Saturday, June 26, 2010

White Fields Day One

Village #1: Santa Amelia: 150 families, Campo Blanco.

In each village the team shares the Gospel through puppet skits, a narrated skit, testimonies, and songs.
(The skit was about a heavy burden.)
The puppet skits always get a bunch of laughs.
When the team arrives in a village they jump out of the bus with frisbees and soccer balls trying to encourage people to come out for the event. At first they are very shy towards this group of gringo strangers...
but by the time it's all over they don't want them to leave!


Village #2: Mojarra: 40 families, Campo Blanco.

The team sang some songs in Kekchi with Domingo and José. For some reason in every village they were requested to sing something in English, which they did.
In each village two teens would share their testimony. They did a great job! Jimmy would translate it to Spanish and then Domingo into Kekchi.
Even the Guatemalans think it is uncharacteristically hot for hot Petén! These smart women found shade under an almond tree.
They didn't miss out on anything though, they still had plenty of gringos to entertain them!
Again there was a great turnout to hear what these strangers had to say.


Village #3: San Miguel Alto Uno: Population 70 families, 1 family has accepted Christ.

This family just recently came to know the Lord. What is interesting is that they accepted Christ as a result of hearing the Gospel during one of the new programs that Jimmy, José, and Domingo have been working on with Lifeword, the radio ministry that contacted us through Pastor Andy. It is exciting when God lets you see how some of the pieces of the puzzle are fitting together! They called into the radio station afterwards and asked if someone would come out to their village and start a church. José and Domingo had not been out that way before, so that is how they ran into the other 2 campos blancos (villages) that the group went to this day.
They made tamales for the group. Eating tamales is a big part of the whole Kekchi village experience! Jimmy asked if some of the ladies would teach the girls how to make corn tortillas.
There is a high standard of excellence when it comes to making a corn tortilla... that skill is part of being a Kekchi female. Gringas just don't have it!
The tamales were steaming. Our group compared them to things like grits and boiled peanuts... did I mention this team was from the South. Someone did notice that the tortillas our girls had made had been tossed into the fire... no Kekchi female wanted to claim them!
Afterwards there was a great turnout for the songs and skits.
Later the same family let the team show a video in their home, "Hope" in Kekchi. It is a beautiful presentation of the Gospel in their heart language.
They even removed part of their wall so that more could see from outside.
It was a great first day of ministry. Thank you for your prayers so far and please keep praying for all three of these villages. Pray for Domingo and José as they continue to plant seeds in these communities and that one day all three will be full of believers who desire a church in their village where all can come and learn more about God.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Youth Team From Daytona

We are so thankful to have such a great group here for our first mission team outreach in entirely Kekchi villages. I wrote about the different unreached villages that they will be sharing the Gospel in here.
Wednesday they came over to our home for a planning day. We had a team meeting and then were able to rehearse the skits. Everyone was assigned a job for the next 3 days, like making sandwiches or setting up the sound system. This group had done a lot of work ahead of time in preparation for what they wanted to accomplish while they're here. We always appreciate that!
Since the group flew out of Miami, my mom was able to get in on their group rate. I am so thankful that our boys are getting some Grandma Lovin' this week! They are very happy!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

6 Years Already

We celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary yesterday. We have spent over half of our married life in Guatemala!
For lunch we went to Maya International. This is on the patio where we ate. It is a quaint hotel where we take our teams to eat. I think the backdrop to our life is beautiful!

This swing was next to our table.
Silas' bulldog face!
Same smile!
Afterwards we went to my favorite nursery and picked out fruit trees. That was our present to each other. We got 2 avocado and 2 mandarin orange trees. We are still waiting on some grapefruit trees.
We were planning on planting them on our land ourselves, but it started raining on the way there and was very slippery muddy so since we were holding both boys we decided it was better just to let the guys who were still there working do it. (That's Quincho, he's back!)
Jonah watching Lico plant our avocado tree.
The 4 of us had a great day!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

All Caught Up


Jonah and Silas would like me to report that after 8 months of some serious eating they have proudly caught up to their fellow born in October peers. They are right in the middle if not a little more than the weight of an average 8 month old!
Milestones:
They are both chatting it up non stop.
Their newest skill is crawling.
They can cover some ground in a walker.
Silas is pretty good at sitting up by himself, but Jonah refuses to sit still long enough to even try!
Jonah's first tooth came in.
Favorite Activities:
Reading books with Mommy - They turn the pages of the larger ones. Their favorite books are the ones filled with photos of their family.
Bubbles - They makes them gasp.
Seeing their friends in Santa Rita.
Wrestling with Daddy on the rug.
Favorite Toys:
Balls
Trucks
Frozen Pear Slices
Things that we absolutely cherish:
Jonah humming himself to sleep.
Silas grabbing his toes when he smiles real big.
Their big smiles in the morning!
Silas taking naps on the big bed (he thinks it's super special and so do we).
Jonah bouncing himself like a wild man in his bouncer (it's self propelled).
Silas trying to sing along when we sing.
Jonah giggling when he's sleepy.
Yep... we stinkin' love these boys! We don't take a minute for granted.
CRAZY ITEM OF THE DAY:
Lunchtime Fail

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Ice Cream!

21 kids qualified this time to come to the reward party. 9-12 year olds who bring their Bibles, turn in their devotional sheets, and memorize verses earn points each week and then get to spend them on ice cream toppings and other things! We had two new things this time, pineapple topping and plain ol' apples... I sold out. These kids love fruit.
We played tons of games and had a great time! We all went home tired, happy, and full!
Before we went on furlough I was averaging 40+ kids each week in Santa Rita. Since we've been back I have only been running around 30. I wasn't sure what happened. I knew a couple kids had moved and the rest I hadn't seen in a while... and then I figured it out. Yesterday I overheard Jimmy poaching 3 of my favorites faithful ones, telling them that they are old enough to come to the teen/adult time. I see what's going on now. I'm going to have to get some new recruits!

CRAZY ITEM OF THE DAY:
Tortrix are a very popular snack in Guatemala, they sell them at every tienda. It's a pretty big company I would assume...
Here's their van we regularly see parked in front of stores making deliveries!
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