Monday, January 23rd

Okay, I suppose you are wondering what happened to Sunday.  The internet was down most of yesterday and through the evening.  So,  here's Sunday's post....

Worship today. Manuel’s church. Not quite what we have to offer in Coopersville. Lively, contemporary, good quality liturgical dance with young girls. Two hours. Would be good for all to experience - if only to make the one hour service seem short - and the pastor’s sermon seem the same. (In case you’re wondering, yes, it’s Pastor J blogging tonight for Connie - whose back is suffering…along with other backs in the group…in fact prayer for backs might be appreciated on behalf of quite a few…)

The group was well received in worship by very expressive worshippers. Joni would probably have been a little jealous of one lady who snuck in a little kiss on my cheek…the fact that she was probably Mom’s age not withstanding.

Continued working around the house in the afternoon. One thing bleeds into another. About the time we would finish one electrical project, someone would mention another, here a toilet seat, there a light switch, here a blind that needed cleaning, there a room that needed painting. (Joyce is a painting fool! Couldn’t stop her.) Was nice to be of service and hopefully set some things in place in such a way that they won’t be continuing problems for the folks coming and going here. Also just good to see everybody chipping in and using their gifts - or discovering new ones to do what needed doing and happy to do it.

Kevin and Ginny have been wonderful hosts in so many ways that I’m sure others can also express. One thing our loved ones might appreciate is that they are always very careful to keep us safe. We don’t wander outside the mission house and when traveling, again there are safety measures in place. The guys have made a couple of trips to Ace Hardware, and just being out and about I see a fast and self-absorbed culture with everybody in it for themselves… not unlike another culture I know… Perhaps more dramatic here, but people are people and “people need the Lord” and “their souls will be restless, searching, until they find their rest in God.”

(Well, there it is for Sunday.  It is now Monday and we are about to eat lunch.  We have already done the "introduction tours" of our mission this morning, and this afternoon we are starting our home visits.  Hopefully I will be able to post this day's adventures sometime tonight.  Adios.)
 

Saturday night, and all is well.

Sorry about not finishing my blogpost last night, to let everyone know we arrived in Guatemala safe and sound. I was super tired after being up for almost 40 hours... so, I hit the hay without blogging.

Passing through customs yesterday was a breeze for everyone... except Randy. He was traveling on a different airline than the rest of us, due to getting his ticket late in the game. He got a FULL body scan... AND, after a dog sniffed his carry-on luggage he had the opportunity to show all the contents to the customs officials.

What do they say about a picture being worth a thousand words? Well, instead of rattling on, I will send you a few thousand words in the form of pictures. Enjoy.

Larry is pointing out that this is the last chance for a meal with meat, as we are waiting at the Miami airport to board our plane to Guatemala.

As soon as we arrived at the mission house yesterday, God let us know why He had to send us down here early. We met three ladies from Indiana who were trying desperately to make good on a promise to provide 300 foam stars for a children's lesson before leaving Guatemala on an early morning flight today.  We offered our help and their mission was accomplished.  We gained some new friends.



We also got a head start in preparing for the children's crafts we are doing.  Crayons were being sorted on one end of the table as stars were being being produced on the other end.  It was a rather colorful event.






Our early arrival also gave us the opportunity to help Kevin and Ginny (our missionary hosts) with their ToDo list....

Ashley painting

Larry fixing an appliance.

Sue cleaning windows.  (BTW, Jim... Sue wanted me to tell you she is feeling fine.)

Pastor fixing the plumbing. 

And a host of other tasks were completed for our hosts throughout the day!

For lunch we had our peanut butter sandwiches out on the rooftop....

While soaking up the sunshine, we wondered what the temperature might be up north today. (Just kidding... I had to throw that in.)

Anyway, we even had time to work on our props for our puppet skit after the chores were done.

I would like to close tonight with thanks to God for sending us down here early.  Now, like everyone else... I'm going to bed now.  Talk to you later.

We are in Miami!

Hi everyone! We have landed in Miami and we're just chilling out in the 77 degree weather. We have about a 2 hour wait until our flight leaves for Guatemala.

I just checked the temperature for Coopersville and see that you are really chilling out in 7 degree weather. :-)

Here's how Pastor chills out....

We are almost ready!

Hey folks....we're counting down! Just three nights from now we will be leaving for Chicago to catch the "red eye" to Miami and then on to Guatemala. Tonight we packed up most everything but our personal items into suitcases.... you should've seen it. Really, you should have. But, I forgot I had a camera with me and didn't take a picture of our packing. However,I did get a picture of all the suitcases lined up in the gymnasium after we were done. Then, I accidently deleted that picture from my camera. Hmmmm. And they put me in charge of communications. For what it is worth, I did salvage one picture of a plastic bin of leftovers that we couldn't get into the alloted number of suitcases we are allowed to check onto the airplane. So, here's that picture... :-)

In case you are wondering... we hope to pack the rest of that stuff in our carry-ons before we leave on Thursday night. If anyone is interested in seeing us off on our journey, we are leaving about 9:00 pm on Thursday night. Thank you all for your support, and please keep us and the Guatemalans in your prayers while we are gone. We will keep in touch through this blog. Stay tuned....

To God Be The Glory!!

8 days and counting and we are on our way!!

Well it looks like I am officially added to the roster for our January trip. Funds are being raised. Airfare is purchased. Crafts are ready. Bible story is being put together. Songs are being picked out and taught (Thanks Sarah!) We just need to practice practice parctice. And we are off to serve the people of Guatemala!!

Prayers for Chochi

For those who came to know Chochi from our last mission trip, she could use our prayers. I just heard from Ginny that Chochi fell and hit her head on a rock yesterday. She had to have stiches and her face got pretty banged up. Ginny asks for prayers for quick healing, since Chochi is diabetic and that could cause difficulties.