended on us. We were in mist most of the day. The youth had prepared breakfast and the men fixed lunch. Real tamales wrapped in plaintain leaves. There was something else that was like a polenta consistency wrapped in corn husks. The men outdid themselves.

The clinic itself was interesting. This area had been ravaged by the 30 year civil war. The government killed thousands across the country and the communist guerillas weren't much better. The area was very poor and the people were not very trusting. For the first time in all our trips there was someone who said she had never heard of God. I found it hard at times to not break into tears.

The women covered dinner. Amazing how different ways you can have beans, tortillas and rice and it still be good. The best surprise was our accomodations. It was a retreat center. There were two small pools and it was beautifully landscaped. A true treat.

Christopher, love you and miss you. Keith, love you. Record the Alabama game, please :)

Monday in Guatemala

Interesting 24 hours. Last night we lost power for about 2 hours. We had plenty of food, but of course Susan and I had to be difficult. We needed a Christopher special so we went to Hermann's house (with a gas oven) and toasted our peanut butter, Nutella and marshmallows on tortillas. Yummy.

James and I were up around 4:30 so we had a lot of time to kill before devotion at 7. Dr. Alb was on a roll and it lasted about 2 and a half hours. We were loading everything up when suddenly Hermann came in and called us all together. Today is their "Columbus Day" and there were protests all over. I have tried to understand exactly what it is about. Something about foreign companies coming in and then something about the lack of control by Mayans who were here when the Spanish landed. A lot of political undertones that i don't understandvbut am fascinated by. One news report was saying some thought the government turned off the power in anticipation of today. Roads were blocked by the protesters everywhere so they decided we wouldn't venture out today. It's been a good day for getting to know the team and visiting with the translators we already knew.

The plan is now to LEAVE at 5am. Yikes! (That also means devotions have to be tonight. We were harassing them asking if God would know tonight's devotion is really for tomorrow.)

By the way, we watched a movie by the same folks who made Facing the Giants. Faith Like Potatoes. I bawled my eyes out, but would recommend it.

Tip Wednesday....

Sunday in Guatemala

Today was church at Vida Real. A special treat today because Hermann preached. He taught about God showing us His supernatural power...pretty good stuff.

Lunch was at Chili's. Bless Denise's heart - she convinced everyone that instead of going to the food court and having 10 people go to different places we should just go to Chili's. I didn't care that much about the food, but I was beginning to stress about having to collect all those receipts. (Don't think I've mentioned that I'm the accountant for this trip - I avoided it the last two trips, but Susan roped me in this time.)

Sunday afternoon is always reserved for House on the Rock. It's a children's home with hundreds of children who have been abused, abandoned, or dropped off because their parents can't care for them. We go over and just play with them. Today we just played with the "angelitos" or little angels. Their play area is covered and since it was pouring (we just can't escape the rain), we got to stay in there.




The kids are so starved for attention and love. It seemed to me that this trip more of them just wanted to be held and loved on. Angela jumped in my arms and just cuddled for a long time. They were just so cute.

The camera is always a big hit. They like seeing themselves and they like taking pictures. Of course, the focus or focal point is really not important.






James hit it off with Antony (on the left) and some other boy. I never could understand his name, but his friend just kept calling him bad. It was heartbreaking to see all his little front teeth just totally rotten.






James really had to cultivate Antony. He just ignored us for the longest and didn't respond to anyone calling his name, but James just kept loving on him.





When it was time to go, James didn't want to leave...he just wanted to stay and hang out with Antony.

Time to go back for tomorrow. We are headed to San Marcos, which is close to the Mexican border and relatively close to the Pacific Ocean. It's supposed to be really hot there. Fortunately, the next day will be in the mountain where we've heard there's been a lot of rain (of course) and cool. We spend the night out in the villages the next two nights so no updates until hopefully Wednesday.

We're Here!

We arrived around lunchtime after a fairly uneventful trip. The day of arrival involves unloading all the bags and making the grocery list for the trip. We have to plan for certain meals for about 20 people. I always find it fascinating to shop in the Guatemalan version of Costco. (They have just about everything we do, except marshmallow fluff. The Christopher specials just won't be the same with regular marshmallows, but we will do our best. For those who don't know what that is, it involves peanut butter, Nutella and marshmallow fluff...you will have to ask for more details.)

We now kind of hanging out (trying to stay awake) before dinner. Hermann is taking us out for Italian.

It's odd how this kind of feels like coming home. This is going to be a good week.

Non-productive Monday

I started this Monday (actually this weekend) with a long list of things to get a accomplished.  It is a long weekend, after all.  I was making really good progress until last night.  It seems every few years, technology begins thwarting me.  All our "family" stuff is on Keith's laptop -  Quicken, TurboTax, the excel spreadsheets that support our stuff.  That laptop has begun revolting and last night it just became downright stubborn.  After a 3-hour session that should have taken 30 minutes I went to bed thinking I would just get up this morning and it would all be fine.

Alas this morning, I've met my match.  Long story short  we've decided we need to set up our own home network and cut out Comcast.  That will probably result it in its own post, but I am very, very frustrated and we have to do something.  James has noted that I get very cranky when I am frustrated.  I have noted that I need to work on that.  

Contemplating all of this (and reading Lisa writes' post this morning) I was reminded of how sweet James was yesterday at the bike shop.  He decided he needed to pick out bike socks to match to the 2 long-sleeved jerseys I just purchased.  (I thought they were just long-sleeved tops/light jackets, but they are jerseys.  When I went down to get on the trainer last night, I asked him if I looked like a cyclist.  Of course, his response was "only if you go fast."  Classic James.

The other thing that has helped keep it all in perspective today was a video we've seen at church the past few Sundays.  Yesterday was our Global Outreach Sunday when we focus on the world.  This video has really stuck with me.  Maybe it's the lady's accent or maybe it's the message...you should check it out and see what you think.

Significant Progress

Or, was it?  I was up until 1am cropping our first Guatemala trip (and if truth be told a good part of today was spent on this project).  It feels like something significant.  30 12x12 pages.  It's a lot of pages, but then our pictures from our New York trip arrived and it's a big honking stack.  I won't even mention the dozen or so other events from 2007 that still need to be done.  Ok, I'm obsessing now - people at my house will vouch that I tend to do that sometimes.

As I was going through these I was reminded of a very incredible story.  Since this trip was before this blog started, I thought I would share it.

On Thursday (the 5th of 7 days) we loaded up our caravan of Suburbans and headed to Las Cabesas.  It was during the Presidential runoff election, which was to occur the next week so there was lots of activity related to that.  About an hour in we started seeing people line the road and lots of armed people - army, police, you name it.  We were very curious, but decided it must have something to do with the election.  (At least we hoped because we were getting ever closer to the Honduras border.  Military and borders always seem like an interesting combination to me.)

Then we were forced to pull over and a police car passed and then.....some other official looking car.  A candidate's car?  James figured it out first.

In complete glee and delight, he yelled, "It's a breakaway!  It's a breakaway!"  Somehow at the same time he was yelling out the window, "Work together, people.  Work together, people."  He started watching he watch; timing the distance to the peloton.  Since I was fast becoming a cycling expert at that point, I knew we were talking about a bike race.  I had tears in my eyes.  How neat, I thought, that God would let James see a bike race.

I mean we were this close.  We saw the team cars, water bottle handoffs, the sweat dripping off them.  (That's probably enough detail.)  There were cars from all over - Mexico, Columbia, Venezuela  The director for our group told us it was the Vuelta de Guatemala.  A stage race - the biggest race in Central and South America.  When we arrived, I was talking to my friend Susan about how neat it was.  She smiled and said, "Well, what you don't know is that this morning James was my prayer partner and I asked God to send him something special.  Something just for him.  Next time I'll know to be more specific and ask that it not add 30 minutes to our trip."

How cool is that?

Another Confession - Already?

For any of you that have known me for any length of time you know that I'm an extrovert.  One definition of that is that you think and process data by speaking out loud.  So, today as we were packing up some Christmas decorations, I made the comment to my hubby, as he was casually passing through, that I was going to be caught up on all my scrapbooking by this time next year.  What?!  Who jumped into my body and said that?  I have never, ever been caught up with my scrapbooking.  Just look at this desk.  

I sat down tonight - determined to get through our Guatemala pictures from 2007.  (Yes, I know that was over a year ago.)  The stack was ginormous.  (I'm not really sure how to spell that, but James is in bed and I can't wake him to ask.  Of course, I could but he would tell on me so it's close enough.)  I was absolutely determined to get the pictures placed on the paper.  Not glued down, not journaled, not embellished.  Just placed.  After several hours, I'm through them all and I have 28 12x12 pages.  Before I let James get in the bed, I made him PROMISE to keep me from taking so many pictures next year.  Sigh....I still have the 2008 trip to go.