Upcoming and more Filters!

We wanted to share a little about whats coming up, and ways you can be a part of it through your prayers and help!

The big event with three months of preparation is our big Christmas Eve outreach dinner for the people in Zona 3 that live by the largest landfill dump in Central America.

We have plans for this year to be even bigger and better than before. Last year we had about 200 people attend, each receiving a traditional Tamale dinner, a Bible reading and message containing the salvation story, carol singing, children's program and a gift for everyone!

How can you help?

Please remember to pray for all of the planning, preparation, for those invited to accept, and for the funds needed to do all of this.

We do have exciting news about that also. Last year we were a little under funded, and we have increased our budget for this year, expecting more people, higher food prices due to so many crops ruined by all the flooding, and our desire to provide gift baskets of basic needs for each family. 

God has already provided a big partner this year! Wildwood Church, from Illinois, has pledged over half of our budget already! We still pray for another $1,000 or a little more to be able to do all we are hoping for.

If you feel led to help, you can give online here , or you can mail a check to:

CAM International, 8625 La Prada Dr., Dallas, TX 75228

Be sure to include it is for: CASITA OUTREACH EVENTS # 062877

All gifts are tax-deductible and only used for this event.

Making LOTS of decorations!

Christmas is a depressing time for most of the people that will attend. Most cannot afford a traditional dinner, or even one gift for their children. We want to give them a day of hope and love, and the opportunity to hear of God's love, and experience it.

Making LOTS of cookies!

The Christmas event involves many people, and offers an opportunity to serve for many. We involve many of our youth with this, which they LOVE! Most of them come from Children's homes or poor families, where they have been served their whole lives. The opportunity for them to serve others is something they cherish. And, they put all they can into it.

The youth help make decorations, wrap presents, bake cookies for the dessert, learn Christmas carols, learn a play to perform and much more!

Wrapping LOTS of presents!

The outreach also involves events leading up, like the youth performing and leading carols at Kairos house, a home for children with cancer. They also will perform at their Children's home and perhaps if we can at some others. In past years we also performed at a church after the dinner on Christmas Eve and hope to again this year!

Singing to a packed house!

We also have a band coming to perform and provide music, a preacher, and several other volunteers to help coordinate. Wildwood Church is also sending one family to take part with us Christmas Eve.

Youth performing for the kids!

Serving dinner!

So please pray for all that needs to be done, planned and prepared for to make this event happen.

Many people who would have basically no Christmas will be loved, and will hear of the hope that only comes from Jesus Christ. Many, for the first time!

More exciting news! We have received many water filters and have been blessed to give lots away to families in need of clean drinking water.

This has become a fantastic ministry that touches many people. God is using it to provide life to many, with a message of His love through the many people involved.

Some youth painting buckets!

It begins with many people like you that give the funds that purchase these filters.

The filters cost just under about $50 each with the buckets and supplies to make it complete. They are not fragile, are small and light, are easily cleaned, and should last for years and years!

Again, many others are involved here, we have our youth, and others, paint the buckets we use, so they are fun, and also so they will not be used for other things like washing clothes, etc.

Family receiving a water filter!

We target families or groups in need, that cannot, under normal circumstances afford to purchase purified water. We have used the filters as a way to reach out into some very poor, and spiritually dark neighborhoods. We have also given filters to poor schools that before, were not able to provide safe drinking water to the students. We have also gotten many filters out to poor villages without access to clean water, and many that have been devastated by the storms and flooding this year.

We have been able to partner with a Guatemalan ministry called "Abrazando mi Guatemala" that reaches small remote villages to provide some basic supplies, i.e. rice, beans, milk etc. They also include evangelism, as well as teach about health, sanitation, first aid etc. 

We have been able to give Abrazando mi Guatemala many filters to provide people in these remote places without access to safe water.

This weekend, they will be taking 20 filters to a village, El Zunzo, in Jalapa. 

Villagers receiving some basic supplies!

The children at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Denton, TX decided this summer to adopt our water filter ministry for their missions focus, and to raise some funds to buy filters! Recently they let us know, they have over $3,300 for us that will provide over 65 filters!

Praise God for these children, may those served by them be blessed by their love!

If you would like to help also with the purchase of filters you can give online here, or send to:

CAM International, 8625 La Prada Dr., Dallas, TX 75228

Be sure to include that it is for: GUATE HOME WATER FILTER SYSTEMS # 062900

A $50 gift will supply a family with a complete water filter system that will last years!

All gifts are tax-deductible and only used for these filters..

 That's lots, but please pray for all of these things, God is doing GREAT things here in Guatemala!

Puerto San José and more clean water

So...last Tuesday, the 21st Septiembre, we went to Puerto San José with our friends and fellow CAM'ers John and Gail Conner. Puerto San José is on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, just a little over an hours drive from Guatemala City. Last June, the Conner's with 3 of their kids and Sandi and Maria went there for a day off to play on the beach . John Conner and his 15 yr old son David, and 13 yr old daughter Katie all went into the water and almost immediately were swept out by a rip tide. A 14 yr old boy on the beach, Edwin, saw what was happening and went in to help. He was bringing Katie in when he saw David going under. He got Katie in and went back for David. He also managed to bring David in who all thought was dead. John barely managed to get back by himself. It seemed touch and go for a few hours, but they all got back to Guatemala City to a hospital here, and when all is done, they are all okay. Thank the Lord, and Edwin!

So, the Conner's have been back to meet Edwin's family and thank them etc. He lives a couple of blocks from the beach and his family is very poor. The Conner's have taken them some groceries and small thank you gifts, but their home church in Oklahoma wanted to express gratitude also. So, they have raised funds to fix up their house, and also pay tuition for Edwin to go to school until graduation! This is huge because he was not able to go to school for the past year or two because they could not afford it.

Some kids at Colegio Evangelico Genesis

Well, we joined the Conner's Tuesday because they asked me to look at the house and see what was needed, and what was feasible. So, that was why we went, but the Lord had more in mind I am thinking.
We first stopped at the Colegio Evangelico Genesis, the school Edwin will attend. It is a school connected with a church that happens to be a CAM church! Iglesia Evangelica C.A. San Pablo.
We met the director of the school, also an elder in the church,
Rony René Montepeque Coronado.
He also shared with us about 8 daughter churches they have in small villages in more remote areas, and the projects they are helping them with. The school is also adding a third floor as it has been growing 10-20% each year. We have been looking for some different projects for teams next year, and this looks like a real possibility, both at the school and the daughter churches!
I also asked Rony about what they do for drinking water at the school. Well, he said, "when we can afford it we buy bottled water, but we don't always have the money".

Giving Rony one of the four filters we gave the school


So, I told him about the water filters we get from supporters to give people that need clean water. I told him we brought some with us and they were out in the car. His eyes kind of lit up, then he asked "how much do they cost?" Well, he almost cried when we said they are already paid for, and we gave them 4 filters to use at the school. One on each floor and 1 in the kitchen.

Having lunch at Edwin's house


We then went over to see Edwin's house, and give him the news about starting back to school in January. He was sick, so a little subdued, but was pretty happy about school.
We also gave the family a water filter, which was good timing with Edwin being sick, a little dehydrated (it is very warm and humid on the coast) and he was very thirsty.
We looked over the house and took some measurements etc. What they have now is just four walls and a metal roof. Literally. No interior rooms and a floor of black sand.
Part of one wall will need to be replaced, then we can add some partitions for a couple of bedrooms, and a bathroom. A concrete floor and they will be much better off. So, looks like it will all happen.
The Conner's church is hoping to send a team to help with part of it, and they have asked me to basically be in charge of the project and team.
Lord willing, we will be able to get things planned so we can do the project during the coming dry season, maybe around the beginning of the year.
Another opportunity to see the Lord use what looked like tragedy, and bring HUGE blessings to many, many people! Please pray for these many opportunities and for Edwin and his family, Rony and his great work, and give thanks for the desire of so many to help!

Sergey and Kimberly Basantsev

So we made a trip back to the Northwest this summer because our daughter Kimberly decided to get married!

Sandi and Maria flew to Seattle July 23 after our "Next Step" program in Texas while I returned to Guatemala. They then went to Bellingham, so Sandi and Kimber could have a few weeks together before the wedding! I flew up on August 5 to Seattle, spent a couple of days with my dad and stepmom, went to a Mariner's game with my friend Ken, and then went to Bellingham.

Busy, crazy time there, attending the wedding of my close friend Mike Watters daughter Kelly, and then prepared for Kimber's wedding.

The rehearsal came and I fell apart. I just couldn't get out my one line "Her mother and I" when asked who gives her away. I think I had them all pretty concerned for the actual wedding.

La Familia Glick 14 August 2010

August 14 arrived a beautiful sunny day, one of the warmest days of the year in Bellingham!

We arrived at the wedding early for our pictures, and then some time to relax until the guests arrived. Then it was showtime....and despite the concerns of all, myself included, I was able to walk Kimber in and say in an audible voice, "her mother and I do".

Sweating bullets!

Then it was Kimber and Sergey's turn to sweat (it was a little warm up on the platform) and each say "I do".

Mi hija

It was a beautiful wedding, personal, fun, incredible singing, and very God honoring ceremony.

Sergey's family asked for one Russian tradition to be included, for the parents to all come up and say a prayer for the couple.

What a wonderful tradition, I would love to see become a tradition everywhere.

It was truly a privilege and honor to be able to pray for our daughter and her new husband, to ask God to guide them and keep them, to challenge them to always make God the head of the union.

I had a little fear I might start to cry, but I think my voice only crackled a little at the beginning, then I was just praying to God.

The parents pray for the couple

After the introduction of "Mr & Mrs Sergey Basantsev, they walked out

to the sound of James Brown's "I Got You".

Mr. & Mrs. Sergey Aleksandrovich and Kimberly Anne Basantsev

After the wedding, we went to some good family friends of Sergey's house above Lake Whatcom where the reception was held in their beautiful yard.

One of the highlights was the cake!

Kimber had this 'idea'. She's not sure where she got it, maybe in a dream!

She had nine different friends and family members all bake a cake (she provided the cake mix and pan, so all would be the same size) and asked each to decorate however they liked, with a message or memory for the couple. Then the morning of the wedding they assembled the cake like a quilt! It was an amazing idea that I think will be copied!

Sandi decorated one cake (it's in the center) and Jacob and I did one together (not sure they'll let us do that again).

The 'quilt' cake

It was a very special day, Kimber was relaxed and so very happy. We welcome Sergey into our family, he very obviously loves Kimber totally so I can handle that!

For us, it was great to see Kimber that happy, and also to have all four of our kids together for

4 1/2 days! Then, Kimber and Sergey even delayed a honeymoon to Whistler for a week so they could spend time with us before we returned to Guatemala.

May God bless Sergey and Kimber Basantsev!

EMERGE summer interns 2010

We had a great summer intern program for 2010!

There were some differences in set-up for this year, biggest was that we offered options this year for length of service instead of everyone serving for 6 weeks as in past years. This year we offered 4, 6 or 8 week internships. We had two come for four weeks, two for six weeks, and two for eight weeks. We also have two other interns this year outside of the summer program, Heidi is here for ten months and Meredith is here from September into December.

The downside to the options is that we want all summer internships to end together with a two day "Next Step" in Texas with all interns from, this year, four different countries.

This meant we had interns arriving starting May 26th every two weeks, needing a very important orientation. Years past we held a four day orientation when all the interns arrived (arriving the same day), but this year we needed to hold three orientations, so we shortened it to two days.

Guatemala Summer Interns 2010

Erin, Rachael, Heidi, Sarah, Allison, Rebecca & Amy

Heidi was already serving at Casita Benjamin, and Allison, Erin and Amy joined her there. Rachael, Rebecca and Sarah served at The Oasis home for girls.

With the interns arriving at different times and serving in different locations they did not all get to know each other much to start. So we did try to get them together a few times. We had the Oasis girls come in for a sleep-over with the Casita girls, and we had a week-end mini-retreat to Panajachel. That was a fun week-end away to talk, worship, eat and shop!

Mini-retreat in Panajachel

We also took a boat ride across the lake, which was a lot of fun. I asked the pilot of our boat if I could drive. Well, he said okay and I drove all the way back from Santiago. Sandi didn't realize I was driving at first and said to someone, "we seem to be going faster than before". We did get back about 15 minutes faster than going over!

They let me drive!

On July 18th we, and the interns traveled to Denton, Texas where St. Andrew Presbyterian Church hosted our Next Step program for the third year in a row. What a huge blessing they are for us. They provide vehicles to pick everyone up at the airport. The arrange host families to house everyone, they pretty much give us whatever we want and use of their entire church facilities. We love them there!

CAM Summer Interns 2010 at Next Step

Next Step was a great time to meet the interns that served in Mexico, Honduras and Spain, as well as ours from Guatemala. We heard their stories, broke up into small groups and processed what they experienced, where do you go from here with that, and how has God changed and grown them with it all.

It was a great time, and also helps us learn ways we can improve as coordinators for future interns.

A bonus for us at St. Andrew were the children! During July each year they have a weekly children's program that focuses entirely on Missions. This years theme was world hunger and clean drinking water.

They meet Wednesday mornings and asked Sandi and I if we could come and share with the kids, because....they had adopted our ministry with water filters as there fund-raising focus for this year! So, we showed some pictures of the things we have been blessed to do in Guatemala with water filters and shared about it with them.

When we finished the kids said they had a surprise for us....so they presented us with a sign that said, at that point, they had raised just over $1,800 for water filters! And they still had another one or two weeks to raise more!

Since they finished they have let us know they have a total of approximately $3,000!

WAY TO GO kids of St. Andrew!

WHAT A WEEK!

WOW! It has been quite a week here in Guatemala.

Please be in prayer for Guatemala in these days as there are many, many people in great need. But, there are also many opportunities to share the hope and love of God through the events that have occurred.

It started Thursday, May 27th. We had a little earthquake in the afternoon, then in the evening, Volcán Pacaya had a major eruption. Pacaya is the closest volcano to Guatemala City, only about 15 miles South of the capital. Pacaya has been erupting continuously for over 50 years, but has only sent ash out a few times. This time it actually shot out black sand, same as at the ocean beaches here. It blanketed Guatemala City with up to 3 inches in some areas.

Pacaya at night

We only had about an inch or less at our house, but those a little closer got a lot more.

Black volcanic sand covers everything

The sand is very abrasive and gets into everything! It began raining right after the eruption started which did not help. The sand worked it's way into gaskets so our car leaked all over, seats were wet, puddles on the carpets.

Gutters full of sand which some went into drains and plugged them. That is happening all over town.

You can see why they closed the airport!

Our airport was closed for about 6 days to clean up. One reason for this was that it was not just some rain we had, it began raining Thursday and by Friday it was a tropical depression, then by Saturday morning it was Cyclone Agatha.

It began to rain

Here in the city we had more rain in 12 hours than they had in that amount of time in more than 60 years!

All that rain led to...flooding!

And to slides, this was on the outskirts of Guatemala City

This man in Amatitlan, just outside Guatemala City lost his home

Poorly maintained storm drains are believed to have caused this 100 foot deep sinkhole that swallowed a 3 story building.

The volcano and storm changed plans for many people. Another CAM missionary family here, the Conner's had a team from Oklahoma here when everything changed.

One of their main purposes for coming was to perform an evangelistic drama in many area schools. Due to the storm, the government closed schools for a week, so all of their performances were canceled. Sunday evening the Conner's called and asked if we could help and arrange some other opportunities for them. So, we were able to help with that. We spent all day (like 14 hours) with them both Monday and Tuesday.

The Conner's team

We started by taking them to the national palace and cathedral, and had them perform their drama in Central Park! There were lots of soldiers there that had just finished clearing sand from the park, plus many people just watching.

Performing in Central Park

After that we went to Kairos house where the team helped us clean the house from the sand and rain, they also moved a TON of sand in the streets outside of Kairos.

Cleaning up at Kairos

After we left Kairos we went to The Oasis where they performed for the girls there, then we had some time to play soccer and visit with the girls.

That evening we returned to Kairos where they performed their drama for the folks there and several accepted the Lord!

Tuesday, we took them on a tour of the cemetery (a must see) and an overview of the dump. Then we visited Casita Benjamin where they performed, went over to SETECA for a tour and we also moved a lot of sand there too!

We closed out the day at Las Aldeas children's home where they performed again, then we had a couple hours to do crafts and play soccer and basketball with the kids. It was an awesome time!

God used the turning upside down of their plans for His glory, as we saw over 20 people come to Christ through their performances!

I even helped!

I must admit I'm not as young as I once was, my back is tired! I have cleaned sand at our house, Casita Benjamin, SETECA, Kairos House and also at Las Aldeas!

There are many people suffering greatly, with tens of thousands in shelters throughout the country. They are saying there is more damage than from either Hurricane Mitch or Stan.

We have given a few water filters out, and am hoping to get a lot more out very soon to harder hit rural areas.

If you would like to help with some water filters you can just go to:

www.caminternational.org/giveto/062900

or

http://christmas.caminternational.org/index.cfm?event=ViewProduct&product=154

Please keep praying for the people here, and also for those serving them.

PACAYA BLOWS IT'S TOP!

It's been a long time since I updated the blog.

Not that we haven't done anything, just haven't gotten around to it! We have had teams here, helped get a church started, Provided water filters to families in need, etc etc etc. Our intern season has begun, we have 3 here now and 4 more on their way soon.

BUT, the big news these days is weather and natural happenings!

Many of you know of Volcán Pacaya. Pacaya is an active Volcano about 15 miles from Guatemala City. It has been erupting continuously, more or less, for many, many years.

Most of the time you can hike right up onto the mountain right up to the lava!

I have done this a few times (see our post from earlier this year).

We also, as a family and with an intern, hiked up Pacaya on May 16th.

View of Volcanoes Fuego, Acatenango, & Agua (l to r)

It was a Sunday, so we climbed a peak that overlooked Pacaya and had a little church service of our own! We sang songs and marveled at God's creation!

We had our service on the top of this peak!

We then ran down the face of that peak to walk up to some lava flows.

View of Pacaya from our "church"

We had a very special time worshiping on the mountain. From where we sat, we faced the mountain, watched lava flowing down the side, heard the lava flowing and rocks falling, and could also see 3 other volcanoes near by, and between them all we could see out to the Pacific Ocean and saw two large cargo ships at sea!

Our congregation!

We had a great time and saw some amazing things! But what's interesting is that the next morning, they closed access to the mountain for increasing activity! It is still closed to the public, and the towns nearby have been evacuated.

Hot lava

Last Thursday evening, 27th of May, we were in leading worship at Casa Kairos, a home for children with cancer, and their families. It is a place for them to stay when they come from far away for treatment at the hospital here.

Anyway, we were singing and it began to rain. There is a plastic lamina roof over where we sing and it tends to leak when it rains. So we always have buckets out. Well, we heard it raining fairly hard, for quite a while when I realized there were not any drops falling in the buckets nearby. Then the caretaker came in and told us it was raining sand! It truly was raining black sand! Not really ash, but sand. Just like at the ocean here. Pacaya had a major eruption. The airport here is still closed, they are now saying for another 5 days.

When we went outside, it looked like a fresh layer of new asphalt over everything! Including our car! It is very abrasive and we had to drive out in the sand fall. My brand new wiper blades are SHOT! Click on the link below for a short video of some erupting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFoF57KX2yU

Washing volcanic sand off the car

But, to make it more complicated, it has been raining for 3 days strait. It is the rainy season, but this is unusual. There is a large depression off the Pacific coast, that today was named as the first tropical storm of the season (which isn't supposed to begin for two more days). We could have up to two more days of rain. This is a problem, because many people just have lamina roofs, and the sand itself is very heavy, but with the rain roofs could cave in etc. Drains are also plugged all over for the sand, and mudslides are a real threat.

We have some plugged drains, and our car is leaking water in several places. Hard to fix much while it is raining constantly.

But, Praise God, we are dry inside our home, where many people are not.

Tonight I am going with a small group in to meet with some youth that live on the streets in Zona 3. We have it pretty good compared to many.

Gearing up for the year

Wow, it is hard to believe it is already February! We continue to plug away at lots of different ministries, and are constantly amazed at all that God is doing around us! I was able to get out and give several more water filters a couple of weeks ago. We have several more ready to be brought from the States for us, they will come with a team in March. We will continue to reach out to the neighborhood in Zona 3 by the dump. We have also been approached by a new project being started by nationals here called "Abrazando mi Guatemala" (Hugs for my Guatemala). One village they are targeting is San Juan, Sacatepéquez, where there is a huge need for safe drinking water. We hope to be able to help them with some water filters also.

Señora Toribia Jolon and her 2 sons with their water filter

Their 2 room casita is just beyond the black door

Sandi and I have begun teaching English 2 nights a week at the Casa Juvenil with 8 girls between 17 and 26 yrs old. It has been fun. As they realize how difficult it can be to learn another language, they seem to appreciate our struggles to communicate with them in Spanish also!

I have also enlisted a Dentist and an Orthodontist that have expressed a desire to help people with need. The dentist has seen several girls from the casa juvenil and youth from las Aldeas. She has given free initial check-ups, then is giving them some incredibly low prices to do any needed work! The Orthodontist said she would like to provide orthodontic work to at least one patient a year free! I was able to bring her 3 candidates, and she decided to help TWO of them this year! They will be getting braces put on this coming Wednesday! One is 19 yrs old, the other 14.

We are gearing up for two teams coming in March. One from Texas that will work here in the city. Immediately after them follows a group from The INN at Western Washington University in Bellingham! They will work for a week in Huehuetenango. We are also in the middle of the application period for our summer intern program. Applications must be in by March 15, so we are busy these days corresponding with potential interns, answering questions etc.

It is looking to be a full year in 2010. God is moving and we are so blessed to be here being used by Him to serve others.

I don't even like fish!

Today was one of those days where I got to check off one more thing on the "list of things to do in my life" list!

I was invited to join a couple of other missionaries on a trip out deep sea fishing! Their 3rd person had to cancel, so I was given the opportunity to go on a trip I could not have otherwise afforded! I even told them ahead of time that I was a "city boy" and know nothing about fishing. All they said was, "Boy are you going to have fun!" And I did!

We drove to Puerto San José, a little over an hour from home on the Pacific coast, where we climbed on our boat, "MANTARRAYA". I kept thinking of Gilligan leaving on a '3 hour tour'.

Our boat is the little one!

We were going to be fishing for Sailfish, perhaps a Marlin (unlikely I was told) and Mahi Mahi. They also occasionally catch Yellow Fin Tuna off the coast. I was informed that Guatemala's Pacific coast is maybe the best spot in the world for Sailfish!

Yellow Fin Tuna (top) Mahi Mahi (bottom) and Sailfish

We went strait out from the marina to a final distance of almost 30 miles off the coast. Within about 10 minutes we had already had 2 strikes but not hooked. About 5 minutes later I got the first one on!

It wasn't quite as easy as they always make it sound

I wasn't sure at first, until a minute later when about 150 yards out I saw it leap out of the water! That was an amazing sight!

Absolutely amazing to watch!

Well, I reeled like mad for what seemed like hours (probably more like 5 minutes) until I got it close enough to the boat.

He's not quite ready to give up!

Just about there!

Finally, with the help of the deckhand we pulled our first sailfish aboard and I got my picture!

Then, we put him back in the water and watched him swim away. All Sailfish and Marlin in Guatemala must be released, you cannot keep them.

My First Sailfish!

All told for the day, we caught 4 sailfish (I had two!) about 6 small Tuna (not yellow fin) we saw about a dozen dolphin, several that swam with us for awhile, 5 or 6 sea turtles and a MantaRay that was about 5 feet across!

Crazy Beautiful Day!

Hot Lava and a Burned up Computer

January 29, 2010 I was invited to get up early and leave at 5:00 AM to join 3 other men and climb Volcán Pacaya, one of the several active volcanoes of Guatemala! It was a beautiful morning as we set out, beginning our climb just a bit after 6:00 AM. I was in the company of two fellow CAM missionaries, John Conner and Glenn Stewart, plus a visitor from the States, Craig Minnich.

Sunrise on (l-r) Volcán Fuego (active) Volcán Acatenango & Volcán Agua

We saw a beautiful sunrise with our view of the surrounding volcanoes, while we were in the shadow of Pacaya for the entire climb.

Surveying our route with Pacaya towering over us

John and I led the way as we climbed over the first ridge in the photo above to not too far below the summit. Much of the climb is through loose volcanic gravel, meaning two steps up, slide one step back!

Crossing a field of loose gravel

This is a lot steeper than it looks!

Yes, that's hot!

Fresh, red hot lava!

We had a great morning, and due to the need to meet a team at the airport later, I was actually back home after our climb before 11:30 AM!

That was a fun day. Later though, after a power outage at our home, our family computer finally died! Not from the power outage (we don't think) because it was not on and was plugged into a surge protector. But, it was old and had been less than working at it's best for some time. So, we are currently shopping for a new computer. Not what we were planning to do, don't really have the funds for it, but when is a good time? But, Sandi as usual had the most logical solution. Our "work" computer is also almost 6 years old, so she suggested upgrading the "work" computer, then moving our current work computer to the status of family computer. Good idea. And, the good news is that you can get a pretty good computer these days for a lot less than we paid for the computer we have now!

I can drive now!

So, I can drive now! Legally!

Okay, technically I have been legal all along but now there is no question.

The rules here are not real clear, or perhaps the rules themselves are clear, it's just that no one seems to know exactly what those rules are.

I have asked many times over the years we have lived here what ARE the rules to drive legally here?

The consensus, and what my field leaders finally told me was, as long as you had both a valid driver license from the USA, AND a valid visa to be in Guatemala, that was legal.

It must be correct because I have been stopped many, many times at random police checks where they check your papers etc and they have always been happy with my passport and my Washington State driver license.

However, it seems to have changed once I received my Permanent Resident Visa and now have a cédula de vecindad. A cédula is basically your Guatemalan identity papers. More or less a passport for use within the country. Every adult has a cédula and you pretty much need one to do any type of business here.

But, once you have a cédula, they expect you to also have a Guatemala Driver License, which you can only get if you have a cédula. I found this out a few months ago when I got stopped at another random check and was hassled pretty good about having a cédula and driving with a USA driver license.

So, I finally had / took the time to go and see if I could get a driver license. Our good friend Oscar went with me, he was sure I would need some help! Of course at all of our various stops they would only allow me to go in, so he spent a lot of time waiting! It went pretty well, they have different types of licenses, "C" license which is the only license you can get as your first license, only allows you to drive cars. There is a "B" license which allows you to also drive vans and trucks, then there are a couple of levels of commercial type licenses. They also told me your first license can only be for one year.

So, I made one stop for a vision test at an authorized agency. Then I got a certificate at another authorized agency that verifies I know how to drive and the rules etc. Then I had the checks to see if there are any tickets etc on my record.

Then you pay at the bank for your license and wait in several lines etc.

So, in the end, as I have found before, many times all you need to do is ask, so I asked if I could get a "B" license, and also asked for the maximum of 4 years.

Well, that is exactly what they gave me!

So, finally, I have my license, I will be able to drive vans and trucks etc which I often need to do for groups, and I don't need to hassle with any of this for almost another 5 years! It expires in November of 2014, so almost 5 years they gave me!

God was very gracious, everything went smooth and all the various people I had to deal with were kind and helpful!