Learning...

Studying Spanish has been a different experience for both of us. Especially for me, when I think of how different this is from when I had Spanish classes in high school and college- it´s very much another ballgame. When I studied then, I was good at doing enough to get the grade I wanted (most of the time), but the objective was always to get a grade in the class; it never had anything to do with actually learning to communicate in Spanish. It´s the same with other subjects- except those of any former professors who may happen to be reading this- I studied for acceptable grades rather than for competence.

That option just isn´t open to us here. Sure, we could survive a couple more months of language school and have a good time here and possibly even give our teachers the impression that we´re working hard. The difference is that here, we don´t get any grades in our classes and there aren´t any quizzes or tests to pass or fail. All that matters is- when we´re done- will we be able to communicate well with people here or not?

Then thinking about that made me wonder- I´ve lived my entire life in the church, and how have I approached learning there? What about when I come to the scriptures- do I want to take in enough to make sure that I feel good about myself, or do I have the same urgency to learn from the Scriptures as I have in learning Spanish?

In learning Spanish, sure I´ve progressed quite a bit, but I know that I would be a fool to stay at my current level of competence. What about from God´s word? Do I approach the scriptures as if I´m a fool not to learn to live as they describe?

Breakfast with Kendon & Wendy

This morning we had breakfast with Kendon & Wendy (the directors of the children's home), their son Ian, and Patsy (a missionary with New Life) at Santo Domingo. We made an earlier post about Santo Domingo when our school took an excursion there. It is a very beautiful hotel located in an old convent. They had large stone containers of water with rose petals floating on the top and candles everywhere. It was very pretty. They have a lot of parrots that live in the courtyard. They are beautiful but a little too noisy for me! We had a really good breakfast (complete with black beans and plantains) and a nice time of fellowship. We are very thankful to be a part of a wonderful team with New Life.

Hooray Cardinals!!!

I am so excited that my hometown Cardinals won the World Series last night!! Most people in Guatemala are interested in soccer only and know very little about baseball. Daniel tried to teach the youngest two boys in our host family about baseball. One of them became bored and left midway through the game. The youngest stayed until the end and stood up cheering with us when the Cardinals won. I think that will be a very special memory for me of our time here -- bridging the cultural gap with baseball, cheering together, and answering questions about the purpose of the St. Louis arch. That was kind of tough question to answer... especially in Spanish!

Church

We have been attending a church in Antigua called Cordero de Dios ("Lamb of God"). Since everything is Spanish, we don't catch a lot of what is going on. Some days are better than others. Today, we probably understood less than 5%. The congregation is very friendly and welcoming to us though. At one point, the pastor said something and the whole congregation turned around (we were sitting in the last row of pews), looked at us, smiled and waved. We didn't know what was going on. Luckily, a Guatemalan lady sitting near us spoke some English and informed us, "they welcome you." I tried to discreetly take a few pictures during the service. Unfortunately, in my haste not to be noticed, I moved the camera too quickly and the pictures are really blurry. At least it will give you an idea of what the church looks like.

Just Like Home... Kind Of

Emily's host family was out of town this weekend, so last night Daniel and I decided to skip the black beans with our family and ordered pizza with Emily at her home. We had Domino's pizza, drank Coke and watched my hometown Cardinals in game 1 of the World Series. It was a little strange with the commentary in Spanish but other than that, it felt like we were back in the States. What a fun night; especially since the Cardinals won!

Hey, this is fun...

Click on the link on the "View My Guestmap" link on the right. It will open up a cool little map, and we'd like you to place a mark on the map from wherever you're reading. Leave us a message too!

Our Second Month

We came to Antigua two months ago today (I’m writing this on Sunday, even though it won’t get posted tonight). I’m sure that eventually we’ll quit marking the 15th of every month, but since we’re still new-comers to living in a foreign country, noting the passing of each month is still pretty significant.

In some ways it’s hard to believe that we’ve only been here for two months- like if we think back to my parents waving goodbye to us at the airport- I really can’t believe that was only two months ago. In other ways it very much seems like we’re just getting started, like when we hear Guatemalans speaking Spanish to each other. But that’s okay, we’ve still got a lot more language school to go, and this morning we actually understood some of the all-Spanish sermon in church!

One thing we’re finding this month has to do with our primary goal in coming down here- to learn to live more dependently on the Lord. In many ways we are still doing that, but it certainly doesn’t just come automatically with moving to a different country. It’s just as easy to let things distract us from seeking the Lord here as it ever was in the states.

Also on one hand, we’re anxious to be able to get back to NLCH. It’s been since leaving Bright Star UMC in May that we’ve really been able to be a part of a community that the church provides, and we miss that kind of interaction with others. Also, we’re anxious to be able to contribute to the ministry at the children's home- we really feel like the Lord has prepared us and invited us here, so we’re getting more anxious to be put to work.

On the other hand, we know that we can’t do any of those things effectively without much more work on our language abilities. It’s nothing to complain about- we’re definitely enjoying our time here in Antigua!

It will be interesting to see how the Lord works in us in our third month…

Friends...Finally!

Our first month in Antigua was pretty rough without any friends here. We prayed that God would help us to find people that we could connect with here and I know that people back at home were praying, too. Thank you! God has faithfully blessed us with several new friendships. We wrote before about the 19 year-old intern with NLCH, Emily, who has been studying here with us in Antigua for the past five weeks. She will be here another week before returning to the children's home. It has been so nice to have her here with us!

Last Sunday, a lady named Patsy, who is in her 70s and is working with New Life in Nicaragua, started language school in Antigua. We have really enjoyed getting to know her. Daniel, Emily, Patsy, and I all had dinner together last night which was a lot of fun. Actually... Daniel was a little bored with the conversation of three women!

On Saturday night, a family (pictured below) from our school invited us over to their apartment for dinner. What a blessing! We had a wonderful AMERICAN dinner, played Skip-Bo, and talked for several hours. They are a very sweet family from Chicago who just entered the mission field to do street ministry in Northern Mexico. They will be studying at our school until March!

Thank You, Krista & Kaitlyn!

My sister, Krista, is very busy with three children but she agreed to help us distribute our bimonthly newsletter to our supporters. After we emailed it to her, she did all of the printing, folding, stuffing, addressing, stamping and mailing. Thank you!! Luckily, she had an eager helper, my five year-old niece, Kaitlyn. Thank you, Kaitlyn for all of your help, too! We love you both so much!

Luis

Last Thursday night we visited an English-speaking worship service here, which is organized by some YWAM missionaries in Antigua. An older man, Pablo, whom we've seen around town quite a bit was there and he made an annoncement inviting everyone to his "foster-son's" (whose name is Luis) surprise 22nd birthday party.

I don't know the history between these two, but it's bound to be interesting. Pablo is probably in his 70's and has a British accent. During his announcement on Thursday, he said that when Luis was younger, he lived and begged on the streets in Antigua, and apparently Pablo voluntarily took on the task of becoming a foster-dad. He said that Luis' birthday isn't until December, but he (Pablo) won't be here then, so he wanted to go ahead and throw a surprise party. I think that's one good way to keep it a secret- throw the party two and a half months early.

When we arrived at the party we and one other guy were the only ones there. We assumed that more people would show up, but that did not happen. I think at its height we had 6 of us there, but when Pablo and Luis walked in for the big surprise it was just Kara, Emily, one other guy, and me. A few others showed up later, and Pablo said, "This turned out better than I thought!"

I don't know if Luis has ever had a surprise party (or any party) before, but for a while he sure looked like he didn't know what to think. But he started to get the idea when there was a table with cake, Pepsi, and gifts of shoe polish for him to use in his shoe-polishing business in the central park.

We were really glad we went. I know missionaries are busy- but I didn't understand why almost none the other folks at the service on Thursday night were there on Saturday. I wish we had a two-month-early surprise birthday party for shoe-shiners and former beggars every week.

By the way- I took this picture right before we left. I asked Luis if I could take one of him and Pablo together- he said yes, then immediately invited these girls to be in the picture. I think Luis enjoyed his party.

More Pictures of the Dedication

Look at these handsome little guys!

Some of the girls did a dance during the ceremony... very cute!

Emily enjoying some snacks.

A model of the new property. It will be so nice when it is finished! The new girls' home unit is the building closest to the white sign in the picture. The building to the right of it is where Daniel and I will (hopefully!) have an apartment on the first floor. Right now they are working on the walls of the second floor. We had hoped that the building would be ready by Christmas but when we were there last weekend we heard that they don't anticipate the roof going on until next April. So, ... who knows when (or if!) we will really get to move into that building. We will see. It doesn't hurt to keep wishing that it will be finished by Christmas!

Casa Elizabeth

Saturday was a really special day at NLCH as we dedicated the new girls' home unit. There are so many ways that this children's home is a living, physical example of abundant life in the midst of some very desperate surroundings, and this new house is one of those examples. The picture on the left is of where the girls have lived, and on the right is the new house. (It looks even better now that it's completely finished and has some landscaping in front.)

Aside from being impressive because it's probably the nicest building in Villa Nueva, it's also wonderful to see how much the girls are enjoying living there. As Kendon said, for their entire lives before coming to the home, these girls were cast aside and treated as if they didn't deserve much- and a lot of them have felt unworthy to move into such a nice new house. Our prayer is that the opportunity they've been given to live in this "mansion" can help them to realize how much they are treasured by God and how He, the King, desires to lavish His love upon them.

The naming of the house is also a moving story. Elizabeth Hughes was born in 1976 with Spina Bifida, and the doctors told her parents that she would only live 5 or 6 years. She proved them wrong and lived an inspirational life for 26 years. When she passed away in 2002, her parents wanted to do something that would honor the kind of joy she brought to others and the way that she loved children. When they heard about the need for new home units at NLCH, they decided to start the Elizabeth Fund to raise the necessary money for the construction of the first house. Over the last 4 years (along with their congregation of about 30 people) they did everything they could think of to raise the funds, and the Lord blessed their efforts. It was an honor to meet Elizabeth's parents and grandmother (pictured below) at the dedication.

Visiting NLCH

We got to go back to NLCH for a few days last week for a little break from school and also to be there for the dedication of the new home unit for the girls, Casa Elizabeth. It was really busy while we were there, but we had a really good time. It was great to meet a lot of other people who came down for the dedication who have been connected to the home for a long time and to hear their stories.

It was also encouraging to be back and talk with some of the kids and be able to tell that we actually have made some progress in our Spanish! We've still got a long way to go, but it was very encouraging. One evening we were sitting at our favorite dinner table (with the little guys) and Sammy asked us when we were going back to the United States. When we told him we're in Guatemala for two years, the whole table got excited. Then, one by one, they started going around, thinking out loud:

"My birthday is in March... that means you'll be here for (*counts for a second*)... TWO of my birthdays!"

"Well, my birthday is in June, so you'll be here for (*counts for a second*) TWO of MY birthdays!"

"Her birthday is in April, so you'll be here for two of her birthdays TOO!" -No counting necessary from this point on, as everyone around the table affirmed that we'd be there for two of their birthdays as well.