Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Growing in Many Ways!

It has been as low as 58 degrees in the last week. Since moving to Petén 6 years ago I do not remember a time when it was ever this cold. We dug out a couple long sleeve shirts from our furlough bin. It is kind of nice, although we were not too prepared for it. My boys have been sporting socks and crocs! Silas LOVES wearing a hoodie! Jonah would rather freeze than wear socks or put on a jacket (just like his Papa)... we've had a couples battles. We along with the rest of Petén have been really sick. I think Jimmy and Silas had the worst of it. Eden had pink eye to go with hers. Jimmy even turned on a space heater one night that we used in Guatemala City... a space heater in Petén! It is really strange. 
Our church is doing great! We have been praying for a new place to rent. Please pray with us! The sound is just awful. It is very difficult to hear in the kids time with the service going on next-door. I have tried it on the patio and in one of the little rooms. You just can't hear a thing. The metal roof with walls that don't go all the way to the ceiling is the problem. Rats destroy a lot of things during the week too. I would really like to find something with sealed rooms, but there isn't much available in a small town like this. 
Domingo encouraged Jimmy to get more people involved in leading the service. Here is a group that led the singing this past Sunday night! Noé is there too, in the middle, you just can't see him in this shot. 
Mateo led the Bible reading. I was really impressed with how well he read. If he had been allowed to stay in school by his parents, I think he would have gone really far. He still will, just might be a little harder for him. No one here likes to read out loud. This is a big deal!
That is Mando in the plaid shirt leading the offering. Jimmy was handing money to Silas to put in the plate, so that's why he's in the photo. 

Jimmy's message this past Sunday night was about how to have a successful life. You have to grow in Christ and you can't grow without reading God's Word for yourself. Rosalino came up after church and bought a Bible! Yay! He has been attending faithfully since we were in Santa Rita and very openly says that he has not put his faith in Christ yet. We had given him a Bible several years ago, but I guess he misplaced it or Petén happened (rats and humidity). Anyway he spent $3 on another one which is a good sign he's still searching. Please pray for him! He's in his 30's. 
{Our little thermometer for our goal of sending Lico to Huehue}
Our church is giving money to send Lico on a missions trip! He is going to Huehuetenango in February. Jimmy will go with him. They will meet up with Larry Boggs, Pastor Tim and Dan Darby to help Pastor Luis Batz build a church building for the mission they have started out of their church in the village of Capellania. It is the village where we took our first ever missions team and held a medical clinic outreach back in May 2007. Pastor Luis and his church in Huehue are such great examples of a healthy reproducing church! Jimmy, Lico and our church are very excited about getting to participate. 
I send my kids home every week with devotional sheets to work on daily and weekly memory verses. I had 23 kids who participated and earned points towards a reward party. That's 23 kids who hid God's Word in their hearts and many read their Bible's every day. It's a good start! This was their rewards party. They bought toppings and candy with their points. I would have photos from the party, but I was yelling over Jimmy's preaching, while serving ice cream, keeping an eye on 2 naughty twins, and holding E! Haha!

INTERESTING ITEM OF THE DAY:
2 points to who can guess what this is?!
Two deluxe toilet seats! They have a nice decorative graphic on them too... fancy. They were for sale on the side of the road in our town. 

5 comments:

  1. Haha! I saw those toilet seats the other day while out and about. Like I would love them being advertised outside MY house! Do you know we lived there in that very house when we first moved to El Chal? It was sans toilet seats on the front lawn though and it was actually kinda cute for us newlyweds. We need to get together again Shelley! Brenda

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    1. Funny! We do! I owe your family big time after my pretty floors and now a countertop! Jimmy always has a good time talking with Stephen. Next time we get to chit chat and call it work instead;)

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  2. You guys are such good DIYers, you should just make some DIY acoustic panels!

    I bet you could even string some from the top of the walls, and make some decorative ceiling panels!
    This is what I mean: http://cnliyin.en.made-in-china.com/productimage/joTmJUwvLFcC-2f0j00QSuTYIBcOEkd/China-Acoustic-Ceilings-Hanging-Acoustic-Ceiling.html

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    1. Wow, that is a great idea! We just kept thinking drywall and didn't want to invest that into a rental. This looks easier and like something we could take with us. Thanks!

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  3. Yeah--even if you move someplace different, you'll still be looking at tile flooring and cement walls, which have horrible acoustics.

    I was also thinking you could put something on the floor. Maybe some really big petates might help? I don't know if you can find carpet in Peten.

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