a quick pick-me-up

This is why I love my job:

Sometimes when work gets overwhelming, I just look at this picture. She is sponsored through Mayan Families and attends one of our preschools. She has 8 siblings, and only the youngest few go to school because they are sponsored. The rest work to support the family. Hopefully her sponsor will stick with her for several years so she can learn to read and write and speak Spanish (she's Mayan, so she speaks a dialect called Kakchiquel). This is why I'm here. For stories like hers, so that families are given a little extra help so that their children can become more than a beggar on the street or a laborer in someone else's field.

I hope that looking at her picture makes your heart smile. And I hope that stories like hers remind us all of the potential we each have to impact another person's life, be that a person in Guatemala or the person who lives next door to you.

PS-Her mom's name is Santa ( :

S of D

Colossians 4:5 "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity."

1 Year Anniversary

Jenny and I took a boat across the lake this past weekend for a get-away out of the busy, always moving town of Panajachel and to celebrate our past year of marriage.  The boat ride itself went through a storm, but we have remained strong!

I am so blessed to have spent the last year (the best year of my life) with Jenny as my wife.  During the weekend we stayed in a small, tranquil lake village called San Marcos La Laguna.  We enjoyed our time together, reenergized during our massage appointments, and had hot water in the hotel!

Any Advice?

I hate insects (mostly spiders), but I can deal with it.  And that’s what we’re finding out now.  During my time in Guatemala, I have never seen “screens” for windows or doors.  Homes don’t have air conditioning or heaters, so opened windows and doors are very common, which allows more insects to get in our home.  We can live with it, but we’re working on eliminating them.

One thing I haven’t come to get accustomed to though is cold water.  We seldomly get hot water in the shower, and never get warm water in our faucets.  Any suggestions?  I have not been keeping very clean because it is difficult to bear the coldness.

However, we just set up our water filter (for drinking water), so we’re finally able to have accessible drinking water.  Prior to the filter, the water from the faucets was not adequate or clean enough for us to safely cook with (which was very difficult), nor was it good enough to even brush our teeth with. 

Coming soon we will post pictures of our home and surrounding environment.  If you can think of ways to get hot water for our shower please let us know!

Our First Visitors

This weekend we had our first house guests. Many of you have heard of Bernabe (the Church of God pastor) and his family. They live in Parramos, a smaller village outside of Antigua. I’ve known Bernabe and his family for 4 years now. They graciously brought me into their home on a weekly basis when I was studying in Antigua; they always made me feel like family. I’ve visited them on and off these past 4 years, but we’ve always kept in touch through email and phone calls. Whenever I am in Guatemala I always know that I have a home with them. I have been greatly blessed by them in so many ways.

All that to say, when I told them we were moving to Guatemala they were very excited and happy for us. They jokingly told us that they don’t understand why we’re leaving the US to live in Guatemala when many Guatemalans wish they could go to the US. But they understand our hearts and our desire to be living here.

They came to visit us in Pana on Saturday and it was so good to see them. Baby Nirma has grown so much since we last saw her in March. Kayla is so much taller, and even Anderson is, well, huskier. ( : They came to our house and I immediately found myself in hostess mode. I wanted to offer them something to drink, as I know that having any type of pop is a treat for them. But we didn’t have much pop, so I sent David to get a 2-liter. Then I thought I should offer them something to snack on, but we only had crackers and Guatemala’s version of Oreos. So we offered them what we had, but I couldn’t stop thinking that we should have been more prepared for them. We should have some games or something for the kids to play with and I should have baked something (or bought something that looked like I baked it, because we don’t have an oven).

But then I remembered the countless hours I have spent at their house, sitting on a wooden stool at their table with a cup of coffee. And I remember how Kayla and Anderson would often just sit at my side, listening to us talk. Very rarely did they play with any games or toys. And then I remembered that it is never about what is offered or what is eaten. It’s the people, the conversation, the community. So even though we didn’t have much to offer at our home, we sat and talked for hours over glasses of Pepsi and David taught them how to play Blink. And it was wonderful.

Maybe next time I’ll be more prepared and a better hostess. But I’m learning to embrace the simplicity of Guatemala and to focus more on offering myself and my time and my energy, and not worry about offering so many things. Not to say that offering things or food is bad, because food is a great way to build community. But Guatemala is teaching me to worry less about what I have to offer, and focus much more on who I am and how I can offer myself.

It was a great first weekend in our home! We love having visitors...so come visit!

Q of D

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen -- not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else." 

-- C.S. Lewis

Hope in Guatemala

These first two weeks in Guatemala have been much busier than I anticipated. Between learning a new job, trying to find a place to live, exploring a new city, and brushing up on my Spanish I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to process the beginning of our journey. I feel so grateful that we've been embraced into our new community. Everyone is so kind and welcoming and helpful. We have a lot to learn, but we're enjoying the process.

I wanted to share a few pictures of my favorite moments at work this past week:I wish I could tell you each of their stories. Perhaps one day. But these are the people I am privileged to interact with every day. Sometimes I visit them in their homes, sometimes they come to our organization and I sit and talk with them as they share their story.

The other day we went to visit several elderly people in their homes and their living conditions were terrible. Most had no electricity and no running water. They lived in one room huts made of wood or mud and slept on straw or an old blanket. It was my job to go with a Guatemalan doctor who volunteered to examine them and I recorded notes. I stood and watched and silently prayed over each elderly person. They had all lived long lives of hard labor. And now their bodies were aching from the years of carrying heavy loads on their backs or bending over cultivating the ground. Their lives of hard labor seemed, to me, unfair. And now as they age they reap the consequences of poverty and it seems even more unfair. Many of them have gone blind and their skin is tough like leather with scabs and bleeding sores. The doctor explained that this is common for people who spend their entire lives working under the sun.

I still think it's unfair. Why do some people work so hard their entire lives, only to be left alone in a shack of dirt blind and in pain? I will not see the day in this fallen world when everything is fair and just. Instead, I seek some source of hope amidst it all and I work to increase this hope among our sisters and brothers. He is indeed our hope. Hope for a better future, hope for justice in a fallen world, hope for dignity amidst poverty. Please join me in prayer for the impoverished that I am attempting to serve. I know so little of their lives and I can understand it even less. But I serve a God of Hope and I trust that He cares for His children better than I can.

Life in Guate (La Vida en Guatemala)

We're getting settled into Guatemala!  Jenny and I just rented a bungalow, which is basically a single home with a bedroom/living room (one room), kitchen, and bathroom.  The rent includes everything (water, tv cable, electricity) except gas (for cooking) and internet.  And get this, the tv cable has like 70 channels (half of which are purely English speaking, including CBS (for football games), History Channel, ESPN, HBO, etc)...literally more than we had while living in the States; however, we do not intend to consume our time with the channels, although I am quite excited for access to the football games.

One of the things we really like about our bungalow is that it shares a courtyard with a few other bungalows, one of which is a Mayan family!  I'm excited to be able to get to know them and to play with the kids (one is 6 and the other is almost 2 years old).

Traditional Mayans are very proper and well versed in simplicity...meaning they literally do the work that is necessary (such as hard labor, textiles, farming) in order to provide for their families and they're satisfied with life.  Picture a family of 6 leaning over a bowl of beans while sitting on a dirt floor...that's all they "need".  From my experiences in the States, it's hard for me to imagine the US society being "okay" without access to the latest and best technologies, let alone the basics of life (home, tables, chairs, drinking water).  One story was shared about an elderly women who was given shoes to wear, but even when she had them she didn't wear them because she was so accustomed to not having them and preferred not to use them (since her feet were so well versed for the street rocks, etc).

There is a man that is paid by our landlady to do maintenance around the bungalows and courtyard.  He is very cute (deaf, only a few teeth), always smiling.  We rearranged some of the furnishing in our bungalow and needed his help (tools) to undrill the headboard to our bed (it was attached to the wall rather than the bed frame).  In order to feel comfortable with his help in our bungalow, I felt like we had to put away/hide some of our possessions.  I don't mean we had to hide our computer, etc in fear it would be stolen, rather I mean that we had to put our shoes in bags and clothes in dressers because of the multitudes of shoes and clothes that we have.  We've seen him with only one pair of shoes that have holes in them, he doesn't wear socks, and his shirt is dirty.  Even though Jenny and I packed our possessions in two suitcases each to travel to Guatemala, we still have more here than the typical Guatemalan...and yet the majority of our stuff is still in the States.

It is a lot harder here to come by things to buy, such as clothes hangers, pillows, and random other items.  We spent two days (and still don't have everything) walking around asking where to find various things and most everyone's answer was "La Dispensa", which is a store owned by Walmart.  And it turned out, even it didn't have any hangers, pillows, or plates.
  
We're still adjusting to the lifestyle here, but here are a few answers to common questions that were asked or that went unsaid during our transition from the States to here:
1) What are you going to eat?  - so far we've eaten pizza, eggs, beans, rice, chicken, corn on cob, vegetables, yogurt, sandwiches.  Food is similar, but portions are smaller.  Jenny and I have yet to get accustomed to cooking in home and have only been eating out as of now.

2) What are you going to do without football?  -it turns out I get football games in my bungalow.  In fact, I first started watching the Colts game in a native restaurant where it was commentated in Spanish.  In the bungalow I can watch it in English.  I have plans to still be competitive in fantasy football, as well!

3) Is it safe?  -police are often described as corrupt, meaning that "robbers, drug dealers, etc" pay police off for the police to stay out of their business, but it is a very close knit community and people look out for each other. In fact, it's often said that the people take things into their own hands and do the policeman's job when the police don't (**which can be a bad thing...one couple told a story about a group of Mayans who beat up and burned a fellow Mayan for stealing at the market...they killed him because the police were going to let him get away).  Drugs are also too easy to come by, just to give you an idea of the culture.

4) How long are you going to be there? -we plan on renting our bungalow for the year. Jenny's in a non profit position serving Mayan families for a year, and we'll evaluate it during that time.

5) Can you recycle there? -there are some recycle bins, or so we've heard, but we've learned that recycling bins are dumped with trash bins.  Guatemala doesn't have a recycling program, and they'd actually have to pay China to send recycling to China, so they just dig holes and bury everything to save money rather than ship it overseas.

6) Is it really hot there? -so far the temperature has been pleasant (mid 70's during day), however it is the rainy season and it can easily be predicted to rain every afternoon, sometimes for many hours.  Starting November, we're told it is always sunny and nice temperature, but gets cool (no less than 50 or 40) throughout the whole winter...no rain or snow.

7) Why are you living in Guatemala? -We feel blessed with the opportunity to experience another culture and to live by different standards.  We hope to learn about cultural acceptance, be a servant to surrounding persons, to empower the impoverished workforce, and to share our faith and be spiritual advocates.

Our town relies on tourism (to eat at restaurants, to buy textiles, and to stay in hotels, etc), which is odd because the consumerism concept does not make sense to the Mayans.  Meaning, they traditionally only possess what they 'need'.  It's a paradox that they're selling textile goods (which are awesome, btw) for tourists to buy their 'wants'.  It has been difficult to grasp ways to help and impact Mayans on deep levels.  We hope to join a congregation soon and fellowship at a church, however we haven't found strong ties at this point.

The community is different around this part of the world.  In our town specifically, there are a lot of travelers touring, but also a lot of foreigners (Europeans, Americans, etc) settling here for varying reasons.  It can be a struggle for us to pursue our "reasons" for being here (specifically to love and serve, to learn, and to be immersed), because we could find ourselves getting comfortable with our own culture given that there is a well built foreigner population.

Wisdom, Faith, and Dr Quinn (plus Q of D)

Check out the 2 minute through 6 minute mark on this video segment from a Doctor Quinn episode titled "Season of Miracles".

We've all heard the 'how could God do this?' comments before (because they are valid), and we can relate our own feelings and frustrations with wondering why the bad things that happen to good people.  I'm very pleased with how the show documented this universal struggle.

Sully says, "Maybe you were praying for the wrong thing. Maybe the miracle isn't in the healing but finding the strength to accept what has happened.  Instead of asking 'why me?' starting asking 'what am I going to do about it?'"  Now that is wisdom to my ears.  We can't avoid encountering difficulties in this world; but we can accept them, and make adjustments (one door closes, another opens; or one road ends and a new begins).

The Light is upon us if we choose.  The faith is by walk, not by sight.

It's Not Goodbye

Our destination has arrived.  During our travel transition, the process of receiving support and love and communicating goodbyes to friends and family really impacted me.  There is nothing like hugging someone and being unable to speak words due to being overwhelmed with emotion.

To ease the tension of emotions, I was filled with joy and laughter to partake in humorous picture taking with some family members.  Take a look at these...we built great memories and experienced cries of laughter.

Prior to our departure, I enjoyed meeting up with close friends such as Jason, where we did our traditional meal in Zionsville at Big Dave's Deli, and with Ryan, where we walked the mall and enjoyed company.  I will miss those types of interactions, but I hope to gain interactions with native Guatemalans in potential athletic events or market shopping.  In fact, as I began to write this blog (sitting in a coffee shop), a 10 yr old Mayan boy came up to me to sell his bracelets (which I didn't buy), but I showed him pictures of my family on this blog and described to him (in my broken Spanish) the different stories in this blog and had him listen to music from the menu tab above and described the reason the "prayer box", which I could only translate as "talking to God".

But leaving our comforts and loved ones is not goodbye.  We have been very blessed with the opportunities and desires within us to pursue and strive to experience other cultures and living standards, and we will indeed maintain our ties and see you later.

I strongly anticipate that our time in Guatemala will feel like we will be impacted more than we impact others.  But here we go, setting ourselves in position to impact.

And as quoted in the great film production 'John Q', "it's not goodbye, it's see you later."