San Juan Town Celebration

December 26 and 27 were filled with acitivities in our small town as they celebrated their patron saint/namesake, San Juan del Obispo. On the 26th there was a huge dance competition that was held parade style. Each group followed a truck with a sound system, and each one stopped at every block to perform a routine. This lasted about 5 hours in order to cover the entire town. The first group was comprised of miscellaneous individuals and groups that hadn't choreographed an actual routine. There were some crazy costumes!

Parker and his host family wore parrot-heads made by his host father Luis who makes and sells pinatas on a regular basis.


Corey was in an Egyptian-themed group dressed as mummies and carrying a large snake.

Landon, Jim, and Rachel are all staying with various parts of the same extended family, and they dressed as pirates and had prepared several different dances. (Please excuse the combination of dust and sunlight on the pics.)


That night there was also a concert/dance with two live bands and a lot of booths set up in the plaza. There were an unbelievable number of fireworks throughout these few days.

The 26th was the social part of the celebration. Sunday the 27th was the religious part of the ceremony. There was a procession taking an image of the virgin Mary around town all day as well as at least one special mass. When the procession was passing through my neighborhood around 11 pm, it paused to watch a 20 minute play on the roof of my neighbor's house. I had a great view from our balcony, but it was hard to understand much. It was apparently a comedy as the crowd laughed a lot. There were well over a hundred people watching from the street.

Christmas

Celebrating Christmas in Guatemala was a new experience for me, but it was good. My host family is very nice, and they are embracing me into the family.

Here Christmas Eve is the center of all Christmas celebrations. Even still, we had class that morning. At noon I had to rush to Antigua to buy yarn to finish my 6th and final scarf to give to my host family for Christmas. Then my current teacher had invited me and Corey, my friend who is her former student, to visit her house. She had us pose for a picture and then sit in the living room and eat warm banana bread. She also gave us each a card with a nice note. (She is the one who is studying the Bible now.) It was a very sweet gesture.

My host family hung out, visited family, etc through the evening. I've already posted about the midnight experience, then we opened gifts at 2 am. As you will notice in the picture below, the tree and nativity are outside because each room opens to the outdoor courtyard area. Since it was very cold, the gifts were opened in record time! The primary gift was a bike for the 11 year old girl. She was very excited, but the rest of the family was just as excited for her as she was for herself. That was very touching for me to witness.

Christmas Eve

Surrounded by the cacophony of fireworks piercing the frigid air and the ensuing haze of smoke that engulfed the entire town at midnight on Christmas Eve, I was struck by the contrast between this night and that night so long ago when Christ was born. In the traditional Guatemalan Christmas celebration, two events take place at midnight: the baby Jesus is finally placed in the manger of nativity sets, and fireworks are ignited. As I reflected on the humble birth of our Savior amidst the cold fog last night, I began to wonder if the fireworks might somehow be an attempt to compensate for the lack of pomp and circumstance on the first Christmas. May His name be proclaimed as boldly as the fireworks resound throughout the nation.

La Esperanza

Last night we were able to host an event in town and invite our host families to come watch the movie ¨La Esperanza¨(The Hope). We took a break and served a snack with a hot drink in the middle of the movie, which was good because it was cold enough to see our breath. I was concerned about being outside in such weather as I am still trying to overcome a sinus infection, but I felt compelled to invite my family, and it doesn´t work to invite someone if you aren´t going yourself. So, I went with 5 of the 6 people in my family and trusted God for the outcome.

My family is STILL talking about the movie today, and my host dad wants a copy for himself. We had a good turnout, and everyone seemed to appreciate the movie. It is essentially a Creation to Christ story.

And . . . not only is my health not worse than before, it is actually better than yesterday! Praying that God will continue to bring the contents of the movie to the minds of the people and to stir their hearts.

Not Without Risk

I debated at great length about whether or not to share this story with anyone, especially my family, because I didn't want to cause any unnecessary worry or anxiety. However, I keep thinking that the best way to arm my prayer supporters is by giving them an accurate picture of the situation.

A little over a week ago, 5 of my fellow language students (4 guys and 1 girl, all in their early 20s) decided to climb a nearby volcano. They thought they had a local man going with them, but he had to back out at the last minute. We have been warned multiple times that such an outing is only safe with a guide or with security. They went anyway, alone.

They had a great day until they were most of the way back down the volcano. Then 3 guys with machetes and masks jumped out from behind cover and robbed them. From the stories we hear, God really protected my friends because most robberies are far worse than this. These robbers must have been novices because they only took watches, money, cameras, and sunglasses. They even allowed my friends to retrieve their memory cards from the cameras. When my biggest, strongest friend held out his wallet, they opted not to risk getting close enough to him to take it. When they were searching my female friend's bag, they encountered her Bible and stopped searching, thereby missing the camera that was in the same compartment as the Bible.

I think my friends learned about security risks, but please pray for us all to be wise. Life is never completely without risks. The reality is that anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime. We can't live in a bubble, and we certainly cannot fulfill our mission inside a bubble. However, I am praying that the Holy Spirit will guide each one of us to make wise choices. I am also praying for the three guys who seem to be just beginning a life of crime.

A Weekend of Change

Our supervisor in Guatemala is a woman who lives in Guatemala City, and she invited us "girls" to spend the weekend in the city with her. We went to church with her Sunday morning and got to see the "end of Bible School" presentations by 3 different groups of kids. It was precious! Due to several factors in my living situation, my supervisor decided that it would be best if the school moved me to a different home. I wanted to wait until the group who are here for 3 months left so that it would seem like a more natural transition and be less likely to offend my host family. However, the change was made very abruptly. I found out on Friday afternoon and spent the weekend praying that the family would not be offended and that the transition would be as smooth as possible. I was moved on Sunday evening, and God definitely answered my prayers. The transition was pretty smooth, and the first family didn't appear to be offended.

My new host family consists of the dad Damian, the mom Oralia, and 4 kids. The dad teaches elementary school here in San Juan and also teaches teenagers in the evenings. (Of course, right now they are out of school as the break between school years in Guatemala is mid-October through mid-January.) The only son is 21 year old Samuel, who is a PE teacher. Then there is 19 year old Monica, who teaches preschool. I think Barbara is 14-15 years old, and Fatima is 11.

Since they are all off work/school now, the entire family usually eats lunch and dinner together. I love observing and being part of this family time! They seem to truly enjoy one another's company, laughing and joking together.

Here is a picture of my new room from the door. I was excited to have a dresser and tile floor, and I am also enjoying the small desk at the foot of the bed.

It is fun that they have decorated for Christmas. The balcony has Christmas lights, and there is a Christmas tree near the kitchen.

The family also has pets. There is a dog named Butch and a cat named Misha. In addition, Fatima showed me her TINY new turtle that lives in a coffee pot with rocks and water on the bottom. She named it Splash, and all of the girls seem pretty amused by this funny English name.

In this picture, the door to my room is the first on the left. You can see a little of our Christmas lights on the balcony. Butch likes to escort me to my room.

Last night when I returned to my room after dinner I was surprised to find a new roommate waiting for me, even though the door was not ajar.

Fortunately for Misha, I loved having her there as I really miss having a cat!

Please pray for both my original host family and my new one. Pray for opportunities to share and for God to reveal Himself to them.

One more change . . . Monday morning it was time to start working with a new teacher again. My new teacher is one who has been attending our Bible studies, and she is definitely seeking. It is so clear that God wants to work in her life. Please pray for my new teacher Lesbia!

Thanksgiving

We were so blessed to spend Thanksgiving with our IMB family here in Guatemala. We met some great individuals, couples, and families and just enjoyed sharing the time with them. We met at a house in a town called Panajachel, which is located on beautiful Lago Atitlan.


Before anyone gets too jealous, let me add that this lake is currently extremely toxic and is therefore unsafe for recreation or any other use except enjoying the view. We spent most of our time inside the house. A total of 30 of us spent the night. (The house has 24 beds, mostly bunk beds, and some slept on couches or in hammocks.) In addition to eating Thanksgiving dinner, we sang, shared stories, prayed, played games, etc. (Some of you will appreciate hearing that I even experienced my only 5 minutes of hot water in a shower at the beginning of my shower at the lake!) We also felt tremors from an earthquake that struck off the coast of El Salvador.

Friday when people were gradually heading to their various homes, violence erupted in the nearby town of Solola, blocking the road that led away from the lake. It was a type of violence that is becoming more common in Guatemala than the locals seem willing to admit. A gunman entered a bus and demanded that the driver give him money. When the driver refused, the gunman shot and killed him and fled with accomplices. Because of the corruption that exists in the police force, the indigenous people of that area wanted their own justice. Something like two thousand people joined the mob that blocked all of the streets for hours, promising not to let traffic through until the suspects who had been arrested were handed over to them. Meanwhile, a carload of our colleagues were in the midst of the blocked traffic, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible. Eventually the mob stormed the jail and set fire to it, thereby obtaining access to the 3 suspects. They burned them alive on the spot. No trial. No innocence until proven guilty. Sounds a bit more like the justice of the old west, but less humane.

I was initially unsure if I would share any of these details, but I feel compelled to paint a realistic picture as a call to prayer. Please pray for safety for all of my colleagues, and please pray for the people to come to an understanding of the value of human life, God's creation.

Torti the Turtle

My host family had been telling me for weeks that they have a pet turtle but that it is hard to find because the house and garden are big enough that the turtle doesn't have much trouble finding palces to hide. The Spanish word for turtle is tortuga, so they said that they had named it "Torti."

Eventually I started teasing 10 year old Juan Pablo that there really wasn't a turtle. That was all it took to make him start hunting for it! A couple of days later when I was in my room both came to my door and knocked. They had Torti in hand and were very excited to show him to me. I had to spend quite a bit of time watching the turtle to satisfy Juan Pablo. It was fun to have that kind of teasing connection with the boys, like I have always enjoyed having with my nephews.

Note: I haven't seen the turtle again since that day, either!