Groundwork Guatemala!

Sponsorship opportunities!

2011-05-30T15:45:00.000-06:00

Groundwork Guatemala's sponsorship projects offer an opportunity for you to connect your heart with that of a Guatemalan child or missionary! You will receive correspondence from them four times a year along with their love and gratefulness for sharing your blessings with them. They love to hear from their sponsors, so we encourage you to write notes, send cards or pictures as you get to know each other! Your correspondence would be sent to the stateside base in Arizona, which would then be translated by Rachel and brought down to Guatemala the next time we come back.

Your donation can be made monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly or yearly by check, PayPal or arranging an auto-pay with your bank. If you feel called to sponsor one of our children or missionaries, please contact Rachel Stauner at sponsor@groundworkguatemala.org and she will help you get started!

Catch the slideshow at the top right of the blog to see the current opportunities for sponsorship! Click on the little text bubble in the bottom left corner to view names and sponsorship needs.

Water of Life!

2011-05-30T13:34:00.000-06:00

If someone offered you a cup of water in Buena Vista, in many cases you might think you'd been handed a cup of tea. The water that the people in this little remote village have been drinking comes from either a well or the river, which is also the place where they wash their clothes and themselves. So from milky white to muddy brown, the water that is ingested by babies, children and adults is far from pure. By the grace of God and a wonderful grant from the Oklahoma LWML, in addition to a generous personal donation, Groundwork Guatemala was able to purchase 120 water purification systems.

For several months and with the help of two of the local teens receiving education scholarships, Julián has been installing about ten systems per week in homes throughout Buena Vista. Off they go with twenty 5 gallon buckets and lids, asking families if they would like to receive a free water filter system. A few have said "No, gracias." Perhaps they're afraid to try it because it's "something new" in this village back in time. Makes me wonder what's holding them back from receiving this free gift. But most people are quite eager to have one installed in their home. Julián goes through the process of putting the system together and talks about how the impurities in the water can make us sick. As the muddy water is poured into the top pail, then goes through the filter into the bottom pail, everyone in the room takes a turn at looking in and is amazed at how clear the water is! Finally, Julián asks for a "clean" glass and has the pure water run into it. He takes a drink to show the family that the water is safe to drink...no tricks. Odd to think they might be afraid of the pure water, isn't it?

When we think about how many times we had told people to "drink more water" in the past, we realize that, while they may have been more hydrated, they were probably ingesting who knows what into their systems. How thankful we are that 120 families with all those little kidlets will now be drinking safe, pure and life-giving water!!

But wait! There's more!! As Julián talks with the family about the need for them to drink pure water, he also takes the time to get to know them a bit, to see if they have need for prayer and to see if they know their Savior, Jesus Christ. What joy to find that so many have a relationship with the Lord! If you've ever gone on a house visit with Julián you've seen his gentle, but passionate way of sharing his faith with his people. So, seizing the opportunity, he uses these filters that take out the impurities from their water as one of the best object lessons I've ever heard. Julián shares with those who don't know Christ how He is the Living Water, purifying us from all our sin so that we can enter into God's holy presence blameless and without impurities. No tricks. Nothing to be afraid of. We don't have to wait until we are "clean" and have our act together. Jesus has done it all for us!!

So, through these filters our friends in Buena Vista are receiving life-giving water for their bodies and Living Water through Jesus for their souls!!

Rainy season? Bring it on!!

2011-04-25T13:15:00.000-06:00

There's been a construction boom in Buena Vista!! With the approaching six month rainy season beginning in May, we are very excited that those coming to the Groundwork Faith Lessons will be a bit drier this year. In the past we have set up tarps and pop-up canopies to shelter us from the sun or rain. But with larger numbers attending and our January move to the ministry's little plot of land, we're now meeting every Wednesday under the newly constructed shelter. Chochi, ever on the look out for a good deal, managed to have some of the lamina (corrugated sheets of tin) and posts donated, keeping costs down for the ministry. We're always looking for ways to help the local people provide for their families, so Francisco, along with several other Buena Vista men were hired to do the construction.

As you can see in this picture, our shelter came with a built in (and quite unplanned) sun roof. With a bit of "adjusting" all is well, and will keep the raindrops from falling on our heads!

Of course, we all know that where two or three are gathered together, there needs to be a baño (bathroom)! So, after digging a deep hole and laying the ridiculously heavy "throne" over it, sinking a few posts and adding metal lamina, we have an official one holer!! I guess the two or three need to wait in line! Speaking of two or three, in true Guatemalan fashion, at one point Ody managed to get two or three pieces of 4'x8' lamina transported via bus from Santa Lucia to Buena Vista...I can't begin to know how she pulled that off...

About three weeks ago, a truckload of black sand (looking suspiciously like volcanic ash, in my opinion) arrived. Another of Chochi's deals, to be sure. Keeping in mind that Buena Vista has no running water...just a few wells...Francisco will lay a cement floor under the shelter. He will accomplish this huge task in exchange for some leftover lamina sheets that he will use to put a roof on his house. Much more effective at keeping the rain out than the plastic that he currently has, to be sure.

All in all, this has been quite a project! How blessed we are to have willing servants like Chochi and Francisco and others on our ministry staff to give of their time and energy. And how God has blessed us with the resources to make it all possible!!

Check out our Groundwork Guatemala facebook page for more pics!

Bienvenidos a Ody y César!

2011-03-02T09:05:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Ody and César!

We are excited to introduce to you two new friends who are now working with us in ministry.

Ody and César joined Groundwork Guatemala in January 2011. We are blessed to have both of them on staff and part of our family!

Ody, her baby, Friseida, and Kristen, one of her sponsors

Ody oversees the scholarships for all of the children who are going to school. She makes sure that the children have all that they need for their school year. She fits them with shoes and uniforms. She purchases any supplies and books that they may need and makes sure that their tuition is paid. Ody's goal is to develop relationships with the children, parents and schools showing her passion for these children and her desire for them to succeed and move forward in their education.. We are so happy to have her with us!

César and Minor in Buena Vista

César was one of the young men who had a scholarship with us and graduated from high school last year. He had been working elsewhere until he felt called to join the ministry at Groundwork Guatemala. He says that he sees the needs of people and that he wants to be a part of helping them. César is a hardworking young man and will do any job that he is asked to do. He desires to learn English so that he can better communicate with our mission teams. César brings his sense of humor with him every day and it is such a joy to have him as part of our Groundwork Guatemala family.

For those of you coming to Guatemala on mission teams this year, we look forward to introducing you to Ody and César!

Interested in sponsoring one of our missionaries? Contact Rachel at sponsor@groundworkguatemala.org for more information.

Kids, kids and more kids

2011-02-27T16:12:00.000-06:00

Eareckson Kendall

We often say that God is running before us at Groundwork Guatemala in such a big and exciting way, that sometimes it's hard to keep up with Him! It has been evident from the beginning that He chose educational scholarships as a big part of how we were to be ministering to the needs of the people we serve. Although public school is said by the government to be free, the reality is that the students need uniforms, shoes and supplies. I would venture to say that for most of us a price tag of $70-100 for a year's education is well within the affordable range, but for most of the families we serve it is a price tag in the "impossible" range.

Isis Alondra

Hernan Ismael

Vilma Consuelo

So, 2011 has found us with a gaggle of kids!! Or maybe I should say herd? or swarm? Well, anyway, we're very close to 100 beautiful children who are receiving assistance to attend school this year. From the public school in Buena Vista, to the Christian school in Amatitlán, to the private and Christian schools in Guatemala City, and various other schools in each of our sites, we are very excited to offer these children and their families the opportunity to move forward through education. We primarily work with families with which we've established a relationship so that we know there are genuine needs. Throughout the year we work with the families and children to encourage and do all we can to help them have a successful year in school. Given the culture of poverty that defines most of the population of Guatemala, we feel privileged to be called to assist these children and young adults to move forward in their lives, to rise above the high rate of illiteracy and failure.

Llymi Adan

It's just amazing to me how excited these kids are to just be able to go to school. Recently, Llymi (pronounced "yimmie") left for school in El Rincón with a big smile and his backpack. He is 14 years old and in the 3rd grade. It's not unusual for older children to be in lower grades because many have not been able to attend school every year, or at all, unless they had some type of assistance. Kevin said that shortly after Llymi left, he came back home again. Most people here don't have a clock or watch, so it's hard to know what time it is. But Llymi had left for school at 11:30 in the morning. His classes didn't begin until 1:00 in the afternoon! So excited to be able to go to school that he didn't want to risk being late!!

Many have been asking about how they can begin to sponsor a child's education through Groundwork Guatemala. Because there are children attending both private and public schools, there is a wide range of options from which you can choose. From $7 to $30 or more per month, you can choose what amount you feel God has called you to donate and whether you would like to send your donation monthly, quarterly or yearly. Donations can be made by check, bank auto-pay or PayPal. How can you get started? Contact Rachel via email at sponsor@groundworkguatemala.org and let her know what dollar amount you would like to donate, your method of sending your donation and if you have any preferences as to age, boy/girl, location of your sponsored child. She'll take it from there!

Fidelia Esperanza

Four times each year you will receive communications from your sponsored child and soon you will discover how much you have become part of your child's family.

Connecting hearts. It doesn't get much better than that!

School Supplies for Guatemalan kiddos!

2011-02-27T10:52:00.013-06:00

It's been a busy January and February at Groundwork Guatemala as the new 2011 school year begins. (The school year in Guatemala begins in January and ends mid-October.) Throughout 2010, our mission teams with the help of their support congregations, friends and families collected hundreds of pounds of school supplies.

Because the public schools here receive little or no funding for supplies or books for the children (an average of less than $5 per student for the entire year), we keep our ear to the ground to find the schools that are most in need of these basic supplies. There are often adults and children who walk great distances to come to the Faith Lessons that Groundwork Guatemala offers each week. So, it is frequently to the remote schools close to where they live that our staff distributes to these children and teachers any donations given above the needs of our sponsorship project kids.

You wouldn't think that a backpack or a Ziploc containing pencils, glue, crayons and scissors would bring such big smiles, but both teachers and students are thrilled to receive these little bags of blessings. So, after Oscar and Ruth told each class that what they were receiving was, indeed, a blessing received from God, hundreds of school supply bags were given to these eager, smiling children.

We are grateful for the gifts of love that so many of you have given to support God's work in Guatemala. Gracias!!

Dancing with all her might!

2011-02-18T14:52:00.003-06:00

Her name was Carmen. I never saw her walking without crutches and I always thought hugging her was like hugging a skeleton. We first met Carmen down in La Libertad six years ago as she came for food each day. Or we would see her standing on a busy street corner, supported by her crutches, begging for a quetzal here or fifty centavos there. As the years went by Carmen had been hit by various vehicles, buses, motorcycles...causing injuries that eventually left her completely bedridden...except when her children would put her in a baby carriage and wheel her up to the same busy corner to beg. Nice. As we visited her in her small cement block room, she often burst into tears just because someone came to see her. Her body, now seriously just skin and bones had curled into an almost fetal position. One bone in her leg was sticking out in a strange way that...well, we won't describe that or her bedsores that caused so much discomfort. No longer able to walk, her bed was a disgusting combination of dirt and well, we won't go into that either...

A visit with Carmen always left us feeling a lot of emotions. At times we would cry together for how hard and painful this was. We would laugh together just because we were together. But what always amazed us was when Carmen would read God's Words of hope and peace or would sing a song that showed that, in the midst of this physical pain, she knew her Lord was carrying her frail, contorted body through this earthly life. He was truly her refuge and strength.

And now, He has carried her into her heavenly home. Carmen died in December. I admit, as I would think about her lying there day after day, night after night, that I often prayed that He would take her soon, to free her from this earthly existence filled with pain and agony. But I also had to trust His perfect will and timing. Carmen's life touched the lives of so many of her people as well as the Americans who had come to visit her. Until His purpose for her life on earth was completed, she needed to stay. But now and for eternity, Carmen is no longer in pain. Her body is whole and new and she is dancing with all her might!!

Sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning! Psalm 30:5b

Dance, Carmen, dance!!

Volcano Eruption and Tropical Storm Agatha update

2010-08-04T13:16:00.011-06:00

It's been two months since Volcan Pacaya erupted leaving a coating of sandy black ash and chunks of hardened lava over a large portion of southern Guatemala. With dozens of canceled flights, the team from Concordia Seminary was blessed to learn a bit more about the "Fruit of the Spirit" that had been assigned to them for their faith lessons the previous week: "Patience!" It didn't take very long for the frustrations of not getting to return home to families and jobs to vaporize as the team went out to assist the people of Amatitlán in the aftermath of the storm. While the giant sinkhole got international attention, little was mentioned about the 200 lives lost in mudslides and flooding throughout the country. The team was able to distribute some bags of water, hygiene kits, t-shirts and food to the people who lived along the "green river" which had swept through their homes leaving mud as high as pilas (wash sinks), or washing them away completely. Hours were spent helping people dig out the mud and sludge. When the road was finally passable, the team worked their way out to El Rincón, our rural ministry site. When talking with families with which we have a relationship, we discovered that a huge chunk of the side of a mountain had roared through an area leaving two teenagers dead. One was a Christian. The other was not. It was sobering to see Sindy, one of our scholarship kids, clinging to her mom in fear with the realization of what had happened. Their house was unlivable, as well. There was one family there whose shanty, simply because of the pile of rocks behind it, was totally spared and untouched. They are going to move because they can't bear to think about what happened to their neighbors. Sindy has just begun smiling again.

So, rebuilding has begun. It is a way of life for many in Guatemala. Hardships like this come so often, they are almost expected. But more than the rebuilding of shanties, the rebuilding of lives has begun, as well. The attendance at the faith lessons in El Rincón has tripled since the storm, bringing 60 or more children and that many adults. It is only God that brings hope in the midst of storms. Both the physical and emotional kind. To Him be all glory.

"I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be astounded. They will put their trust in the Lord." --Psalm 40:1-3

Challenges and Celebrations

2010-03-11T16:08:00.004-06:00

Such a mixed bag, life on this earth, isn't it? There are times, here in Guatemala, that you don't even want to open the bag for fear of "what else could possibly happen to the people here?"

Some of the challenges thus far in 2010:

Julián's uncle and four others were murdered while sitting outside talking in front of a tienda (little store).

Someone next door to Ruth's house, the same block as the above, was murdered the following week.

Carmen, our friend on crutches, was hit by a motorcycle while begging on a busy street corner, and now, the latest news was that she was missing and her family couldn't find her.

Ruth's brother was recently given the ultimatum that "either you pay me Q1000 or you're dead" (about $127, which is not much by our standards, but a huge amount here). As Oscar told us, "We know our people, and they will do to you what they say they will do."

Our friend, Rosa, lost her baby this past week. She was anywhere between 28-33 weeks into her pregnancy (the doctors couldn't agree). She'd been in and out of the hospital since January. One day she realized that the baby was no longer moving. It was a girl. This is the second baby Rosa has lost in the past year, well into the pregnancies. Rosa also deals with off the charts high glucose levels, so is slowly losing her eyesight. Her daughter, Vilma, 13, and her son, Pedro, 14, are more the caretakers of the three of them than their mom is able to be. Pedro works in the dump instead of going to school. He'd be in the 7th grade.

Pretty sobering stuff. But thank God, there are celebrations as well as challenges!

Ruth's brother is still alive. Our last team did some "high powered" bold praying that this enemy would only see God's army surrounding Ruth's brother and their family and run. We thank God for His protection thusfar.

We have already had two unbelievable teams serving with Groundwork Guatemala. The hands willing to do whatever they're called to do. The hearts filled with compassion. The lives changed forever because of what God has already revealed to these first twenty-three servants in 2010.

43!!!!!!!!! For-ty-three!!!!! That's how many children for whom God has provided sponsors! We're just overwhelmed with how He continually surprises us and provides for the kids here. This year we have children receiving scholarships, not only in Guatemala City, but in Amatitlán, and Buena Vista, as well.

As Sandra and Kevin eat tamales with one of the Amatitlán City Council members, they come to realize that we've been watched! But in a good way, leading to a meeting with the City Council and Mayor. Groundwork Guatemala was offered "whatever you need" to do ministry in Amatitlán. How about some land? How about a building? Tell us what you need! We were given the use of a building for the Colorado medical team...complete with two bathrooms that actually worked!! Woohooo!!! Unfortunately, we had to turn it down beyond that because it's too small for our weekly ministry activities... but then again...

Maybe that's not so unfortunate!! While the attendance in the "El Rincón" location (out in the boonies) has remained pretty stable, the Thursday activities in Gonzalez park would blow the roof off, if there was one!! Holy guacamole! Tons of kids. Tons of adults. What a hoot as God is glorified and people's lives are filled with the Holy Spirit!

This celebration part could go on and on...Ruth is in nursing school, Oscar is taking classes to gain entry into the University, Sandra is taking classes at the University for accounting and auditing, Julián's squirt, Jehisy, just turned one (he'd be happy to show you pictures!), Manuel's kids are growing and they all continue to be such a great example of a Christian family. We have fourteen more teams coming in 2010 and seven on the calendar for 2011! This is turning out to be about three blogs' worth, we have been blessed so richly!!!

But I would like to end by telling you about our visit with Rosa on Monday morning. Julián, Manuel, Sandra, Kevin and I went to, well, just tell Rosa how sorry we are that she was feeling such pain and to check on her ongoing health issues. Not knowing enough Spanish, I did the "hold you in my arms and let you cry" part, which I have learned is fine, just fine...because the Guatemalans are the ones who can share the comfort and encouragement of God's Word best with their people. Sandra's words stuck with me the most this week. She told Rosa that when you don't understand why things happen and you are feeling alone and weak, don't just reach out for God. Grab hold of Him and hang on tightly. We may know that you're going through a difficult time, but God knows exactly how you feel and He will hold you and care for you and take that pain away like no one else can.

So, is there someone at work, in your family, church or neighborhood that's hurting? Find them. Hold them. Tell them that God knows their name and He knows how they feel. And HE can take their pain away in the middle of the challenges. Now, that's something to celebrate!!

Mission Completed!!

2009-11-04T10:44:00.003-06:00

Mission completed!! Those are the words that were shouted by Edgar Rafael Osorio Salazar and his classmates on Sunday night. Kevin and I attended Edgar’s high school graduation this past Sunday evening, which is an honor in itself. However, when you know where Edgar comes from it jumps into the “this is beyond special” category.

Edgar and his five siblings live with their mom in an area too dangerous for Kevin and me to go into. They’ve even asked that we don’t come down there because any association with Americans would likely mean that gangs would begin to extort money from the family, making them pay to be allowed to get into their own home. For years, two of Edgar’s siblings, a sister and a brother, have had to live in an orphanage because their mother couldn’t care for them. They’ve since been released from the orphanage, because of their age. Oh, how proud Edgar's mom was this night! HER son, a high school graduate!

Earlier in the week, we attended the graduation of three other high schoolers, due to a gift from St. Luke Lutheran Church in Mesa AZ, which helped them with their unpaid tuition and end of the year expenses. Had it not been for this gift, they would have lost the entire school year. One of the girls walked in behind a special flag as she had been one of the best students in her class. How close she had come to not graduating! Thank you, St. Luke congregation, for this amazing gift of love!

In Guatemala, public education ends with grade six. Seventh grade through the end of high school is done in private schools; that is, when a family can afford it, which for the families we work with, is rare. Many of the young boys and girls simply must begin to work to help provide for their families, selling things on the streets or taking care of their younger siblings while their mom tries to find work.

As these great kids walked down the aisle in their caps and gowns, we knew that each step was one of victory over adversity, of success in a culture of failure. When they proudly held their diplomas, they about burst with the joy of accomplishing something really good in a place where life is really, really hard.

To God be the glory for bringing this gift of education to these fine young men and women through the donations of His people! Thank you for helping to open the doors of opportunity for these kids! We pray that each of them will use their education to better serve the Lord as they use the gifts and talents that He has given them. Woohoo!!! God is good!!!

Alex

2009-10-22T18:47:00.006-06:00

Opportunities to help children seem to present themselves to this ministry on a daily basis. There are so many children that need help spiritually, physically, emotionally... We've been wondering where God would lead us in the coming months. How can we best influence these young kids of Guatemala and who needs the most help?

God lead us to Alex.

Alex exemplifies the urgency we feel. He feels it too.

He's a young boy who is of the ideal age of recruiting for gang leaders. It can happen so fast. Alex already has several of the qualifications that these gangs are looking for. An unstable father. A mother who wants the best for her children, but can barely feed them. Free time spent alone or with siblings. He is looking for love. He clings to you whenever you visit.

What can we do? Give thanks to God for bringing Alex to us just at the right time.

If you'd like to read more about Alex, visit the Groundwork Guatemala website at: www.groundworkguatemala.org/view/sponsor

A meeting of hearts

2009-10-13T11:03:00.003-06:00

It was a special day on Tuesday. After emails to the state of Washington and yet more from a cruise ship heading towards the Panama Canal and eventually to Florida, it was all arranged. Rosa and Sahid were going to meet two very special people. They’d seen their pictures, gotten letters and cards from them, but they’d never seen them in person. John and Judy Hill are the sponsors of Rosa Tocay, and their daughter, Jessica is Sahid’s sponsor. It hadn’t been more than a few weeks ago when Rosa asked us, “When can I meet MY sponsors?” She had seen several of the children meet their sponsors throughout the year when they came down to serve with Groundwork Guatemala on short term mission trips, and she wondered if her sponsors would ever be coming down to see her.

Well, Tuesday was the day. The Hills had planned a day trip from their ship into Antigua just to see this child with whom they’d been communicating for three years. With Manuel driving, Oscar, Kevin and I, Rosa and Sahid travelled from Guatemala City to Antigua. We left early because everyone was so excited! We had arranged to meet John and Judy in the Central Park, a place to which we thought anyone could direct them. It was fun as we watched every gringo that walked through the park… “Is it them?” “How about them?” “What color hair do they have?” And finally, there they were. Such smiles and hugs at this great reunion! What a special blessing this was for everyone there.

As we waited for our tasty lunch at the local Pollo Campero, Sahid, who had brought his report card with him, proudly shared his great grades for the year with John and Judy. With Oscar’s help with translating, the kids also shared their favorite subjects in school, what they might want to do when they get older, their favorite food... The Hills told them about their three dogs and three cats and how they all get along so well together. It was just a great couple of hours together getting to know one another face to face.

As we looked out over the city of Antigua from Cerro de la Cruz, Rosa found out that John and Judy had to leave shortly to go back to their ship. She was so disappointed that they had to leave so soon. They all agreed that Rosa would learn more English and the Hills would learn more Spanish, so when they saw one another again, they could talk to each other more easily.
The gift of education that is given to these children by their sponsors is pretty indescribable. They learn so much more than math and reading. Most importantly, they learn how to live a life that is pleasing to God, to grow in faith and wisdom, and to have a much better chance at providing for their families. We thank the Hills for giving this gift to Rosa and Sahid. It’s a gift they cherish.

Follow this link to a new opportunity in The Alex Project! http://www.groundworkguatemala.org/view/sponsor

Dios tiene un proposito

2009-06-29T14:09:00.003-06:00

God has a purpose. (literally, intention)

Today we went to visit the families of the three boys who were shot and killed last Sunday. We came to find out that we had connections to the other two boys, not just Luis. Gilmar, the 22 year old, was the cousin of Manuel, another high school student that worked with us at the ministry for the past two years. Daniel, the 13 year old, was Manuel's brother.

The first family we visited with was that of Daniel. There are just so few words to say to a mother and father who have just lost their thirteen year old son to such a tragic death. What we did share was God's Word with them and we prayed that those words would bring comfort and healing to their broken hearts. I told Daniel's mother that I was a mom, too, and couldn't imagine her pain, as we wept in each others arms. As his father wept such tears of sorrow, all we could do was hold him and try to share his burden of grief.

Just steps away, was the house of Luis' family. According to his mom, Luis and Manuel were always together. Ruth said that they'd grown up together and were best of friends. So Manuel has not only lost his younger brother and his cousin, but his best friend, as well. As we visited with Luis' mom, Manuel (from our ministry team) said that he didn't know if he was correct or not, but felt that there was something very different about these two homes, about how they were dealing with their losses. The things that Luis' mother was saying about everything that had happened were filled with such hope. She said that, of course, she is devistated and asks God "Why my son?" But she has such a trust in God's love and wisdom and she knows God has a purpose for allowing Luis to die. Luis knew his Savior and his mom knows for certain that he is enjoying heavenly perfection, free from pain and sadness and is forever with his heavenly Father. Several times she said she trusted in God's mercy and knows He has a purpose for this. Perhaps, she said, Luis' death was a sacrifice to bring others to Christ. What a living testament to God's neverending love and His desire that ALL would know Him as Lord and Savior! We prayed that Cristina would continue to be a witness to her daughter and to the family who lived so close to her, bringing the Light to their darkness.

Thank you for your prayers for these two families and for the many friends, many of them young adults, who knew and loved these boys. We pray that hearts will be softened and all will draw closer to their Savior through these deaths as there is only one hope for eternal life, Jesus Christ. It is with a renewed urgency that we tell everyone what He has done.

"I command you - be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 Luis' favorite verse.

Luis

2009-06-24T13:41:00.005-06:00

If you've been checking my wall on Facebook lately you would have read about an all too common occurance here in Guatemala. Luis Otoniel Bran, who was 19, was shot and killed two days ago, along with two other boys aged 13 and 22. As is often the case, we don't have many details. It is thought that there was a fourth boy who was taken by the shooters. Needless to say, there is no one left to tell us exactly what happened.

Luis was an exceptionally tall teenager by Guatemalan standards, and as Rachel said yesterday, he always smiled like the picture you see. He came to the ministry each day after school to help in the kitchen carrying bucketloads of dishes for the cooks, cleaning and working in the carpentry shop. Graduation from high school was in sight, leading Luis to possible employment as a mechanic. The word 'gentle' comes to mind when I think of this tall, but quiet young man.

The people of Guatemala are shaking their fists at the government and police for the escalating violence in this country. Drug trafficking, extortion, poverty, gangs...all lead to violent crimes, which all too often are against innocent victims who are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The government says it is working on changing this situation, but it's pretty hard to do when the police and lawmakers are corrupt and less than 3% of the over 6000 homicides per year are ever brought to justice. Villages throughout Guatemala are beginning to take the law into their own hands with vigilante groups seizing suspected wrong-doers and killing them on the spot. Unfortunately, with the level of corruption in the government and law enforcement, there is little chance of the situation improving any time soon.

Sounds pretty hopeless, doesn't it? But no matter where you live, your hope can't be placed in the government, in law enforcement, or in any human, for that matter. Reading the newspaper or hearing from someone we know that yet another relative or friend was murdered could make us never want to get out of bed in the morning. But we can't live in fear that something might happen to us sometime. I mean, is God in control of every single thing that happens in this universe or not?? If we really believe that, then we need to trust His eternal love and sovereign will. What happened to Luis and his two friends is tragic and seems to be senseless. Why so young? Why such a nice kid? But nothing is out of God's sight. He knew this was going to happen and He is even now surrounding Luis' family and friends with His loving arms of comfort and strength. We pray that everyone who was touched by this horrible event will draw closer to the only true hope which is found in the Lord who never changes, always loves, and has given us the absolute assurance of eternal life with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

And Luis? Why he is forever in the arms of his God and Savior! Can't get any better than that!!

Just when you think...

2009-05-13T11:23:00.010-06:00

Many of you have met Beatriz whether in person or through stories we have told in the past. If you have visited where she and her family live, you will never forget it. The reason? Because you feel like you are literally in the garbage dump. There is broken glass, cans and old plastic bottles and junk everywhere. Her usually intoxicated father lives under a piece of tin, set at an angle leaving a space just large enough for him to fit. The lot is a long narrow area with a small shanty at the very far end. In the shanty live Beatriz, her two sons and her two daughters, and her husband. That is, until he was shot and murdered last week. We're not sure why, but he is gone, nonetheless.

Just when you think it couldn't get any harder for Beatriz, it does. Her children play in garbage. Her babies learned to walk on a path made of broken glass. It's dirty, disgusting...and oh man, does it smell in the rainy season. I have no idea what they eat. I've never seen a stove or food anywhere. But, while Beatriz has talked from time to time about praying that God would provide food and maybe a larger place for them to live because they are just squeezed into this shanty, she is usually a house visit that we make where WE are the ones prayed for and uplifted by the faith and spirit of this child of God. (She prayed for the people in the United States and the bad economy when last we visited...) I know that Beatriz will turn to the Lord for the strength she needs to face the challenges ahead. Her husband wasn't a very great character, but he did at least provide for the family in some way. But God is the great Provider and we know He will supply all her needs.

For those of you who know Rosa, there is news about her, as well. Kevin began treating Rosa's ridiculously high, over the maximum number on the glucometer blood sugar count (500!) last year. She continues to come to Groundwork every 1-2 weeks to be checked and to receive much needed medication along with lots of hugs and love. When we returned in January, we found out that Rosa was pregnant. Of course, this brings it's own set of challenges for someone with diabetes, so getting her count lowered was even more important. Rosa's husband has a history of abusive behavior and leaves her and her son and daughter frequently, then returns forcefully. It's a pretty tough situation, to say the least. Sadly, Rosa lost her baby in April. Our hearts break for her loss, knowing that God's wisdom is beyond ours and His comfort beyond measure. We are grateful for the time we can spend being His arms of love on Sunday afternoons when she comes.

These are just two of the thousands of mothers in Guatemala that are handling such a difficult life by themselves. They have no support, no government welfare program. They have no family to help out. We just pray that, as a ministry and their brothers and sisters in Christ, we can be available and obedient to God's call to remember them, pray for them, to relieve some of their pain, to share the burden, to feed and clothe. To love.

Marshmallows

2009-05-13T11:00:00.003-06:00

Until moving to Guatemala, I had always thought that marshmallows were for eating. There are lots tasty ways I've used them. Melted with some butter and added to Rice Krispies...mmm, Rice Krispie treats! Sprinkle a few on your hot chocolate...that special touch mommy used to add just for fun...but be careful you don't end up with a marshmallow mustache! In the midwest, we've all had tiny marshmallows in red jello, right? Then, almost everyone's favorite...SMORES!! Oh yeah, now we're talkin'!! A little graham cracker action, a nice big square of Hershey's chocolate and an evenly browned roasted marshmallow all squished together...gotta love it!!!

Well, in Guatemala, marshmallows have taken on a whole new form. First of all, they're not white. They come in a lovely array of pastel colors. The unique thing about them is that there is a ring of one color around the outside, with a different color in the center! Now I'm sure that people here must eat these marshmallows, but I've never seen them do it. What I have seen is Marshmallow Art! That's right. People make things out of these cute 2-colored puffs. Last week for his birthday, Kevin received three little marshmallow animals on sticks. And Monday, I received a cute marshmallow flower on a stick from Sandra for Mother's Day. Birthdays and Mother's Day are very important days in Guatemala and marshmallow penguins and bears and flowers are very inexpensive ways to let someone special know that they are loved. But they're so cute you hate to eat them!!

Step back in time...

2009-04-30T14:50:00.013-06:00

The thing about Buena Vista is that you've just come from a large city with its streets crammed with cars and buses, driven past miles of storefronts, markets, and signs, and now you find yourself in a place where there is no running water, no electricity, no pollution and the "main road" is made of fine dirt and is probably less than 12 feet wide where the railroad used to come through.

Can you imagine a place where there is no television and there never has been? No one is reading fashion magazines or the Wall Street Journal to keep up on the latest news. There isn't any traffic because no one has a car. The only motorcycle I remember seeing in the past two months was that of the guy selling chicken out of a box on the back. This is a place unaffected by the loud voices of commercialism that so dictate our American society.

Each Wednesday we travel two hours to this secluded village of probably several hundred people (impossible to know how many live here) and set up our teaching areas under the banana and mango trees. It's a bit of a surreal feeling as it's so quiet compared to Guatemala City where we live. Shortly after we arrive the ladies and even a couple men begin to stroll "in" and the children look to see if Oscar, Ruth and Julian will have something special for them today, which, of course, they do. The adults sit on a six to eight inch slice of tree that's resting on two tree stumps, while some have the luxury of sitting on one of the few plastic chairs that we borrow from the lady next door. Manuel and Sandra lead them in a time of worship with songs and prayers and hearing the Word of God. The children gather on pieces of cardboard or the drop cloths that Wausau left behind and enjoy a time of singing songs, hearing a Bible story and doing a craft. There is one school, public, where approximately 170 children attend. Their morning break comes midway during our activity, and typically a dozen or two kids come running down to try and get in on at least part of what we're doing. It's a sweet time of learning and growing in the truth of God's Word.

The shanties in Buena Vista are spread out, each person having quite a bit of land to live on by Guatemalan standards. But these shanties are much like the ones in Guatemala City and Amatitlan, being made of tin with trees of maybe four inch diameter used to hold up the walls and roofs. Of course, without running water, there are no bathrooms...only a hole in the ground. Isn't God funny to send this "me no likey camping chick" to a place such as this?!?! But He seems to have done just that! We've seen life in the dry season, with moms and children standing at the pilas (wash tubs) doing their laundry, sweeping the dirt, playing outside. But I'm curious how life will change in the rainy season when the dirt turns to mud, the wash takes days to dry, and children spend days inside their dark shanties because it's raining.

Oh, this is only the surface of life in Buena Vista. I haven't yet introduced you to the many people whom we have met there at our Bible studies or on house visits. It will be a pleasure to tell you some of their stories!

The drive to Buena Vista

2009-02-15T13:30:00.015-06:00

Kevin has been talking about the village of Buena Vista since he first went there with Manuel and the rest of the ministry team in December. "You'll love it there!" "It's like nothing you've ever seen." My third day back in Guatemala found the seven of us piling into little Rodrigo, Manuel and I in the front and the rest in the back. We'd gotten a late start because Rodrigo needed his usual tune up after a hard day's work the previous day. The five in the back of the truck were bundled in sweatshirts, hats, sunglasses and anything padded that they could sit on for the long drive.

First stop after almost an hour's drive was Amatitlan to pick up Chochis...and her suitcase full of dishes and candy for the kids and who knows what else, as well as two little coolers that contained lunch for everyone. This seventy year old woman, who LOVES to talk non-stop, most definitely has the gift of hospitality. She is always providing food or little treats for the ministry team or for the children that come to our activities. Chochis lives in Amatitlan, but grew up in Buena Vista. It is her sister's house at which we hold our ministry activities every Wednesday. Now we're up to 8 in poor little Rodrigo! (He's going to need some time off after this, I think.)

On we drive...and what a drive it is! At times you can see six volcanoes at once. It's a clear day, so it's quite a view. Volcan Fuego (meaning 'fire') exploded, blowing a huge puff of gray into the sky. Pretty amazing to be so close to these huge volcanoes, especially the active ones. As we drive around from the north side of Volcan Agua ('water') to the south, the temperature makes a sudden turn to the warmer. We pass field after field of sugar cane, which appears to be the main crop. The drive from Guatemala City to Buena Vista is about two hours with mild traffic, so you can imagine the six sitting in the back of the pickup truck are beyond ready to get out, especially after the last ten or fifteen minutes of rocky road...and we're not talking about ice cream! Clouds of dust rise as they brush off their sweatshirts and pants...just like Pigpen! Buena Vista is in the middle of nowhere...find the big tree and you know you've arrived!

I'll tell you more about what God is doing in Buena Vista through Groundwork Guatemala in the next blog. It's like taking a step back in time in this village with no electricity or running water.

Back in Guatemala

2009-02-08T10:00:00.005-06:00

It's after 10:30 PM on Tuesday and I can't believe I'm riding back from the airport in Rodrigo, the little red pickup truck that has died at least fifty times in the past two years since we arrived here. Kevin is in the back with my two duffels filled with pillows, canned chicken and, among other things, Spanish books, which I keep taking back and forth with the hope that I'll actually be able to speak this crazy language one day. Julian bought Rodrigo and has diligently worked on raising him from the dead on numerous occasions. Tonight is a good night for him!!

I enter the new house in the dark, not knowing where any light switches are, or remembering where the room is that Kevin's been sleeping in the past month that he was already here. One thing I must try to remember is to never arrive in Guatemala at night, especially when you've had such an emotional couple of months as we all have had. It's one thing coming into a sunny house, looking out the windows and seeing Volcan Agua and the surrounding mountains. It's quite another looking at the dirty walls and cold, empty, echoey rooms. I can't find my jammies which are somewhere in one of the black plastic garbage bags Kevin used to empty the apartment in December. I immediately burst into tears and long for the soft furniture, warm lights and clean house and family I'd left behind just hours before. I knew where everything was and I had more than I needed. It's a beast that I have to beat back every single time I come here. The beast of comfort.

I get so used to having personal space (we are living with the seven members of Manuel's family), comfortable furniture, freedom to go where I want, being able to communicate my thoughts and feelings in my own language. I come back to Guatemala and pray that God changes my heart, yet again, to be content with where He's placed me; that His grace is sufficient and I don't need anything but that to be at peace. "Though the darkness may last for the night, His joy comes in the morning!" And it does...I wake up and see Oscar, Sandra, Julian and Ruth for the first time in two months. We read God's Word and pray together. We talk excitedly about the mission team coming in just a few weeks. We eat lunch together sitting on 5 gallon buckets. The work, the ministry has begun! It pushes everything of little or no consequence into the background, and what really matters, spreading the love of Christ, comes blazing to the front. Now I am ready.

Skirt Blessings!

2008-12-01T11:03:00.005-06:00

We pray that you had a joyful day giving thanks to our Creator and Redeemer! God is so good!

A couple weeks ago, as is our usual Monday routine, we went to see our friend Maria in Amatitlán. If you've read our blog, perhaps you remember Maria's story that I wrote about some time ago. She continues to struggle with the thirty year old wound on her leg, which, frankly, about makes a person pass out to look at. Two of Maria's granddaughters live with her now and as the nurse was tending to Maria's leg, Manuel was giving me the "ch...ch" (the Spanish version of "psst!!"). He said "las faldas!" (the skirts!) We had been carrying a box of skirts around in the van to be ready for just the right girls who needed them...and we had found just the right little girls that morning! During Compassion Weekend 2008, a church in South Florida, LMIC (Lutheran Ministry in Christ) sewed lightweight skirts as part of the Sewing Across Borders national campaign, and with love, sent them to Guatemala.

After asking what their favorite colors were, Manuel and I went out to find the right sizes for these two cuties. Just to be sure, I had the girls try the skirts on. Dulce (means "sweet") had been wearing a thin cotton dress, so when she tried on the skirt, she couldn't find anything to wear on top, so I went into the "bedroom" to help with the search. There was a boy, Maria's grandson, laying on the dirt floor sleeping. The dark room had two small beds that were piled with all sorts of junk. Her sister was helping her dig through a big box that had clothes in it, but nothing was remotely close to a little girl's shirt. They looked on the bed, on the floor, and finally, we found a little white button down cotton shirt that was draped over a nylon rope that was hanging across the room, along with a bunch of other clothes. Isn't that crazy? We're so blessed to have a "shirt drawer" or blouses hanging neatly in our bedroom closet. Here are these two girls looking all over the place to find just one little blouse. Well, the skirts fit both of the girls and they were very excited to show their grandmother! Just too cute!

A couple of weeks ago, we had all of the little girls stay after our children's activity in Amatitlan and shared your remaining gifts of love with each girl that was there. It was so wonderful to see those little skirts in the arms of the sweet girls as they returned home, knowing that loving hands had made them in a place so far away. Thank you, LMIC, for sharing your talents, your treasures and your love with the girls of Guatemala!! God is so good!

His name was Alberto

2008-11-02T09:47:00.009-06:00

You would see him most days at La Provision. Filthy with weeks of grime on his clothes, on his skin, yellow teeth...at least those that he had. He fits right in with the rest of the men who come each day for what very well might be their only meal. They stand with a wad of gauze covered with paint thinner or some other toxic liquid held in their fist, or even stuck in their mouth, or hold the familiar small plastic bottle filled with rubbing alcohol that they they drink or glue that they sniff. Huffers and alcoholics, certainly without a home. Q1, about 14 cents, will buy the high. It's short lived, so they must keep their gauze covered in whatever toxic chemical they can find close to their nose or in their mouth all day. These men, and even some women, are dying from the inside out. Some have sores all over them, and most, when they come through the line to wash their hands, are so caked with dirt that they barely get one layer off, leaving the drying towel filthy.

This one man was different. It's hard to tell ages of people who are in this condition, twenties? teens? But his shaking was what you noticed. So uncontrollable that someone would need to carry his bowl of food and drink bag over to the curb where the guys all sit to eat. His shaking made it so that using a fork or spoon was useless. So he would drink soup right out of the bowl or take noodles by the handful and shove them in his mouth.

One day, recently, Adrian came up to me and said the men in the line were saying that one of the guys had died the night before. I asked him who it was, so we went over and asked. His name was Alberto.

Just two days before I had watched him as he was shoving long spaghetti noodles into his mouth. I had stood there thinking about who he was, what had brought him to this point. Did he know his Savior? Did he have any family? Did anyone miss him? I was glad they at least knew his name.

Sometimes I feel like it's hopeless. These guys are so wasted. So young. They are barely coherent and are so addicted to whatever it is they're huffing or drinking that they can barely stand up or put two words together. But God knew his name...He knew Alberto before he was born. I pray that at some point in his life Alberto knew His Father and had come to a saving faith. I'll never know. But that's not important. What is important is the other Alberto's who need food, who need a hand on a shoulder, who need to have someone know their name, to, yeah, have a kiss on the cheek or a hug even though their clothes and smell are disgusting.

Who are the untouchables in your life? in your neighborhood? in your church? They may not smell physically, but they may be people who are, for one reason or another, rejected by others or just plain lonely. Reach out to them. Know their names. Take the time to love. Be His hands.

Daily Bread - A Prayer Answered

2008-08-13T14:28:00.008-06:00

We have had such a joyfilled summer with mission teams. While our time is consumed with leading this journey of faith that more than 170 people have taken this summer, it is such a privilege to travel this road together with God's people serving with us here in this peculiar area in Guatemala City called La Libertad (meaning "free land"). I say "peculiar" because it is such a unique part of Guatemala that even many Guatemalans are unaware of the environment in which thousands of people live in their very own country.

Last week we were blessed to have teams representing three churches from Mesa, Arizona, New Berlin and Wausau, Wisconsin and the St. Louis Seminary serving with us. It seems that doing "La Provision" is one of the most impactful parts of each team's experience here. As you may know, "La Provision" involves going down to the shanty town to serve lunch. The shanties, mostly made of corragated metal, cardboard and other found materials have been built on top of the garbage dump after this section had been filled up with garbage and leveled off. We normally offer this meal four days each week, Monday through Thursday. This particular week, however, some of the members of the teams, after having experienced the joy that providing food brought for so many hungry people, asked if it would be possible for us to do La Provision on Friday as well, if they would provide the $35 needed to buy the food and drinks for the day. Kevin checked it out with the ladies in the ministry kitchen, who answered with a resounding "Yes!"

So, the shopping was done, the 100+ meals and drink bags were prepared. In true T.I.G. (This Is Guatemala) fashion, Rodrigo, the ever challenging red pickup truck, decided he'd had it and was down for the count (again!! but this time we think it's for good...). That meant that the huge pot of food, the two coolers full of drink bags, the two five gallon buckets of water for washing hands, and all the bowls and forks, soap, towel and hand sanitizer needed to be carried all the way down to La Libertad. It was a bit of a hike, but we had willing servants to do the carrying.

Earlier that day, on our way down for the usual Friday morning Prayer Walk, we passed some familiar faces and stopped to say hello...how are you...gave a hug and a kiss on the cheek... As we neared La Libertad I saw "Karmencita" standing on the side of the road, so I stopped to say hello and gave her a hug. Karmencita walks on crutches and is just a little slip of a woman. I'm sitting here trying to guess her age, but am clueless. She probably isn't very old, but her lack of teeth and shuffling around on crutches probably belies her real age. I wish I had a picture of her, but I can't seem to find one (stay tuned...). I asked Karmencita how she was and she said that she was sad today and started to cry. When I asked why, she said that she was very hungry because she hadn't eaten since La Provision the day before. Since we normally don't have La Provision on Fridays, she was thinking it may be until Monday before she might eat again. I told her that there was good news because there was going to be Provision TODAY at 12:30! Her tears melted into a big toothless smile and we parted with "see you at 12:30!". Her prayer for daily bread had been answered with a big "Yes!" by our faithful God and Provider.

And, of course, later, when the team was scooping noodles into bowls and passing out the orange drink bags, here comes Karmencita on her crutches with a plastic half gallon pitcher in her apron pocket. Those handing out the food put three scoops of noodles in the pitcher, which we squeezed back into her apron pocket with three drink bags in another pocket. More hugs and smiles and off she went with food for her family.

God's servants listened to His call...they acted on His call to love...providing daily bread in answer to the prayers of one of His lambs. All glory to our loving Lord! Yay!

Our pews are plastic!

2008-06-01T19:05:00.006-06:00

Each Monday Manuel, Gerber (pronounced 'hairbear'), and our mission teams, if they are with us, travel through the mountains of Guatemala to our second ministry site, Amatitlan. Amatitlan is a city of about 61,000 that was hit very hard by Hurricane Mitch almost ten years ago, in 1999. Since then, there are thousands of people living in poverty. Manuel tells us that it is very difficult for them to find work. As a result, many of the families there can't afford to send their children to school because of the fees that even public schools have, the lack of school supplies, and the need for older children to help care for their younger siblings. The Servant's Heart has been privileged to bring help in the form of school supplies and hygiene kits to many of the children in Amatitlan, and hope in the form of Jesus Christ, their Savior. As we are in our third day of constant rain from Alma and Arthur, I can't even imagine how cold and wet the people who live in the shanties in Amatitlan and here in the city must be. The streets turn to mud, along with the floors in most of their homes. And the shanties are anything but airtight. We feel as though we are living in a mansion here in our one bedroom apartment with Randy's bed in the kitchen, and we thank the Lord for the shelter with which He has blessed us. So every Monday afternoon, after our leader's Bible study, the ladies and their little kidlets begin to stream in through the black metal door at the end of the long cement block corridor. There are so many babies, with moms as young as 14 or 15. The kids, 60-70 usually, find their way to the little building at the far end and sit on the floor to hear about Jesus, sing songs and do crafts. While they're singin' at one end, the ladies are singin' at the other!! Not the same song, of course... but that's what "make a joyful noise" is all about, isn't it? There's singing and praying and listening to God's Word. Sounds like church to me! And what are our pews? Pink and blue and tan plastic chairs! And the roof? Big blue tarps that Manuel and Gerber put up in the morning and take down in the afternoon when we're finished! During this rainy season, it's not unusual for some of the ladies sitting in the gaps between the tarps to get wet, but they usually just laugh about it and move their chair a little bit! Isn't it amazing how, when you're hungry for God's Word, hungry for fellowship, hungry to sing praises... that it simply doesn't matter how cold or hot or wet you are? Nothing else is more important than being with your Savior. He is all that matters.

Perfect Timing, Perfect Plan

2008-04-22T21:11:00.011-06:00

The first time I saw a picture of Randy and Rachel I said to myself, "There he is. This is who I have been praying for for the past 26 years." Which is a little strange since I wouldn't be meeting Randy until he moved down here to Guatemala as a missionary with us this January. The two had met in Guatemala in February of 2007. Rach was here working on Sponsorship Program things and Randy was here with his church's mission team. The next time they would see each other would be that summer at the National Youth Gathering in Orlando. Rach working in The Servant's Heart booth, Randy working with his church's youth group. Each thinking the other was "nice" and easy to talk to, but feeling it would be a little silly to go any farther than that since Randy would soon be moving to Guatemala and Rachel would be in Arizona.

Well, in God's perfect time, Rachel came down to Guatemala to work on some projects for the Sponsorship Program just a couple weeks after Randy had moved down and, try as they might not to, God gave them a wonderful gift of love. It is a joy to see how the Lord has brought these two lives together in the most unlikely way. All in His timing according to His perfect plan.

Since Rachel was born I have prayed that the Lord would prepare her husband to be a fine man of faith and integrity. And Randy is just that... He has committed his life to serving His Savior and we absolutely love him. Since moving to Guatemala, he has spent almost every minute here in our little two room apartment and has felt like family since the first day we met him in January. And family he will officially be as he and Rachel will be married in October of this year! We are so excited to see God's love flow through His two humble servants, and can't wait to see what His plan is as the two become one. We praise and thank Him for their love. What an awesome God!!

Maria

2008-04-03T17:36:00.008-06:00

From Wausau, to southern California, and now to Washington... We are blessed at the ministry to have a team of ten servants join us from Beautiful Savior in Milton WA this week. As usual, we spend our Mondays in Amatitlan. Half of the team went by foot to visit some families right around the ministry building there, while the rest of us went on the fifteen minute drive out to visit Carlos. Many of you remember that he had fallen into a well about four years ago and had lost one of his legs and the use of the other one. He'd been in the hospital for eight days with an infection in his leg, but had no money to buy the antibiotic that he needed to stop the infection. We took his prescription with us and were able to get the needed medicine, which we delivered today. His leg was pretty swollen and inflamed, so we pray that the medicine will take care of the problem soon.

I would like to share with you the other house visit that we made on Monday. Many of you have heard about Maria, who has had a wound on her leg for the past 25+ years. It simply will not heal and the doctors have told her she needs to have it amputated. She's just too afraid to have them do that, so lives with the intense pain. Well, Maria told us we sat around her little kitchen about some terribly difficult situations that she is facing right now. Her daughter's two children live with her as her daughter left them. Her grandson is about 12 and kept getting into trouble, so she has had to put him into an institution for boys because she just couldn't handle him anymore. He will be there until he is 18 years old. Then she told us that the sweet little girl that was in the room with us is her granddaughter. Her name is Andrea and she is 10 years old. Maria said that she doesn't have enough money to buy food for both of them anymore, so in June she will need to put her into an institution as well, until she is 18. She just broke down as she shared how difficult it has been for both of them, as she has had to tell Andrea that she will have to spend the next 8 years of her life living away from her grandmother. Then, as we asked her if there was anything else we can pray about, she said that her other daughter had just left the country to illegally enter the States, so she has no idea where she is or if she will ever hear from her again. What huge burdens for this tiny woman to bear. We prayed for her and for the children and her daughters, and as we left, I held her close praying that some of her burden would be lifted from her shoulders onto mine. Do you know anyone who is hurting today? Make time to hold them close, to pray with them, share some encouraging Scripture... the Body of Christ in action!

An update on Margarita... Adrian came to us last week to say that Margarita had died in the hospital. She had the surgery to amputate her leg, but was just too weak to recover. As we thought about her, we said that she was at peace, maybe for the first time in her long, difficult life. She is celebrating the joyful victory of Easter with no more pain or loneliness. Thanks be to God!! And thanks to each of you who shared the message of hope and life with Margarita.

Margarita

2008-03-05T21:19:00.006-06:00

Many of you who have been here on a mission trip have gone to visit Margarita. She's a spunky woman who has had quite a life of pain in her 80-some years on this earth. She has lost her husband and her son, and still gets emotional each time she retells her story. Margarita has diabetes, which here in the States is often easier to control with medication and a balanced diet. However, for Margarita, it's a bit more difficult as she, for lack of food, doesn't eat regularly and rarely drinks the water she needs. Adrian and his family have tried to look out for her, but she's easily forgotten as people in her neighborhood go about their busy days. Adrian called me this afternoon to tell me that Margarita is going to have her leg amputated. It was quite a surprise as the last time we visited her (with the Wausau WI team a couple weeks ago) she only complained about her feet hurting a bit. She was given advice from Karen, the nurse on the team, to keep her feet and legs elevated. But apparently, the problem was worse than we knew. She has gone now to live with her daughter about twenty-five minutes from here. Hopefully, she will be better taken care of, although her daughter hasn't been very involved in her care in the past. Please pray for Margarita as she must be so frightened and unsure of what will happen. Her difficult life will be so much more painful. I will keep you updated on her condition if we are able to visit her.

We seem to encounter someone every single day that is in need of healing. The sickness and pain that people here suffer for lack of medical care is heartbreaking. But our pockets will never be deep enough to reach each and every person here who needs help. Sometimes it gives us a feeling of helplessness as we simply can't do what we naturally want to do, which is "fix it." I often wonder how Jesus felt as He walked through streets or travelled between towns, being pressed from every direction by hundreds of people needing His healing touch. But He didn't heal each and every person, did He? At least not physically. His first priority was always the healing of the soul. That's where the true healing and peace come from. Sometimes all we can do here is lay someone in the arms of the Savior, knowing that their physical situation may simply not change, and may in many cases get worse. What we try to cling to here where there is so much suffering is that, ultimately, the only thing that really matters for eternity is that the person has a saving faith in Jesus. Then, no matter if they continue to suffer or are relieved of the pain on this earth, whether they live or die, eternal life is theirs...no more suffering... and what could be better than that?

Ruth

2008-02-11T21:47:00.000-06:00

Anyone who has served at The Servant's Heart in the past few years knows Ruth. Those of you who have never been here, you may have heard Ruth's story. Ruth is a beautiful young woman of twenty years. I've never seen pictures of Ruth that were taken before she came to the ministry, and I doubt she would want me to. Ruth used to work in the garbage dump alongside other members of her family, rummaging through the garbage of Guatemala City looking for objects that could be sold as recyclables, perhaps even looking for food to eat. Difficult, dirty, back breaking work, to say the least.

Well, yesterday afternoon we were honored and privileged to attend a worship service upstairs in an old building around the corner from her family's small cement block shanty just yards from the dump to celebrate Ruth's graduation from High School! Called Diversificado in Guatemala, graduating from this level allows Ruth to teach in the primary grades, so she has moved to the level of teacher in our ministry's after school reinforcement program. What a delightful occasion!!

Ruth had put up balloons, made little construction paper figures of a Precious Moments girl graduating, little graduation hats hanging between the balloons, and "Bienvenidos a Mi Graduacion" (Welcome to My Graduation) was strung across the front of the room, now a church. Songs of praise were sung for over an hour, after which the pastor stood up to honor Ruth, telling her how she had not "thrown in the towel", but had worked so hard to prepare to serve her Lord and Savior. We sat there as proud as parents, so honored to be included in this beautiful day.

Ruth is a perfect example of "from garbage to grace" as she has found God's purpose for her life. We pray she will continue to serve Him with her whole heart, growing in faith and love each and every day.

Marina

2008-02-11T21:27:00.000-06:00

Marina. A sweet little girl barely as big as her 4 years. Marina has Downs Syndrome, but that doesn't stop her smiles and waves when she sees you. She is one special little girl. Gladys, who works every day at the ministry cleaning both of our buildings with Dalila, is Marina's mom, Raymundo's sister, Adrian and Astrid's cousin. It's taken a very long time, a very special school, and an awesome God, but Marina's been making such amazing progress this year. Gladys will often stop by to tell us one more word that her little girl can say or one more thing that she can do, for each is quite an accomplishment and cause for rejoicing!

The past few weeks, however, Gladys has stopped by more often to express her concern over tests that Marina will be having this week. They think there is a hole in her heart and the family is so anxious about the results of these tests. We cry, we hold each other, and we pray for this sweet little child of God...Marina... Please join us as we lay Marina and her family in the hands of their loving Lord...

Backpacks, School Supplies and Shoes!

2008-01-27T14:25:00.000-06:00

In Guatemala, the school year runs from mid-January through October, so it's back to school time! One of the things that The Servant's Heart ministry provides for our children is a backpack, school supplies, a pair of tennis shoes and a pair of leather shoes (which must be worn to school). Our 5 teachers who will be operating our after school reinforcement program, along with Gerber (pronounced "hairbear") spent a day on the roof of the Missionary House counting out pencils, pens, glue, notebooks, and all the other great stuff that kids need for their first day of school. Each grade from Kinder through high school needed something different, so it was quite a production to put together 150 backpacks.

So Saturday was the big day...the kids started streaming in to our new building to get their backpack, then went into another room to receive their shoes. It was pretty crazy with dozens of kids with their moms trying to find a pair that would fit. We had boxes and bins full of shoes to choose from. While it's not the norm, there were a few of our high school guys who needed zapatos grandes (big shoes!), which are the sizes we always seem to be short of. But what kid doesn't love to get a new pair of shoes! It was great to see all the smiles as they proudly carried their new things on their backs.

Next stop was our sewing department where Raymundo, Rosa and Jose measured each child for their pants or skirts that would be needed for their school uniform. Those sewing machines will really be buzzing for the next few weeks as they make 150 pairs of pants or skirts!!

So, off to school they went...an amazing thing for these kids!! As we walked through a store the other day I was pricing some of the items that we had given the kids the week before. A spiral notebook for $1.00, a plain backpack for over $30. Those two items alone would prohibit a child from being able to attend even the "free" public school. But the kids at the ministry are able to attend safer, better private schools, which is opening doors to them that would never otherwise be possible.

So, if you're at a church or on a team that has collected or brought down donations of school supplies or shoes...THANK YOU!!!! The children and families here are overwhelmed with the generosity and love that you have shown to them through your gifts. If you are sponsoring a child or teen...MUCHAS GRACIAS!!!! You're making it possible for these kids to find God's purpose for their lives through education and a feeling of confidence that has been denied them for far too long. You are God's hands and feet and heart as you have given these gifts of love! Our ministry and the people in the shanties send their warmest appreciation.

That’s a lot of tamales!

2007-12-18T16:17:00.000-06:00

They made HOW many tamales? 600! The ladies at the ministry had been cooking for days and well into the night. Soaking corn, washing and cooking banana leaves, cooking the chicken, going down the street to have the re-hydrated corn ground into the thick play dough-like substance, wrapping the leaf around each portion of corn meal…it was quite a process. And there were so many!! Each year at Christmas, the ministry brings a very special meal to the people in La Libertád (meaning “free land,” the squatter’s area around the dump). This was going to be a feast!

We loaded up Rodrigo with 3 huge plastic bins full of tamales and 6 bags of pan (pronounced “pahn”, meaning bread), several containers full of juice bags which the ladies had filled and tied, and enough Styrofoam plates and plastic forks to feed an army. Most of us walked down to our usual site where we serve The Provision at the edge of the squatters’ area, as only Hugo1 fit in the back end of the overloaded pickup. Some of the ministry staff had taken invitations around to the shanties inviting people for this special meal, so when we rounded the corner at the end of the shanties, we were met with an already huge crowd! It took some doing, but Hugo1 led the task of separating the hundreds into lines of children and adults. We always like to be sure the kids get their meals first. Numbers were handed out and the children and adults waited in line to wash their hands before receiving their special Christmas meal.

There were lots of familiar faces that we see every day. We saw quite a few of our ministry kids with their little brothers and sisters. But there were hundreds of new faces that we were able to greet and give a Christmas smile. It took about two hours to hand out every last tamale and a few people who had waited all that time only received some bread and a juice bag.

Standing there watching this huge crowd of hungry people made me wonder what Jesus would have been thinking as He was constantly surrounded by hungry, sick crowds. He could have fed every one of them, but knew that feeding them physically wasn’t as important as feeding their souls with the Living Bread and Water. There will always be more hungry people than tamales, but we press on with the prayer that God would use these moments when maybe a smile or a hand on the shoulder or a hug might be a seed of love planted that will grow into faith one day.

Escuela Biblia de Vacaciones

2007-12-08T15:25:00.000-06:00

That's Vacation Bible School in espanol! And what a couple of weeks of VBS we had in Guatemala in November! Remember that the kids here are out of school in November and December. Our first week was in Amatitlan where we had over 400 children come for a week of singing, playing, Bible stories and crafts. The children come pouring in off the streets and out of the shanty neighborhood for five days. We're able to use one of the public schools of Amatitlan (oddly enough named John F Kennedy Elementary School), which by our definition would be considered filthy, ugly and about the last place you'd want your child to spend their school day. But it was the only place we could meet that would accommodate that many kids. They allow us to use the facilities in exchange for a few school supplies like pencils and crayons. Andy said that last year they told us that they were so under-funded that they had to break pencils in pieces to give to the kids!

There are piles of desks thrown into a corner of each room and dozens and dozens of children are squished in to do their craft or hear God's Word. The awesome thing is that our VBS is conducted by just eight of our high school youth with the guidance of Oscar and Reyna. I stood and watched as over 400 children ran in and lined up according to age. Our teens had such quiet control over this massive group of niños with no raised voices. The various age groups moved from station to station, like we do in the States, ending their day with a little snack and bag of juice on their way out the door. Pretty incredible!

Well, after the week in Amatitlán, the teens braced themselves for another week of VBS, but this time with almost 250 kids in Guatemala City. Every afternoon for five days the kids in our neighborhood came to hear about their Jesus who loves the daylights out of them. You can just imagine what it would take to make crafts for almost 700 kids. We don’t have any handy resources from publishing companies with all the ideas and lessons prepared. Everyone who sat down at the ministry for the past month was handed a scissors and something to cut out! What a great two weeks! The teens did a collective sigh of relief last Friday when the final Christmas gift and hygiene kit was passed out to the last child. If you were in a church or on a mission team that sent or brought Christmas gifts last year, just about every single one of them was used for these almost 700 children. Oscar worked for days with Gerber and Julian to put the bags together. Since we had fewer teams come down this past year, we really scrounged and divided and emptied out Ziplocs of other things to have enough bags for the gifts. But we made it! And we gave out hundreds of hygiene kits as well. So thank you, friends of our ministry...friends of the Guatemalan children...for your gifts of love!!

It was a pretty crazy couple of weeks, but man, what an outreach. Hundreds of children taking the message home to their families!!We pray that the Holy Spirit will bless the Words that were taught so that these children might come to saving faith and that the seeds that were planted in their little hearts would grow.

A Day of Contrasts

2007-11-26T15:53:00.000-06:00

Now that we're finished with Spanish school and are in Guatemala City full time, we've been blessed to be part of the day to day life at the ministry. One of the tasks that needs to be performed from time to time is going to the local mall to get money out of an ATM machine and then take it to the bank that is also in the mall. This mall would rival the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton in its elegance. Many of the stores are the same as what we would see in the States...Hilfiger, Gap...top names...and now, with its beautiful Christmas decorations. And I'm sure the prices match the surroundings, as well. It's not unusual, during one of our "bank runs" that we say to each other "where are we?" as we walk from one end of the mall to the other.

Not 15 minutes earlier we were washing the grimy hands of the homeless young men who are high on glue fumes, feeding them and the dozens of children and moms who had come for perhaps their only meal that day. As you know, four days each week, The Servant's Heart staff takes food to the people that live around the city dump. The sores on the hands, arms and faces of the men who spend most of their lives in a state of half consciousness are caked with dirt and grime. We barely get the first layer off as they wash their hands before receiving their food. I see Hugo2 taking time to chat with Carmen who is on crutches, probably as a result of MS, and the lady whose arm is still immobilized after I can't remember how many months after being hit by a garbage truck. Victor is there, who always raises his hat , ready for a kiss on the cheek. I see these guys who are high making sure the little ones get ahead of them in the food line. And stooping down to look the little kids in the eyes, asking their names, washing their little hands before they eat...sweet. It's pretty surreal as we sandwich this between two trips to the mall that day.

What is important? What is lasting? What will bring God glory? I can't think of having anything in that mall that would surpass the experience of giggling with one of the children or praying for the young men as we watch them staggering away with their bowl of soup dripping hot liquid on their hands or seeing the relief in the eyes of the mom who knows her kids will have this meal today. But, really, on this day of contrasts, God is at work in both places; in the lives of the people wandering the mall, and in the lives of the people who are covered with layers of garbage grime. We thank Him for the opportunity to serve Him wherever we find our feet each day. May God bless you as you serve Him where your feet travel today!

Did you hear the fiestas??

2007-11-19T18:56:00.000-06:00

If you happened to look in the direction of Guatemala last Sunday, you may have heard a bit of celebrating going on. First of all, in the morning, there was quite a celebration going on in heaven because a sweet little girl named Miriam was baptized. The angels had a great time welcoming Miriam as a child of God! She was quite dressed up in a pretty white dress for her very special day. Miriam is the daughter of Marta, one of the cooks in our ministry.

The second fiesta began in the afternoon. Kevin and I, along with Manuel and his family and Andy took a bit of a drive over the long bridge that crosses the huge ravine leading into downtown Guatemala City. Those of you who have been here may remember the drive to the central market in the City where you look out and see hundreds of shanties built on the sides of this deep ravine. We've talked about how devastating torrential rains would be to these homes made of tin and cardboard. After seeing the devastation in Bangladesh this week, I realize how vulnerable the people in the shanties here would be. Well, after crossing the bridge, we found our way down a narrow street leading into a little pueblo with the familiar tiendas and lots of families milling about on a sunny Sunday afternoon. We parked the van and piled out. I thought we must have parked in front of Marta's house, but, no...we had parked the van because it wouldn't be able to drive any further. It was time to walk...down...waaayyy down, almost to the bottom of the ravine! Andy said that every day, Monday through Saturday, it takes Marta an hour to get to the ministry. She and her kids get on busses to get themselves to work and school. And of course, Marta is always on time for work! Manuel wasn't exactly sure which house was theirs, so we asked some people standing along the narrow walkway and they pointed us to Marta's. We knocked on the door and Marta's husband welcomed us in. Well, this is where the noise comes in! When Marta saw us walk in she yelled out our names and the whole place erupted in squeals of joy and welcome and we're so glad you came and you must sit down!!! Half the ministry seemed to be there in this little one room home. The beds had been removed and two tables were placed in the middle for people to sit and eat. There were so many familiar faces: Sandra, Merly and little Ana and brother Jhonny, Maritza, Adi and Glendy, Vilma and her little squeak, Yoseline, not to mention Marta's five kids. What a merry fiesta this was! Then in walks little Joaquin and his sister Andrea who we had just seen a few minutes earlier along the side of the road on the other side of the bridge close to where we lived. How in the world did they get there so fast? Must have been a bus. Later their mom, Cristina and sister Ana would arrive, too! There must have been 25 people in this one room. As soon as one bunch was finished eating, we were told to "sit, sit" and were treated to pepian: chicken, rice and potato, with horchata to drink (a rice drink w/cinnamon). We quietly prayed that God would zap any ickies that might be in the food as we could not think of a better way to share a meal in a million years. There is no restaurant anywhere that could top this joyfilled room!! What a great time!

Well, the time came for another I can't even tell you how many people to come in, so it was time for us to give up our seats at the table so they could eat. And after lots of goodbyes, it was also time for us to begin the hike back up the ravine! Holy moley, what a hike that was. Most of the people from the ministry were leaving as well, so I had little Adi and Yoseline grabbing onto my hands, Kevin had Joaquin and Andrea, Andy was with Ana, and we walked and walked and huffed and puffed till we reached the van. More goodbyes (goodbyes are very important here! almost as important as hellos!) but to my surprise, eight more Guatemalans joined the already 9 of us to drive back to the ministry neighborhood! Guess the fiesta wasn't over yet! We talked and laughed our way back.

Kevin and Andy and I all agreed that it was one day that we will not soon forget. It was a day filled with friendship and joy as people that work together also play and celebrate together. Miriam is now a child of God! And that is truly something to celebrate! The love we felt and shared filled our cups to overflowing. We were humbled to see yet again that it is not the things of this world that bring true joy. It is the love of Christ, shared with friends and family that give us strength and simply make us glow. Much love to each of you! Your love, too, gives us strength and makes us glow!!

You found us!

2007-10-31T06:36:00.000-06:00

I decided back in September that I just didn't like the look of our old blog...too hard to read...not easy to post... So I transferred all of the old posts to this new one. Welcome!!

I've been sitting here staring at the screen wondering where to begin! I looked at the date of our last post and cringed...almost two months!! You must have wondered if we fell in! I suppose in a way we have. We've fallen into a crazy routine since the last of our 2007 mission teams left in September. Each Sunday we pack our bags and head to Antigua with a van full of Manuel's family. It's a little outing for them, allowing them some time out of their one room on the top of the Team House. We talk and chat away the whole way. Each Monday through Thursday morning Kevin and I spend a few hours studying in the little apartment we found for our last two months of school here. (We are ecstatic that it actually has 2 chairs and a little table!!! Sitting on a bed 18 hours a day had gotten more than old) At 1:00 we walk 8 blocks to our school and study for 4 hours with Carmen and Ana...they are sisters...we are friends. They've been our teachers for most all of the time we have been studying since April. After class, we walk back the 8 blocks to our little casa to study, work on ministry things, and begin the schedule all over again. Thursdays, Manuel makes his way back to Antigua to pick us up and take us back to the Capital city. We spend Friday and Saturday at the ministry, and Sunday we pack up to return to Antigua...la la la... Pete and Repeat were in a boat!!! I figured out that, since our arrival in April, we have stayed in 8 different places! But, even in the craziness, we try to find the routine that our bodies and lives crave. Not an easy task in Guatemala!

Right now we are approaching our last 3 weeks in Spanish school before the ministry Christmas break. This is not to say that we couldn't use a LOT more Spanish instruction!! But we feel that, beginning in January, we need to be in Guatemala City all the time rather than the 2 days a week that we've been doing, as we begin a new year of ministry activities. It'll be great to put the suitcases in the corner for longer periods of time! Eduardo, one of our ministry teens who speaks fluent English (is this fair??), has agreed to continue working with me on my Spanish...yay!! Start praying for him! I'm about to finish Level D and hope to take a bite out of Level E before we finish in November. This by no means indicates what is going from my brain and coming out of my mouth!! I've stuffed so many verbs and nouns and direct and indirect objects into my head, I'm sure it looks like alphabet soup in there by now. We're up to 8 or 9 verb tenses now...it just isn't right... I have vowed to speak only in the present tense...no looking back...no looking ahead...I'm livin' in the NOW!! Much easier, don't you think?

So, how do I summarize 2 months of ministry in Guatemala?? The first thing that comes to my mind is names. Whenever we walk around our ministry neighborhood, it's rare if we don't see someone we know. Victor! The man who's covered in grim who works in the dump and comes to the provision every day for his bowl of soup. He gets a big hug every time I see him. What a smile! Beatrice! The woman with three children who lives in the worst, filthiest shanty I have ever seen. How's your baby? Ana! The little sweetie who sees you down the street and yells your name and runs toward you, jumping in your arms giggling. Hugo! Well, what can I say about this young man?...He hugs the stuffing out of me every time he sees me. Ruth! Did you eat something today?

The names could go on and on... Sometimes I just stand on a little overhang looking out over our neighborhood and watch the kids and teens and adults passing by realizing how much God has done in the hearts and lives of these Guatemalans. So many are growing in their faith, growing in friendships, growing in their education. They've been transformed by the love of Christ. But there are so many who haven't met their Savior, who don't know that God has a plan for their life, that need to hear the Good News. There is much work to be done!

We are excited about 2008!
Our teams will begin arriving again in February, so I've been working on revising and trimming our team manual, making in kind donation assignments, and working with the Guatemalan staff to fine tune our team schedule for 2008. We already have over 20 teams signed up and hope to add even more. What a great year ahead!!

We are so grateful for your continued prayers!! I battled some sort of crud for such a long time, but am now back on track! We thank God for antibiotics and Freidrich the air cleaner!! (It's the brand name, but now affectionately, a name that has stuck! Thanks, Don and Mary for giving us pollution free air in our room in the city!!) As we approach our last 3 weeks of school, please pray that we can absorb as much as language as possible so we can begin to really communicate (rather than just waving our arms around trying to express ourselves!)...to be able to really hear and understand the ups and downs in the hearts and lives of the people here...and to be able to comfort, encourage, and uplift through our words. God is good! And He will give us what we need when we need it!

So...before another month goes by...I will post this and leave more for later! God bless each of you richly! He is an awesome God and we are so humbled to serve Him here. We think of you so very often and pray for you as well!
With love from Guate,
Ginny

One more casa, one more team... September 4, 2007

2007-09-06T08:15:00.000-06:00

Blessings to you from Guatemala!
One more new casa had been added to the list of places we have stayed in Antigua! I think we're up to four or five by now... We spent the last weekend at the ministry and are back studying in Antigua this week. We've found a home stay which has internet available, so we'll be able to keep up a little more with emails while we're here. Yay!! It continues to be a challenge to be living in one room...spending probably at least 18 of each 24 hours in the room sitting on the bed studying or working on the internet. But we're excited that we will be able to study for two consecutive weeks before coming back to the States for our niece, Mary's wedding on September 22 where we'll be able to see my family in Michigan which will be more than a treat! Then, we are lucky to have the opportunity to attend a Michigan church worker's conference at which The Servant's Heart will have a display. We hope to be able to share information about what God is doing in Guatemala through the ministry: information about the sponsorship program, mission trip possibilities, long term missionary opportunities, and projects that churches and schools can do to help support His work around the Guatemala City dump. It's going to be a great chance to share our excitement about what our awesome God is doing here!!

Our mission team season has wrapped up now with the small team from the St. Louis Seminary two weeks ago. It's been amazing to watch God working in the hearts and lives of the members of each team for the last four and a half months since we arrived here. Most people on these teams come thinking they are going to "change the world" and do great things for the people here. But more often than not, it's THEIR lives that are changed instead. The love that is received from the people we visit...simply the fact that they receive us into their homes with such open arms and hearts is beyond comprehension.

I remember one of the visits we made a couple weeks ago in the shanty town in the city. Edgar (aka "Chilis") was leading us to our next visit. We walked up one narrow walkway, past many doors that were padlocked and others that weren't. We finally "knocked" on the door of a shanty (which was a piece of fabric across the doorway) and asked if we could come in and visit. The young mother invited us in and we spent the next several minutes getting to know her. Her "husband" worked in the garbage dump and she told us that she had four children. One was in school, two sweeties were playing quietly, and there was a wee little baby in a sling on her back. We came to find out that she had never heard the wonderful story of Jesus! What good news we had to share! We read a few verses from God's Word and prayed with her, asking for God's protection and provision for her family. She had much to think about after we left! Often we're asked who decides where we'll visit. Well, this was one day that we knew that it was the Holy Spirit leading us! We had walked by so many other shanties, but this one was exactly where God wanted us to be that day! We continue to pray that the Holy Spirit grows the seed of faith in this precious mother and her family.

Another visit was with a grandmother who was taking care of a little girl whose mother had died. When we said we would like to pray for her, she immediately got down on her knees and started crying. The whole room full of us fell to our knees around her. She cried and prayed throughout our prayer, then Chilis prayed for her, too. I'll never forget the loving hand this 19 year old young man placed on this woman's shoulder. Such tender words he spoke with the Father asking for Him to love and provide for this sweet lady.

Last Friday, after our ministry prayer walk, the ministry workers split into a couple of groups to visit two of our workers who are sick. Rosa, a seamstress in our sewing department, gave her kidney to her son several months ago. Well, that has healed very well, but, as a result of an accident a while ago, she has a wound on her leg that just doesn't seem to want to heal properly. We're thankful that we have been able to provide some pain medication (Ibuprofin) and antibiotics from our clinic to bring some relief. We continue to pray that this wound heals quickly so that she can care for her family and be relieved of pain.

Our other group went to visit Merly, who works as one of the cooks for the mission teams. Her four children attend our school: Little Ana, Jhonny, Gesler and Kevin. There are six people living in their little shanty. I was reminded again, as I am so often, that these kids who look so clean and spiffy in their school uniforms return home each night to a small, dark shanty. There is one lightbulb in the ceiling, one large bed, a couple of dressers and not much else. Where do they all sleep? How can the kids see to do their homework? What's the uneven dirt floor like during these torrential rains that we've been having every day and night? I told the sponsor of Merly's little daughter, Ana, this week that we so appreciate their sponsorship. I can clearly see how the education of these kids is going to open doors, and how it already has made a huge difference in their lives. Through Merly's tears, after we had shared Scripture and prayed with her, I could see that she was encouraged and lifted up by her friends and coworkers. Pretty cool how it's such a normal thing here to so comfortably visit a friend who is sick and to pray with them... hmmm... And it also reminds us of how blessed we are to have a bed in a dry room to sit on...

Jen McKnight from Florida has joined our missionary team here and will be studying in Antigua for the next few months. We're so excited to have her as part of the ministry team down here and look forward to seeing how God will use her talents and gifts. Welcome, Jen!!!!

On our prayer list this week is safety and protection for all in the path of Felix. Seems he has Guatemala on his radar at this point, but we pray that he heads north and fizzles out completely before doing any more damage. The torrential rains bring mudslides and I'm sure their power supplies wouldn't be restored as quickly here as in the U.S.

Please also pray for the health of the people of Guatemala. It's incredible how many people are sick here. The pollution and the cold rain every day surely takes its toll. And people simply can't afford doctors and medication. A couple more months of the rainy season and we'll hopefully be back to drier, healthier weather. We pray it comes sooner rather than later.

And speaking of health, I've got the sore throat/cold thing going on again. Pray for healing and strength so I can study with all my might and serve in the city again over the weekend.

Muchisimo gracias for your prayers and emails of encouragement. They bring joy to our hearts and truly uplift us. If you ever don't feel as if God is using you for His service, be assured that He uses your prayers and words of love in ways you'll never know!!!

Wilson, Adrian, and Ruth August 12, 2007

2007-09-06T08:06:00.000-06:00

Greetings to our friends and families!

In so many ways it feels like we've been in Guatemala for a year, and then I look at the last time I had a chance to update our blog and realize that the summer has flown by. Since the last update in June, we have had so many mission teams serve down here, have made so many house visits and have seen God at work in so many ways. Our last team of the summer will arrive here next Saturday, wrapping up a busy summer at the ministry. I don't even know where to begin to get you caught up on all that has happened, but will try to share some of God's activities here since June.

As I'm writing this, Kevin is climbing a volcano! He's been wanting to do this since Rachel climbed it last October. He, Andy and Chris (a God-sent servant from Hales Corners who has done miracles with our storage rooms and too many to name repair needs) left early dark thirty this morning for the 4+ hour climb. Can't wait to hear about the adventure!! Volcan Pacaya is an active volcano, the heat capable of melting your shoes, according to Rach. I'm sure they'll have lots to tell!

So now to some updated info:

First of all, I know you'll all want an update on Wilson's condition. God has heard the prayers of hundreds of people (as He always does!!). Wilson was back in school this week! He now has a breathing machine at home and hopefully will be able to control his asthma better with that and his inhalers. The pollution in this city is so horrible, that we can only pray that God will protect him from the environment that he has to live in, and that his medicine will be effective. The family thanks you all so much for the prayers raised on their behalf and are thanking God for His generous mercy.

We are also grateful that the report from Adrian's doctor regarding his chronic kidney pain was fairly good. Drinking multiple Pepsi's every day is out! Agua is in (which gets a pretty sour look from Adrian). Combined with medication, hopefully he will be out of pain soon.

Then our sweet Ruth, had two fainting spells Friday and Saturday... Bad enough to faint, but she's not coming to for 20 or more minutes... They loaded her up into Rodrigo (of all things) and took her to the hospital yesterday where she finally came to, and after seeing the doctor was released. Ruth's finishing her last year of school before graduating as a teacher, so it's been pretty stressful, particularly as she approaches the end of the school year. We pray that there is nothing more serious causing these spells. Thanks for your continued prayers!!!

To say that this has been a frustrating few weeks, is putting it mildly!! It's a pretty helpless feeling when you can't "fix" something. The medical system down here is certainly unlike ours in the States. (A few weeks ago the surgery of someone we heard about was cancelled because the hospital had no water that day!) And of course, we would love to just write the check for the care of anyone and everyone, which can cause all sorts of jealousy if we help someone and not another. It's been a true test of simply having to lay our friends in God's hands, praying for His perfect will, remembering that He is hurting and suffering along with His precious children. We pray every day that He will soon send a nurse or doctor to our ministry as not a day goes by without a need for one.

I told Coca a couple of weeks ago that it sure would be great if we could have just one week here without someone's friend or family member getting killed (that was three weeks in a row) or someone being so seriously sick (another three weeks in a row). Death and sickness are such a part of life here...always on the brink. I don't know how people get out of bed in the morning after experiencing the things they do. But it is truly God who gives them the hope and strength they need to put one foot in front of the other.

We are looking forward to the arrival tonight of Rachel and our pastor from Mesa. They'll be here for a quick four days as Bob experiences in part what we've been sharing with him about what God has been doing in Guatemala the past two years since we began coming down here. Always a huge gift for us to be able to spend a little time with Rach!! Boy, are we grateful for the phone cards that keep us connected between visits!! We're a bit giddy when it's triple minute day!! ...ah, simple pleasures!!

This is a short update, but I'm finding myself fading with the cold medicina I took. The pollution seems to be bringing sore throats and colds pretty frequently, so I'm grateful for a quiet Sunday to do a little laundry and lay low. Guess it must be nap time!

Sure hope I have the chance to get back to the internet soon. Seems it rarely works when I can get on. We may have a new place to stay when we get back to Antigua in two weeks that has internet access, so that would open up a whole new world! Yay! Perhaps I can update this more than once every two months!!

God's richest blessings as we serve together!

Welcome Lake Worth & CA! June 23, 2007

2007-09-06T08:01:00.000-06:00

Hola from Guatemala City! We are back after another week of Spanish school, and are awaiting the arrival of two mission teams today. One is from Lake Worth, Florida, the other from California. They have been planning and preparing for months and months for their service in Guatemala and we are praying that they will have open hearts and hands to serve Him during this very special nine days.

It's always hard to come back from school after such a short time of studying. We're so anxious to learn this language, but will need to accept the every other week time table as the norm for now. We're both enjoying our teachers, Carmen and Ana, so much. I'm sure these sisters go home every evening with stories about their two crazy students. They are both so professional and never watch the clock to see when it's time to go. Kevin's well into Level B with a steady pace. I finished the B book and will need to review for the exam when we return to school in three weeks. We'll see how many of these hundreds of verbs in past and present tenses I can pull out of my little brain by then!! Yikes!

We continued our stay in hotels due to the lack of availablity of home stays. The place we stayed on Wednesday night had an extraordinary view from our window of Volcan de Agua. It was such a clear week with no rain, so we often had a great view of the three volcanoes and the mountains surrounding Antigua. We've found a couple of safe places to eat, so, to try to save on the food budget, try to have a late breakfast, then dinner after classes which are over at 5:30. So far we haven't ordered anything wacky... guess we'll stick with the foods we know!!

Last week we came back to the Capital to help with the mission team from Calvary Indianapolis, a group of ten. Our van is only supposed to be for 11 passengers, so with Manuel driving and a couple of our Guatemalan friends, there was never room for Kevin & me to accompany them on their adventures. We did go along for church on Sunday, but sitting backwards on the floor was good for a short trip, but not through the mountains to Amatitlan or Antigua! The team had an awesome experience through their week.

Kevin was able to spend time at the ministry learning a little more about how things operate down here and having the thrill of driving Rodrigo, our 21 year old truck. Often this is the only way for the Americans to get around in the city when the van is being used for teams. So there were a couple of mornings that Kevin and I were sitting in the back of the pickup for the 5 minute drive to the ministry, with black fumes from the chicken busses pouring out over us that we just looked at each other and wondered how in the world this ever happened!! Pretty crazy stuff. And it gets rather interesting during the rainy season. We pray for safety the entire way there...

The Americanos decided last weekend that it would be rather entertaining (doesn't take much anymore) to have a "cookout" on the roof of the missionary house. We were told that the "grill" was up where Manuel lives. We're still living in the team house, and Manuel lives with his family of 6 in a room on the third floor of that house. So Kevin went upstairs and found that the grill was an old tire rim that had three pieces of rebar (metal bars) welded onto it for legs. Apparently these are pretty common around here and can be bought for Q30 which is less than $4. Kevin and I walked from the team house to the missionary house (those of you who've been here can picture this...) carrying the silly grill. So Andy and Kevin and I went to the store to buy meat... always a little risky in my book, but I guess it was okay since I'm here to tell about it! We also bought three pineapples off a bridge... At this point Kevin's in the back of the pickup, Andy swings the truck around on this really busy street, hailing the two guys with a pile of fruit on the median of the bridge. He buys three pineapples for Q10/$1.50 and they throw them into the back with Kevin. TIG!! It took Kevin and Andy over an hour to start the fire. The high altitude was against them, but with a lot of blowing and smoke, they finally had something hot. The tire rim cooking area is only about 12" wide, so it took a long time to cook the little kabobers. I was told there was no need for plates or silverware as the standard operating procedure is to stand around the grill and eat them as they are cooked. There ya go and that's what we did...only took from 4:30-8:30!! A Guatemalan cookout...or cookup...

Kevin is going to attack the elusive sink in the team house today I think. Third time's a charm, right? He has a wrench from Manuel and just needs to figure out the fifth place to turn off the water to that one sink. We suspect it may be in the wall just because this is Guatemala and it wouldn't make any sense for it to be there. Should be an adventure! If so, we'll stand at the other end of the hall with a big bucket to catch the water while he makes the switch!

A couple weeks ago when the Delray team was here we went way out to the middle of nowhere outside of Amatitlan. I thought Carlos was way out in the country, but this was even farther...Manuel even had to ask directions which I've never seen him do! We went to see three different families, but two of them were the most rural I've been to. One was the family of Pedro and Maria Angela Cruz, an older couple who had 12 children and 46 grandchildren!! Holy smokes! I'm not sure how many of the children and grandchildren live there but there was a steady stream of shoeless little feet coming in and out of the house. They asked us to pray for Maria who has been sick and for work for their children. They also asked for prayer for their corn crop. It had rained that day, so everything was a muddy mess... especially at the next house we went to. There were several tiny shanties within the fence. We visted with Meralda who has 12 children and 15 grandchildren. Her husband had died 10 years ago, but she now has a second husband. One of her sons was in an accident so couldn't work. We had a good visit with her and her daughter in law who is expecting a baby... more little ones... what a busy place! It must be so difficult to live in these places during the rainy season. Everything turns to mud. Such a hard life...

It's time for me to return to the other house to be picked up for the airport run. We send our daily thanks for your prayers and love as God protects us and keeps us in His care. God be with you, as well!!
Ginny and Kevin

Welcome Delray Beach & OK! June 9, 2007

2007-09-06T07:54:00.000-06:00

I knew it had been awhile since I'd updated our blog, but was surprised to see it had been this long! Our interent access has been iffy at best, so this morning we're sitting in a cafe in Antigua where we can have access to wireless if we buy something. We are studying in the afternoons this week as the school is so full in the morning and there was no room. Since we were in the Capital last week we pretty much forfeited our morning spot. But the change has actually been a blessing as we are able to study and find internet in the morning now and don't have to wake up with the clanging of the bells of La Merced at 5 in the morning. Also, because we are studying only every other week, we are not able to stay with the family we had been with for our first 5 weeks. We found a hotel for $40/night, so the amount we are paying is less than what we paid for the home stay. So this week we are on the hunt for inexpensive places to find meals that are safe to eat. The pig head and carved off meat under the heat lamp in the window of one of the restaurants on our street did not beckon us in to try a dinner there, thank you very much. And I'm thrilled that this bed has no bed bugs as the previous home did. Dozens of bites that are getting close to not itching anymore... phew!

We'll only be studying four days a week now as Manuel must pick us up on Thursday afternoons to return for the next mission team's arrival. Kevin has been able to keep his teacher...with whom he has a great deal of fun. I was a little apprehensive about starting with a new teacher, but was VERY fortunate to have the sister of Kevin's teacher. She's just as much fun as Carmen and we had such a great time yesterday. It will make the over 400 verbs I've had much easier to swallow as we launch into the past tense. We're told that we should take our time in this level as it's really crucial to the next ones. I quite agree. We didn't have much time to study while our Delray FL team was down here last week. We were much too busy having a great time serving together. But we're hoping that when other teams that we don't know are here that we'll have more time to continue the memorizing during the 10 days we're away from our school. And I just need to force myself to speak spanish with our boys at the ministry and make the mistakes. Only way to learn, I'm thinkin'.

One of the highlights of last week was Rachel joining the Delray team down here. We had a great time catching up on what's happening in our two very different parts of the world. The ministry is preparing to be at the LCMS National Youth Gathering. This is such a huge opportunity for The Servant's Heart and the sponsorship program and we pray that God will move the hearts of thousands to become sponsors of our kids and ministry workers. What a blessing to see Rach, tho. It's so hard being so far away, not sharing every detail of every day like we're used to. She's right where God wants her to be, enjoying so many new friends in Arizona who have already become like family to her.

It's 5 in the morning and for whatever reason, I've been awake for two hours and can't seem to get back to sleep. So, I thought I may as well keep working at getting this blog up to date before another busy week at the ministry starts. My brain's been so overloaded with language school it's hard to find the energy to fill in more than just the basics. But I hear the birdies beginning their day and will soon hear the cohetes (firecrackers) announcing the "Corpus Cristi" holiday here today. It's a big day in Antigua for the Catholic churches with a procession through the streets, special masses and foods prepared only for special occasions and holidays.

Last week, as I said earlier, we had two mission teams at the ministry: one from Delray Beach FL and the other from Oklahoma. We began their week with a two hour long worship service at the Lutheran church in the Capital. Andy said that the record long sermon was a mere 57 minutes! (Don't get any ideas, Bob!) Something new our teams are doing this year is to take an hour plus drive beyond Antigua to San Antonio where our vendadora friend, Nelli, lives. She and her family served this group of over twenty people a very typical dinner of tortillas, meat, guacamole, beans, salsa, jamaica juice, and plantains. We were treated to watching two women weave the traditional blouses of the country. Each city has its own design and it takes one woman 6 months of weaving several hours a day to complete one blouse! There are just beautiful. We learned that a girl begins weaving one of these blouses when she is around ten years old, to be completed by the time she is married. She then gives this blouse to her new mother in law who wears it on the day of the wedding. One of the women weaving was only 24 years old and already has a 10 year old daughter. A few of the team members tried their hand at the weaving and wondered how the women can sit on their for hours at a time. Quite an art and so very beautiful.

On Monday, we drove to Amatitlan, where it was already beginning to rain. It's rainy season here now and, while it typically rains in the afternoon and nighttime, it got an early start. The Oklahoma team lead the handful of children who attend school in the afternoon in a Bible story and craft while the Delray team headed out for several medical visits with Lindsey, our ministry nurse. Our first visit was to the home of someone we'd visited last time, Walter Santos, who is 35. Walter works at Lake Atitlan, but had been robbed there that week, so was a little apprehensive about returning. His mother in law had had a stroke (I believe I'd mentioned her in a previous update) but was doing somewhat better. His wife, Teresa, had fallen the day before and had really hurt her face. It was obvious she was in a lot of pain. Teresa had polio when she was younger, so her legs are very thin and she walks with quite a limp. There are nine people living in this home and Walter and his father try to provide for the family with the work they do.

Our next visit was to see Carlos. Many of you know Carlos' story...how he became a paraplegic after getting drunk and falling in a well. Lindsey came out of the shanty which is in the middle of nowhere asking if any of us had brought any food along because Carlos hadn't eaten for two days. The family he lives with had gone to another city to pick up their eldest daughter and had left him there alone, probably (hopefully) thinking they'd be back before then. All we came up with was a package of Chicky cookies. Keep in mind, too, that Carlos wouldn't have been able to walk out to the outhouse all this time as well... If we hadn't come by that day...

Third and final on the list to visit in Amatitlan (yeah, this was all before lunch!) was someone whose shanty we hadn't been to. Lindsey wanted to check on the elderly grandmother who attends our Bible studies and asked us to spend time with the mother, Susana. She's been a Christian for five years and has five sons and one daughter. Tatiana, the daughter, had left nine days ago with a man, who, apparentlly, was a friend of the family, but much older than her. Susana wasn't sure if she'd left willingly or not, but hadn't heard anything from her and was very concerned. She said her sons don't love the Lord and are getting into trouble. She's very sad because of her serious problems and is trying to trust in God to know what is best. Coca didn't do a lot of interpreting as you could just see the Holy Spirit speaking through him to Susana and one of her sons who was staying in the room. He told about a friend of his who'd been shot 7 times, but God had given him a second chance to live and turn to Him. He talked about how sometimes things that happen to us don't make sense, but God has a wiser plan and can see the bigger picture. We just need to trust that He knows what we need and when we need it. He told the son that he needs to stay away from people who are a bad influence and to get close to God instead. It was an amazing hour... And long into the visit I noticed that Susana only has one hand...

Tuesday, back in the city, the Delray team had the chance to teach the kids activities in the "park"... which is a flattened out portion of the dump, really. At first there weren't a lot of kids, but they slowly trickled over. They come from a school that is along the side of the park where the teachers release them for a 45 minute recess. The kids just take off to wherever they want to go, totally unattended. So, we take the message to them, hoping that they'll hear just a little bit of the love of Jesus...and perhaps even take it home to their parents. Eventually, we had probably 30 or 40 kids, particularly when we got to the craft part... that brought even more curious faces.

We only had time for one house visit Tuesday morning, so Adrian came with us to see Lorena, who is 21. Lorena already has three children, with baby Shirli, 7 months old being the youngest. She's a single mom because the father left with another woman when the baby was born. One week ago, the father had come to their house, drunk in the middle of the night, and had tried to break down the door. He wanted to kill Lorena and the children. She's a Christian, but is sad because this man continues to bring trouble and fear to her family. She cleans houses and washes clothes to support the children. We asked Adrian if any law enforcement would help in a situation like this and he said he could count on one hand the number of times the police had come to the shanty area to help.

Wednesday, we went to visit Ana who is 32. Her husband, Tereso, works at a gas station. Ana's doughter, Heidi, is 17 and already has two children: a daughter, 2, and little baby, Eric, who is 4 months old. When you do the math, it seems Heidi is following the pattern set by her mother, who would have been 15 when she had Heidi. It's a pattern we see so often here, where young girls have baby after baby, simply compounding the problem of poverty. Ana asked us to pray for her family and for the baby who is sometimes sick.

I think I'll leave it here for now... your heads are probably spinning as you realize that each of these homes we visited have such huge burdens to carry. We are continually humbled to see the faith of some and are brought to tears by the stories of others. We thank God for Coca and Adrian and the other ministry workers who are being used mightily by God to bring comfort and peace to these people who are hurting so deeply.

Hopefully we'll be able to get the internet to be friendly today so we can bring a little glimpse of Guatemala to you!! And I'm also hoping to continue to bring more stories of thse precious people soon through the blog.
God bless you all!!! Thank you for your continued prayers for our safety and health!
Love, Ginny and Kevin

Such a face! May 17, 2007

2007-09-06T07:43:00.000-06:00

Gotta love that face!! Yes, Mom, that's Lillian...the little sweetie you're sponsoring! We collected a hug from her last weekend when we were in the Capital city. She had a real twinkle in her eyes when we said "adios" and she said "Bye bye!" in English! Hers was one of many hugs we collected as we reconnected with our ministry friends. It was such a blessing to be able to talk with everyone again. That's what it's all about and we're thankful that we had the opportunity to be with everyone with whom we'll be working. God knew what we needed!

Last Friday we joined the ministry staff as we walked from building to building praying for all who work there, for the children and teachers in the school, their families, and their neighborhood. We are amazed at the faith of the people we'll be working with as they thank God for their many blessings.

One thing we did find out is that, when someone is speaking in their native language, it sounds REALLY fast!!! Our three weeks of Spanish school was only a drop in the bucket of what we'll need to be fluent enough to understand and communicate. Gonna be a long process!! Kevin's looking forward to (well, maybe not looking forward)... perhaps preparing for is better, his first exam early next week. His teacher is picturing chickens doing the hula when he mentions "Pollo Tropical" of Florida fame! I have a new teacher this week (no I didn't wear the previous one out!!) and she's really forcing me to carry on conversations and ask questions...all in espanol. It's the best way to learn and I needed to get over being too embarrassed over making mistakes. I'm a little surprised myself how much I understand and can answer in complete sentences. No major mistakes this week, other than talking about cooking perro instead of pollo! (dog instead of chicken!) Think before you speak!! Yikes! We have one more full week here before we go back and forth between here and the city every other week. Hopefully, we'll be able to use what we know and continue to strengthen our conversational abilities. I'm beginning to forget how to spell in English now!

Back to our story... After our prayer walk last Friday, we split into three or four groups and did a couple hours of house visits. All of the discomforts that I've been experiencing in the last month here become pretty petty and foolish when I am standing in a shanty that is extremely small and hotter than blazes as the sun beats down on the metal. As the chickies run around the one room the entire family calls home, and you see the flies sitting on the tortillas laying on the dirty table... and the smoke rising inside the house from the fire they use to cook on... I'm reminded that our most uncomfortable situation would be like heaven to them. Always very humbling when we pray together and I can hear their prayers of thanks to God for the blessings He's given them! It is a privilege to visit with them.

We had fun having English/Spanish lessons with some of the teenagers at the ministry who are going to be working with our mission teams as translators. We'd ask questions in espanol and they'd have to answer in English. Sometimes it took awhile to figure out what we were saying to each other, but it helped break the ice on both sides! "I'll be brave and say the wrong thing if you'll be brave and say the wrong thing!" Gotta love those boys...

God continues to work in my heart as I come to accept our new lifestyle. He is sufficient...He is all I need. I know He is the source of all comfort and peace...I just need to let Him do the work! Your prayers and comments and emails are such blessings to us and we look forward to opening them like gifts when we are able to get on the internet! The last week it's been off more than on, but we're blessed to have this way to communicate with you when it works!
God be with you all, dear friends!
Love, G & K

New Words and New Tears May 10, 2007

2007-09-06T07:38:00.000-06:00

Buenas tardes from our school in Antigua!

We have just completed our second week of Spanish school and our brains are filled with muchas palabras!! (many words!) I've finished up Level A and will take my exam to pass to the next level. I often hear laughter from Kevin's table across the school (surprise!) and once looked over to see his teacher with her head on the table... They look like they're having a great time. Next week we'll be studying five hours a day instead of six, from 8 AM-1PM. There's so many new words to absorb every day that by the time you get your homework done you don't have time to really study and review everything. Such a great way to learn a language, though, especially as we share meals with the family we live with and practice speaking in Spanish. We'll be here one more week, then will be going back to the city every other week to work with the mission teams that come down from next Saturday through the end of August.

This weekend, Andy, Drew and Lindsey, along with Manuel and his family, are going to pick us up and spend a couple of days in Panajachel. The five of us will be able to stay for free in the house of a friend of the ministry. So we'll take our books along and spend a little time in another part of Guatemala about 2 hours from Antigua. It's the last weekend any of us will have off until September, so we'll savor the flavor as much as possible!

The Board of Directors of the ministry was in Guatemala last weekend and we were thrilled to meet each member when they came to Antigua for two days of meetings. Their passion and love for the people of Guatemala, The Servant's Heart and for their Lord was energizing and encouraging as they made plans and shared ideas for the coming year at the ministry. It was a bittersweet time (there are going to be a lot of those, I'm thinking...) as we had such a wonderful time sharing meals and stories and laughs... but the bitter part came when we had to say goodbye to Rachel and Dennis, my brother in law, and other friends on the board. I think we were all bawling by the time we had to walk away from the van and watch them leave us behind.

It's been a tough couple of weeks as we mourn the loss of our family and everything familiar. We've passed the 10 day mission trip time...and are realizing that we aren't going home just yet! We learn every day how weak we are and how much we need to depend on the Lord for every ounce of strength that's needed to be here. It will be good next weekend to finally be back with the people we love, reminding us of the work for which God brought us to Guatemala.

We ask your prayers for continued focus on the only thing that is important...giving God glory and serving Him with all our hearts, minds and strength. It's so easy to lose that focus and Satan would like nothing more than to see us wonder why we're here. But our God is faithful and gives us the peace and strength we need!

Thank you for the emails and comments on the blog! They are encouraging and bring us many smiles.
God be with you and bless you!!!
Much love,
Ginny & Kevin

What exactly do You mean by ALL?? May 4, 2007

2007-09-06T07:31:00.000-06:00

We're sitting in our little 10x10 room on the roof of the casa we're living in in Antigua after eating another now familiar Guatemala meal of beans, plantains and bread. We're finishing our third week of Spanish school (I passed Level A!! Yea!) and are looking forward to getting back to the Capital city to stock up on hugs on Friday and aturday before heading back here on Sunday for two weeks of studying before the mission team from Delray Beach arrives.

Well, I've decided to share with you the journey of faith...or, perhaps more appropriately, that of little faith, that I've been on since coming to this third world country. I have to tell you that these have been three of the most difficult weeks in my life. Most days are just fine, but there are some days that absolutely knock me off my fet. Not only has God shoved me out of my box, but my box has been shredded and at times, I feel like I've been shredded, too. I'm mourning the loss of anything familiar and for family and friends and for, well...comfort. Taking the icky showers standing in 2 inches of someone else's water and carrying your stuff to the bathroom and living with two of us in a tiny room with nowhere to sit but on the bed (good thing I love the guy!) got old mighty quick. I did dorm life over 30 years ago, thank you very much!!! When I was on mission trips I could mark off the days left of the icky, noisy, don't flush the toilet paper, polluted environment, but now this needs to become my normal! Not to mention the fact that we stink!!! I've become an Israelite for heaven's sake!!! Some days I completely forget about the hundreds of blessings I continue to receive every single day and stupidly focus on how physically yucky this place is and how miserable I am!!!!! Cual es mi problema?!?!?!?!?!?!?! No one is more surprised by my reaction to all of this than I am. How clearly we know that God called us here. Bring it on!!! We'll go anywhere, do anything You want us to, Lord!!! But does it have to be so yucky???

Okay, so let's run down the names of the songs on my favorites playlist...

All I Need (is You)

All I Want (is You)

All I Want to Do (is Give My Life to You)

All That Matters (is You)

Any Road, Any Cost...

And that's just the "A's"!!!!!!!! I've been singing these songs for months and foolish me, thought I was so committed and so surrendered and so I'll do anything for You, Lord. My faith is so small and weak sometimes, it scares me. This move to Guatemala has stripped me of everything I thought I was and anything I thought I could do. And I've discovered just how much of the world I still cling to for comfort. I am completely and totally worthless in my own strength. I'm sorry, Lord. You're breaking up...I can't hear what You just said...the connection's not so clear anymore...

But then the passage comes to my mind that says "My strength is made perfect in your weakness." Ah, so that's why You've shredded my box...You want me to be stripped of everything but YOU. Your grace is sufficient for me...for Your strength is made perfect in my weakness... Oh, that I could remember that through these difficult days. I need to know that I truly don't need anything else but YOU. And even when everything comfortable and familiar is tken away, You are there and You haven't changed and You will give me the strength to face the unknown and the known...especially the yucky stuff!!

I am humbled to know of our Savior's unconditional love and that no matter how foolish I am in my doubtings and selfishness, He will never leave me or forsake me. I don't think this battle is over yet, but I do know where my strength will come from. Please pray that my heart will be filled with and focused on Christ and only Him...and that I will be a reflection of His love to all who ee and hear me. Pray that our time in Guatemala City this weekend will be one of refocusing and reconecting with the people we love and that we will be filled with renewed energy to serve our never-changing Lord and Savior.

We love you all and wish you God's richest blessings! Your emails and comments on the blog are like oreos in my milk!!! (now that's definitely on my "what I'll eat first when we get back" list!!!)

Humbly serving,

Ginny

Life in Antigua April 25, 2007

2007-09-06T07:20:00.000-06:00

Such an unbelievable view each morning...We are surrounded by volcanoes and mountains and there are beautiful flowers lining porches and rooflines. This is Antigua and I feel like we're in a National Geographis photo shoot. There are ruins in every direction revealing the over 500 year history of this city that used to be the capital of Guatemala. You do have to wonder why this city exists after the volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that have claimed so many of the historical buildings. But life continues in this valley between the mountains with the sounds of cars, motorbikes and trucks on the cobblestone streets, and the sights of people walking along the very narrow sidewalks.

We are in our third day of Spanish classes. Yesterday we had seven hours of class, with six today and the rest of the week. I guess as adults we often wonder if we'd be able to learn anything new or be able to study again after so many years away from school. But the teachers at this school are excellent and fine tune your hours with them so that you learn quickly and with lots of laughs. Can't beat one on one, either! I can't say that learning Spanish will be effortless, that's for sure! Memorizing dozens of words each night after studying all day will be challenging to say the least! We'll try not to stress out over it, tho, and learn as much as we can in our time here. I don't think I've made any really gross errors in things I've said so far!...except when I said that my computadora was pescado...my computer is a fish! Thought I was saying it was heavy!! The house where we are staying is nice and about a six block walk from our school. We are on the third floor of one of the tallest buildings in the area. Our little 10 x 10 room is free standing and there are two other bedrooms up on this floor as well, where two other students are staying. We all eat breakfast together at 7 AM and head for school. Then we return for lunch, which is at 1 PM and go back to school from 2-4. We'll have dinner together at 7 PM and head to our rooms to study for the rest of the evening.

We'll try to squeeze some internet time at school into the day so we can catch up with all of you. I'll write more about what our meals are like some other day after we've eaten more of Elizabeth's tasty meals.

Until next time...God bless!

K & G

We've Arrived! April 21, 2007

2007-09-06T07:15:00.000-06:00

God has brought us safely to Guatemala! It's been quite a week (month! year!! in our lives. A week of goodbyes and hellos. We woke up on Wednesday April 18th in Mesa, Arizona and laid our heads on pillows in Guatemala that night. Boy, that was a tough day. Saying goodbye to Rachel, later arriving in the ever morphing Guateamala City airport praying that our bags had all survived and arrived, then being dropped of in the team house...so many emotions...so many tears as we realized that our lives would never be the same again. Those of you who have stayed in this house remember the trucks and busses and polution and firecrackers going off all night long. Sleep was not easily found, but we just prayed that the Lord would give us the strength we needed to face the changes and lack of anything familiar. Joy comes in the morning, right??

We decided that the best thing to do was just jump right in with Thursday's activities rather than stick around the house feeling sorry for ourselves. So we went down to the ministry for morning devotions and began to see many of the faces we have come to love. Of course, that did much to remind us why we are here! Then we drove up to Amatitlan where Lindsey needed to make a couple of medical house visits. We visited with Vilma who had just had her second stroke. Lindsey brought them a name of somewhere they might be able to find some therapy for her so perhaps she might walk again. There are 13 people living in this tiny house! Seemed every time I turned around there was a different face looking at me! After sharing some Scripture and prayers, we were given something to drink (oh, please let it be safe!!) and chatted about their family. Then we drove over washboard gravel and dirt roads to see Carlos, a parapalegic who had fallen down a well resulting in the loss of one leg. The family he lives with has taken him in and tends to his physical needs. So many stories...this is going to be hard not to tell you everything!! The faith of the people is amazing in the midst of so many physical trials and so much pain.

Okay, perhaps I can start to breath again...God called you here...He will calm your fears and give you peace...

Friday is a special day at the ministry, devoted to spiritual growth. The day begins with the ministry workers gathering for the prayer walk. We sang a few songs, read some Scripture, then began walking to each building of the ministry to pray for all who worked there, for the students and their families, the teachers and the community. It reminds everyone where our strength comes from and why The Servant's Heart is here.On Thursday the ministry leaders had met for a discipleship Bible study, then Friday they become the leaders for the rest of the ministry workers. At the end of the day, then, everyone comes together for a time of worship and to reflect on what the Holy Spirit had revealed to them in their Bible study. Each week a different group leads this special time.Oh, yeah...we also sat in on our school's chapel service. The kids sure love to sing and Reyna, who is the spiritual life director, captures their attention as she shares God's Word with them. I've got to learn the words to these songs!

Well, as many of you predicted, I can (and probably will!) go on and on...And we've only been here two days!We've decided that, after the first three weeks in Antigua at Spanish school, we will move over to the missionary house. We'll bring the internet payments at that house up to date and hooked back up, so we will have more time to devote to keeping you all informed on our adventures. I'll be working on getting this blog going so you can come back from time to time to catch up without missing anything.

We leave tomorrow for Antigua and Spanish school. I'm a bit nervous, but will try to just enjoy the experience and not fret about trying to learn faster than my little brain will allow. We are truly praying that the Lord will give us the ability to learn quickly as we're so anxious to talk with everyone here!

Katie and Markito...Ruth and Astrid send their love and can't wait to see you in May!!! (I got a few hugs for you and will be happy to deliver them in person!)

I think I'd better get this published so I don't love the whole works! I keep getting kicked off line and have to keep re-doing...

God be with you all and keep you in His care!
Serving together,
All for Him!!
Kevin & Ginny