Hello 2008

The year 2007 is behind us and it is time to crank up 2008. It is January 3rd and we are back at the Guatemala City airport to pick up Patty Noverr and her two adopted Guatemalan boys, Douglas and Stephen. This is the first time they have been back to their native country since being adopted as young children. An eye-opening experience awaits them. They come bearing suitcases loaded with clothes from her church, Temple Terrace and an exceedingly generous gift from Tom and Tricia Jones to help buy what might be lacking. The following day as Cassidy and Patty sort clothes into different sizes, Dylan and Austin introduce Douglas and Stephen to the locals. The afternoon brings an anticipated horde of villagers to the clinic for the clothes hand out. Douglas and Stephen handle crowd control. The boys usher in three villagers at a time that are seated on a bench. The rest of the gang works on fitting them with shoes and clothing into the night.

The next day will be used as a school project for the boys. We have set aside the day to visit homes and take a hike to the sister mission in Matasana. The familys often live in groups with the parents, children, and grandchildren residing within yards of each other. The first such commune has dirty barefoot children peaking out from different structures, several lurk in an opening in the adobe hut while others are in the doorway of a bamboo hut. Chickens and young pigs run at will where ever they please. An 8 year old boy who is accompanying us wants us to go to his house and pray for his Grandmother. Upon arriving we are ushered into a dark adobe hut. On a small bed we see a frail old woman who has been severely beaten. One of her eyes is swollen shut and her cheek is badly bruised She explains her husband often beats her when he is drunk and refuses to let her have food or water. The boys stand guard and protect her while I run to get food and medicine. When I return, Patty has already confronted the husband who is now also inside the hut. After feeding and nursing the woman we have one more conversation with the husband before the long hike to Matasana.

It is January 10th , we’ve dropped off our guest and after a 6 hour drive from the city we’ve arrived back at the mission to find our solar was no longer working. The inverter had taken a bath when a hot water line coming from the propane water heater, affectionately known as the widow maker by the Guatemalans, had exploded several months ago. The inverter had been working erratically but now had given up the ghost. It would be candle power and flashlights to drag our tired bodies to bed.

The following day is spent working alongside my little buddy Minor. He is working off his taking of Cassidy’s purse and 170Q’s. Today we will remove worms from the castings to prepare organic fertilizer for the different agriculture projects. As I’m preparing lunch for Minor I can hear our normal lunch guest, Sophia, murmuring outside the door waiting her turn. This little old woman can eat more than most football players. I would love to match her against the Asian hot dog eating champ. She would be a sure bet. Not only will she eat you out of house and home but she carries a bag with her that she would also like filled. The day ends with Julio telling me that the new Pastors house has plumbing issues. With tomorrow being the day I’ll bring him and 6 other Pastors to the mission Dylan and I work into the night with Cassidy mopping up the floors the next morning.

The month of December

The month of December

In order to recap the blur of activities since the last blog, we had gone to El Salvador in Early-December for a Latin American Pastor’s conference hosted by David and Gary Wilkerson of Times Square Church. David Wilkerson, as many may know had ministered to some of the most violent inner street gangs of New York City. That inspired his writing of ‘The Cross and The Switchblade” which also became a very popular play. The message at the conference was one of encouragement and non-complacency of the church leaders. Being invited backstage we talked with both David and his son, Gary. The senior would drop in and out of conversation as he intently scanned his bible searching for what the Holy Spirit would lead him to say in concluding the two day event. It would be a warning of the “Prosperity Gospel” preached by some church leaders in the United States now infiltrating the Latin Americas. The two men were very spirit filled individuals with a true compassion for the plight of the Latin American’s struggles. At checkout time, Michael handed me two crisp hundred dollar bills from David to offset my family expenses. My jaw dropped in disbelief that a man I had just met would be one of the first to support us in the mission field. Of course for you surfers out there you can’t leave El Salvador if you are a true surfer without surfing the world renowned Roca’s. The kids and I took a break and spent several days hitting the waves. It was a great week!!!! A great conference hosted by two premier men of God and great surf hosted by the Man himself!!!

It is now December 22rd. We are needed down on the jobsite to help prepare the second story floor for a concrete pour scheduled for December 24th. Time is running out and Michael and Rocky are needed to preside over a wedding. The Beene kids, my kids, William (the teacher from Pinalito), and I will work into the night cutting and hauling block to prepare the second floor for the pouring of concrete. There will be a full moon silhouetting the job site as we near completion.

It is December 23rd and we are going to spend the next three days in Guatemala City. It was great to see a few movies, have a tasty Christmas lunch, and just unwind. That is unwinding until the fireworks started on Christmas Eve. Fireworks are manufactured in Guatemala City and are very inexpensive. Everyone including ourselves had an arsenal. Late into the night and early in the morning there was a display of colorful rockets and mortars bursting in all directions. Firecrackers the strength of ¼ sticks of dynamite were exploding everywhere. If there were any veterans around the sights and sounds would induce a state of immediate shell shock.

The morning of December 26th, Cassidy, Austin, and I head back up to the mission to make sure everything is fine. We have left Dylan to accompany a youth team of 16 teenagers and 3 adults from Cashiers, North Carolina that would arrive later that day. Dylan and the team would spend several days tiling, grouting, and building cabinets for the dormitory. Early the morning of the 31st they head up the mountain to celebrate New Years with the villagers. The team breaks up in several groups heading off in different directions evangelizing. That evening a new arsenal of fireworks is introduced by the Youth Pastor, Michael Gonzalez much to the delight of the villagers. The villagers are served coffee and cookies as they keep an alert eye for the occasional misguided flying bombs.