Clearwater Evangelism Day 1

*NOTE: Jimmy typed this blog post up on the day that he was experiencing both amebas and food poisoning. That was a result of drinking river water in villages and eating at questionable restaurants in rural places. In other words, it has been highly edited by me in hopes of making more sense. After some pills and 24 hours of misery, he is doing much better!

This group from First Baptist Church in Clearwater, KS came to Petén to focus on construction of student houses at the Pastor's Institute, but we wanted them to also have the experience of doing some evangelism in a few unreached villages. Because they were so committed to the construction work, they decided to split up into two groups of 5 so that a group could continue working while the other was visiting villages. 

 Our first group returned to the village of Mojarra 28. There are still no Christians in this village, but the people are very open to hearing the Gospel.

{Watching the team do their wordless skit}

The kids love seeing pictures of themselves.

{Villagers looking at pictures of Pastor Kelley's family}

Next we headed down the road to the village of Río San Pedro. There is one Christian here who has been continually calling and begging us to come. One reason is that her husband is not a Christian. This is our third visit, and the people are very interested. The only problem is how far away it is from everybody, so it would be hard to visit every week and start a church. One young man who will be one of our first Institute students was there for this outreach as well. 

It had started raining, so they put a tarp down so that Jesus wouldn't be all covered in mud when he rose!

 It was the time that ladies grind their corn, so as they were walking home from the mill they all stopped by to watch the presentation. 

It was a very productive day for both villages. 175 families total, with only 1 Christian between them. Please pray that more will accept Christ and grow in a relationship with Him.

CRAZY ITEM OF THE DAY:
We have killed 3 of these in our house this past week, one was next to Eden's crib. If these were any bigger they'd be called lobsters!

An Afternoon in a Bog Pit

We have so much to post about the team, but first we'll talk about the most adventurous day! You can also see more pictures on our KBI Facebook page. The team's focus wasn't evangelism but to get a taste for the evangelistic outreach part of the Institute we wanted them to see some villages and do some presentations. When I was talking with Domingo about which villages we would visit on the two evangelism days he said we should visit the village of Pasión, but that we would need 4WD. No problem I said. Ha!

We made it through big spots like the one above without too much trouble, just unloading to reduce our weight. Until finally we got really stuck...

Right now you are looking at these pictures thinking, "That guy is stupid for trying to drive through that." But I can tell you that it didn't look this bad until 40+ guys had tromped around in it. Nevertheless, we were within sight of the village when we got caught in this mud soup.

I was thankful to have a truckload of people to help me, but even so we couldn't get out. Then, guys from the village started arriving. They even brought a little pickup to try and help me out... nothing was working.

Many women and children came to watch as well, which gave the girls a chance to sing songs and do part of their presentation in the open air.

After two hours, we could hear a big storm rolling in and I was making plans to leave it and come back the next day with my truck (which has a big winch.)

The men from the village wanted to try one more thing so they came back with a tree trunk and some stumps to serve as a rustic lever. They tilted the truck up and put big palm leaves from the trees in the background under the tires.

The log kept slipping off and everybody would hit the ground hard, but after a few tries on each side that had it ready. Then with 40 guys pulling three ropes and 7 guys pushing from the front I was out!

In this picture you can see where the truck was but then another 15 feet in front of me was the same kind of soil. So see... it doesn't look that bad!

Everybody looks the same when you are covered in mud! Because of the storm rolling in and the sun setting we really needed to leave, but a lady who had fixed us a meal came and told me exactly what she thought about us coming all that way to not eat the meal she had fixed for us. So we quickly ate the biggest Kekchi meal I've ever had and headed home.

We made it back out without too much trouble. We are telling this story first because today Shelley and I and the kids are all going back with Domingo and his family to show the movie we weren't able to last week. This time we are going by boat. We need to go back right away to capitalize on the connections that were made during our afternoon in the bog pit!

The Time Jonah Cracked His Tooth

The first night the team was here. Jonah, Eden and I were walking back to the truck after supper. Flores is completely cobblestone roads. They are quaint, but uneven and difficult to navigate, especially in the dark. I was carrying Eden in her sling and holding Jonah's hand to help him not trip (or get run over). We were just a couple steps away from the vehicle when he tripped and fell. I thought I had him tight, but I guess not tight enough. Jonah usually catches himself with his forehead, but this time he caught himself with his front teeth. 

He hit so hard the first thing I did was look for teeth on the ground. There wasn't any blood, but I saw him playing with his front left tooth. I felt it in the dark and it felt rough. Great! Once we got in the truck I looked at it with the light from my phone. Sure enough, there was a crack in it... a split going up the side. I felt horrible. Why couldn't I have held on tighter to his hand?!

During the drive home Jimmy asked Jonah what happened to his tooth. He said, "Momma!" What?! I already felt guilty. Jimmy said, "Jonah, did Mommy crack your tooth?" Jonah replies, "Yea yea!" (nodding his head). Jimmy is loving the whole thing and I'm madly googling how to fix a 2 year olds cracked tooth. Jimmy kept telling Jonah, "You better behave or Mommy's going to crack your other tooth!"

We had only been to a dentist in Petén once before. It seemed clean, but I still have problems with the tooth that he "fixed" and my cleaning only included the fronts of my front teeth. My friend Sandra had just mentioned to us the other day that she new of a really good dentist we should try. 

{The first time Sandra met Eden}

I trust her judgement, because she is as picky as me. We got an appointment for 2 days later. That meant I had 24 hours to convince Jonah that getting your tooth glued back together was cool! We read Dr. Suess' The Tooth Book several times and talked about the dentist making Jonah's tooth all better. 

Sandra was so sweet and said that if I picked her up she would show me the way there and then watch Silas while I went in with Jonah. Well guess who left the team and showed up at the dentist office? Daddy! I thought it was cute. He must have been a little more concerned than he was letting on. It ended up being a good thing. The dentist wouldn't let me in with a baby and I can imagine hearing E fussing in the waiting room while I was in with Jonah. (Eden is a very calm quiet baby until her mommy leaves the room!) Poor Sandra! So Jimmy went in with Jonah. I'll admit I was a little jealous, especially since I was the one who caused it, I wanted to be the one to see him through it.

The doctor was SO nice. She let Jonah play with some of the equipment and gave him some time to get comfortable.      

{You can see the little spongy thing in his hand she let him play with.}

She explained to Jonah what she was going to do. Then Daddy asked, "Can she fix your tooth now?" Jonah thought about it and said, "Yes." He was so brave! I could hear from the waiting room. He didn't cry or squirm or nothing. He did hold Daddy's hand!

{I think this photo is so sweet!}

I am so proud of my big boy!

She said it was the best possible outcome for an injury like this. The crack didn't go all the way to the nerve. The tooth split like a piece of plywood would. There was a little piece sticking up that Jonah kept playing with, so she sanded (I don't think that's the right word) that down and then buffed it. She said that we could seal it when he turns 3 so that it doesn't continue to split. It is a little loose but should heal over time. The dentist said that Jonah was so good that it wasn't even work for her, so she didn't charge us anything. 

Overall it was a great experience. I am so thankful that this dentist is here in Petén. We are all going back for cleanings soon! Once we got home Jonah opened up The Tooth Book and pointed to the little boy in the dentist chair and said, "Me!" I called my mom to share the news and told her that given the choice between silver and gold, Jonah chose the gold one with the star in the middle for his new front tooth! 

We were all worrying about our little Jonahman and he did just fine.

Construction at the Pastor's Institute

A team from First Baptist Church in Clearwater, KS arrived on Tuesday. This was our first team to fly into Belize and drive across the boarder. (Luis picked them up if you're picturing a group of gringos trying to rent a car and navigate their way here, haha!) It saved them money, so this might be an option for some of our teams in the future. 

{Dinner at La Luna their first night here}

We visited their church on Mother's Day 2 years ago. Later they called us up and said they wanted to put together a construction/evangelistic team. They told us that they would be bringing down about $3,000 for the student housing they would be building, but they showed up with $9,000! All of this will go towards KBI. God took Jimmy's 10 year plan and turned it into a 2 year one!

We are planning on 50 student houses. These will be for families since most students will already be married when they come. These are the first 2 to go up. The boards are from the land cut out with a chain saw.

{Mixing cement for the floor}

It is as hot as it gets here and these guys have been feeling it! 

{Boarding up the walls & prepping the floor}

The houses will have thatched roofs. This is much cooler than metal. Each house will require 1,200 to 1,400 leaves. These leaves are not from our land, but we have seedlings started to become one of the institute's projects. These leaves can be sold very easily all over Petén.

Jimmy started a Facebook page for KBI where he posts regular updates about the different projects and all of the construction.

We are so thankful for this team and all of their hard work. They have been so kind to us. Today is their second day out in villages doing evangelistic work. I will post about that soon. Please pray for them!

In Due Season

We still aren't allowed into SR to visit, but Marcos does it for us. He was the one Christian in there when we arrived and he had been praying for a church. He goes around to all the Kekchi families visiting them and inviting them to our church in San Pancho. He has made the town leaders so upset that they keep spreading lies about him. They even have called the police a couple times saying he is chopping down trees and illegally hunting. He has had to appear before a judge several times. He just tells the truth and they let him go. Please pray for him and the other Christians that are being persecuted in there. There is an entire community of believers now! 

Poor guys, I made them look into the sun for this photo!

Just within the last 2 weeks a man that Jimmy had been witnessing to for years came to know the Lord as a result of Marcos' burden for him. Francisco came to our adult Bible studies in SR and even would sit outside the kids' time listening to the stories. We loved his kids. I am SO thankful their dad now has a relationship with God! Heaven is Rejoicing!

Twin Talk to English Dictionary

Jimmy's mom (Ma-G) captured this video when they were here of Jonah and Silas' little personal language that they have between the two of them. 

They are surrounded by three languages: English, Spanish, and Kekchi. They use English the most, but respond a little to all of them. Their favorite language though is their twin talk that they invented themselves and have slowly taught us. At this rate I think Eden is going to speak in full sentences with words all from the same language before they do. 

This is our Twin Talk to English dictionary:
(you have to use Spanish pronunciations because I have forgotten how to spell phonetically in English.) 

Belá - what Silas calls Jonah (He is saying "brother" and knows that is not his real name, just a nickname.)
Baka - what Jonah uses for "brother".
Moní - what Jonah calls Silas (We think he is saying "Henry" which is Silas' middle name.) He uses this more than "brother".
kiki - candy, or Grandma Kiki depending on the context.
quá - time to trade toys and then they swap
yeah yeah - how Jonah says "yes" and he always uses 2 of them
cucu - water
cicu - any drink other than water
daa - please

gra gra - thank you

bop - poop

mon mon - monkey
wuu - dog

pica - peaches

blue - popsicle (this has to be because the first popsicle they ever had was a blue one)

These make a little more sense and are probably typical of 2 year olds:
Babi - Bible
Gaad - God
quack quack - duck
E - Eden
moe - more, or I want to watch the Veggie Tale about Moses.
two - means they want to watch Toy Story 1 or 2 (They cannot say "one" yet)
ca - car
choo choo - train
buu - balloon

Words that they pronounce and use correctly:
cheese & beans - their favorite foods
yuck - used for any other foods other than cheese and beans
tea
pop - they got this from their dad, we call everything Coke where I'm from. You can tell who gives them pop.
ball - football specifically

*They put an "a" in front of everything too for some reason
*If we ask Silas what his name is he says, "Me!" Jonah refuses to say his own name, he just giggles and covers his face with his hands.
*Silas calls me "Mom" and Jimmy "Dad".
*Jonah calls me "Momi" and Jimmy "Dada".
*If they don't know how to pronounce something they just call it a "this" even if it is far away.

*Also, I have no clue why they are spitting in this video. I'm not completely sure who taught them that, but I have my ideas...

Mother's Day Service

Mother's Day here is on the 10th. Wow, that was almost a month ago! It fell on a thursday this year, which worked out great because that is our midweek service. 

Jimmy had a special prayer of thanksgiving for all the moms.

A couple weeks ago he ordered a little Polaroid printer for $30. It is the neatest little thing. It fits in your pocket and you can hook it up to your camera and print photos on the spot. This is perfect for our world! Before the service started he took photos of all the moms with their children. Here are some of them:

Haydee with her mom and family.

This was all Jimmy's idea. He said he wanted to find frames the size of the photos too. I thought, "fat chance!" Well he found some. The exact number too as the number of moms that came that night! He had them printed, framed, and ready to pass out by the end of the service. Here are some of them:

The mothers loved them!!! They don't get photos taken very often. 

Ana had drinks and snacks for everyone too. I didn't take a picture of the finished product but it was beats, cabbage and salt on a tostada. This is Veronica, me, and E chopping things up. 

It was a really special service.