Road Closed...Again!

This week I have been teaching English to the teachers at the Christian School in Chisec.  Normally, the travel back and forth between the mission site in San Simon 1 and the school, takes about 10 minutes and is an easy drive.  But this week has been anything but normal.
The price of cardamom dropped and the people were in an uproar.  If your only crop is cardamom, you have this one window of opportunity to sell your produce and make your annual income.  They were in panic mode! For them the drop in price is the difference between being able to fee their family or not.  And, only way for them to express their frustration is to block the road and shut the country down. And, so, the road was closed again.     
 They cut down trees and drag them across the highway and pile up large rocks so no car or truck can drive over them.  They usually burn tires as well and the people all stand in a line across the road.  The people here say this is the only way for them to communicate with the government their disagreement over something.  I cannot say that I either agree with or completely understand this process, but it happens a lot around here.  
In my North American mind, I don't understand why the police don't come and clear the road.  They are blocking all of the traffic on the major (and only) highway in this part of the country.  It would be like us closing HWY #1 every 5 km between Chase and Merritt, to ensure there would be no way to get around the blockades.   
But here in our little corner of the country there are no police, only army, and they certainly don't attend blockades and wouldn't clear them even if they themselves were stuck.  And so, the people demonstrated their power by shutting things down.  Nothing and no one got through.  Including me! 
When this happens, I feel the full range of emotions.  Frustration - I am frustrated that I cannot fulfill my responsibilities, and that I am being punished for something out of my control.  Empathetic - The cardamom farmers will not be able to feed their families if the prices don't increase.  Sad - How sad is it that the people have no other means by which to express themselves to the government.  Afraid - Because I am North American, I am a target for anger - I am part of the affluent sector of society (even if that is not the truth). 
Will this system ever improve?  I don't have the answers, but I serve the One who does.  And, so, I pray!    
  

Back In School!

Well, you know what they say…learning keeps you young!  Well that’s good, because for the past two weeks, Rocky and I have been back in the classroom.  There were no teams booked for September and Manny and Cindy are in the US, so we decided to take advantage of the time and hit the books…once again!    

Learning another language (or two) is a challenge when you are 50+ years of age.  Not an impossibility, but certainly hard work.   

Because we often find ourselves in areas where no one speaks Spanish, we decided to study not only Spanish, but also a bit of Q’eqchi’.  Teams often ask us if there is any relation between Spanish and Q’eqchi’ and I’ll let you decide.  Below is a conversation in three way translation:

Hi, how are you?               Hola, como estas?         Ma sa la ch’ool.

Good thanks, and you?   Bien, gracias, y tu?       Sa lin ch’ool, bantiox, ut laa’at?

Good.                                 Bien.                                Sa.    

So, you be the judge.  Our goal is to become more fluent in Spanish and to be comfortable communicating a few basic greetings in Q’eqchi’. 

Living in a country where they don’t speak our mother tongue (English), we know how wonderful it is to have a conversation, listen to a teaching or sing a worship song in English – our heart language.  It is the same for the people here.  When we greet them in Spanish, a language they do not speak, it has little value.  We want to honour and love the people here and we believe that by learning some of their mother tongue (Q’eqchi’) we better do just that.    

And so…vale la pena –it is worth the struggle.  When you think of us throughout this month, please pray that the Lord would open up our hearts and minds and enable us to learn all we can so that we can better serve Him where He has planted us!

Passing It On

     It seems as though every night Rocky and I talk about how blessed we are.  Our kids are all healthy and doing well.  We have an amazing and supportive family.  We have wonderful friends who support us and love us.  We are part of an amazing ministry where we can serve not only the Guatemalans, but also the North American teams who come. 
     We have a car that runs, a roof over our heads, a terrific shower with good pressure, a great bed to sleep in, and when there is electricity we even have air conditioning to cool us off at the end of the day.  And although we don’t have a regular salary, we haven’t missed a meal yet (although I probably should on occasion).  We really are so blessed!
     God continues to provide for all of our needs and more.  As a way of giving back, Rocky and I decided to set aside the special offerings that teams sometimes leave for us, so when we heard of a need, we could respond.  In essence, we want to pass along the blessings that we receive.   
     About a month ago, our pastor’s son was badly burned in a fire.  We were able to help the family out by covering some of their medical costs and provide them with transportation between Chisec and the hospital in Coban (about 1.5 hours away).  
     About a week later, Rocky and Baudilio where showing the Jesus film in Quekchi at a little church close to the mission site.  The pastor of the church commented on how amazing it would be to have a Bible in Quekchi.  We quickly learned that most pastors here study and prepare their sermons in Spanish and then translate them into Quekchi.  For those of you who have ever tried to translate scripture, you know how difficult it is.  So, we ordered a case of Quekchi Bibles to distribute amongst the rural pastors who preach in Quekchi every week.

     Two weeks ago, we were visiting and praying for the sick in Sepalau, and I was inspired, I believe by the Lord, to buy a radio and batteries for a women who has been bed ridden for more than 2 years.  Today, I got to deliver that radio and my prayer is that as she listens to the Christian station, the Lord will minister to her through His Word and worshipful music, and this will affect her spirit and in turn her health.
 

 I think this is putting into practice the scriptural principle of sowing and reaping. 

Remember this:  Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously…God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work…You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, … 2 Corinthians 9:6-11.  (emphasis is mine!) 

God has be gracious and generous with us and so, in turn, we are to be gracious and generous to those in need so that no one would be in want.    

What To Do When Every Day Is +30 Celcius?

I never thought I’d say it…but…I miss the changing of the seasons.  I used to dream about living in a place where it was summer all year long and now I am there.  Sure, some days are sunnier than others and some are rainy, but the temperature varies little.  The variable in the weather is the humidity.  It can range from slightly humid, maybe 60% humidity, to very humid, 90% or more.  But every day in Chisec is a shorts and t-shirt day. 

So, what do you do when every day is +30 degrees celcius?  You begin to dream… and I am dreaming of a white Christmas.  The Lord willing, we will be home this year for Christmas and I have to admit, I am looking forward to the cold.  Strange isn’t it.  Rocky tells me that after a day or two of shivering  I will miss our tropical paradise and he is probably right.  But those first few moments of icy cold are going to be a real treat.    

Water for Sepalau...the story continues!

 We have been working on the water project in Sepalau for a number of months now.  It is a huge project and we expect it will take a year to see it to completion.  A number of teams are contributing, both financially and physically, to make this happen.  This last team from Boise, Idaho, worked on digging the trench for the pipeline to connect the lagoon and the water tank in town.  They also worked on building the water stations (16 in all) situated around town.  So, to go down the list…electricity to the lagoon – check; water tank – check; trench and pipeline to connect lagoon to water tank – check; 16 water stations – check!  The next phase of the work is connecting all of the stations to main water tank.  Once that is done it will be time to hook up the pump! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the team was working in Sepalau, their pastor was teaching at the mission site.  The group brought with them 40 study Bibles and the Pastor’s job was to teach a group of 40 pastors how to use them so they would actually be helpful in their personal study, in their research and in planning their sermons.  Pastor Daryl also addressed how to reach the illiterate in your congregation.  When he asked how many in their churches could not read and/or write, the percentages ranged from 50% to 80%!  Hard to wrap your head around that, isn’t it?  It was a couple of days of intense teaching and learning – a couple of days that not only impacted those pastors, but will impact their congregations!

We did it!

Today we said goodbye to our 7th team in 10 weeks!  It has been a crazy summer.  As we reflected last night with Manny and Cindy we were so blessed to know that even though we were scrambling to make it all work the Lord moved in very deep and real ways over this summer.  Not only were the teams a huge blessings in the communities where they served, worked and did children's ministry.  The teams left feeling richer in their spirits for the experience. 
That is amazing...that is God! 
Thank you, Trenton Team, Bellpre Team, Xenia Team, Jacksonville Women's Team; Jacksonville Youth Team, Hilliard Team, and Boise Team!
These teams worked in Seguachil, Sepalau, Santa Marta, Monte Hermon, Chaquiquiche, Presbeteriana Britania, Chisec, and Santa Rosa. 
What a great way to spend a summer! 

 

 

               

 

 

Loving on Pastors' Wives

This past week we hosted our very first event for pastors’ wives.  We invited 39 women to come and share a day with us and a team of women from Ohio.  It was the group’s idea to take the time to honour these women, to serve them and love on them.  They had crafts set aside and a ton of gifts that we gave away.  We made a wonderful lunch full of food these women rarely, if ever, get.  But, the very best part was when the group spoke about how Christ served the disciples by washing their feet and He left that as an example of how we should be with one another.  Then, they divided into four groups, and the team members began to gently and lovingly wash the pastors’ wives feet. 

I don’t know how many of you have participated in a “foot washing” ceremony in North America, but here, much like in Jesus’ time, people’s feet are dirty because they walk everywhere in sandals – through the mud and dirt.  One woman had walked on a dirt road for over 2 hours just to attend the event.  Another, along with her 5 year old daughter had set out at 4am that morning to walk the 3 hours to the nearest bus, but was lucky to meet up with a car and catch a ride.  Many of them journeyed far to come to the mission site. 

Spanish hymns played in the background as women from the US ministered to women from Guatemala by washing and drying their feet.  But, it was so much more than that.  It was a beautiful example of servant hood.  Of the people of Guatemala, the indigenous are the lowest ranking citizens.  Of the indigenous, the women are the lowest.  These American women knelt down and took the dirty feet of these undervalued women, and in the name of Jesus, washed them.  And, by doing so, they said, “you are of worth and value in the Kingdom of God.”  How cool is that?