A Winding Path: a crazy long post

God is never boring. I try to just sit back and watch, but Jimmy is much better at that than me.

Thursday morning Jim called Byron to make sure the main house that we were going to see was

still available and it was. (This is the house we found out about last Friday evening.) We left this Friday at 3:15 in the morning for the Petén. We only go on weekends so that I miss as little class as possible. Friday afternoon we went to see the house (which was perfect) and found out that it had been rented Thursday evening (less than 24 hrs before we got there). We just laughed.

Byron tried to get us to rent his brother’s house instead. There were people living there, but they were destroying the house and his brother wanted us to move in and fix it up. Many people here really like for Gringos to rent their houses because they usually increase the property value while they’re there. This house was so dark and filthy and they wanted us to pay part of April and all of May and then we would still have to do all the work. They started at 3,000 quetzales and we got them to come down to 2,300 (I told Jimmy to tell them we were looking at another house for 2,300... we did not mention that we would never live there, but this is how you play the game.) We told them we would let them know on Saturday. That evening I really was struggling with the fact that I was not willing to live there and that might cost us another month in Xela. By the time I went to sleep I was planning on that being our new home.

Saturday we had scheduled to go look at a house with another man we met named Foster. We were supposed to meat him last time we were here, but he never showed up. He is a Christian who is part N. American and part Guatemalan. He knew of a house that started a 4,000 and we were hoping to possibly talk the man down.

When we got there the owner saw that we were gringos and told us his house was $1,300 a month, that is 9,750 quetzales. We looked at it for some reason, I did not want to go. While we were there the owner’s wife said that her brother was fixing up a property around the corner.

This is what that house looks like! The owner lives in Guate and had someone living in it for 12 years to take care of it, but they didn’t. It has been empty for the last 2 years. This picture is the front room. It is a little rough right now. These are the guys collecting up the truck load of garbage they are hauling off.

This is the backyard... it looks like a dump right now!

This is Jimmy, Foster, and the owner standing in the courtyard that leads to the backdoor. The door off to the side is an extra room with a full bath. The wall on the left is an unfinished section of the house. It does not have a roof. The door on the green wall is our backdoor.

This is our front door. Yes, we decided to get the house! The bottom front of our house is a gun shop! That means our living room and bedroom are above it. Jimmy was so excited. He said we should buy the gun shop too. I said, “Why... do you want to start a church there?” He said, “No, I want to have a gun shop!”

That gray area on the left is a cemented door that lead to the gun shop. I thought I could make some curtains that stay closed so that no one would ever know the difference.

From the roof and balcony you can see lake Itza.

God worked everything out because if we had met up with Foster last time like we were supposed to, this man would not have been here. If it would have been any later, he probably would have had the house looking better and it would have been more expensive or no longer available. This house is probably the most disgusting thing we have ever seen, but for some reason it just seems perfect. Jimmy and I are the ultimate “before and after” couple when it comes to houses... maybe just the ultimate "before" couple because we start with nasty places! I cannot not wait to see what it looks like in a couple months.

Praises!

1. We do not have to start paying until June. This was a specific prayer request!

2. I really wanted to do the painting inside myself, so that I could pick the colors and make sure it was neat. The owner agreed and took $67 off of our rent for the first 6 months. He let me pick the outside color. I picked light grey because it will help it stay cool and I think it will look pretty with a white trim. The owner is also going to paint the ceilings for us... they are pretty moldy.

3. It comes with a gas stove. Not just any stove, but the exact one we wanted to buy! Now we only have to purchase a fridge, which a church in TN is sending us money for!

4. This is nuts, but it has a walk-in closet. I might share it with Jimmy... we will see!

5. It has a cistern. Before every time we asked about a cistern people would just laugh.

6. It is on the main street is San Benito which is a safer location. It is 5 minutes from the airport.

While we were in Petén we stayed at a hotel will low rates that we were thinking about putting a team in. It was a little rough for a team, so I am glad we stayed there first. We want people to want to come back! It had a nice view of Lake Itza though.

The Evolution of My Perspective

We have looked for houses several times now since we have been married. Each time our perspective is completely different from the last. The first time we started looking was right after we got married. You get a lot more for your money in KS than you do in FL, so I was looking for a house with a nice master bathroom... you know one with a nice big tub. (which we never found). When we first moved to Guatemala, I thought forget the tub, it would be really nice to have a hot water heater (we did get that for about 3 months!) When we were looking to find something cheaper in Oct, I knew we wouldn’t find a hot water heater, but I was hoping for kitchen cabinets (which we found). The first time we drove to the Petén, I didn’t think we would find cabinets, so I was really just hoping for a kitchen sink. This time when we left for the Petén, I thought forget everything else, I just want a wall around my house so I can sleep at night. (God gave us so much more!) Thank you for praying!

To the Petén Again

We are leaving this morning at 3:00 for the Petén again. I love the Petén, but I do not like driving there because the trip is dangerous. I made more cookies and we packed sandwiches again. We will only be staying one night and will be driving back Saturday afternoon. Please pray for our safety. We will be looking at at least 3 houses. It would be wonderful to go ahead and find one. Please pray that God will lead us to the right one. Thanks!

The large department at the top is Petén. The lake in the center (Itzá) is the area where we will be looking. There are several cities close to each other, they are: San Benito (25,000 people), Santa Elena (25,000), and San Francisco (a couple thousand). They are all right outside of Flores (2,000), the capital. Flores is a little island on lake Itza.

The small turquoise department on the bottom left is Quetzaltenango (300,000). This is where we live now.

About a House

Yesterday we got a phone call from Byron, our tuk tuk driver in the Petén. On our survey trip, he said that he would keep his eyes open for a house for us. I never really thought that we would hear from him again. He called to tell us that he knew of a house for rent with a real kitchen and a wall around it. One of the bedrooms even has a closet. He said that they wanted $400 a month for it. I am sure that is the gringo price, but it is better that the others we have heard about. We might be leaving next Friday to go up and look at it. Byron is part Q’eqchi, so maybe he is also our link to a Q’eqchi tutor. Please pray that God gives us wisdom. We met another man while we were there that said he would help. We are hoping that he could show us some houses too, while we are there. Like most people, money is tight right now for us. We are still trying to play catchup from our move to Guatemala and now we are moving again and will have more start up costs. God knows and has promised to meet our needs, so we will all see Him work!

We got a really sweet email today from a lady who found our podcast on iTunes. She takes regular missions trip to Guatemala. We were hoping it would bring us into contact with more people interested in missions!

Tomorrow we are going to Huehue to Luis’ church. He asked Jimmy to teach Sunday school. This is where the medical team is going in May to help open a door for Luis’ church to start a new work in a rural mountain area. We are going to look at some hotels for them tomorrow and talk over some more plans with Luis. We really did not expect to get to be part of something like this outside of the Petén. We are very excited! Please pray for our safety tomorrow as we travel, it is about 2 hours away.

Thank you for the recipes and please keep them coming!

A Typical House Hunting Story

My parents bought Fije a crate while they were here to match Lucha’s. This is a blessing because when we travel it will be much safer for them in the truck. Also while we were in the Petén they were able to stay a little warmer in our gate outside in their cozy crates. They fought over the one crate so long, that they act like there are 3 dogs now and they run and get in their crate before the other dog can take it.

Thank you for praying for our safety while traveling to and from the Petén. We still have not found a house in the Petén. Please pray. We cannot move until we do. We did not find anything available that had a kitchen (by that I mean an indoor sink). This one we were told was going for the same price as our house in Xela.

It was horrible... it was filthy, everything inside was broken, and it did not have a sink in the kitchen (everybody uses pillas outside). We were so desperate, that I was trying to see the possibilities. But then, the woman who showed it to us started hiking up the price because we were gringos. We told her that the man named Nery that we spoke to yesterday had already quoted us a price. She said that she does not know that man. We said that he lived next to Tikal Net and that he told us to meet you here. First she said that he meant the moldy old building at the front of the property. After we started laughing, she changed her story and said that she did not know a Nery or where Tikal Net was and that someone must be waiting for us at a different house. We said, “Well then we better go find Nery.” Then she changed her story again and said that maybe Nery was her son and he doesn’t know anything about the house. (She must have a lot of children to not know all of their names... plus Nery looked a little older than her too.) Finally when we told her no thank you, she said, ”If you change your mind just give me a call or stop by my house... it is right next to Tikal Net!”

This is the one house we are hopeful about. It is going for 2500 quetzales right now, which is a little over $300. If this is our house, please pray that it will have a wall around it with 2 parking places inside the wall and possibly a kitchen sink.

The people in the Petén are different from the people in the big cities. We went up to several people in different towns close to Santa Elena (the largest town in the Petén... 25,000 people). Every person invited us in to sit on their porch and spoke to us like we were old friends. We left our name and number with them and they said that if they saw a house for rent they would call us. Who knows how God is going to work things out!

Finding a Home In Petén

Today we got to go back to New Horizons. Jimmy talked to the mayor... her name is Beatriz.

{Beatriz}

At first she was a little hesitant. He told her we were missionaries, but then said that we were baptist... and her face lit up. Just like last time when we were there, she remembered a baptist missionary who had came to their village for a month and built some outhouses. We are very thankful for these outhouses! We asked her about starting a children’s program in July and if we could help out in the community. Jim’s brother Jon and his friend Kyle are coming in July to help too, so we thought we could paint in the school or community center. She said there is a community meeting this month and the leaders will vote on it. She was very kind to us and seemed excited. Please pray that God will open a door. Jimmy gave her our number and she is supposed to get to a phone and call and let us know. She might even call us to come and talk to the leaders in April.

{Community Center}

Here are some of the houses in the village.

This is our new grocery store called the Dispensa. This store has about 2 isles of groceries and then the rest is toiletries and cleaning supplies. We were actually very thankful for all the things we found. I think if we would have moved here straight from the States we would have been in shock, but we have a different perspective now. There are some things we will stock up on from Guatemala City, but most is just preferences not necessities.

We are concerned about finding a house. There are no real estate agents here, no newspaper to look at listings. Who moves to the Petén, so why would anyone have rental houses?

{Our tuk tuk ride.}

We did hire a tuk tuk to drive us around to places he knew of. His name is Byron. He said he would ask around and then take us to some new places tomorrow.

{Byron}

We were blown away today, everything that has a real roof and glass windows is over $500 a month and is very tiny. We are out here in the middle of nowhere. Please pray that God will provide us with a home.

{Most of the houses looks like this}

Off to the Petén

Originally we were going to leave for the Petén on Sunday, but instead we are leaving tomorrow at 5:00 am. We are returning on Tuesday so that I only miss 2 days of class. Please pray for our safety. We have a list of supplies that we are going to see if we can get there or not. We are going to look at housing. On Sunday we are going to the refugee camp, New Horizons, to talk to the mayor. This is where we want to start a Spanish work while we are learning Kekchi. Please pray that God will open a door. We have never driven to the Petén before, it takes 12-14 hours, so please be in prayer for us.

Here’s a praise. Jimmy was in an accident on the way to the seminary early Thursday morning. The man who caused the accident did not stop, but the third party agreed with Jimmy that it was the other guys fault. Jimmy was not hurt and his truck was not damaged because of the brush guard. All is a praise because even if an accident is not your fault you usually have to pay money since you are a north american.

Today while I was walking Fije, I saw a pig being taunted by 2 dogs. The pig was huge, but looked very scared. I took Fije and started chasing these 2 dogs to try and get them to leave the pig alone. An indigenous lady who was in the field stopped what she was doing to watch the gringa chase the dogs who were chasing the pig. Then 2 men on a roof nearby started yelling at the dogs too (I guess it was their pig). Finally the dogs got scared and ran off... poor pig. Fije had a good time!

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.”

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

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.

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.