Christmas in Guatemala

Christmas is a very big deal in Guatemala. In some ways that is good and in some ways not so good. It is good in that no one objects to being wished a Merry Christmas, the term Christmas, or Navidad, is still used in all the shops, and the reason for Christmas is celebrated without fear of repercussions. On the other hand, traffic from now until after Christmas will be a perpetual snarl. I can joyfully say that I will not be sorry to miss that. I leave for my homeland two weeks from Thursday.

The poinsettia in this picture grows on the hillside just behind my apartment. It is not as tall as some that grow here, but it is by far the most beautiful.

November has been a very busy month here in the mission house, with three teams in as many weeks. The last team left this week, some on Monday and the remainder Wednesday. Tomorrow will be spent with my neighbors, who are gringos, celebrating Thanksgiving.

This has been a good year for groups coming to the mission house. Many houses have been built, much food has been handed out, many people have received medical attention, and the gospel has been presented with good results. Only eternity will reveal all the fruit of the laborers. In 2009 there were 22 teams that came and spent a week at the mission house and as of right now 2010 promises even more with 27 teams scheduled. HELP!!!!!!!!!

The word "Thanksgiving" takes on new meaning here when people tearfully express gratitude for a house not even as big as my dining room made from a few posts and some sheets of tin. It goes without saying that my outlook on "things" has drastically changed over the last four years. Happy Thankgiving to all.

Memorial Day Guatemala...Sort of

This is just one end of a block long market where vendors are selling flowers for November 1st, a holiday known as Day of the Dead. The people do pretty much the same as we do in the states except they carry it a little farther. They not only decorate the graves of departed loved ones, they go to the cemetery and have picnics and spend the whole day there. It is also the day of the national kite festival.

Can you believe it has been a month since I have posted to my blog and I thought it had only been a few days. October and November are beginning to shape up a lot like this past summer, with one team after another.

The last team that was here, one from Wilmington, N. C., built 15 houses in a village about an hour and a half drive from the mission house. Sometimes I wonder how these people ever found these places to build a village. I went to the village to help with the food distribution, always an humbling experience. Can you imagine lining up outside a little church with 150 other families with a little ticket in your hand that entitles you to go through a line to receive a small bag of rice, sugar, salt, pasta, oatmeal, and a few other things? I can't. But they do it and are grateful for everything they get. I am grateful God has allowed me to be a small part of this.

As I write this, it is about 4:00 on Halloween day and it really looks spooky outside with dark clouds, lightning, and thunder. I expect Freddy or Jason or some other creepy crawler to appear any minute.

I decided to go to town today, and should have known better. The day before a holiday is always chaos traffic wise. The traffic cops try hard to direct traffic, but even they give up eventually and just let the people fight it out amongst themselves.

Maybe it won't be a month between posts this time...and maybe it will with three teams coming in November.

The Spirit of Fear

I've done a lot of praying for courage over the past few weeks. A couple of years ago, there was an occurrence on the road to el Tejar that scared the bejeebers out of me and I had not been back down that road since....until about two weeks ago. The city is putting stone down on the other road to Chimal and it is blocked. Since staying on the mountain for three months without going to town was not an option, I prayed for courage, got in my Patrol, started out. The road is in such bad shape that my mind was too occupied with missing the holes to be afraid. God does answer pray in strange ways sometimes.

FTSS Guatemala branch is going good. Last week I bought enough food for ten families and by the end of the day only had four bags left. Those were gone very shortly. This week, I bought enough for fifteen families.

Max Lara is doing much better. I went by to see him on my way back from Antigua yesterday and he and Teresa had gone to Chimal. His daughter said he is doing fine.

Due to some family difficulties, Berto and his family have moved from Santo Domingo. Laurie King and I found their new home last week, in Chimal, and paid them a visit. He is about the same and in good spirits as usual.

The fall is rapidly becoming as busy as the summer. We have six teams scheduled for October and November.

Favorite Things

Today is Sunday...my favorite day of the week. The time spent in God's house this morning was, for lack of a better word, good. It's not FFBC, but it is pretty close....except for the language. The music is lively and uplifting and is one of the few churches here that doesn't blast you out of the building with speakers as big as all outdoors. After church I usually have lunch at Los Cebollines and think about my favorite people I used to have lunch with in the states.

It is so quiet up here on this mountain on Sundays that a person can hear the corn growing down in the valley. If I want noise, all I have to do is go a couple of miles to Chimaltenango.

My friend and resident nurse, Laurie King, and I went to visit Berto Friday to take him some stronger pain medicine and some antibiotic. He is so thin his arms look like bones with skin on them. Laurie made the comment when we left that she hoped that if she were ever in that situation, she would have the same attitude he does, always grateful and thanking God. I ditto that.

Tomorrow is back to work painting the inside of the mission house.

Luisa

FTSS - Guatemala Branch

We are in business! With the money sent by FFBC, I was able to buy enough food for ten bags and nine of them have been given away this week. Each bag contains rice, beans, consumme, dry soup mix, margarine (that doesn't have to be refrigerated, yuk), cooking oil, Incaparina (a vitamin fortified drink), and moosh (oatmeal) and the cost of each was approximately Q43.50 or $5.50.

Right now, each family is limited to one bag per month....that may change to every two weeks depending on circumstances. I tell them not to tell anyone else and they say "no tenga pena", don't worry, we won't, and I know they can't wait to get back to the village to tell someone. The one thing they would like to have that I don't provide is sugar. IMHO sugar is poison....clogging your veins, rotting your teeth, and causing all sorts of health problems. So if they want sugar, they will have to buy that themselves. See my mean streak.

I now have two English students, my gardener, Freddy, and Manuel Chavez, the dentist. Now I wish I had paid closer attention in English class, although it probably would not be helpful now if I had, it being 50 years since I sat in an English class.

Rain, Rain, It's Some Other Day

Normally, it would be pouring down rain about now, but this is obviously not a normal year. It has been about six weeks since we have had any significant rain. According to one of the local papers, the corn corp this year will be down by about 40%. That is devastating for a people whose staple food is corn. They can't eat a meal without tortillas. The road to Chimaltenango cuts through corn fields where there are corn stalks fifteen plus feet tall with tassels and small ears. If it doesn't rain soon, and a lot, the ears won't get much bigger. This is a crucial time for corn as it needs moisture to develop the ears. Some of the gringos who have lived here for over 30 years say they have never known the rain to stop for this long in the rainy season.

I went to see Berto yesterday to take a few things to him and his family. He is in a lot of pain and at this point, I think he is ready to go to the hospital. Whether they will take him or not remains to be seen. Please pray for him and his family and for us as we try to help make him as comfortable as possible and for wisdom to know how to deal with the situation. He is so humble and grateful for everything that is done for him. It hasn't been all that long ago that he was cutting wood, loading it on his donkey, and taking it to town to sell. Now he can hardly get out of bed.

Now that summer (for me) is over, maybe I can keep up on the blog a little better, you think?

Luisa

Where'd Everybody Go?

Every morning since May 28 there have been people staying here in my apartment and in the mission house. Thursday morning when I got up, it was deathly quiet. Everyone had sneaked out in the middle of the night and left me all alone. :-) There will be one more team coming Sunday and then a respite until October.

For the last three or four weeks it has been truly "The Land of Eternal Spring" in Guatemala. There has been a break in the rain and the weather has been too beautiful for words.

Sometimes I wish FFBC were here with the Feed the Sheep Shop. The word has gotten out that if you go talk to Senora Luisa, she will give you money for food. Now I'm not talking about lots of money. I'm talking Q5, Q10, Q20....that's from less than $1 to $2.50. Maybe I should never have started it, but when a mother comes here with a baby in her arms and three or four more hanging on her skirts and says they are hungry, I can't turn them away. Maybe I'll just start my own Feed the Sheep Shop.

Luisa

Summertime and the living is not easy, but it is fun

Summer is more than half over and I still don't know where the first half went. Summer for me is the end of May until mid-August. By the time the year is over, there will have been 21 teams that have come to the mission house for a week and have gone out to build houses, hold medical and dental clinics, pass out food to families, hold block parties, do evangalistic work, get sick, climb volcanos, overeat, make new friends, share their hearts, listen to some good singing and preaching, and a host of other things. A lot of them come here as strangers to me and leave as friends. Some of them I get closer to than others and it is hard to see them go.

It has been a while since I wrote an update on Berto. Someone left money here for him and his family for food and other needs. It is to be doled out to them weekly rather than giving it to them all at once. Last week I went to take it to them and every time I go my heart nearly breaks. They have absolutely nothing, and are always so grateful for anything they receive. He is in the bed most of the time now and Vilma cannot work because of needing to stay home to care for him. I have no idea how much longer he will live, but his main concern is what will happen to his family when he is gone. Please pray for him and his family.

Luisa

Where Have I Been?

Talk about hitting the ground running! When I returned to Guatemala on May 23rd, I thought I would have a few days to get ready for the team coming on the 28th, relax a little, and catch up on my blog. Was I ever wrong! Plans change hourly here.

We are on our fourth team now since May 28th and there has not been a day when there has not been a team in the mission house. One of those, of course, was FFBC which made me extremely happy. What didn't make me happy was that I was sick the day they left and didn't get to say goodbye to them.

Even though the days have been busy the people of Guatemala still have needs. For example, some ladies brought me a written diagnosis from an ob/gyn doctor in Chimal of the aunt of one of the ladies. Discretion demands that I not go into detail as to her condition, but let it suffice to say that she was no doubt in very much pain and discomfort and was in desperate need of surgery. The family did not have the money for surgery so pleas were sent out by email for help and the surgery was paid for. I visited the lady a couple of days after the surgery, the day she was going home from the hospital, and she was most grateful.

In a couple of other instances ladies have come to ask for money for food. Two ladies asked for Q10 each, the equivalent of $1.25. Another lady needed money for an x-ray for her son who had been beaten and robbed.

Health care here in the national hospital for the most part is free, but no one wants to go to the national hospital because of the poor quality of care. Doesn't say much for socialized medicine, does it?

I have a work crew this summer to help clean the mission house and it is great. I actually have a couple of days off each week. My crew fell in love with Don and his team. They call him Pastor Don, so I fully expect to hear him preach next time I am home.

Luisa

Shake, Rattle, & Roll

For some reason, I just happened to be awake in the wee hours of yesterday morning when my bed started to tremble, then shake, then really shake. Several thoughts went through my mind and being the slow thinker that I am you know that this quake was a long one. My first thought was, it will quit in a few seconds. When it didn't my next thought was, maybe I should get outside, but I didn't. My next thought was, o.k., it's time for this to stop. When finally, after 45 seconds, the shaking started to subside, my next thought was, wherever the epicenter was there is probably damage. When I did finally get up and check the news, I found that it was a 7.1 and there had indeed been damage and death. This was the longest quake I have experienced since being here. They usually only last 10 to 15 seconds....it only seems longer. The mission house and apartments have been built to stand a quake of the magnitude of 8 or higher, but when I look at some of the cracks in the concrete, I can't help but wonder.

In one of my early blogs, I stated that there were plans in the works to teach English to the principal of the school in Santo Domingo. So far, that has not come to pass and now another person has asked me to teach him English. What's up with this? Am I supposed to teach? First of all, I have had no experience as a teacher and also there are other obstacles to overcome, none of which God cannot overcome, in fact already has if this is His plan. Please help me pray about this and be open to His leading and enabling.

Luisa

On the road again....or rather in the air.

My time in the U. S. is rapidly coming to a close. It has been good to spend time with my family and friends and to once again worship with my church family.

But now it is back to Guatemala to make preparations for the teams coming this summer and to check on some people in the villages. It is going to be a very busy summer starting a few days after I get back and continuing until mid-August.

Hopefully, I will be able to make time to blog and keep everyone up to date on what is going on in Gautemala.

As I read the news of things that are happening in the world and especially in our country, it mystifies me that so many people cannot see a connection between the economic problems and unrest in the world and the prophesies in the Bible. That is until I read that those who are not spiritually enlightened are not spiritually discerning.

Maybe the reason I like my job so much is because I get to be around people who love God and are not afraid to say so.

Luisa

Soapbox Time

It's soooo easy! Just swipe your credit card through a little machine, sign your name and you are in debt. I had to learn this week how to use one of those little machines, now I have it down pat.

There was a friend of mine once, when I lived in Michigan, who was a truck driver and received a monthly expense check. He decided to put all his expenses on his credit card then pay that bill off when his expense check came. Unfortunately, his expense check first and he spent it on other things so he didn't have the money to pay the credit card bill. This friend eventually declared bankruptcy. Do the phrases "take responsibility for your actions", "payday someday", and "paying the piper', come to mind?

When I used to work as an escrow agent doing loan closings for people who were refinancing their homes in order to pay off some debts, it was astounding to me the amount of money some people owed to credit card companies. How could they let this happen? It is so easy. It is amazingly easy to obtain a credit card and even easier to use it, often times irresponsibly.

What is it about us that we almost think we are being unpatriotic if we are not in debt. You might say we are helping the economy when we buy things because if we don't buy, there won't be a demand. We have been demanding things for years and where is the economy.

Sadly, I see the same thing happening in Guatemala. More and more people are handing over the little piece of plastic in Maxi Bodega (Wal-Mart).

I heard on the news just this week that the average person has eight credit cards. My word! Why would a person need eight credit cards? I don't mind being below average in this respect. I only have one and have considered shredding it, but it is so convenient. Oh well, if I get too far in debt, my faithful government will bail me out.

Luisa

The Sky is Falling

What is that stuff falling out of the sky? There has been little to no rain in Guatemala since mid-October and the day after I arrived in the states, it rained all day. I'm sure the Easter egg hunters were disappointed, but it looked good to me.

Just before I left Guatemala, a couple of people came to me with needs for help in paying for medical exams. One was for a woman's son who needed x-rays and other exams on his back and another was for a lady who needed an ultra-sound to determine if she had miscarried. She got the results a couple of days before I left and it looks as though she has lost the baby. Whether this was brought on by stress or would have happened anyway, I don't know. It can be very stressful when men show up at your house with shotguns demanding to see your husband as they did at hers. She managed to close the door on them and no one was harmed, just frightened out of their wits.

As I spend these few weeks in my home country, I am reminded again of how blessed we are here with material things. If material things were all that we needed, America would have no needs. We don't know that we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and naked, and blind. But there is hope....in Jesus Christ.

Luisa

Joy, Joy, Joy

What a difference a few days and a little good news can make. Last week I received word that my residency has been granted for me to stay in Guatemala. It has been well over a year since the process was started to bring this about. What this means is that I can now stay in Guatemala for two years without having to leave the country every 90 or 180 days. After that I can apply for a permanent residency which I understand is a much simpler process. All that's left to do is go to the city Friday to pick up my passport from my attorney.

This probably doesn't mean much to a lot of people, but to me, it is a big deal. Without the residency there is always that time limit hovering around in the back of my mind like a little gray cloud. To me, it means freedom to think and to plan things that I was hesitant to do before.

There is a young man here who has become an object of my prayers. He has no job, no money and through the generosity and good graces of a friend is attending the seminary here in Chimal. This friend is looking for a way to set the young man up in a business in order for him to support his family and continue his studies at seminary. This bears more investigation and as I said much prayer. Please join me in praying for him and for direction and wisdom for me.

Luisa

Gloom, Despair, etc., etc...

Being sick is depressing to say the least and I almost forget what it feels like to feel good. I have heard it said that there is something good in everything...a silver lining behind every cloud. It is hard to see anything good when a person is flat on their back and their body aching from fever. However, after four of five days in bed, I noticed that some of my body parts were getting some much needed rest and weren't as sore as they had been. So maybe there is something to this silver lining business.


During all this, there has been a team at the mission house. This team is comprised totally of college students from the University of Alabama. I enjoy young people.....from a distance. They are so enthusiastic and full of energy. They are creative and flexible. They haven't yet learned that they have limitations, that there are certain things they aren't able to do, so they just do them anyway. This team of young people built five houses, held a basketball camp, visited homes and took food to families, conducted VBS, and had a block party. Now I can imagine what a block party in Guatemala must have looked like. In the states, it would consist probably of the people in one block or neighborhood. Here, I am sure people would come from everywhere to join the fun of a block party.

March has been relatively quiet and the time is rapidly approaching for me to leave for the states. It will be good to spend some time with my family and friends.


Luisa

Wise Friends

Whether accidentally or on purpose, I don't know....I prefer to think on purpose....a very good, wise friend helped me this week to understand something that only someone who was standing back from the forest enough to see the trees could.

I have been put into a situation the last few days that has causing me not some small degree of stress and this friend made me see that what I was doing was protecting myself rather that reaching out to someone in need. That does not mean that I intend to roll over and play dead, but I have been able to formulate a plan that has relieved the stress somewhat.

I have another very good, wise friend who said something long ago that has stuck with me, but I have yet to figure out how to accomplish it. He claims that this was not original with him, but it sounds like something he would say. He said, "humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is not thinking of yourself at all."

We, meaning Laurie King and I went to see Berto last Thursday and he is doing surprisingly well. He has seemed to be doing better ever since his week's stay in the hospital. He has some pain, but it is not unbearable. On Saturday, I went back loaded with tangerines, Ensure, vitamins, and pain relievers for him. He is still adamant about not having the surgery....his choice.

I have decided that these posts need to be shorter and more frequent. I can promise shorter, but am not too sure about more frequent.

Luisa

If I Were King, or Queen....

It is a good thing I am not the one in charge of deciding who gets a house built for them here. When a lady comes to my house to pick up a pair of shoes for her child and asks me if it is possible for her to have a house built because she has eleven children and some nieces and nephews living with her in a one room house, I want to grab my hammer and say "let's go". But wiser heads than mine have been chosen to make those decisions. I would probably bankrupt the coffers very quickly.

There has been an ongoing project here since last August that has seen some good results. Without going into a lot of detail, the story is about a little boy, Joel, who was told by a Dr. in a visiting medical team that if he did not have surgery on his eye, he would go blind. As it turns out, after visits to a couple of Drs. here, he does not need surgery. He is allergic to the sun and with the help of a group of generous people in the states, he now has medication and instructions on how to protect himself. His eye has greatly improved and his sight is much better. He and his sister both had lesions on their arms and those are almost gone.

It is my natural, fleshly tendency to be a hermit. If ever I have any tendency to be cordial or hospitable, it is an unnatural or maybe supernatural one. My hermitishness has been stretched this week when a family...mother, dad, and baby came to stay with me for three days so the baby, Felix, could see a doctor here in Chimaltenango. Felix was born with a birth defect which probably can be corrected with surgery. He is 16 months old and they were told at one time that the surgery could be done when he was one year old. The specialist here said usually that kind of surgery is not done until the child is two years old. Another complication is that he has severe anemia. He is being treated for that now and in October, hopefully, they can come back for the surgery. There was something almost like regret when they left. I had gotten to know them and Felix is one of the few babies here that doesn't scream for his mother when I pick him up. They will be coming back in three weeks for a follow-up visit with the doctor.

The parents, Jorge and Ada, were very disappointed about the surgery....first for Felix's sake and second because they rode a chicken bus for eight hours to get here. They live north of Huehuetenango, almost to the Mexican border. So, how do I know about Felix? Through our on site dentist, Manuel Chavez, who not only is a dentist but an evangalist as well. He travels far and away throughout Guatemala holding dental clinics, preaching, and ministering to people.

I took some photos of Felix and the family and printed them out for them. I have never seen anyone so excited over a small thing like some family photos. It makes me wonder when was the last time I got excited over some small thing.

Luisa

Can You Say Mountain?

Little did I know what I was getting into last week when I volunteered to drive a truck to a village to haul medical supplies and team members for a medical clinic. I had driven this truck before so I thought "no sweat". No one told me where this village was so I just followed the leader....straight up a mountain. Did I say straight? Strike that....there were hairpin curves, one after another. By the time we reached the village, at an elevation of 8,000 ft., the truck was overheated and steaming. To add to the problem, when we got in the truck to return, I smelled brake fluid. My thoughts were of all those curves and while the scenery was beautiful, I didn't want us to end up a part of it rather that just looking at it.

It was a good day though. The doctors attended to about 190 people with everything from coughs, sore throats, and ear aches to athletes foot. The doctor who treated the athletes foot said it was so severe that the fellow was near to losing some toes. One lady who came to the clinic wanted treatment for her two little boys who were not eating and were sad. I was helping translate for the lady taking names, ages, and problems, so we put down depression for her boys. I thought this was kind of strange for two little boys until the doctor told us later that her husband, their father, had been killed in the landslide that occurred in Guatemala City a few weeks ago.

There were several doctors in this team as well as nurses and a pharmacist. As well as treating the physical ailments of the people, they also covered them with prayer. Our table was set up outside, but I managed to venture inside the building a few times. More than once, I saw the group who was treating someone praying with them.

We closed up shop about 4:00 and started back down the mountain with me holding my breath, as though that would help if we had no brakes. However, everything went fine and we met up with the rest of the team at Paulino's Restaurant in Tecpan for some wonderful food and fellowship.

This team was the third one in three weeks and now it is back to putting the mission house aright in anticipation of the next team later this month.

Luisa

The Name of the Game

The name of the game here in Guatemala is "flexibility". There is a sign posted on the mission house wall that reads, "Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape."

It seems that it is either a flurry of activity or agonizing waiting. Such was the case yesterday with a three hour wait at the opthamologist office with Maria Reyes for an eye exam and then back to the mission house to clean before the team returned from their day's work. Plans can be made in the evening for the next day only to be thwarted by a team member being ill and needing medication and someone to stay with them.

January has been a busy month what with going to the school to help register some children, taking Berto to the hospital, getting Maria an eye exam--for right now her old glasses will do-- and having two teams at the mission house back to back. Feburary will probably be shoe shopping time.

Sometimes when I drive through the village of Santo Domingo, or go to the school, or to a home, it doesn't take long for the word to get out that I am there. Folks come out of the woodwork asking for something....shoes, medicine, medical exams, etc. Quite often, it is overwhelming and I want to say "give me a break". Then I think of the numerous scriptures which tell of Jesus not being able to eat or rest because of the people coming to Him for healing and casting out demons. The scriptures say...."and He healed them all." He raised the dead and fed the multitudes. The only time I can remember Jesus not helping someone was when the guy asked Him to make his brother share the inheritance with him. Jesus asked him, "Man, who made me judge over you?" Jesus was not into greed. Jesus was compelled by compassion. He could not not be compassionate

The King James Dictionary defines compassion as; suffering with another, painful sympathy; a sensation of sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another; pity; commiseration.

Webster's Dictionary defines compelled as; forced; constrained (urged irresistibly or powerfully); obliged.

In spite of the people coming to Him just to have their bellies filled, He still had compassion. He knew that, He knew they were seeking Him just for their physical needs, but He still had painful sympathy and pity for the people, even affection for His enemies. This compassion compelled, or constrained Him to heal, to forgive, to raise the dead. Even the ungrateful experienced His compassion as evidenced by the lepers who were healed and only one returned to thank Him.

If I were to compare the sufferings of different cultures of people, the suffering I see here would not be as great as the suffering I see on TV of war torn countries, countries where famine and disease is rampant, or where persecution for one's faith is the order of the day. But if I compare it to the suffering in the United States, of life as I know it, the suffering here is great. If I had to live in the conditions that I see people living in here in Guatemala, I would be seeking relief too.

So I have to ask myself, “where is my compassion, my painful sympathy, my affection for an enemy?” Jesus had compassion for me, painful sympathy, pity, for my lost condition and the fact that I could do nothing to make my life right nor to bring me into a right relationship with God, His Father. Out of love and compassion He died for me. He has not yet asked me to do that...I've just been asked to have a little compassion.


Luisa

Sometimes working with folks in Guatemala brings joy and sometimes it brings heartache.



We were finally able to take a gentlemen in one of the villages, who has been ill for quite sometime, to the hospital. He has passed off his illness and pain as of no consequence for a long time until he could no longer stand the pain. Now it is too late. He has cancer and more than likely has about three or four months to live.



I didn't want this to happen. I don't want Beto to die. I want him to get well and go back home to his family, to work and take care of his wife and children, of which he has five. But I don't always get what I want. Things don't always turn out the way I want them too and I'm sure as much as I want him well, his family wants that more. He is not an old man, probably in his forties. His wife will make it o.k. work wise. She has been pretty much supporting the family for quite a while anyway but had to quit as of late to take care of him. I truly don't know how they have been living.



At times like this, there should be something deeply profound and spiritual I could think to say, but I can't think of anything, except a scripture I read this morning in Psalm 84 where it talks about those whose strength is in the Lord who passing through the Valley of Baca, (the Amplified Bible says Valley of Weeping) make it a place of springs.........they go from strength to strength (increasing in victorious power).... [v 5-7] One step at a time, one day at a time, strength for today and building on that for strength for tomorrow.



From all that I have been able to observe of Beto, he is a believer, as well as his wife. So they have a source of strength.

The gauntlet has been thrown down and I have decided to accept the challenge. The books have been ordered and now a time and place is all that remains to be decided. Senor Elfi, the prinicpal of Santo Domingo school, is definitely serious about learning English and I am just as serious about my inability to teach him. Hence, much prayer is requested in this endeavor. First for him that he will learn quickly and easily. He is a young man so that shouldn't be a problem. And then for me. First of all, that my patience and wisdom will greatly increase and that I will truly teach and not just read the book to him, he can do that.

In my last blog, I referred to paying for something and feel it is necessary to clarify something. When there is a mention of paying for something, that does not come out of my pocket. I am not that benevolent, in fact, I have been known to be quite tight-fisted. Those funds come from other sources, chiefly from my home church in Arkansas, and sometimes from other sources.

What's it about?

First of all, this blog is not to be about me, as much as I would like it to be. My favorite words are "I" and "me". This blog is intended to be about people in general and Guatemalan people in particular. The Guatemalan people, for the most part, are a very gracious, humble people and exhibit much gratitude for any little thing done for them.



School starts here in Guatemala in January and it has been my practice for the last three years to go to the school in Santo Domingo to help pay the Q40 for some children whose families could not pay. This year I was a little unsure about going because my buddy, who had gone along in the past, was no longer around to go. "Was there going to be anyone there who needed help?" Would they understand my faulty Spanish?" Questions, Questions. Upon arrival at the school, I was told that enrollment this year was free. (Thankfully the principal speaks some English) However, several people could not enroll their children because they had not paid for last year's snacks the school serves the children each day. So I paid that for several children and will go back tomorrow to pay for some more.



During our conversation, the principal said I needed to learn Spanish and he wanted to learn English....could I teach him and he would teach me Spanish. Now there's a challenge if there ever was one.