Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Bartz

June 28, 2008 Karen and Thomas get married.


What a beautiful bride!



Look at that smile!


Thomas Bartz - just before Karen walked down the isle.


The Stewart family.

Here is the first of several blogs including photos of Karen's special day.
It is late.
I am tired.
We took tons of picutes.
Lots of friends and family attended the wedding.
More details soon to follow.
Will write more.

Judy
new email address judystewart@caminternational.org

New CAM Missionaries, Niel and Diana Thomas, are also "finishers", where they have completed and retired from a career in the states and are now in Spanish Language school in Antigua.



We visited with them over lunch along with friends, Forrest and Carol Kendall. This new restuarant, Mono Loco, had good food and a nice atmosphere. We understand it is the "happening" place in the evenings for the young people. I noticed large screen TVs over the bar, internet cafe and a tourist shop. The Mono Loco (Crazy Monkey Restaurant) was advertizing Direct TV of the Hockey and Basketball Playoffs. So, I guess if you were young, single, studying Spanish and wanted to catch up on US sports, this would be a place to be on Friday nights.

Glenn and I try to meet or talk with the newer missionaries quite frequently to see how they are doing in their adjustment to Guatemala culture, their fustration with the language learning process and just to basically encourage them and give them a "high five".



Note the deep Windows on this house. I love the blue and yellow.



Typical corner shot in Antigua, Guatemala.

More later,

Judy
new email address judystewart@caminternational.org

My friend, Carol, invited me to a Ladies Missionary Retreat at the Luthern Center in Antigua. Carol was visiting with her Guatemalan friend that comes and sells her tapesty to visitors and friends.



Now Where did I put my money?



Notice the belt that the Guatemalan lady wears around her lower back to help her stablize the loom?



It takes about 2 months to make a complete wall hanging.

Judy
new email address judystewart@caminternational.org

2008 Guatemala Interns arrive for 6 - 8 weeks of ministry.

Glenn and I joined Mike and Sandi Glick in their home with the new arrivals of college and post-college Interns. These folks will be doing a variety of things this summer.




2 of the Interns will be working on Missionary video presentations. How cool is that? They are assigned to live with different CAM missionary families and just follow them around in their ministry. They'll later put together a short video clip for the missionary to use.




Another Intern will be living out in the mountain community of Patzún, where Ken and Cindy Spaugh work. I think 2 other Interns are currently serving there this summer. I believe they'll be doing light construction and also ESL classes for some eager Guatemalans.

Several of the young people are from TEXAS A & M. Go Aggies. Some are from the Dallas Fort Worth Area. They are going to have some life changing experiences here this summer as they rub shoulders with the CAM missionaries and Guatemalans. Thank you for your prayers for these young people.

Judy
New Email address Judystewart@caminternational.org

Visiting GBS in Chimaltenango




One of our jobs as Pastoral Care givers here in Guatemala is to visit the CAM missionaries at their work site. As we were taking Sandy Jenkins and the Krafts on a tour of GBS, we stopped by and greeted our dear friend Bob. We have grown to love Bob and his ministry at GBS and other parts of the world. He took "a liking" to our son Gary, last year, as they talked about computers, gadgets and stuff.


Note the latice work on the palm tree!



Flower

Judy
new email address judystewart@caminternational.org

Saw Dust Carpets in Patzún, Guatemala
Fortunately on the day we visited the Patzún Project, the small village was having a festival and carnival. Folks were dressed up in Ceremonial dress.



The beautiful streets are lined with different designs. Different social groups and clubs create their own design, using colored saw dust and fresh flowers. Then someone comes around and sprays the art work with water to keep it moist so it doesn't blow away.







It was definitely not as crowded as Antigua is during Holy Week.

Judy
new email address judystewart@caminternational.org

Aaron and Carrie Kraft stayed with us for 4 days recently. Aaron is a DTS Student and works in the IT department at CAM Center. By the way, Gary worked with Aaron last summer at CAM. Aaron and Carrie are planning to join CAM this summer, raise support and become missionaries to Guatemala. They also got to visit with their 7 month old, Jackie.


Jackie is in the adoption process here. She is a "sweetie". She smiles and can steal your heart. After 3 days the Krafts returned to Dallas, and Jackie to her foster home. Hopefully the adoption papers will speed up and Jackie may join the rest of the family soon.


Judy
new email address JudyStewart@caminternational.org

Sandy Jenkins, CAM International employee from Dallas CAM Center, who works in the Stewardship Department, was here in Guatemala for a quick 4 day visit. Sandy spent one night with us and the other nights at SETECA.



We arranged for her to take a 1 hour tour of the Patzún Project with Ken Spaugh. We drove out 1 hour later to pick her up.



Kids in the class room at the Alpha and Omega Church in Patzún.



On our return we stopped by Chimaltenango and visited with CAM missionaries, Edith Murphy and Wilfred and Shirley Johnson.

More later
new email address judystewart@caminternational.org

Several weeks ago while Glenn and I were visiting CAM missionaries at Language school and doing some shopping, we ran into some bikers. These fellows caught Glenn's eyes. So Glenn couldn't resist talking with them.

My photos from my blog are NOT being downloaded to my NOTE on Facebook. If you want to see the photos, go directly to my blog

http://www.judyfrommoody.blogspot.com

Meet Matt and Scott. They are traveling by bike from Alaska to Argentina. They had just biked from Tecpan on CA-1 to Antigua this particular morning. Wow, this brought back floods of memories of Glenn's 1976 bicycle trip from Dallas to Colombia, South America. The guys exchanged experiences.




Go to http://www.panambikeride.com/ to read more about their journey.

Judy

Mission Conference at Wildwood Church in East Moline

My photos from my blog are NOT being downloaded to my NOTE on Facebook. If you want to see the photos, go directly to my blog

http://www.judyfrommoody.blogspot.com


April 26 - 27, Glenn and I particpated in a Mission Conference at a new partnering church, Wildwood Baptist Church in East Moline. To get there was quite a story....Glenn and I had 9pm evening reservations to fly from DFW to Chicago Ohare, arriving at 11:15pm, then driving 3+ hours to Moline. We left Quest Conference early, drove by Grandmommy and Granddaddy's house for them to take us to DFW to standby for an earlier flight. We arrived at DFW at 12 noon. However, the weather in Chicago was threatening, delaying flights to and from Chicago, flights were delayed and cancelled. We know Terminal A and D very well now as we switched between those terminals as we stood by for each successive flight. We were hopeful that our 9pm flight wouldn't be cancelled. But after a delay until 11pm, the agent notified the passengers of the cancellation.

Glenn and I quickly went to the AA counter to see how they could re-book us. We called Scott and let him know of our new travel plans. The agent grabbed the last seat on the Saturday morning non-stop flight to Moline for Glenn. I was re-booked on a connecting flight through Chicago.

The mission conference was suppose to start at 12noon, however, Glenn wasn't arriving until 12:30pm. The church adjusted the schedule a little bit, and Glenn got to the church as soon as he could.

Glenn was the main speaker for the Mission Conference. On Sunday morning, Glenn had 2 size 13 tennis shoes hanging from the pulpit. He said "I have big shoes to fill". Last year, Glenn had arranged from former CAM president, Ron Blue, to be the speaker. And anybody who knows Ron Blue, knows what an enthusiastic and encouraging speaker he is. Glenn did a FINE job. He spoke on partnering with the missionaries and challenged the congregation to get more involved with those on the field, such as short term help. Glenn even suggested some volunteers to help with CAM conference next year here in Guatemala.



Our dear, dear friends, Scott & Carol. Scott is the pastor of Wildwood. We first met Scott in 1992 as he was Pastor of the English church in La Paz, Bolivia. Carol's brother was the youth pastor at Grand Prairie Bible Church, and that was how we got the connection. We have enjoyed many laughs, tears and friendship over the years. The Boerckels hold a special place in our hearts, from keeping Gary for 2 weeks when he was 5yrs old in La Paz, to a 10 day vacation to Chile with Jeff and Kathy, to magic tricks performed by son Mark, to just being dear, dear friends. Thank you Scott and Carol.

Judy
new email address JudyStewart@caminternational.org

A weekend in Panajachel with our dear friends, Bob and Shirley Kasper. Bob and Shirley flew down to Guatemala from South Texas to participate during weeklong meetings at SETECA (CAM seminary). We loaned them our car and the use of our Tarjeta Libre. It was good to debrief them in their recent move to the states and to catch up on life. They were an encouragement to us too.



LBN (Las Buena Nueva) in Panajachel


The Kaspers with friends Adele and Mike. Mike owns the coffee shop in Panajachel. He also does fireworks show in the area.




Hey, we finally got email connection at LBN. You can only get internet connection from sitting on the porch. We love the comfortable chairs.

This is where we got a call from Ellen announcing her engagement to Luke.

Judy Stewart
new email address

The week long Quest Conference was filled with lots of interactions with the other CAM missionaries from the different fields (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Hispanic USA) and also the home office staff.

My photos from my blog are NOT being downloaded to my NOTE on Facebook. If you want to see the photos, go directly to my blog

http://www.judyfrommoody.blogspot.com




We divided up into small groups. The final session was learning about "leaving a legacy" and what that means. Very challenging and stimulating.





Judy Stewart
new email address judystewart@caminternational.org

Jonathan Edward's Birthday during Quest

My photos from my blog are NOT being downloaded to my NOTE on Facebook. If you want to see the photos, go directly to my blog

http://www.judyfrommoody.blogspot.com


During our week at Quest, we helped celebrate Jon's birthday. It was a God honoring experience as many people shared their appreciation of Jon's life in their lives. Jon has been a great counselor, friend, pastor and boss for Glenn and me. We think it is a high priviledge to work under Jon's leadership in Pastoral Care with CAM International. Thank you Jon. Happy Birthday too.



Judy Stewart
new email address judystewart@caminternational.org

QUEST conference in East Texas, April 20 - 25, 2008

My photos from my blog are NOT being downloaded to my NOTE on Facebook. If you want to see the photos, go directly to my blog

http://www.judyfrommoody.blogspot.com


Quest is designed for people who want to make a difference in their ministry setting. The program's purpose is to help participants become lifelong learners with the goal to understand and then seek to align their actions and attitudes with biblical principles and practices.

The week was filled with new learning experiences. The most interesting was the interaction with different generational folks especially within the missionary context. You have the builders, boomers, generation x, generation y and those in between. We learned how each generation processes information, how they think and you can better communicate with each other. This was VERY beneificial. We also had a day of practicing basic listening skills.

Next Quest will be the end of October, 2008.

Judy
Note new email address judystewart@caminternational.org