Giving Thanks

I can’t think of any better post for this Thanksgiving weekend than a list of things I’m thankful for. I found my morning reading very fitting as an introduction:

“I will tell of the kindness of the Lord,
the deeds for which he is to be praised,
according to all the Lord has done for us.” (Isaiah 63:7)

I am thankful for the beauty of the Valley that surrounds us. I am thankful for the extra blessing yesterday (on Thanksgiving) of an afternoon rainbow.
I am thankful for the beauty of the people here, for their smiles and laughs, for their friendships, for their gifts of homegrown crops, for their hospitality.
I am thankful for the opportunity to live in community with the Colvett family who never allow for a dull moment and with Cata who is our closest friend and an AMAZING cook.
I am thankful for Roberto and Julio who work with us here, who help us communicate, and who teach us much about Q’eqchi’ culture.
I am thankful for the warm beds, hot water (heated up on the stove), and good food that we enjoy every day- luxuries compared to the normal day-to-day living here.
I am thankful for the ways God is stretching and growing me through my experience of living here. I am thankful for the ways that I am maturing emotionally and spiritually as I join in His work here.
I am thankful for my physical health which allows me to hike through the mountains and eat the (sometimes questionable) food that the communities offer us.
I am thankful for the opportunity to watch another culture (and join in) as they worship the same God.
I am thankful for our families and friends back home that encourage us and support us from afar.
I am thankful for my husband who has joined me on this journey of life and who serves me daily and who knows exactly when and how to make me laugh.

Also….
I am thankful that my husband is an engineer who set up a system for me to take hot showers.
I am thankful that many of the Q’eqchi’ speakers around here are as bad at Spanish as I am, so they don’t necessarily catch all of my mistakes.
I am thankful for Kevin’s dry, twisted humor- in English, Spanish, and Q’eqchi’.
AND I am thankful that turkeys actually do cook when placed on top of coals in a deep hole and covered with dirt.

Un dia para decir gracias

Thanksgiving in a different way.

Usually on Thanksgiving DeeDee and I are with one of our families. Every year we swap whose family we are with and I think this year we were supposed to be with my family. Needless to say, being in Guatemala makes it very difficult to be with our families every holiday, but Thanksgiving is one when you really desire to be with your family. Yesterday we were with family, just a much different family than we are used to.

One piece of advice we received before moving to the Valley was to take every opportunity you have to create the normal routines we have in the States. This usually takes form in DeeDee and I having a date night (or here an overnight trip to Coban), but for this week in celebration of Thanksgiving we decided to have a traditional Thanksgiving Day and meal here in the valley. In preparation for this day DeeDee and I made a big trip to Coban, hunting for all the goodies, including a turkey, not knowing yet how we were going to cook said turkey. We also decided to invite a few families to our table for Thanksgiving. We invited the families of Roberto and Julio, two men we work with every day and have grown very close to. We also invited Manuel and Roberto, the two men who have been working very hard on our homes. By early Wednesday morning we had made all the invitations and acquired all the needed ingredients for our feast of celebration.

As with any family in the States, one of our biggest tasks was to determine how we were to cook the turkey. Given that we do not have an oven in the Valley and that frying a turkey did not seem reasonable, we had to go looking for other methods. Getting hints from a 25-year missionary in Guatemala and some quick Google research, we landed on cooking the turkey in a pit fire. This was new to me, but the basic concept is dig a hole in the ground about 1 foot bigger than the turkey in each direction, line the hole about a foot and a half with rocks, build a huge fire in the hole and wait for about a foot of coals to be in the bottom. Digging the hole seemed to be pretty easy, and collecting the firewood for about 2 hours with the help of Roberto and some machete lessons was not too bad. With the help of a bit of kerosene we got the fire going, but then it decided to start raining. We rigged up a tarp to cover the fire and us a bit and after about 5 hours (yes- FIVE hours) of feeding the fire we finally had the coals we needed.

Earlier in the evening Cata and DeeDee seasoned the turkey with some butter, rosemary and honey and then wrapped it up in tinfoil. We finished it off by wrapping it with about 6 layers of banana leaves, some chicken wire and rebar tie-wire. At about 9:30pm Wednesday night we laid the bird to rest in the ground and covered it all back up with dirt in hopes that after about 12 hours it would be done and ready to eat.

About 11am on Thursday we un-earthed our turkey hoping to find it done and close to being ready to eat; lunch was at 2:00pm. Much to our relief, the turkey was done, so we wrapped it back up and placed in on the coal until time to cut. When that time came around, I was so happy to find a turkey that was done, extremely moist and flavorful.

Around 2pm all of our guest arrived, we explained the significance of our day together, including a historical presentation by the Colvett boys in Spanish and sat down to one of the best Thanksgiving Day meals I have ever had – including both food and company. It was a heavenly and spiritual experience to be sharing the table with Native Americans and speaking three different languages. I pray that God was glorified through our day together.

Valley Update

DeeDee and I have begun to realize that neither of us are great at remembering to blog. We are extremely focused on our work here and often forget about keeping everyone informed. Usually DeeDee is the one who writes (she's a much better writer than I), but today I would like to update you on our work in a few various categories. Our time seems to be moving quickly here; it's hard to believe that we are already in November and that our Christmas break is just around the corner. From a project stand point, there's a lot to get finished up in the next month before we head home for Christmas, but we have learned more than ever in our work here that we must take one day at a time - a good lesson for me!

As I said above, I am going to update you based on a few of our project objectives:

Secondary Schools: Secondary education is significantly lacking the the Valley de Ulpan. Rarely do young girls make it through primary school (6th grade), and when young boys finish up it is time to go looking for work. Many boys will travel with their fathers or friends to the Coban or to the Peten looking for work because there is no cash economy in the Valley (another issue in an of itself). Thus it has been extremely challenging to promote secondary education. We have been working for the past two months meeting, talking and promoting the establishment of Centros de Basicos (the first level of secondary school), but have not had much luck... somewhat discouraging to us, but part of the difficulty of the work we have embarked upon. We had a deadline of this past Monday to have a list of students (at least 25) to start a secondary schools. We had been meeting in every community, passing out flyers, revisiting the COCODES (the community development committees) in each community. But on Monday morning things changed a bit - we got a phone call from one of the community leaders. He informed us that he had a list of 27 students from his community who wanted to study. We were excited, but not convinced that we would actually get the list. That all changed when the COCODE president showed up at the Bodega Monday afternoon with the list and a letter from the community requesting the school. Kevin and I were in Coban at the time, but when we received phone call it brought tears to my eyes! Our efforts were paying off and God was working miracles. On Tuesday morning Roberto passed by the Bodega at 6:15am sitting on top of the camion (truck) and gave me two thumbs up as we headed into Coban to deliver the list and letter. It was a good day!!

Secaj Water Project: One of our main objectives is the development of water systems in each community. Every project is different and has its own challenges. One system we have been working with is in the community of Secaj. We have been working for a year and a half to obtain the right to use this source. The original owner passed away some time in the past and the ownership had been transferred to 7 siblings. In order to get the right of usage of the source, all 7 siblings have to agree. We have not had much luck in talking with anyone from this family, but that changed on Sunday. This past Sunday was Guatemala's presidential elections. Mid-morning, a group of men from Secaj were needing a ride to Carcha to vote (the truck is pretty popular around here). I was not able to take them all the way to Carcha, but I was able to take them about 30 min to Semesche. During this ride, I began chatting with the guy in the front seat. Come to find out, he was one of the 7 siblings and after a our ride we had decided to meet at the Bodega on Nov 18th, when he would return from Guatemala City, to discuss our next steps to talk with the rest of his siblings. We have found that simple rides in the truck are some of the best networking we have done in the Valley.

A Death Near Home: The entire time we have been working in the Valley we have heard about the high risk children have of not making it to their 5th birthday. This week, we experienced this first-hand. One of our technicians, Julio, received a phone called that one of his good friend's baby had passed away. It was their first baby and he was only 11 months old. We are not sure the cause of death, but it has been an eye opening experience to hear Julio talk about helping his friend build the baby's casket until 4 in the morning and then helping dig the grave. We have truly begun to experience how hard life really is for the people of the Valley.

Nov Team on their Way: We are excited that we have visitors from the States coming next week. There is a team of 10 coming to visit. There are about 6 people coming from Otter Creek and 4 engineering students. We will hopefully give an update on the work of the team in the next few weeks.

House Progression: We are still in the process of construction of 3 buildings. Two houses and 1 meeting room/kitchen. We are hopeful that the first home will have its roof and floor finished by the time the team comes next week! This would be a great for us as we continue the development of our infrastructure.

Baby Victor Update: Many of you know the story of Baby Victor, so I will not go into details of his story, but wanted to at least share a video DeeDee made during a recent visit to his house. Coming from near death because of a cleft pallet causing difficulty nursing to him now as a well-nourished, developing, happy child....God is good!

El trabajo de Dios: Some of our favorite times in the Valley right now are the times that we get to go hiking to different villages. During these times we get to talking with either Roberto or Julio about things other than just the project. Last week, DeeDee, Julio and I made a trip over to San Vicente II to see about the status of kids who wanted to study in secondary school. We walked a trail I had never been on before and as we descended into the valley we forged Rio Saquiquib (see pic below) in a place just up stream from where we plan to do a bridge project. As we were hiking up from this beautiful spot in the Valley, Julio said "este es el trabajo de Dios" (This is the work of God). Indeed he is correct - this is the work of God. And that is how we feel every day... we are thankful to be living in the midst of God's work.

A Whirlwind...

The past few weeks have seemed like a whirlwind, with planning to visit the States and finding out on our way out of the Valley that Kris's grandmother had just passed away and therefore scheduling our flight for two days earlier, then traveling from Wilmington to Asheville and on to Nashville (note: rental cars one-way are NOT cheap!), arriving back into the Valley this past Tuesday only to find out that we were going to return back to Guatemala City the coming weekend for a conference on mapping social networks within communities, and finally heading to Antigua after the conference to enjoy a day of Halloween festivities with the Colvetts (thanks to them for our minnie mouse ears and skeleton glasses, for a Mario pinata, for Hitchcock movies, for roasted marshmallows, and for a game of firepants, i.e. hide-and-seek in the dark).

All of these things don't include our hiking/running around to all of the villages in the valley for meetings about starting secondary schools, as our deadline is quickly approaching. One thing that we are learning is that it is very hard to get a list of 25-30 students who want to continue their education beyond the sixth graded. We have some assumptions of why this might be such a difficult objective to meet, but we still have hope that some of the communities towards the east and south of the valley will come through with their list. We are trying to not let this discourage us, but are taking it in as a lesson in culture. We're not exactly sure how to promote this opportunity to further their education, but we will continue to try new things in hopes that some will choose to continue their studies. We have lots to learn...

On another note, the buildings at BaseCamp are coming along very well, and it looks like we may be able to move into our new "houses" as early as January (not that Kris and I don't enjoy listening to everyone turn over on their air mattresses during the night or periodically seeing Kevin Colvett mosey around sleepily in his boxers in the morning ;), but it will be nice to have a little more privacy and personal space). Thankfully, it seems as though the rainy season is beginning to let up some (knock on wood), as we had several clear-skyed, gorgeous days this past week. We have also had some clear nights, with the sky full of stars, including Jupiter shining brightly and the milky way also shining through. We never cease to be amazed at the beauty of the creation with which God surrounds us.

Exciting Things are A-Brewin' in the Ulpan Valley

Following is the copy of an email that we recently sent out which we believe sufficiently sums up what we have been/will be up to for the past and coming weeks:

Well, we finally feel a bit more "settled" into our new home in the valley, having celebrated both a birthday and an anniversary here, having dealt with some stomach and bug (actual insect) issues, and having had many of our neighbors just "drop in" for a chat or to join us for a meal. Now that we are moving beyond the "setting up home" phase of our transition, we have lots of dreams and objectives ahead of us. We would like to share some of these with you in their very basic form so that you can join us in prayer on behalf of the ways God will work through us in these activities. If you would like more details about any of them, PLEASE let us know...

1) Next week we will begin a Base Line Study of the 16 communities in the Valley. This is being administered in efforts to give us an overall picture of the state of health, community structure, economic development, etc. of the communities with which we will be working. It will also help to serve as a reference for future studies that we may do as part of Project Ulpan. The Base Line Study will involve Community Mapping, Focus Groups, and Family Questionnaires. We are hoping to employ many of the Mayans that are currently working as literacy teachers in the Valley to help us administer this study, but we also hope to accompany them as they meet with the communities and go into the homes. Please pray that the communities and families would be open to our questioning and that they would see our intentions as helpful rather than intrusive. Please pray that this study will help to reveal some of the hidden deficiencies and needs that are present in the communities of the Valley, so that we can know where and how to help. And please pray that this will also be a means of relationship-building between us and the people of the Valley.

2) We are also currently working on setting up at least three secondary schools in the Valley. For the 16 communities, there is currently only one secondary school. We are working with a Guatemalan organization who will agree to provide the salary for a secondary teacher if we can provide them with a list of 25-30 students who are willing to commit to begin their three years of secondary school. We are somewhat rushed in meeting this objective, because we need to have the lists of students to them by the beginning of November for the students to begin with the new school year in January, and we are just now getting information about this opportunity out to all of the community leaders. Please pray with us that the community leaders would help us spread the word and promote the continuance of education for the teens in their communities. Pray also that the teens and their families would see the value of continuing their education and expanding their job opportunities. Pray specifically that God would bring to us 75 interested students so that we can begin the process of setting up three secondary schools (or more!).

3) 450 latrines have been installed in several different communities over the past five months, costing close to $10,000 and helping to improve the health of the families involved exponentially. We have had to pull funds for this objective from other areas of Project Ulpan, and currently we need to expand our fundraising efforts for the Project. Please pray that God will help us to know who to go to for monetary support and that those people/organizations will have the means and desire to help us meet our needs. We KNOW that God always provides.

4) Wrapped into this fourth bullet point will be several other objectives that we believe are really going to begin to grow in the coming weeks. First, we have an objective to build eight libraries throughout the Valley. We have begun with a small collection of books in our own community room/dining room, and we have lots of interest from the visiting children. We just have to figure out an effective organization and loaning system that we can model for the other communities. Then all we need is to find a source for more more books in Spanish and Q'eqchi' (we already have several leads here). Please pray that all we need will be provided and that these libraries will prove to be a blessing to the people of the Valley. Second, Kris and Kevin are continuing to pursue water projects but are running into repeated issues with property rights for the water sources. Please pray that we will have wisdom about how to obtain the rights to the water sources or that God will soften the hearts of those who "own" the property and don't care to share it with their neighbors. Third, there is growing interest among the women in the Valley concerning how to crochet. Ginger and I have had several visitors over the past several weeks who want us to share with them a needle and some yarn and show them how to make a simple washcloth... but they are also asking for purses and blankets and hats. We even have a class set up for next Friday with several of the women from a neighboring community. Please pray that Ginger and I will minister to these women through crocheting together. Please also pray that we will have wisdom about whether to pursue some of our dreams about helping the women start some of their own crocheting businesses through microcredit loans... we are very excited about about the prospects, even if it just means that they can make blankets and beanies for their own children! Finally, the footers are currently being poured for what we affectionately refer to as "Base Camp." Some of these buildings will serve as our new homes (or homes for others who may come after us) and others will serves as bunkhouses and a large kitchen for hosting teams that will visit the valley. Please pray that this construction will continue to go as planned, even amidst the "very rainy" season of the Valley.

5) As mentioned above, we have had several visitors and families in our home to share a meal with us during the past week. We are finding that the people are becoming more open and comfortable around us, and we are finding that they are also more willing to ask us for things that they need. Pray that we would always have generous hearts toward the people (knowing that we believe in a God who uses 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed five thousand), but also pray that we would have wisdom also about how to empower these people to help themselves. Pray that we would also learn to depend on them and ask them for things, as well, so that our relationship/friendship becomes one of a mutual give-and-take (I must note that last weekend we ate a VERY generous and delicious meal in the home of our Guatemalan co-worker Roberto). Please pray that in all things- in all of our interactions with the people, whether in their homes or in ours- God would be glorified!

Our New Home

Well... we survived week one in the Valley. Actually "survived" is a pretty harsh word; I think I can actually say that we really enjoyed our first week in the Valley. There is nothing more peaceful than waking up and having some quiet time while watching the morning clouds rolls through the Valley. There is nothing more humbling than looking up at a gorgeous night sky full of stars, periodically lit up by a distant lightening storm. There is nothing that brings a bigger smile to your face than the sound of the Colvett kids playing and laughing with their new Guatemalan friends. And there is nothing that brings about a greater sense of acceptance and community than having a 70-year-old Guatemalan woman named Angelina ask you to dance at the Independence Day fiesta. Truthfully, living without hairdryers and indoor plumbing and washing machines is not quite as daunting as it sounds. Living simply is proving to be a great blessing.

We spent most of the past week just setting up home. By "setting up home," I mean putting up tarps as room dividers, building makeshift wooden beds and shelves, blowing up air mattresses, setting up an outdoor "shower" (four tarp walls and a hose full of cold water), and organizing our kitchen and tool shed. Hopefully we can post some pictures sometime soon. When we weren't building and organizing, we were eating DELICIOUS food provided by Cata, or we were trying to stay clean and warm during the afternoon rains. One of our highlights of the week was when a couple of ladies from a neighboring community invited us to their Independence Day fiesta on Friday. We did lots of standing around and listening to Q'eqchi' muffled by a microphone and large speakers, but we were certainly blessed by invitations to dance (if you can consider shifting from one foot to another and swinging your arms dancing) to music provided by a live band and by a lunch consisting of soup with beef in it (a delicacy for the Mayans). We've had very few opportunities to practice our Q'eqchi' this week, but the way the faces of the Mayans have lit up when we have tried to start conversation with them in their mother tongue has reassured us that our efforts to learn their language are not in vain.

We look forward to what the weeks ahead may hold as we begin to pursue some of the objectives of Project Ulpan, such as water projects, agricultural training, baseline studies, and setting up secondary schools. We appreciate your continued prayers for our adventures here. It is very evident to us that God is present in this place, and we are thankful that he is willing to include us in his work here.

Preparing for "The Big Move"

Well... it's almost here. I know many of you thought that the big move already happened- four weeks ago, right? Well, that move was difficult in relation to us leaving our family and friends behind, but in relation to living conditions it hasn't been much of a challenge at all! Grocery shopping is certainly different and so is our mode of travel (most everywhere by foot), but actually, the bed we have had here in Antigua is BIGGER than our bed at home (don't tell anyone we told you)!

Now, the BIG move is coming up this weekend, when we finally settle in to the Ulpan Valley. No running water... well, except for that which flows through the pipes which my husband installed two years ago. No electricity... except for that provided by solar panels. No dishwasher, no washing machine, no running toilet, no TV.... no hair dryer! Now, I remember one day back when Kris and I were just friends and he told me that I was "high maintenance" (which, to his credit, was actually just said in efforts to convince me that I should not date his friend)... I would like to remind him of this when we're in the Valley and I haven't showered for a week and I'm cleaning out one of the latrines(which I'm actually pretty sure I'm gonna delegate as his job- ha ha)!

I can certainly joke about our move, but actually the jokes just cover up the fears and doubts. I really don't know what it will be like to live day-in and day-out without all of the modern technologies that I have come to depend upon for a "comfortable" life. I don't know what I'll do when I see that first big spider in my bed. I don't know how much washing all of our dishes and clothes by hand will wear on me. I don't know if the women will accept me into their community or if they will shun me. I don't know quite how frustrating trying to speak in Q'eqchi' will be. There are many unknowns that I can dwell upon until they become deeply-rooted anxieties....

BUT, I know that I serve a God who is bigger than my doubts and fears. I know that even though I may "grow tired and weary," I serve a God who "renews the strength" of "those who hope in the Lord." I know that even though I will be living in conditions that to many seem very poor, I will in many ways be richer than I was in the States. I know that dependence upon land and the water cycle and community will humble me to a position of greater dependence upon God, as well. And for these reasons, I am looking forward to our big move, and I feel prepared (but only because I know the Lord is by my side).

Kris and I chose this scripture to read together every night this week, and I pray that it would be my mindset as I move into the Valley and embark upon this amazing journey:

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Q'eqchi' y Vida Real

Well... we have completed one week and one day of Q'eqchi', and it has definitely been more of a challenge for all of us (except for maybe the Colvett twins) than Spanish ever was. However, we can say that we are all growing through the language learning experience, and we're getting pretty good at that back-of-your-throat-hock-a-loogey sound that is so prevalent in the Q'eqchi' language. Although there are very few word associations to be made between Q'eqchi and English, we thought we would share a couple of our favorites:

Chu (Q'eqchi')= smells bad= our interpretation: someone waving their hand in front of their nose and muttering "Shew!"

Atink (Q'eqchi')= to take a bath= our interpretation: "I stink"

On a different note, for the past two Sundays, we have visited Vida Real Iglesia Cristiana in Antigua. We have really enjoyed practicing our Spanish as we sing some more contemporary worship songs such as "How Great is Our God" and "God of Wonders." Thankfully, they include a set of notes in their morning pamphlet so that we can follow along with the sermon (since it's kinda hard to follow a preacher who seems to speak at warp speed). This past Sunday one section of the sermon notes had this list that we'd like to share with you... fairly simple but quite profound if we truly believe it and live it out day-to-day:

"Paradojas de la vida cristiana (Paradoxes of the Christian life):

1) Dar es mejor que recibir (To give is better than to receive)

2) Perdonar es mejor que vengar (To pardon is better than to seek vengeance)

3) Humildad es preferible a la soberbia (Humility is preferible to pride)

4) Servir en lugar de ser servido (To serve in place of being served)

5) Morir para vivir (To die in order to live)"

Charity

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. ( . . . ) I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

I am reminded of these verses every time I pass one of Jesus's "brothers" in the streets of Antigua. I am also reminded (and ashamed) of all of the times I have looked over "the least of these." There have been several encounters that I have had over the past week that have allowed me to live out the first part of the verses above (if even in a very superficial manner)... by dropping my few extra quetzales in the cup of the elderly blind woman who is always begging outside of the restaurants surrounding Parque Central, by buying some bread to give to the elderly man who was searching through the trashcans on the streets, or by giving my leftover lunch to the eight-year-old shoe shiner who asked me what I had in my hand. I know that I am serving Jesus when I serve these brothers of mine; yet, I am left with the feeling that both I and they are still unsatisfied. A few coins have been dropped, some pieces of food have been given, but is their hunger truly quenched? What is at the root of this poverty, this begging without shame? I struggled with the same questions while working in an inner-city school in Nashville. I could offer bits of knowledge and show love to my students through encouragement and hugs, but what was the long-term effect when they were returning to the same homes and neighborhoods (some consisting of an even deeper and darker poverty than that which exists on the streets of Antigua)?

I think the key lies in relationship and commitment. Maybe I'm the only one, but I think I tend to focus on the first two phrases in the verses above, thinking, "Sure, I can spare some food and water (or a few coins) for someone in need." Meanwhile, I push aside the suggestion that I might invite in, clothe, or visit with someone because (as I might say to myself) that is too dangerous or it takes too much time and energy. I don't believe Jesus meant for the former to be separated from the latter. I think that living the life of a disciple means not just giving of food or money to "the least of these," but also giving of self. Perhaps if we engaged more in relationship with the "brothers" out on the streets or living in the projects, we could discover the root of the issues they are dealing with. Perhaps we would realize that their desires and needs are not much different than our own. Perhaps we would both leave a little more "satisfied"...

~DeeDee

Week 1 has Passed...

We just completed a week of Spanish study at the same school at which we studied two years ago (PROBIGUA). I was able to have my same maestra (teacher) which was a great blessing, and Kris enjoyed his new teacher, as well. More important than the Spanish that we learned, we were both impressed by the conversations we had with our teachers this week and the ways they expressed their faith to us.

I (DeeDee) was talking to Cristina about the atmosphere of Coban (the city closest to where we are moving), which has gotten a lot of publicity lately concerning violence related to drug trafficking. After saying that she felt that it was a very tranquilo (calm, peaceful) place, which was somewhat relieving, she also said, "Necesita tener fe. La fe puede mover las montanas." (You need to have faith. Faith can move mountains.) This has been a message which God has given to me over and over again during my months of preparation for the move and my times of doubting. Related to this idea of faith is a thought that was part of my daily devotional reading this morning: "When you walk through a day with childlike delight, savoring every blessing, you proclaim your trust in Me, your ever-present Shepherd." I desire to be more like children who have such faith in the provision of their Father.

I (Kristopher) was also extremely blessed to have a wonderful maestra, Miriam. She was extremely patient with me as I began re-learning some of the same things I had learned 2 years ago. On Thursday I had one of the best days of aprendiendo (learning) as I read a Spanish story and almost pronounced all the words correctly. Learning Spanish has been a difficult journey for me and my pronouncing has been even more difficult. But my confidence has grown as I have had an extremely supportive wife and maestra. Regarding the faith of our maestras, I also got to know a woman of great faith this week. One of the routines we began early this week was to spend the first hour to hour and a half just in conversation. During those conversations Miriam shared how deep and strong her faith had become through family situations. It was an enormous encouragement for me to hear about how her struggles had brought her closer to God.

As DeeDee and I have also settled in the routine of daily life here in Antigua, I was struck during my quite time this week. I have been spending time in Psalms and James and have come away with this desire: “I desire to be like Abraham, that my faith is made complete by what I do each day, not by just what I say. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart and the actions of my hands be pleasing in your sight.”

Tomorrow morning we begin yet another part of our journey, Q’eqchi’ language school. This will also be a grand challenge for us, but we know that in Christ all things are possible.

We're Back!

Yesterday morning we arrived in Guatemala City at 11 AM after one of the easiest and fastest flight schedules that we've ever had to this country, and we found ourselves once again in one of the most beautiful and relaxing cities which we have ever traveled to as a couple- Antigua, Guatemala. This is just one extended stop on our way to our final destination in the Ulpan Valley, but we are thankful for our time here, and we are excited about the weeks of language study ahead!

Our arrival here came after MONTHS of prayer, fundraising, and planning. We are extremely thankful for the support and prayers of friends, family, and church family... we truly believe that God is hearing and fulfilling those prayers (which are in accordance with his will) day by day. We are especially thankful for the faith of our parents in a God who will watch over us and take care of us while we are distanced from them. We are learning to trust Him more each day.

Some may ask, "Why in the world would you want to move to a third world country that is so dangerous and lacks many of the comforts and amenities that you can enjoy in the United States?" Our reply is multi-faceted and might be something like this:

• We have grown to appreciate and love Guatemalan culture, specifically that of the Q'eqchi' Mayan Indians in the mountains near Coban.
• We believe that our gifts (Kris- engineering, project planning; DeeDee- education, serving women and children) specifically align with the needs of the people of the Ulpan Valley.
• We have been serving the people of the Valley for several years now solely through short-term trips, and we believe we can be much more effective with water projects and health education and building relationship through an extended stay.
• We desire to learn more about the religion of the Mayans in the Valley and to engage in some intentional conversations about the work of God among them (hence the need to first learn some Q'eqchi'/Spanish).

We hope you are blessed as you join in our story...