Plans for 2007

Feb-April

• Decide on a city and find a house in the Petén.
• Shelley will finish learning Spanish.
• Travel to Huehue and work on logistics for the team coming in May.

May

• Medical team coming 8th-15th that we are taking to a rural area in Huehue.
• The semester at the seminary will end the 24th (Jimmy’s greek class).
• I will have had 9 months of language school (only 6 months with Linda... big difference). Linda said that she thinks we are crazy.

June

• Move to the Petén.
• Find a Kekchi tutor.
• Start working in a Spanish speaking ex-guerrilla community called New Horizons.
• Continue looking for a Kekchi village to begin working in after we learn the language.

July

• Jimmy’s brother Jon and his friend Kyle are coming for 2 weeks to help us with the church planting in New Horizons.

September

• A medical missions team is coming the 18th-25th.

Well, we did not end up going to Coban this weekend. One of the missionaries that could help us learn Kekchi that translated the Kekchi Bible is in the States until the end of March recovering from a broken shoulder. We are excited though because she also translated grammar books, curriculum, and a host of other things that we will be able to use. She has been working with them for over 40 years. So until she returns, we will visit the Petén.

It takes 14 hours of driving just to get to the Petén, so these trips are big ordeals. Driving here is completely different from driving in the States. There are no exit signs for gas stations or Cracker Barrels! Who knows if there are any places safe to eat. It is a little scary, so please pray for our safety and that we will be able to get everything accomplished in only 2 trips... yeah right!

This weekend it is good that we are here, because Jorge said that he is going to church with us tomorrow. We are going to visit Selvin’s church, one of Jimmy’s students, in Xela this week.

I talked to Linda for 2 hours yesterday about what she believes. It was very sad. She believes that there is a light of positive energy that we will all return to after death. She believes in God but only as the creator God. She also believes in Jesus Christ, but does not believe in Heaven or Hell. She said some parts of the Bible are true, but other parts are just lies. She was shaking while we were talking. She keeps talking about different religions, but I kept telling her that we are in Guatemala, not because of a religion, but to tell people that God wants to have a relationship with them, one that lasts for all of eternity. I told her that God loves her and desires a relationship with her, and Linda said, “No He doesn’t.”