A Slow Season?

So...this is supposed to be our slower time of the year, and I suppose it actually is, but we've been busy enough for the time to fly by! Yes, we have fewer numbers of people coming through right now, but still trying to catch up on everything that got behind during the very busy summer months. 

We also had some health issues to deal with. Sandi begin to have some abdominal problems so we went to see a Doctor and it was determined that she needed a hysterectomy right away! So after a few days of tests, etc, Sandi entered the hospital and had surgery! Praise the Lord we had so many people praying for her and the Doctors that everything went as good as it can go. Sandi is getting stronger each day and in another week or two she should be cleared to do anything she wants to again! 

That is a good thing because next week a group of ladies from our home church, Northlake Community Church, are coming to Guatemala for 11 days! Sandi is planning to be working with them for most of their time here!

I somehow during August developed something that was causing me to have severe vertigo. There was no infection in my ears etc. but every 3 - 5 days I would have a severe case of vertigo. I tried an ear Doctor here, but did not care much for him and the treatment he gave me made no difference. I went to a different Doctor and she has been very thorough, and I am optimistic things are getting taken care of. In the last 4 weeks I have had only 2 smaller 'attacks'.

Now, we are working on planning upcoming events. We are already working on plans for the Summer Intern program in 2009. We are having to make adjustments as CAM is having a Convocation, with ALL CAM personnel going to Texas for a week in July '09.

We are also working on a Christmas Eve evangelical outreach dinner for families in the neighborhoods around the dump in Zone 3.

We also have 4 interns here now! Megan Goodwin, Amy Seebeck, Becky Soyster & our daughter Kimberly! Megan and Amy spent 2 weeks in Language school and our now serving at Casita Benjamín. Becky just finished 4 weeks of language school and is serving at The Oasis home for girls. Kimber has another week of language school then will join Becky at The Oasis.

Megan, Amy, Kimber and Becky (l to r)

We continue with our other activities and ministries. We go into Kairos house weekly to visit and lead a worship time with the people there. Many times we enter and you can feel a depressed atmosphere when some kids are not doing well. Usually after an hour of singing to the Lord and a time of prayer it is so much lighter! For a short time the focus is lifted to heaven and the burdens become lighter. It is such a blessing to be there with those families.

Worshiping at Kairos House

We continue to be involved at our church - Comunidad Cristiana 'Pueblo de Dios'.  I continue to help lead the youth group and it is going great. I was invited to the "SOS Las Aldeas", a children's home that most of our youth come from, last week for the 15th birthday of one of the boys in our group. It was a great time to see how the youth that have been coming to our church are really growing in ways the kids that don't come are not. 

This coming week is a traditional time here in Guatemala where everybody goes out and flies kites! We are having an all day activity this coming Saturday for our youth group where we will meet in the morning and build kites, then go out in the afternoon and fly them!

Hugo's 15th birthday!

Last week we also had a very sad occasion. The 15 yr old daughter of one of the elders in our church died. She just had what was thought to be a small cold, and then she died Friday night at about 8 PM. I went to be with the family until about 4 AM and then Saturday at 11 AM was the burial. It was so sad. Things move fast here in Guatemala. Death is never convenient and so here you drop what you are doing and go to the funeral. She was the sweetest girl you could ever meet, and it is very hard on the family. Please remember the Melindez family in your prayers.

More Interns, including our daughter!

September is here and we are looking forward to more interns arriving.
We have 4 interns set to come to Guatemala very soon. Megan Goodwin and Amy Seebeck will arrive Sept. 20 and after spending 2 weeks at language school in Antigua they will serve at Casita Benjamín until early December.
Also arriving Sept 20 will be Becky Soyster, she will spend 4 weeks in language school then will serve at The Oasis home for girls until the end of April 2009!

In addition, our daughter Kimberly has recently been accepted for an internship to also serve at The Oasis for 6 months. Kimber's arrival date is not set as she still needs to raise some more support. She only needs to raise less than $400 in monthly support before she can come, so we are hoping the Lord will provide quickly so she can join Becky soon. Please pray with us that the Lord will provide these needed funds quickly, and about another $1000 in outgoing expenses to cover language school, airfare, visas, etc.
Kimber has received some very encouraging gifts recently and our home church, Northlake Community Church, has pledged to help monthly also!

Kimber with Teresita at Kairos House

Please be praying for all four of these young ladies as they prepare to come. Pray for their health and safety, and that their hearts will be prepared for what God has in store for them in Guatemala!

Pray also for us as we prapare to receive them and help encourage them as they minister here.

CHURCH ELECTIONS - but...stay within the lines!

We are members of "Iglesia Evangelica, Comunidad Cristiana, 'Pueblo de Dios'" here is San Cristóbal and we love our church.

We love our church family here, and the wonderful way they do things "Guatemalan".
They have accepted us just as anybody else, not treating us differently, or 'special' because we're North Americans, or 'missionaries'. When we started attending Pueblo de Dios, we told them we just wanted to attend, not be expected to do much for awhile. We needed time to fit in, we needed time to learn more Spanish, and just how things are done here. Many times in churches here, when a North American or missionary becomes part of the church, they are looked to for answers to everything, to be in charge of things and to lead. There is an attitude toward North Americans in situations like that of "they can do anything, and know what should be done".
Our church was so gracious, they gave us time to just fit in, and they loved us just like anyone else there.
We have gradually become more involved, and the church is growing! We have had a few groups come and work in the church, and that has really made our church come together in a lot of ways. I am helping lead the youth group, and when I started we had 4 youth each week, now we average between 15 - 20, and are seeing changes taking place in our youth!

Youth at Pueblo de Dios

I have become more involved in some leadership, and am gradually being asked to do more.

Mike presenting a group to the church

Sandi has been involved with a womens bible study that meets weekly and we have hosted a few church functions in our home.

Then, just recently our church leadership has been preparing to form a new board. We need a "Board of Directors" to replace our "Board of Service" for some legal reasons to resolve some long standing issues and get everything back under the "official" direction of the church. They asked me if I would be willing to serve and if they could put my name on the ballot with 3 others for position of Tesorero (Treasurer). I said yes, and so they put me on the ballot.

You gotta love the way they do things here...They asked me on Thursday and Saturday we had a congregational meeting to elect a new board! After a lengthy explanation of the procedures for choosing a board and how to vote, each member of the church over 18 and baptised, was given a ballot and a.........CRAYON!

"OFFICIAL VOTING INSTRUMENTS"

We had plenty of pencils, but no sharpener it appears. So...improvise! I LOVE IT!

Anyway, when the dust settled (or crayon shavings) out of 29 ballots cast I received 25 votes, so am now the new Tesorero for Pueblo de Dios.

Fortunately, the previous Tesorera will now be the Pro-Tesorera (vice-treasurer) and will help me a lot. I do not know the tax system or how church finances work here in Guatemala. (Not that I know much of that in the USA either)

Of all the jobs I could have in a church, being the treasurer is probably not the one I would seek, however, they have asked me to do this and I consider it a privilege to serve our brothers and sisters at Pueblo de Dios is this way. They have shown great love for us, and great confidence in us and we consider it an honor and a blessing to be members of Pueblo de Dios!

Doing the "MAINE" thing

So....again it's been awhile since our last post, and yes, it's been fun!

We returned from Texas July 26 and had a group here waiting for us! It was a group from a church in PA that supports another CAM missionary here, and he asked my help in leading half of the group in construction projects in the music dept at SETECA. We built cabinets for instrument storage, shoe racks for childrens classes and painted a lot of the music dept.


We had a few days after they left to prepare for another group from Wilton MAINE! That's a long ways from here! They are from Calvary Hill Baptist Church in Wilton, and this was their first trip to Guatemala! There were 30 people in the group, with ages from 8 to 64!

The "MAINE" group at our church 'Pueblo de Dios'

We started out with two days in the capital, visiting some sights, learning about and praying with the people at Kairos House, a home for kids with cancer and their families.

Kairos House

Sunday morning the group attended our church 'Pueblo de Dios' and led some of the worship time! After church they climbed on the bus for the long ride to Huehuetenango. In Huehue, the group worked during the days at Berea Bible Institute, painting, plastering, sewing, sifting sand, building closets, playing fútbol (soccer) and having fun!

Sifting sand for mortar

Sewing new curtains for Telma, who works in the kitchen and whose husband is a teacher

The youngest boys worked the hardest!

We also spent some time doing things besides work. One evening we visited a local church, Nueva Jerusalén, where the group sang some songs, gave a couple of testimonies, and Mike Wolfe gave a great message!

Singing at Nueva Jerusalén

Another highlight was visiting a Mayan community and the CAM church there and holding a VBS for the kids! There were about 150 kids there, and many accepted Christ for the first time!

A few of the kids at VBS

On the return to Guatemala City from Huehue, we spent an afternoon in Antigua so the team could do some shopping and sightseeing. While in Antigua, one of the team, Barb, was pushed from behind in a crowd, and moments later discovered her bag had been cut open and her wallet and passport were gone! So...after filing a police report, we said goodbye to 29 of the team the next day and Barb got the privilege of spending a couple more days in Guatemala! We got her a new passport on Monday and she finally got home to Maine on Tuesday.

During all of this time with the wonderful folks from Maine, we still had one intern here with us...Molly Perara, aka...Guatemolly! We took Molly with us and the team to Huehue, and Molly got a special treat! Molly is a linguistics major at WWU (that's Western Washington U for you East coasters) and is very interested in the Mayan dialects. There is a CAM couple in Huehue, The Ekstrom's, that have helped translate the bible into several Mayan dialects. They took Molly to the town of Nebaj, where they attended the dedication of the New Testament into the local dialect. This does not happen very often, takes years and years in fact, so the timing to have a dedication while Molly could attend was God sent!

Molly worked at Casita Benjamín while here except for our trip to Huehue. We truly loved having Molly here, she became like part of our family, but, she too has returned home a few days ago.

Molly with kids from Casita Benjamín

Next up, a 17 yr old friend coming to stay and work with us for 3 weeks. We will host 4 men from World Orphan visiting to see about partnership possibilities here with CAM. We have 4 interns arriving in September, 2 for 3 months, 1 for 6 months and 1 for 8 months!

POST SUMMER INTERNS 2008

Well, I haven't updated our blog since shortly after our summer interns arrived, and now they are already gone! (except for one, Molly)
The time went very fast, as happens when you are incredibly busy, but it was fun, very rewarding for us, and we saw some lives changed!

Our 8 interns were involved in many different ministries, serving in many different locations, which is one of the reasons we were always on the go.

We had two serving at Casita Benjamín, and visiting Kairos each week with us.

We had two serve at The Oasis, a home for girls located in San Lucas.

We had two girls in Patzún, helping in various ways at the Alfa y Omega church.

And, last but not least, we had two guys who traveled all over, visiting many different places and missionaries to make videos for the various ministries.

We also tried to get some of them together from time to time, for some fun.

Leslie Anne, Grace, Molly & Heidi visit Mayan ruins at Iximché

We also were able to visit Panajachel and Lake Atítlan, maybe the most beautiful lake in the world! We also went to Antigua, and even spent a morning at the zoo!

Elliott, Matthew, Molly, Leslie Anne, Grace, Heidi and Lynn at the ZOO!

As the interns time in Guatemala came to an end, we brought them all back together for a couple days here in Guatemala City for a mini de-brief. This started with a big surprise! Without Heidi knowing, we brought all of the interns to Casita Benjamín to surprise her on her birthday!

Loyda, the Casita's director, brought Heidi out blindfolded as we lit firecrackers!

FIRECRACKERS

We then had a birthday party with the Kids and staff at the Casita.

¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS HEIDI!

Wouldn't be birthday party without cake!

However, all good things come to an end, and we move forward to the next good thing! After 2 days together all of the interns, except Molly, left for Denton, Texas, for "Next Step", a 2 day time together with CAM interns from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras and Spain. We shared, processed and planned what it all means and where do we go from here.

Check out the video of CAM Summer Interns 2008

Click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV602xZLEmM

Sandi, me and Felicita and Maria all were a part of Next Step also, and were able to spend some time with friends from St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, and also some time at CAM headquarters in Dallas.

Break time at Next Step

Guatemala Summer Interns 2008

We still have one intern with us, Molly Perara, who will be here until August 21. She is helping at Casita Benjamín, and will join us in Huehuetenango August 10 - 17 to help us with a group of 30 coming from Calvary Hill Baptist Church in Wilton, Maine.

Molly Perara at Casita Benjamín

While we were in Texas we spent some time with the team from St. Andrew that had been in Guatemala last March. It was great fun to see most of the group, and even more special was that several of the girls traveled to Denton just to see us! Alyx actually flew up to see us, and Sarah drove about 5 hours to get there!

Sarah, Brandi Lynn and Alyx with Felicita and Maria

So...what's next?

Well, Molly is here, we just finished helping with a group from PA for a week, working at SETECA. We have the group of 30 from Maine coming in less than a week, 4 men from World Orphan are coming to meet with us for a few days who are interested in partnering with CAM for some projects in Guatemala. Then we have 4 more interns arriving in September. 2 will be here for 2 1/2 months, 1 for 6 months and 1 for 8 months!

It's busy, but, we love it...we are seeing lives changed and people in Guatemala being blessed by all that is being done! God has been so faithful, and He is doing great things here in Guatemala!

We continue to be involved with our church, Kairos Ministry and Casita Benjamín while all of the activity swirls around us!

SUMMER INTERNS 2008

We had 7 interns arrive June 4, and 1 more on June 18, for a 6 1/2 week internship program.

The interns in the pic are (L-R) Heidi Harriman, (our friend Oscar), Kelsey Kromminga, (our daughter Maria), Christine Piwonka, Elliott Ince, Leslie Anne Mathews, Grace Park and Matthew Nelson. Not in the picture is Molly Perara.
We began with a 4 day orientation which included things like cultural awareness and do's and dont's. History of Guatemala and the church here. Safety and security. We ate good food. We did some sightseeing, visited Antigua. We ate good food. We got to know each other. We ate good food. We sang together. Two afternoons of Spanish lessons. Did I mention we ate good food?

The interns all joined us at our church youth group meeting on Saturday, where we sang, played volleyball and fútbol and had a birthday celebration.
Sunday the interns attended our church, Pueblo de Dios, and sang a few songs for the congregation!

Monday they all began serving in their ministries. Grace and Leslie Anne are serving at The Oasis Home for Girls in San Lucas. Kelsey and Christine are serving at Alfa y Omega church in Patzún. Heidi and Molly are serving at Casita Benjamín. Matthew and Elliott are visiting several different ministries and missionaries, making promotional videos for each.

They will be in Guatemala until July 20, so please keep them and their ministries in your prayers. Sandi, myself, Felicita and Maria will join the interns for a de-brief time in Texas at the end of the internships here. Molly will be here until August 21.

We will have several more interns arriving in September.

Tragedy For The Rain

This has been one of the rainiest Junes on record here in Guatemala City. Through the first 20 days of June, we have had rain 18 days. The average rainfall for the entire month of June (during the rainy season) is 250 mm. So far after 19 days we have had about 350 mm!

This has caused problems. There have been several small landslides that have buried a few houses with several deaths. Last Wednesday, June 18, a section of the large wall surrounding the General Cemetery in Zone 3 fell on several houses killing 3 people. This happened about 2 blocks away from a child center, Casita Benjamin, where we help. There are other problems also in these neighborhoods that I have been asked to help with. Many single mom households, very, very poor area, with roofs that leak, drains that don't drain, etc. I will be meeting later this week with some to see what we can do to help.



Then, last Friday, June 20, another tragedy caused by the rain. A large section of the main land fill dump, right alongside this same neighborhood in Zone 3, slid down in an avalanche of garbage and mud. Hundreds of people eke out a living by digging through the garbage daily for anything of value that can be recycled, etc. The avalanche buried many. So far they have recovered 6 bodies with at least 18 people still missing. They have called off more searches as the area is still considered a very high risk for more slides.

Just to personalize this story, here is a picture of Juana Cecilia Ventura. She is 15 years old.

Juana was injured in the land/garbage slide, but will recover.

Her mother, Catarina Ventura Ventura, and 10 yr. old brother, Francisco, were killed. Now, she will take responsibility for her 7 younger brothers and sisters.


Please pray for these people, and remember all of the people in this wet season when there are always problems with landslides, etc. It is always the poor, where the only available land for them is usually in hazardous areas, that are effected the most.

Life in Guatemala

Please be praying for Guatemala.
As with many places in the world today, we face economic problems here in Guatemala. It affects everyone, but most of all the poorest are hurt the worst.
If you like statistics, here are a few...in April, the Consumer Price Index showed inflation of 4.32%, the highest ever recorded here. Over the past year prices for the basic staples, rice, tomatoes, vegetable oil, beans, corn, etc. have risen more than 50%! Groceries in general have gone up about 50% in the last year. That means a year ago if we paid $200 for a load of groceries, now that same amount costs $300. Yet, the poor here are not earning any more today than a year ago. Please pray.
Economic hardship like this also creates desperation in some, so crime increases, violence increases, the peoples sense of security decreases. Please pray.
Please also pray for the entire missionary community. It affects us also. While we are comfortable in comparison with the poor, it is making us cut back in areas also, which can affect our ability to do ministry. We missionaries receive a double whammy in a sense. Not only are prices skyrocketing, but we receive our salaries and ministry funds in dollars. The dollar is falling at a pace where, for example in our case, due to the exchange rate our salary was $120 less for May, than in March. Please pray.

Another example of what is happening here. Just like in the States, the price of gasoline is climbing, climbing, climbing. Today regular is about $4.35 per gallon. This past week, truckers were protesting the high cost of fuel by blocking the highways leading into the city, preventing the delivery of perishable products and gasoline. There was a small panic here as people everywhere flooded the gas stations to fill their tanks! However, the government intervened and the flow of goods and gas was reestablished!

LONG GAS LINES

As for us, we are all good, but busy. We just finished the first week without visitors since mid-February. We have interns arriving June 4, so are planning orientation and finishing putting together all of the logistics.

Felicita and Maria are in the last two weeks of the school year (last day is May 23) so it is stress time studying for finals! Please pray.

We are looking forward to a summer of interns and some groups, and watching God work in many more lives!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you mom's!

April brings more visitors!

Realized it's been a bit since updated, so here's what's been happening.
We spent the first week of April with Mike and Cory Watters, exploring some ministries and visiting places. Then a group from our home sending church, Northlake Community Church, arrived and Mike and Cory went with them to Huehuetenango. We stayed home because we had 3 fellow CAMers, from the home office in Dallas, come to visit and see what we are doing here as we plan for a busy summer with interns.
Brad and Lindsay Bridges and Voltaire Cacal stayed with us 5 days which was highlighted by two events! First, was our daughter Maria's 14th birthday! We had a BBQ here with our guests and also the Conner family, more CAM people.






14 CANDELS

The second highlight was a very entertaining taco eating contest between Voltaire, Brad and our daughter Felicita...all 92 lbs. of her! The loser would have to pay for everybody's tacos!

You guessed it...Felicita won by eating 13 tacos! (she was a funny shade of green, but wouldn't quit)








THE CHAMPION AND HER VICTIMS!

After the Northlake group returned from Huehue, we had them to our home for dinner, then took them in to visit Kairos Ministry.

The day before they returned, our daughter Kimberly, arrived for a 6 day visit which quickly turned into a 13 day visit when she just couldn't go home yet! We were glad she stayed because it gave her time to practice some songs in Spanish so she could sing at our church, Pueblo de Dios. She sang with Oscar Ávila Jr., our worship leader.

The same day that the group from Northlake left, supporters of ours from Northlake, Ed & Bonnie Alm, arrived to spend 9 days with us. They helped us accomplish a lot at our church. Ed and I worked on rewiring several rooms upstairs at the church and installed new light fixtures, switches, etc. These are the new rooms for the youth, and an office for the pastor, as well as storage space for musical instruments that the group from St. Andrew helped make in March. Bonnie and Sandi made a bunch of new seat cushions for the church, and cut out sets for others to sew also. We also visited Antigua and some other sights with Ed & Bonnie, and even spent a day painting at SETECA! It was a great visit and is always a big encouragement for us when people on our team come to take part in the ministry here.

We also went to Kairos House two different evenings to lead around 30 people there in a time of worship through song. It was two very special evenings with a LOT of smiles!

A Baptism and A Little Chinese Girl

The weekend was a busy time with lots of driving back and forth to Antigua.


Our mission held it's annual field conference for all CAM personnel in Guatemala just outside of Antigua. HOWEVER, it happened to be a very busy weekend. I dropped Sandi and Maria off at the hotel Friday afternoon, then went back to Antigua to meet the two groups we had here and take them back into the capital to visit Kairos Ministry. After that I drove back to Antigua with Felicita who had been studying. (I might add we got the girls grades Friday and...ahem....Maria had a 3.22 GPA and Felicita received a ... 4.0 GPA!!!!) Congrats to my girls!


Anyway....Saturday, I drove Maria and another CAM boy in her class back to San Cristóbal to serve and perform at the 8th grade banquet at CAG. Maria had to dress as a Chinese girl.















Then I did some work at home, spent some time with James, and then drove the kids back to Antigua after the banquet.

Sunday we left early from Antigua to pick up my good friend Mike Watters and his son Cory who are staying at SETECA. We then went to our church, Pueblo de Dios, to meet up with our church family and caravan to a piscina (pool) for a baptism. Our daughter Felicita had decided it was time to be baptised!

It was a very special time to share with her, taking it very seriously she made her decision with much thought and conviction. There were 17 others also baptised which made it a privlege to be a part of this very special occasion in their lives!

All in all, a busy weekend, but we were very blessed by all that went on.

Two Groups / Double The Fun!

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF PORTLAND, OR

After spending 4 mornings in a row making airport runs between 4 and 5 AM, I was blessed to spend several days with two groups up in Huehuetenango. A group of 10 people from Christ the King church in Bellingham, WA arrived Saturday morning and left immediately for Huehue with my good friend and partner Mike Watters traveling with them. Then early Sunday morning (4:30 AM) a group of 15 people from First Presbyterian Church of Portland, OR arrived. Since it was Easter morning, I took the group back to my house to relax and rest for a few hours. Sandi fixed a wonderful breakfast for all, then I brought Oscar Avila Jr., the worship leader at our church, over to teach the group some worship songs in Spanish to sing at our church. They learned 3 new songs in Spanish in 45 minutes! We then went to our church for Easter services, and the group performed beautifully! After church we left for the long bus ride to Huehuetenango, arriving just after 6 PM. The week was spent working at Berea Bible Institute, painting, sifting and hauling sand, tying steel for wall beams, etc. They also combined their efforts to put together a two day VBS for children in the area! The two groups have blended together very well, and the Lord has clearly been moving in many hearts, changes are very evident in several of the students! They will be returning to the capital today, stopping in Antigua for some sightseeing / shopping! I will meet up with them there again, and take them to visit Kairos Ministry this evening before they all leave tomorrow morning.

God is at work, and I know we will be seeing several of these students (and leaders) serving the Lord here in Guatemala again!

Saint Andrew Presbyterian Team

We just completed a week with a team from St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Denton, TX. They left early this morning after a fast 7 day trip, most of it spent working at our church, Iglesia Comunidad Cristiana "Pueblo de Dios". There were 12 members in the group, Brandon, Hillary, Jim, Joyce, Shannon, Leslie, Brandi, Sarah, Brittany, Alyx, Cindy and Lynn. We couldn't have asked for a better 12 people either! The Lord really used this group to bless many, and our church is left praising God for this wonderful group. Several ladies from our church cooked lunch for us each day as the group worked hard building some interior walls for new youth rooms, an office for our pastor and a storage area for musical instruments. They did a lot of painting and also moved a small mountain of dirt! Several of the ladies went and bought material to make curtains for the youth room and office, and also to make cushion covers for the folding chairs. They even provided a sewing machine for us!




The group also was able to spend some time doing a puppet show and singing with some kids at Casita Benjamín, a daycare and preschool near the big Guatemala City dump. We also visited the Casa Kairos, a home for children with cancer and their families near the large public hospital. We even had a surprise birthday party there for Cindy, sharing cake and ice cream with all at Casa Kairos!

Many from our church joined in, with a special thank you to Oscar Avila Jr. who was with us everywhere we went and did, driving the van, and playing guitar and leading us in singing!















This was a first time to Guatemala for St. Andrew Presbyterian, and all the team members promised they would be back!

We were sad to see them go, but know we have 12 new friends and they WILL be back!

Our friends, Carlos and Edwin, have gone home

Most of you who will be reading this already received my e-mails when this tragedy occured.
Carlos Garcia Martin and his son Edwin were killed on February 15. They were dear friends to many people, and their entire family was special to me. On many occasions when I had brought teams to the finca Carlos managed, he would always insist in having me stay in his home with his family. Now, Carlos leaves a wife, Juana, and 11 children behind. Many have asked if they could help the family and now there is a way to do that. Below are two links, that will take you to two great blogs, with pictures, about Carlos and Edwin. For those still desiring to help the family with a gift, in the Finca Vista Hermosa blog there is a link where you can give a gift.

Thanks to so many for your prayers and support.

http://fincavistahermosa.wordpress.com/

http://www.coffeegeek.com/opinions/coffeeatthemoment/02-26-2008

Winds of activity are coming!

Welcome to the new Glick's blog! It's about time I suppose. Our hope is to try to keep you all a little more updated on the goings on around here!
We are heading into a time of HIGH activity. Thursday we have a group of 13 arriving from Denton, TX. They will be working at our church, Iglesia Pueblo de Dios. The day after they leave, my very good friend Mike Watters will arrive with his daughter, Kelly, and son Cory. Then, the next day a team of 10 from Bellingham, WA arrives, and the following day a group of 15 from Portland, OR arrive. Mike W. will accompany the B'ham team to Huehuetenango, and then I will take the Portland group to Huehue on Easter Sunday. Both groups will work at Berea Bible Institute. They will all leave for the States (except Mike W. and Cory) on the 29th. We will miss the farewell because we will be at our annual CAM Guatemala Field conference the 28th to 30th of March. We will spend the following week with Mike and Cory, working and visiting several other ministries. Then on April 5, the H.S. youth group from our home church, Northlake Community Church, will arrive, and Mike and Cory will go with them again to Huehuetenango. They will all return and head back to the USA on April 12. The same day a couple from our church, Ed & Bonnie Alm, will arrive to stay with us and help with some projects at our church here. Then....whew....after they leave April 20, our dear friend Christie will come for a 5? day visit. She was actually supposed to be here right now, but her flight last Thursday out of Dallas was canceled due to snow!
Well, it may sound busy, but to me it sounds like a lot of fun! That is why we are here. We are also now doing a lot of communicating with about a dozen interns and potential interns planning to serve here in Guatemala this coming summer. We are also visiting several other ministries, children's homes etc and forming some partnerships for more places for interns to serve . We have some more ministries to visit soon too. It is such a blessing to be in all of this. God is moving and it is a blast to be carried along in His wake.
Well, for a first blog I seem to have gotten quite long winded, but you have a glimpse of the month or two ahead for us, and hopefully through this blog, we can take you along with us!
Hang on!