Hello to Stephen Marshall's 1st Class in Dallas

I told Stephen, my nephew (Sherrie and Steve's son) that I would say "hello" to his class. He is doing a report on Guatemala this week. I'll be coming to his class room on Thursday morning, giving them a special treat from Guatemala.

Above is the Guatemalan Flag, some photos of people and kids in Guatemala, Central America. It is a very colorful country. Notice the lady walking with the bag of good on her head and she is not using her hands at all.

Scott and Barbara Russell along with their 15 year old son joined us for a week here in Guatemala. We first met Scott when he was 1st officer on a flight from Miami to Santa Cruz, back in 1994.



To those of you who hate to sign my guest book multipul times, I had to go back to my first Guest book and see when we first met Scott. Scott came down to Bolivia with our good friend, Don Stackpole. It pays off to keep those Guest books around. And we've been friends with Scott ever since.



I remember he attended Gary's 6th birthday party with us at the Hamburger place on the 2nd ring on the other side of town. Gary got sick and threw up on his birthday presents that he had just opened. Scott returned the following week with a bag of Ninja Turtles 30+ total, because he felt sorry that this poor missionary kid that didn't have any Turtles, little did Scott know that Gary's parents didn't want him to have the Ninja Turtles.




We took Kyle, Scott, Barbara and Jordan zip lining. Awesome.



Then afternoon boat ride over to Casa Del Mundo for lunch.






How is the hammock, Johnny?



The hotel is literally built on the side of the cliff. Beautiful walk and green trees, plants and vegetation.


More later....

Judy
email judy.stewart@scbbs-bo.com or judystewart@caminternational.org

After the Conference, we hosted a Moody Alumni Gathering in our home.



Gene Getz, alumni, former faculty member and now Trustee member of MBI, spoke with the alumni that gathered at our home. Gene spoke of his journey with MBI as a student, then joining as an Evening School director, and now most recently as a Trustee of Moody Bible Institute.





Keith and Debbie along with Chad and Kelly from First Baptist Liberty City. Thanks for your contributions to our Conference. We appreciate the music and the help with youth and child care! Come back again.

Judy
judy.stewart@scbbs-bo.com or judystewart@caminternational.org

Cracked Feet and Crock Pot Food

Thursday night, Glenn and I drove over to a missionary home to deliver their evening meal. I had prepared the roast in the crock pot the day before, however, our schedule changed and we were able to deliver the meal on Thursday night.

You see, this missionary is battling cancer for the second time. Several years ago, having gone through the same routine (you know what I mean, the chemo, hair loss, miserable feeling, getting a clean bill of health), and now it has returned.

Once we put the warm pot roast, cold bag of salad preparations down on the table, we made our way into her living room. Beyond the large bay windows we could see the trees and hear the birds chirping. We chatted and visited for a while, told stories about our children and heard about their Europe journey several years ago.

Asking permission, Glenn gathered his brown towel and Foot Massage cream and proceeded to give her a foot massage. (Back track, Glenn got a foot massage back in February at the Intermission conference and volunteer from Michigan gave Glenn some basic Instructions). Fast forward, now Glenn was able to give her a relaxing foot massage. Not only that, the husband got a foot massage too.

We never know what our days bring us, however we are blessed to have this opportunity to share "crock pot" and "cracked feet".

Judy.Stewart@scbbs-bo.com or judystewart@caminternational.org

Conference 2008 in Antigua, Guatemala


Your local Bird



Debbie Wilkerson with some of the kiddoes she taught.



Kelly Alexander teaching some kiddoes also.




Oh, no, another meeting!



Candid shot

More later
email
Judy.Stewart@scbbs-bo.com or JudyStewart@caminternational.org

Conference 2008

This year, we were blessed with the music of Keith Wilkerson from 1st Baptist Liberty City. Gene and Elaine Getz from Dallas, Renewal Radio, spoke during the teaching session. Gene spoke on "one another".




Keith leading us in worship. He even sang "Dinning with Pigs"...imagine that? We all had a good laugh.




Nephew, Kyle Marr, helped with the youth program during the conference. He hung out with Chad and the teens. Pictured here is Kyle with missionary Johnny Coker.




Saturday afternoon was FREE time. Some ladies joined me in "card making" project. Cindy Spaugh is showing off her art work.




Lots of choices but plenty of fun


More later....

Judy
email
judy.stewart@scbbs-bo.com or judystewart@caminternational.org

This is a Beautiful "saw dust shaving" carpet in the hotel lobby. It is a replica of the beautiful artwork that goes on during Holy week, just the week before.



Speaker Gene Getz and CAM Missionary Wilfred Johnson meet in Chimaltenango on our way to our Conference. We gave a quick tour of GBS to our visitors.




We ate at Las Palmas Restaurant in Antigua before the Conference started. I like how this Restaurant is decorated - colorful



Kyle couldn't get enough of the STEAK! This was also Gary's favorite menu item.
Yummm Yummm




Local artist painting in the courtyard at one of the local hotels.


More later....

Judy.stewart@scbbs-bo.com and judystewart@caminternational.org

Rub-A-Dub-Dub




Three Men in a Tub




Thursday before Conference, we took the Wilkersons and Alexanders to the Hot Springs at the base of the Pacaya Volcano. We had a very relaxing morning, getting ready for a very busy weekend for Conference 2008 in Antigua.

judy.stewart@scbbs-bo.com

Approaching the Dump - The Guatemala City Dump. Buses come and go providing transportation for folks to be able to salvage stuff at the dump.


Hundreds of people live in the dump. Ostracized by the general population, many spend their entire lives in the dump, subsisting entirely on scavenging -- for food, clothing, everything. In the past few decades, the problem has worsened to the point that many of these dump dwellers have never known of any other life: They were born and raised entirely in the dump. Their parents and their parents' parents have lived there all their lives. Glue sniffing is also common problem among dump dwellers, as it gives a temporary high and deadens the smell of the dump.




Even among the dump dwellers there is an established social order. People with seniority are at the top of the social strata, and get the garbage from the trucks that came from the richer areas of the city, while newcomers start at the bottom.


The dump also functions as an informal recycling industry. People specialize in collecting specific items or materials, which they sell for reuse or as raw materials.

Some of these photos were received from other sources.

Judy
email judy.stewart@scbbs-bo.com or judystewart@caminternational.org

Keith and Debbie Wilkerson along with Chad and Kelly Alexander from First Baptist Liberty City in Texas, flew down to Guatemala to help us with our 2008 CAM Guatemala Conference. They did arrive a day early to get use to the climate and to "visit" the sites around the city.



Chad and Kelly were the youth director for the church for many years. He know heads up the Family Division of the church. Our Gary would travel with Chad and Kelly down to Mexico to work in the San Buenavatura Church there. Gary loves hanging around with Chad, even though Chad uses a Mac Computer.



Keith lead our worship at Conference. He brought his key board and guitar. Wonderful. We were able to drop him off at SETECA and was able to tour the Music department there. Janet W was able to show Keith the ministry that CAM has here in Guatemala and was able to share some needs for the music department also. I know Keith was on email to several folks looking up connections for Janet.


PRE-CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES

More later...I'll post more frequently
email judy.stewart@scbbs-bo.com or judystewart@caminternational.org