Home in Guatemala Once Again!

It seems we live between two worlds - our home in Canada and our home in Guatemala.  I am not speaking of the building called a home but rather our hearts. We spent just over 2 months in Canada and were so amazingly blessed to be able to share time with family and friends.  All 4 of our kids and our 3 son-in-laws were together for Christmas!  Being that none of them live in the same city, or province, or country, for that matter, it was a  real miracle.  We stayed with my parents when in Kamloops and my mother-in-law when in Chilliwack, we got to spend good, quality time with them and extended family, too.  In addition, we were able to connect with many friends for coffee or al meal.  Overall, we had a wonderful time.
But, I have to say, as we got ready to travel home (to our Guatemalan home), I started to get excited.  It did take a full day to rid the house of mold and mildew - one of the joys of tropical living - but to comfortably work in shorts and a tank top was a nice change!
Last night our pastor from the little church we attend in Chisec called to see if we'd be in church this morning and we are excited to see everyone again.  We are also really looking forward to catching up with Manny and Cindy later this afternoon. January is  a super busy month for the ministry work because the new school year starts in January and this year we have even more kids involved in the education project, so more supplies, shoes and uniforms to distribute.
The work that the Lord has called us to here is a huge blessing in our lives.  We really do count it an honour and a privilege to be here, in Guatemala, serving the Lord and the beautiful Kekchi people. The team M2G had booked for early February cancelled, so we are able to really focus on getting started on developing the new property.  As Rocky works on the infrastructure for the land - water, road, septic system, and electricity - I will see how the education project started up and find out how I can help to ensure all our kids are settled in and all the supplies have been given out.
Our Guatemalan Residency has come through, so we need to make another trip to the capital city to do the final paperwork and then we will no longer be bound to the 3 month tourist visa.  The final papers for our property have also come through so we will be completing that transaction and filing our papers with the Municipality.
I will also be doing some in-service with the staff at Galilea and officially open the library for staff and students.  I still have some books to catalogue for the Spanish library as well as the teacher resource library and English library to get up and running.
We will be continuing the process of registering our own Canadian Charity as well. Receiving Canadian teams last year was a bit of a hassle, so it became clear we needed to take this step to better accommodate the teams coming from Canada.  We already have our name - COMPELLING LOVE MINISTRIES - and our board of directors - Lawrence and Pat Lepp, Myles and Karen Chupa, Harald and Leeanne Bartel - and our constitution and bylaws are in the hands of the government at this point.
In February, David and Elenor Hawkes, faithful supporters, are coming for a visit.  We are so excited to show them around this beautiful country and share with them, first hand, the work we are involved in.
So, as you can see we certainly will have many things to keep us busy!  But, it isn't about being busy for busy sake.  It is about giving ourselves away and investing in the Kingdom. For you, that may mean taking the time to have coffee with your neighbour or helping to shovel the snow off of their driveway, or maybe it means visiting a shut in or taking the time to minister to those with dementia in a care facility or volunteering in the hospital.  For us, we happen to have "our work" in Guatemala, but the truth is, we all have "our work" laid out before us.
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died.  And he died for all , that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again...We are therefore Christ's ambassadors...!  2 Cor 5:14, 15, 20.
Blessings,
Rocky & Karren
Compelling Love Ministries
CTEN Canada