Knitting

I love to make things - sewing, knitting, crochet.  I have met several women here who like to make things as well, mostly crochet.  They make some things but yarn is expensive and a luxury item for poor families.  I've thought about trying to get ladies together for a little crochet group/bible study but my language skills are lacking and if they started to share things I would have no idea what they are saying.  Some friends from New Jersey came this week and one of them (Terry) brought some knitting looms to share with the local women.  After talking and throwing out ideas we decided to invite some ladies over and teach them how to knit so they can make things and sell them to provide a small income for their families if they want.  We did and it was a great time!! We had a translater so we were able to know what everyone was saying.  It was such an amazing time for them that I can't not do it again so I decided to have them over every week with a translater.  I have this great little devotional book called "Jesus Calling" and I ordered one in Spanish awhile back.  In wondering how I can read the bible with them, this book came to mind.  It's perfect because I can give one to each of them to read during the week and I will know what they are reading because I will be reading the same thing.  I would love to provide each lady a book ($9) and yarn.  If you would like to help with the cost, please e-mail me and I can tell you how.  :)

Our Kids

We added a couple of boys to our family.  The first is Kevin.  Kevin comes to our house every day, usually wanting to sell us food that his mom makes.  He doesn't go to school because he works to help his family or simply doesn't like it, not sure which.  Kevin is the kind of kid that if he weren't so darn cute he'd drive you crazy.  His smile is contagious and is one of the happiest kids I have ever met.  He is a hard salesman and never takes no for an answer - who can say no to that smile?  One time we took him out with us to run errands and eat at fast food restaurant.  We were hesitant about taking him but he drove a hard bargain.  When we got in the car, his face was just as bright as can be and he never stopped smiling the whole time.  He LOVED eating at the restaurant and playing in the play place - something he has probably never done.  

Kevin and Jon washing the car

  His most recent "bargain" was that he wanted money to buy a toy.  He was willing to wash my dishes and even wanted to wash the car.  His price?  1Q which is the equivelant of 13 cents.  We settled on him washing the car for 10Q or $1.30 which was the price of the toy.   

Brian

Brian and Daniel

 This is Brian.  He is one of the nicest kids - very sweet, quiet and a little shy.  He comes to our house alot after school which is around 6pm and eats dinner with us.  He comes from a difficult family situation.  His dad is an alcoholic and does nothing to provide for his family - wife and 5 kids.  Brian goes to school and his favorite subject is art and painting.  When the last Journey team was here he hung out with us and painted a couple of houses.  He loves to be around people and be loved on by others.  Vic and Roxane have adopted Brian's family and help them out whenever they need it.  When Vic was here in March, they celebrated Brian's birthday with a cake.  He turned 12 and has never had a cake before for his birthday. 

Brian's 12th birthday

There are so many kids in our life here.  Several single mom's we have gotten to know have kids with no dad in the picture.  It's neat to be able to love on them and have  them be a part of our family. 

 

Glendy Marybel and Francesca Isabella

Grandma Francesca, Francesca, and Glendy

We came across Glendy's family from a local guy who wanted Chris to consider them for a 12X12 house and it turns out they live about 5 houses away from us.   She has a mom (Maria), younger sister (Francesca), older brother (Marvin) and grandma and grandpa.  They all live together in the same room and grandma suffers from eye and lung infections from cooking over an open fire in a small smoke filled cocina - cornstalk structure they use as a kitchen.  The day we visited the smoke was so thick we couldn't stay in there longer than a second, literally.  Very sad situation but what was even sadder was Glendy's skin.  I really don't know how to describe it other than to say it was horrible.  Her mom said it has been that way most of her life and she is 5 years old.  After taking her and grandma, who had a bad eye infection, to a local clinic we found out she has an allergy to bed bugs!!!  Just imagine hundreds, if not thousands of mosquito bites all over your body, constantly itching and hurting from scratching.  The doctor gave her medicine and some lotion for the itching.  She also prescribed a medicated soap for  Glendy to shower with every day in hot water.  This poses a problem because her family doesn't even have running water let alone a shower.  So, we got the soap and now she comes to my house every day at 5pm to take a shower, hot water or not.  :)  After just 10 days, her skin looks so much better and she doesn't itch as much.  Thank's to a great couple at Journey Church, Glendy's family will get a 12X12 house and thanks another family at Journey they will get running water this week and thanks to Word Fellowship Church they will also get a new, smoke free kitchen and shower.  And the biggest thanks to God for allowing us to help Glendy's family and for putting it on the hearts of others to help them too. 

A snack during the 4 hour wait at the clinic

Grandpa and Grandma

Martin and Cindy, Glendy's family, Daniel

Not Drawing Attention to Ourselves

For safety reasons, it's best to try not to draw attention to ourselves.  This can be a little stressful with 3 boys who seem to do nothing but.  I don't know what I was thinking about the haircut.  Jack went through the mohawk phase so I just figured it was Jon's turn.  I rethought that when we left the barbershop and the heads started to turn more than ususal, by then it was too late.  Sometimes a boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do.

If This Is A Test, I'm Gonna Fail

A funny little glimpse into daily life here in Guate.  Nothing works - the dryer, the fridge, or the hot water.  Living where we do, it is incredibly trivial to complain about such things when 99.9% of the people around us don't have any of the three.  But I find myself searching my soul to figure out why these things are so important to me and do I really need them to be happy? The answer to the hot water is a definite YES!  I need hot water, I love hot water, I can't live without hot water.  Many people have vices and a hot shower is mine.  There is nothing from the day that a hot shower can't wash away.  We don't have a water heater, we have something attached to the shower head called a "widow maker".  It's called that because if you touch it, you will die.  They work fine but when the water going into them is too cold, the water that comes out is lukewarm at best.  With the rainy season and cloudy, rainy days, the sun doesn't keep the water in the tank at a decent temp before going into the widow maker.  Not only that, but the air temperature is in the 60's and 70's so sometimes it just too cold to shower. 

Widow Maker

The fridge is just an inconvenience.  I could probably live without one but we like milk, cheese and yogurt which makes that difficult.  We bought a brand new one but it stopped getting cold about 2 weeks ago.  It's under warranty and all but we live in Guatemala and nothing is easy here when it comes to getting repairs done so we just have to wait.

Cloudy Day

As far as the dryer goes, I don't mind hanging my clothes on the line but we are in the rainy season.  It rains almost every day and we can go several days without ever seeing the sun.  We also live in the clouds and moisture and that makes it hard to dry clothes outside.  Since we have 3 boys who can't walk out the door without dirt attacking them, I have to wash almost every day.  In an effort to be frugal, we bought a used dryer from a missionary who flat out lied to us about it's condition. He said it needed a simple part and would work great.  We paid a repair guy to fix it and he did, but now it doesn't work and he has been back twice and can't seem to figure out what is wrong.  We aren't sure what to do now: pay more money and try to get it fixed or just buy a new one.  A new one will cost what we have already spent on the used one.  In the meantime, Gina has been gracious enough to let me use her dryer when my clothesline isn't working.  :)

With all that is going on here and in the world, these things seem trivial.  Even with that, some days, all I want to do is take my wet clothes and cheese and get on a plane, go somewhere, and take a hot shower.

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.