Chickens and Rabbits

Two families we know had fallen on hard times.  Nice families with hard working fathers who want to provide for their wives and children but fell into situations that prevented them from doing that.  First is Francisco, he sells firewood for a living.  He takes his horse up to the mountain, chops wood and brings it down to sell - key word is horse.  He needs his horse to bring the wood down the mountain.  If you have ever been here you have seen people carry heavy loads of things on their heads and backs.  Women have babies strapped to their backs and carry 100lb logs on their heads!  It's a crazy sight to see.  A few weeks ago Francisco's horse accidently strangled itself and died.  Without a horse, he can't get nearly enough firewood on his back to bring down the mountain to sell and provide for his family. Upon hearing this we immediately want to do something to help this guy and his family.  Chris and I had kicked around the idea of buying a new horse but just hadn't done anything yet (a horse runs about $300 and since we are missionaries now, we are on a tight budget).  Our friend Joseph from the US was here so we took him around to visit some families and he felt the need to do something to help Francsico so he bought them 2 female rabbits to accompany their male rabbit in hopes of starting a little rabbit business to provide food for their family and sell for income (sorry but they eat rabbits here).  That is a big help but "nature" takes time so it won't be something that will immediately help their situation.  The story has a happy ending though.  A really cool youth group (CO2) from Lake City was here and God put it on their hearts to buy Francisco a horse!!  When it was delivered we were there to see the tears of joy and thankfulness.   He told us that earlier that day he decided that he really didn't feel like going up the mountain so he stayed home.  His wife wasn't too pleased and asked "How are we going to get food today?!?"  A little later, in walks a bunch of teenagers and a horse.  :)

Juan and his family (and Joseph)

Second is Juan.  They have been to our house a few times and are just a nice family.  They have never asked us for anything and when we ask if they need anything, they always say no.  (That's not the norm here - most people need something and the gringos are their ticket.)  We were talking one night about how we would like to find some land to grow vegetables and they offered for us to plant some things in their garden.  We made a date to go over and start seeds.  Joseph was here and went with us.  During our visit we learned that Juan doesn't have work right now and they have a nice spot of land to grow stuff but they haven't had the money this year for seeds so they don't have anything planted.  Again, the question comes up "What can we do to help?"  Seeds are easy because we literally had them in our hands.  Joseph wanted to do something so he and Chris decided it would be good to give them some chickens - to eat, sell and have eggs.  Off they went to get supplies for the coop.  Juan had that built in no time so a day later Joseph bought them baby chicks, grown chickens, and all the supplies needed for success.  They were very thankful to say the least.

Birthdays

How can it be that this little guy is 4?!?!  Where does time go?  He is so excited he can hardly stand it.  For him, being 4 opens a whole new world.  He is ready to leave the 3 year old life behind (I'm not exactly sure what he has in mind).  A couple of weeks ago when we started talking about his birthday his first question was "When I'm 4 can I do dangerous things?"  "Um....no" was my answer.  I'm certain there are a few things that won't change right away like him wanting his mommy to dress him (unless he has a good reason to get dressed fast and I try to find lots of those) and asking us "Can I pick you up?"  He is so stinkin cute and I wish I could keep him at 3 forever - well, most days.

This guy turned 9 a couple of weeks ago.  That left us sad at the thought of him being home with us for only 9 more years.  In the Guatemalan culture it's common for kids to live at home past 18 since most never finish school let alone go to college.  They even get married (or not) and bring their spouses/boyfriend/girlfriend to live at home with them.  If they do get their own place it's usually close by their parents and other family members.  I love that way of life.  I love the idea of our boys being close to us even though that probably won't happen.  Anyway, Juanito (Jon's Guatemalan name) has not changed a bit being 9 and is lives a life covered in dirt.  He misses home alot but I think the dirt makes him feel better. :)  However, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5:00 - 7:00pm Juanito wears WHITE for karate.    Well, he starts out wearing white but doesn't come home as white as when he left.  I was hoping the instructor would choose black uniforms but I don' have that kind of luck.

Una casa para Sandra

(A house for Sandra)

Yesterday we were to start a house for a family in Buena Vista but a few complications arose over the weekend and we had to move quickly Monday morning to secure a new 12x12 family because the timing for other families in que was not right.  Brock sent me a note that there was a family that was on his heart that he had visited in the past that lived in a small cornstalk hut.  Yesterday at 9am we set out to find the house and see what God had in store.  We found it pretty quickly and the cornstalk hut was still there.  Once we found Sandra, the wife and mother, and her three year old son Jose Daniel we asked if we could come in and talk to her.  It was one of the cleanest little houses with a dirt floor I've seen.  We asked how they were doing and how the house was holding up. Seems like an odd question for someone living in a cornstalk shack but she answered that all was well and they were content.  We asked what happens when it rains there (the house sits in the middle of a steep incline) she said of course the rain and water runs right through the house..  It's hard to imagine that "normal" is sleeping on a bed a few inches off of the ground and waking up to water running underneath you and over the floor of your entire house.  The rainy season here  means daily heavy downpours for several months.

Brock and I looked at each other and said "let's do this".  We told her that we wanted to build her a house and that we needed to start in a few hours.  She looked at us as if to say "Are you serious?"  After a few quiet minutes I asked her if that sounded like a good thing.  She couldn't hide her smile any longer as she told us yes - this is very good!  When we were leaving she hugged Brock tightly and cried.  He told me later she said "We thought you had forgotten us"  He reassured her that God never forgets us and that His love was great for us.  I came back a few hours later to take pictures before we started to take down their old house and her husband Juan was home for lunch and they had already begun to take the house down.  They were so excited and thankful.  They thanked us several times.  I told them that we were excited for them and more so to be used of God to show His love.

I'd like to introduce you to our newest 12x12 family:

Sandra, Jose Daniel and Juan

el cocina

la estufa

They had just moved the bed out before I arrived to take the picture but this is the one room cornstalk house with blue tarps to hold back the cold.  Last night the low was 51 here.

Sandra and Jose Daniel at their front door

beautiful flowers in front of the house

Jose daniel next to the house

Missing Home

This has been a tough week.  I am really missing all our friends and family.  I miss home.  I miss all the people in our life that were always so close but now are so far away.  It's lonely here and I would love to go home.  Jon is feeling it too.  I'm sure one day we will love it here and never want to leave just not right now.

Other than being homesick and trying to learn Spanish, I do ALOT of laundry and am thankful for a washing machine!

Jack, Jon and a friend named Elvis

Jed enjoying the dirt

Jon and some dirt

There are cats here!

A family's pet named Luis

What kids do for fun - slide down the hill on 3 liter bottles 

Jed and some local men 

Jon aka "Chicken Chaser"  trying not to squeeze the chick

Journey Team

  We had a great week with the team from our home church.  We got to visit several 12X12 families and potential families.  The team painted a house, visited an orphanage, had a cookout for a couple of families, loved on a bunch of kids, attended a soccer banquet for a local school, and lots more.  Our family got to hang out with them and join in on alot of their activities.

House Painting

Visiting the orphanage

Cookout for a few families

Pinata fun at the cookout

12X12 Key Ceremony 

Had a birthday party for a boy who has never had one

Journey team on their way back to the US

Visited with Caesar and his family

Spanish, Spanish and more Spanish

Several times through out this journey, Chris and I have looked at each other and asked "Are we too old for this?"  Sitting around a table with our Spanish teacher trying to learn this language makes me think "YES, I'm too old for this!!"  My poor brain is trying to grasp it but it's slow going.  Have you ever heard a Latin person talk?  Muy rapido means very fast and they talk faster than that!  Do their brains actually go that fast?  Mine doesn't.  Most people here are nice and will talk "slow" for the gringo but that is still too fast for me.  It's as confusing to learn as English and they have just as many exceptions to their language rules.  I know we are only 2 weeks into a 8-9 month process but we really want to be fluent by now.  :)

Some things we did last week:

We went to a plant place nearby and bought some plants.  I LOVE plants - I don't think I can live without them.  Living in Guatemala is perfect because they grow alot of flowers/plants here and the people seem to like plants too.  No matter how poor someone is they have flowers and plants growing somewhere - in a container or in the ground.  And you can buy cut flowers all around our town.  My heart is a teeny weeny bit more at peace with some plants around the house. 

We took the boys to a barber down the street.  His name is Rocky (we also know a little boy named Elvis). He did a good job cutting thin gringo hair.  It was funny because after their cuts there was alot of black hair on the floor and then all this blonde hair - something you probably never see at his shop.

We are excited about a store in Guatemala City called  PriceMart.  It's exactly like Costco but 1/3 of the size and they even have the chicken bake in the food court.  We found a great deal on filet mignon.  Granted, missionaries probably shouldn't tell people they are eating filet mignon but you haven't heard the rest of the story.  It was extremely cheap (cheaper than what we consider regular cuts) because I don't think it's considered a prime cut of meat here.  Anyway we made it for dinner and let me tell you, it was not at all the same as in the states.  Jack and Jon said it tasted like a hot dog.  Nobody was real excited about it and the following morning all 3 boys had belly aches.  Meat is definitely different - I don't think cows are corn fed or something.  Anyway, now we know why meat tenderizer is sold more than milk here. 

In 2 days a team from Journey Church will be here.  It's like our family is coming and we couldn't be more excited!!  I might even give Vic a hug - I don't think I have ever hugged him.  :)  We are busy cleaning and trying to hide 20+ bins of our stuff so they have a place to hang out. Oh and did I mention that we are trying to learn Spanish?  ;)

We miss home and everyone more than we can express.  We've been here a month already and in some ways it seems like forever.  Being foreigners is something we are trying to adjust to and it's hard.  Next time you see someone from another county welcome them to America and ask them if there is anything you can do to help them.  They might not understand you but they will feel the love and it will make all the difference to them. 

On a mission to learn Spanish

We started Spanish lessons on Monday.  Our teacher's name is Julio - Jed calls him Mr. Hood-ee-o. Jack is learning very fast and Chris and I are not as fast as Jack.  Jon...well he's been sick so he hasn't learned anything yet.  Of course this cannot go off without  a hitch - our hitch has been Jon and Jed getting a stomach bug and throwing up.  The best part was last night when we realized we were out of running water AFTER Jed threw up on got it all over himself and me as well.  Thankfully we brought a case of baby wipes with us.  The way water works here is that the municipality turns on the water supply every morning between 6-8am.  Our home has a tank on the roof and a cistern underground.  Our water is pumped into these and that is the water we have for the day.  Not everyone has a tank though.  Some people use plastic barrels, buckets, or whatever they have.  Although we have only been here a little over 2 weeks, I have never noticed the water coming on at night, only in the morning.  Well guess what?  The water came on last night at 10pm!!!  (Thank you God).  I think someone, somewhere was praying for us.  So whoever you are - thank you for your prayers and thank you God for bringing us water!! 

Rafaela and wood fire

Her old bed

Her new bed

Kids

Some great guys

Men's team, Rafaela, her family & new home

Her old house and old sink

Last week a men's team was here so the boys and I packed up and went to live with the Schmidt's for the week.  It was a great week for us and for the men that came.  They did some great things but the one I want to tell you about has to do with an elderly lady named Rafaela.  She lived alone in a dingy shack in the remote village of Tablon.  I met her one year ago when I was visiting  here and her situation really broke my heart.  I remember her telling us how scared she was to live alone.   Her "house" was made out of old sheets of tin and the ceiling was covered in soot from her wood burning fire - very dark and dirty.  I didn't know this but she lived near a soccer field and the balls would constantly hit her "house" making a loud noise and Rafaela would just sit and cry.  Not anymore!  The team built her a new tin home (with a skylight) on some property near her family members.  She got a new bed and a kitchen too.  How cool is that!  I can't imagine how she must feel sleeping in her new bed inside a bright and quiet new home.  I am thanking God that He put her on the hearts of the men here and blessed her with a new home.  I can't wait to go visit her.