Boys Will Be Boys

Last Sunday at the bilingual church we have been attending, we ended up sitting behind a row full of Guatemalan boys of varous ages, with an older white gentleman at each end of the row. It quickly became apparent that they would provide either a distraction or some entertainment, if not both.

The youngest boy was sitting directly in front of me, and he chose to stay in his seat while the rest of us stood to sing. Before long, he fell asleep. The other boys pointed and laughed and then brought it to the attention of the man on the far end, who laughed and gave them a camera to take a picture of their sleeping friend.

Some of the boys were doing an exaggerated clap with the music, and my friend Ryan standing beside me joined their clap, which gave them something else to laugh about. When the serman began, one of the older boys decided to draw a picture of Ryan on an offering envelope. (I should point out that Ryan has allowed a beard to grow during his time in language school and is therefore looking a bit wilder than before he came here.) Between his appearance and his clapping performance, the boy decided to label him "Ryan Loco" ("Crazy Ryan"). When he gave the picture to Ryan and saw how funny we thought it was, he began drawing again, continuously looking over his shoulder at me. I must saw I was a bit nervous about what he might choose to include in his drawing. I have to saw that he was very kind, except I guess I was labeled crazy because I was with Ryan?

Then he drew Olivia and then Paul, but they were given the kinder label of Amigo (Friend). Ryan's picture was by far my favorite, but I have to say I was also entertained by his inclusion of Olivia's hairstyle that flips out at the bottom.

As entertaining as all of this is, I keep thinking about that row filled with boys and wonder what their story is. Where do they live? With whom? What do they know of our Savior? Although it is very unlikely that our paths will cross again, these silly drawings will prompt me to pray for them.

Light in the Darkness

Our weekly Bible study is in the home of an extremely poor family. They have suffered many hardships in life and struggle to get by, yet they extremely kind, generous, happy people. This evening they shared a testimony of how God has worked in their lives this week. They were obligated to buy a uniform for their teeenage son for his school, the electric bill was overdue, and other expenses were looming. Their electricity got turned off. Isabel said that she laid in bed one night talking to God, saying that she wanted to have faith in Him but couldn't escape the doubts that were invading her mind. As she cried out, "How, God, how?" she received His assurance that an angel would come to their door and provide for them. Each night with no electricity for TV or other activities, the family has gathered by candlelight to read and discuss the Bible and pray. They said that it has really been a blessing because without the darkness they would not have spent this time seeking the Light together. Then Isabel's father came to their door with money in hand and asked if they needed it. She immediately recognized it as God's provision and was able to go pay the bills. As darkness descended on our Bible study, she shared that the electricity should come back tomorrow but that it didn't really matter because they had the joy of the Lord in their hearts. She said people often ask them how they can have so much joy when their situation is so dark; what an amazing opportunity to share about God! It was so powerful to hear them share all of this tonight! Please pray for Luis and Isabel and this precious family. Please pray specifically for a job for Luis so that he can provide for his family.

Walking in Spiritual Darkness

My current Spanish teacher and I are taking one or two field trips a week during class so that I can have a break from classwork at the table and practice Spanish in different settings. Today we ventured a little further from home to a town called San Andres Itzapa, where many Mayan/indigenous people (among others) journey to visit the Temple of San Simon (also known as Maximon). Visiting this temple made me very sad, much in the way visiting Hindu temples in India made me sad. The people are praying to this statue, lighting candles, performing rituals, paying to be spiritually "cleansed" by the brujos (witchdoctors), etc. All I could see were people desperate for hope, for love, for a Savior but looking in the wrong direction.

At one point, one of the brujos was patting me on the back and saying something I couldn't understand, which compelled me to pray. I prayed not only for myself but also for the people in the temple who so desperately need to encounter Truth. Inside the temple, I saw a man carry his little baby up to the statue and allow a bruja to perform a cleansing ritual on both of them. Outside the temple, we watched as a brujo performed a ritual around a campfire of sorts to cleanse a woman. When the fire began blowing in the opposite direction from where she was standing, the brujo explained to her that the direction of the fire indicated that the bad spirits within her were so bad that it would require more money and a longer ritual to cleanse her. We watched as she paid him around $65 to continue.

Please pray for these people who are walking in spiritual darkness.

Obscured Vision

I think it was a month or so ago that I got a bad eye infection, and I described my adventure in seeking medical expertise in my entry Always An Adventure. After a week and a half of antibiotic eyedrops, my eyes seemed fine and I tried wearing contacts again. Within a couple of days the infection was back. I removed my contacts again and used the eyedrops for another week. Finally, I was able to wear contacts again. That lasted a week or two. Then Sunday I discovered that the infection had returned. This time I stopped wearing contacts but did not use any eyedrops. My eyes have cleared up again, but I think I should take the hint that I am not supposed to wear contacts right now. One teacher told me that doctors here usually don't advise people to wear contacts because there is so much dust (and ash) in the air. For over a month now, it has been windier than it was before, which stirs up more dust in this dry season. (Occassionally it blows so hard that I have to close my eyes.) Furthermore, there has been road construction in front of my house for over a month now. My current teacher Ana and I have formed a hypothesis that these factors combined are probably the source of my problem. Dust, etc. has probably been getting under the contacts and irritating my eyes.
Please pray that I won't have any more problems with my eyes and that no permanent damage has been done.

Yet Another New Teacher

I wasn't progressing with Sara, my 5th teacher, so after just 2 weeks (instead of the typical 4) I changed teachers. Teacher #6 is Ana. I have already learned far more in 3 days than I did in the last two weeks, and the situation right now is very good. She understands that after 18 weeks, 5 days a week, 4 hours a day, I need a break from the table/class setting. So, for tomorrow she has planned the first of several little field trips during class time: we are going to the market in Antigua. Lots of potential new vocabulary there! I am so grateful for Ana this week.

The Power of a Gentle Breeze

This morning in class my teacher Sara asked me to read a passage from the Bible aloud and then explain it to her to practice my Spanish. It is hard for me to choose a passage in a sudden, open-ended situation like this. I flipped through a bit, and, without knowing why, settled on the parable of the servant who was forgiven yet refused to forgive in Matthew 18. I read it, retold it in my own words, and then related it to us who, as sinners, have been forgiven by God and should therefore be willing to forgive others. She immediately gave a "what-if" situation where it is really hard to forgive an egregious trespass. We talked about how it isn't easy but that it is possible to forgive with the God's help, then she admitted that she was sharing her own real story and that she is wrestling internally with this inability to forgive this person.
I asked her a couple of questions. First, if I carry anger in my heart, who is hurt more by this anger, me or the person with whom I angry? Second, is it possible for anger with another person and the love/peace of God to co-exist in my heart?
As we talked, I kept trying to decide what scripture to share with her. Our classes are held outside in a garden, and about this time a breeze began to flip the pages of my Bible. I looked down to see that it had stopped on Matthew 22 where Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment. I read this to Sara and explained that if we truly love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we will certainly forgive them and even go a step further to be kind to them.
God's methods never cease to amaze me. He guided me through the power of the wind He created. I don't know if these deep conversations will continue, but please continue to pray for guidance for me and for Sara. Also, please pray for her to be able to forgive this person who caused such deep pain in her family.

Sara

This is my first week with my fifth teacher, Sara. During the first couple of days, she mentioned that part of her family is Catholic and part is Jehovah's Witness. She goes to a Catholic Church fairly often, but is not devout. She also has repeatedly told me how she thinks all religions are good and that all worship the same God. Today she was explaining to me one of the many Guatemalan Catholic holidays and mentioned that it is symbolic of when the mother of Jesus crushed the head of the snake. I paused and then very politely asked her where we could find that story in the Bible. She said that she didn't know exactly.
I opened my Bible and shared with her from Genesis 3 where God tells the serpent that the son of the woman will crush his head. Sara got a little excited and said that I was sharing the same story she had shared. I agreed that it was the same story but pointed out that there was one important difference; that it was the Son, not the mother, who would crush the head of the snake. Sara shrugged off this difference and said that it is basically the same thing.
I was grateful for the opportunity to share this through conversation but was saddened by her lack of understanding. A few minutes later our conversation led us to talk about the fact that God gave us freewill. She commented that she thinks freewill is bad because it has led to so much pain, suffering, evil, etc. in the world. I agreed with her that the sin in the world has horrible consequences, but I also went on to explain that the world is Satan's kingdom and that only through free will can our worship have meaning. She wasn't following my point on that last part, so I gave her the first analogy that "popped" in my head. I asked her to imagine a marriage that was arranged by someone else; she would have no choice in who she married, and the marriage would not be for love. Then I asked her to contrast that with a marriage with a husband that she had chosen to love. I told her that this is what I was trying to say aobut our worship of God. If He forced it, what meaning would it have? What joy would it produce? If we choose it, it is based on a loving relationship and has amazing results. She was very excited by this analogy and the image it painted in her mind. She explained to me the customs of arranged marriages that exist in nearby indigenous villages and how they are unhappy. I am in awe of God's faithfulness to provide the words that I did not know would make such an impact.
Please pray for Sara to see the Truth and for me to have the right words to say at the right opportunities. Also, please continue to pray for our weekly Bible study with some national friends, which now meets at 4:30 on Thursdays.

Haitian Survivor Stories

A good friend of mine is working for the IMB as a reporter. His first assignment took him to Haiti. Two of his stories have been published on the IMB website so far. Please read his stories and pray specifically for the people featured in these stories as well as for the thousands of other Haitians they represent.

Haitian Quake Survivors Suffer Added Ache of Separation

Haitian Pastor Turns Church, Home Into Makeshift Clinics for Quake Victims

Haiti Relief Response

To follow, and possibly even get involved in, the relief efforts of the IMB and other Southern Baptists in Haiti, check the following links:

• Baptist Global Response
• IMB Haiti Response/Facebook

One of my good friends who just finished language study here is now on his way to Haiti. His job with the IMB is journalism, and he is covering the story of the relief efforts. Please pray for him as he covers this emotionally overwhelming story. Also, please pray for other colleagues and countless volunteers who are there to help meet needs.

By the way, my eye is better now, and tomorrow I will be able to start wearing my contacts once again.

Always An Adventure

A couple of days ago my right eye became very red and irritated and EXTREMELY senstive to light, especially the bright sunight. The contacts I was wearing were getting old, and there has been a lot of volcanic ash in the air. I thought maybe changing to a new pair of contacts would clear it up if it was just volcanic dust settled onto the lens. Today is day two with the new contacts, and it definitely was not getting any better. I gratefully borrowed sunglasses from a colleague to ward off some of the pain.

On the advice of my host mom and my Spanish teacher, I went to Antigua after lunch to find a specific optical clinic. I got there around 1:30 only to discover that they close for lunch from noon until 3 pm. (A slightly longer lunch break that I ever had as a teacher!) So, I stopped at a store and then hung out at good old McDonalds until 3. When I returned to the office, my communication fears were confirmed. Just the initial conversation with the person at the desk caused me to pull out my translator and apologize for my lack of Spanish. He surpised me by having me follow him into a room immediately for an exam. (What I didn't know at the time was that after I went in the room, the receptionist told my colleagues that he was not a doctor but rather an assistant of some sort.)

Throughout his thorough examination, we continued to struggle to overcome our communication barrier, but he was very patient with me. I did, however, begin to lose confidence when he started walking back and forth between my eye and his poster of eye problems to compare what he was seeing! Eventually, he concluded that my cornea was inflamed and prescribed antibiotic eye drops. So, I have 10 days of drops with instructions to return if that does not resolve it.

Despite the challenges, I am very grateful at how smoothly things went and am praying that this will resolve the problem.

Visa & Bible Study

We had to run from office to office most of the day Monday, but at the end of the day another 90 day Guatemalan visa was stamped in my passport. Thank you for praying with me; and thanks to those of you who encouraged me when I was beginning to become discouraged.

We've been having a Bible study in the home of some nationals for a couple of months now. My friends/colleagues who came with me all left last week, so last night was our first Bible study without them here. (Fortunately, three new friends/colleagues also arrived recently, so I am not the only one here.) We were a bit nervous about the level of communication we would manage but were confident that God would provide, and He did. A young (teenage) guy in the family even shared a scripture passage that he had read that had meaning for him. Please continue to pray for this study and for God to reveal Himself to those who attend.

Visa

My visa expires this Tuesday, January 5, and I have been having a terrible time trying to get everything lined up to renew it. I think it is all finally coming together, and some great Ms here in Antigua are driving me to capital tomorrow (Monday) so I can go to the immigration office to (hopefully) obtain the visa. Please pray that everything works out!