Wednesday

Pastor J again for Connie.  Keep her in your prayers.  Between her back and throat, she was all in today.  Not much but a wispy croak comes out of her.  So we put her to bed early.

Was an early morning departure 7 a.m. for Buena Vista, a tiny cluster of tin homes in the middle of sugar cane fields.  A two hour ride - the last 30 minutes on a very rough road (?).  Home visits in the morning.  I got to shuck some corn as we talked with one lady who poured out her heart to us about her neighbor who had fallen into the creek face first and was hurt badly and hospitalized.  She also was very concerned about the youth and what was happening especially to the boys in the community - turning into thugs and theives.  This is a common problem in Guatemala, the men are typically not godly men, more interested in making children then being a father to them and giving them a guide for life.  In our lessons with the children, there are always a few older boys that obviously think they are way too machismo for this kind of thing.  They want to hear the lesson and do the crafts, but they are afraid they won't seem "cool".  Once again, not so different with our kids in the U.S.

Commercial break:  Men, please consider coming to the "Courageous" sessions that Mr. Luke is setting up at Grace.  We'll be watching that great movie about being a godly father and working through it for about 7 weeks.  Talk to Mr. Luke for more information about dates and times.  We need godly men in our society who are ready to mentor our young men and women.

Back to home visits - an interesting experience with dirt floors and usually one room with some mattresses and maybe a shelf or two for their few clothes.  Chickens will be running back and forth under your legs and several flea-infested dogs lying around.  Water is a big issue for most.  We took school supplies to a school that had been set up for the Buena Vista people and their well was almost dry - just a muddy sludge left.  Last year the Guatemala missionaries connected with Groundwork Guatemala were able to offer about 120 water purifiers free to a number of different places and there was one there, but you can't purify what you don' t have any of. 

The school only goes up to 6th grade and most of these folks will not continue beyond that, although Kevin introduced us to one young man who will be the first high school graduate from Buena Vista in anyone's memory.  He has to travel two hours to get to a high school.  Many also do not continue their schooling or interrupt it for a year or more because someone must always stay in their homes.  They are all just squatting on land they do not own.  If they leave their place, someone else may move in and take it over.  The farmers let them be in most cases and sometimes they keep worse things from happening to their land.

The Guatemala missionaries are awesome.  They always seem to know the right Bible passage to use in the right instance and are not afraid to hold their people accountable not just to believe in Jesus, but to walk with Him as His true disciples.  We've all very much enjoyed getting to know them - the two hours in a hot bumpy van packed with people went quickly with good company both ways.

Must heap praise on one member of our group.  The most heard word on this trip is sure to be: "Sarah" - what's the Spanish word for this or that - "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah."  Don't want her to get a big head when she reads this later.  She is just a poor miserable sinner like the rest of us...however...  She has been an absolutely awesome translater and never seems to run out of patience as everyone is trying to use her to understand something better.  The kids of course love her and I would say she certainly is choosing an area of giftedness as she studies to be a Spanish teacher.  She also has connected with Manuel's family who lives at the Mission house where we are staying.  They have 5 children ranging from 16 to 3.  It could be hard for both sides when we have to leave...

Enough for now.  A shorter trip tomorrow with same format when we arrive in Amatitlan.  Home visits (people are usually quite ready to drop whatever they are doing and visit with us for as long as God intends) in the morning, then we set up to do a lesson with the children - singing songs we learned over the last few months, doing a cute little puppet skit about Jesus calling the disciples to be fishers of men, then working with the kids with a simple craft of fish necklaces where we show them how to scratch away part of the outside to reveal pretty colors below - so they scratch scales and designs and some of them get very creative.  Then some coloring pages and crayons which they are very grateful to receive.

Those of you who are reading this blog, please pass the link on to others and family members and friends, please post notes for us.  We are all committed to what we're doing here, but miss you very much and think of you often.

Dios te Bendiga (God bless you)