Monday, August 28, 2006

Our Weekend In Solola

This weekend we went to visit Larry & Claire in Solola.
We also got to go to Panajachel. I love it there because it is very artsy. We got to go to a coffee shop owned by a christian American, that is what the pictures are of. While we were in Pana we fellowshiped with other Americans who minister in various capacities in that area.
Some knew of surrounding villages that have no gospel message and promised to take us on our next trip. Everything is by word of mouth here, so the more people you know, the easier it is to find the places with the greatest needs. Please pray that God will continue to show us these places!
“I have strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation…to whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.”
-Paul

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Photo Contest: Pick Your Favorite!

On our survey trip to the Petén, Larry, Claire, Jim, and I decided to have a photo contest just for fun. We need your help! We have all submitted 6 photos each and need you to email us with which one you think is the best. They are all anonymous. We will let you know in a couple weeks who the winner is. We are not very competitive or anything!!!!! To see our entries, click on the “Photo Contest” page at the top.

Prayer Request

Last night we went to Helen’s graduation (one of our Spanish tutors). She got her license in economics. A license, we think, is similar to a Master’s degree in the States. She is now qualified to teach at the university. When she started, there were 450 people in her class. She is the only one who graduated. Very few Guatemalans ever finish school.
Afterwards there was a party for her at the Seminary. She has several family members who are not saved, so she asked Larry to preach. Everyone who was there heard the plan of Salvation. Please pray that God will use that to work in their hearts.
On Sunday we drove past the football stadium and saw all these Guatemalans in the trees. They got to watch the game for free!
I thought this was cute! These are some of Claire’s babies at the children’s home. They were all downstairs for awhile on fumigation day.
We met this man in the Petén. He is 84 years old and has a 34 year old wife and a 1 year old baby.

Our New Home

This has been a really busy week with all of the normal frustrations associated with moving into a new place and beginning to learn a new language (at the same time!) Thank you for praying for us. We need it so that our brains do not explode. Every single task is a learning experience. It is the little victories throughout our day that we get excited about... like when Jimmy finally learned how to order pizza (after he called a chicken place and McDonald’s first), when it only took us 5 hardware stores this time to find the right screws we needed, turning to the right chapter in church, reading a street sign, remembering which street has the right-of-way at an intersection, or finding L’Oreal shampoo at Paiz. We’re adapting little by little! Everytime I walk outside my apartment I have to tell myself, “This is my street,” for some reason I am always surprised. It is sort of funny to look at something so foreign and think that one day it will be familiar.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Our Container

Thank you so much for your prayers for our container. It was suppose to arrive yesterday at 8:00, so we all got up around 5:30 to load up the Boggs’ belongings, for them to move to Solola. 8:30 we got a call saying that our container would not be delivered until tomorrow. After a couple a phone calls from Jimmy to the moving company, our container finally arrived at 3:30.
Our stuff did not arrive in the same container in which we loaded it in Jacksonville, it was all thrown into a much smaller one and my truck was driven separately from Guatemala City. Just the fact that my tuck made that drive safely is a blessing in and of itself! So far only a couple things were damaged and nothing was stolen that we know of, so that is a big praise! It all smells really gross though, especially the inside of my truck! I am sure that will eventually go away. You just have to learn not to expect anything to go as planned, it is more interesting that way anyway! I love our apartment. My 2 favorite things are that you can flush the toilet paper and we have closets! (By the time I remember not to flush toilet paper, not to turn right on red, not to yield on green when turning left, and not to rinse my toothbrush with water from the faucet, it will probably be time for a furlough.)
I drove my truck to our first day of language school. (Later we found out that we are not allowed to drive it yet... that’s not our first mistake here!) It is so nice to have somewhat of a schedule again, we haven’t had that since last September. I am so excited about finally learning the language, especially the correct pronunciation. One of my books looks like one I use to have in kindergarten... it’s a good thing, because I am starting from scratch! Our teachers are wonderful. Mine doesn’t speak any English from what I can tell and Jimmy’s understands English pretty good, but does not like to speak it, even though he is probably really good at it... so it is sink or swim for us!
Here is something that is not very missionaryish. Before we started school this morning all the seminary students had to go to chapel. My first thought was - I didn’t sign up for chapel. The only word I understood the entire 45 minutes was “milk.” I guess they have it twice a week. God must have decided that I needed more motivation to learn Spanish faster! I cannot wait until I can finally understand sermons again. Anyway, we still love it here and are enjoying our new way of life! Thanks for reading our blog and for your prayers.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Back In Xela!

Xela is the Indian name for Quetzaltenango. Last night we got back from Guatemala City. Over the last week we have gone from nearly 9,000 ft to around 300 ft, back to 9,000 ft... your body really feels that. At first I thought I had the flu! You really notice it when you try to take a deep breath.
Claire gave me a crash course in oil painting. I was so surprised with the finished project. I am not artistic at all so Claire must be a really good teacher (even though she laughed at my red boat)!
(Mine)
(Claire's)

Tonight Nery and Xiomara came over to Larry & Claire’s for dinner. They wanted to talk about their future plans. Please pray that God would show them where He would have them after Nery graduates from seminary next year. It is very difficult for national pastors when they are starting out in a new city or village because many times there are not jobs available so that they can support their families while there church is growing. They make such big sacrifices.

Wilder and Helen came over later too. They are our language instructors. They are in the center in the picture below.
Our container is scheduled to be delivered on Monday. I am trying not to get excited just in case. They made us pay more money, but our moving company State side is trying to get it back for us.

Friday, August 18, 2006

The Long and Winding Road

The Petén is the hottest place we have ever been. There are no places to go and cool off! We have learned so much these last few days. We would have never been able to take this trip if our container would not have been late, so that was a big blessing in disguise. We also really appreciate the Boggs planning all the logistics of this trip and being willing to take us! It is more difficult to find the remote villages of unreached people groups than we expected (that’s why they are referred to as remote)! From what we hear it is a couple hours drive on a dirt road and then probably a couple hours hike on a small path. There are many of them, but they are spread out (you can’t go buy a map). We are very excited about our next few survey trips!
We went to a hardware store today to try to find a juice squeezer (I’m not sure what you call it). That is the one thing I wished I had brought with me. I hate squeezing limes!
I was planning on getting some gold teeth before we left Flores, but we just ran out of time!

Also, please pray for our container. We already payed and now they want more money. The longer you discuss the price the more days you have to pay for storage. It is just a big racket.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Our Survey Trip

Leavin’ on a little plane early in the morning!
Flores, Petén
Mapping out our trip.
We met so many people on our trip and were able to pass out Bibles & tracts.
We were surprised at how spread apart all the villages are. We drove for several hours both days and still have not seen even a fraction of the Petén. There are lost people everywhere, but our heart is with ones who have not had the opportunity to hear the message of the gospel.
Claire got to witness to our hitchhiker and give him a Bible. He told her, “No one has ever given me a Bible before, I am going to study this.”
We found a place yesterday that the government had set up for terrorist refugees that had fled to Mexico around 1996. When they got sent back to Guatemala, the government set up a housing area where they were required to live.
There is a great need and all of us are excited about future ministries here.
This lady is the mayor!
Claire swinging from a vine!
We are finally in the jungle!
Would you walk across a bridge that read, “Maximum 15 people?”
This is the little girl that I had my first Spanish conversation with. Kids are not as intimidating!

Please pray that God will continue to lead us to people like this and show us where he would have us begin our ministry next year. Of course we want to know right now! On our last Sunday at Messiah, Pastor Hoover said,”Sometimes God wants us to wait longer than we think is reasonable and move faster than we think is advisable.” Please pray for us now more than ever.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...