Hot Lava

 

Glenn, Craig M., John C. and Mike G. ventured up the trail to climb the active volcano, Pacaya.  Some day I'll join Glenn, just not this time.

Beautiful View

Hot Lava Flow

We can see the volcano from our neighborhood.  Recently we have seen continuous flow of smoke coming from the cone.  And I understand the landscape of the volcano changes constantly.  Next time I'll climb the volcano with Glenn.

~J

Visitation

Craig M. was able to visit Centennial Camp and then experienced Zip-lining at the National Reserve Park in Panajachel.

 

We made a quick stop and visited our good friends, Carol and Forrest.

~J

Colegio Mark in Cantel

 

  

Several weeks ago we connected with Craig M. who was here with a team from his church in Kansas City. The team was ministering at a school near Xela in the small village of Cantel (glass factory location).

Craig M. headed up the teaching times for the team. We got to know him when we served together on the PAC (Parent Association Council) with John Brown University.

~J

What Can Brown Do For You?

This was a "first".  The UPS man arrived in our gated community to deliver a package for us.  Unbelievable!

~J

Mam Bible Dedication Part 5 -the Last Edition

 

With permission, I'm enclosing an email from Pauline S.

Pauline and Ed lived and served in Guatemala for over 60 years!

Dear ones,

I am so glad you enjoyed the Mam Bible Dedication in Ostuncalco.  How I would have loved to be able to be there. I was aware of it's beginning, back in the early '20's. Edward had a part in the first NT and he and Ruben did the second and he tried to help Pedro Daniel with his last work, but Pedro is very capable and it was time we leave.

So from start to finish has been 84 years, all still in my memory. Bob has promised to send us a copy.  We'll see if we can read it as it is in the new alphabet.

Anyway, I can feel the joy you had in one dedication, when you were unable to see that of your parents, and thanks for sharing information of the work in Guatemala all along. 

May our great God grant your every desire,

Pauline

There have been many folks that have worked on this translation project for over 84 years.  I understand Ralph Winter, founder of US Center for World Mission and many others have contributed to the work.  Amazing!

Here is a picture of Ed and Pauline with their grandson and wife and great grandson!

Mam Bible Dedication Part 4

 

This Mam lady was one of the first to purchase the Bible in her own dialect.  She couldn't wait to get one and be able to read in her own native tongue.

  

Then I saw this lady holding her Bible proudly

and

flipping through it.

Praise God for the complete Word in the Mam language dialect.

Mam Bible Dedication Part 3

The Mam Bible Dedication Parade ended up at the local soccer stadium.  About 300 people were following behind the banners and band.  Quite a sight.

 

 

~J

Mam Bible Dedication Part 2

 

People came out of their homes and stores to watch the parade walk by.

The local school participated with the drums and bugels.  There was even a large shofar horn from Biblical times that joined in.  It was a very festive occasion.

Ladies lined up and watched the parade s-l-o-w-l-y pass in front of them .

~J

Mam Bible Dedication Part 1

 

Last week Glenn and I took Criag with us to the dedication of the Mam Bible in San Juan Ostuncalco just outside of Quetzaltenango.  What a great experience.  What a neat testimony to God.  There was a 2km parade through town that eventually ended up at the soccer stadium.  Traffic stopped and people came out of their houses, shops, market and food stands to see the group of 200+ Christians walk through the streets proudly celebrating the completion of the complete Bible in their own language.

 

Over the next few days, I'll be posting photos of this happy event.

True Discipleship

 

Glenn and I are taking our last Moody course to finish our degree completion program.  It is an on-line course over Spiritual disciplines and discipleship, called 

Spiritual Life and Community.

 

So besides our normal Pastoral Care responsibilities here in Guatemala, we are carving out some time to work on this on-line course.  We have accountability partners, Bible Studies to lead. Also we read, study and make responses on the "discussion board".  

 

This week we are studying the Dynamics of Spiritual Life.

 

So, in 4 more month, Glenn and I will be receiving a Bachelor of Science in Biblical Study through Moody Bible Institute.  All this to say, "its never too late!"

~J

Stamping Away

 

My Stamping Buddies 

Dorothy and Virginia

  

Thank you Dorothy for hosting us

 

Virginia did a great job!

 

The whole group in Dorothy's craft room.

We realized that stamping brought lots of laughs and a great time of fellowship.  Thanks for loaning your stamps, Dorothy and setting everything up. Can't wait until next year.

~J

Pollo Moderno

 

It doesn't get better than this - Pollo Moderno

 

chicken, rice, french fries and fried bananas

 

The hot sauce was sweeter than I remembered and not as hot.  Plus the hot sauce didn't come in the little tied up baggies.

Look, the napkins were NOT wax paper like we use to wipe our greasy fingers on.

Same old narrow restaurant!
Pollo Moderno on the first ring.
The chicken was still pretty good.
~J

5th Stop - St. Kitts

 

Yes, we did the mo-ped thing.  We explored the eastern side of the island where the beaches are white and the water is crystal clear and the sides of the mountains drop off into the ocean.  We bumped into our friends from the day before.  We had a picnic lunch with them.  We swam in the ocean and visited with our new friends.  

(if by the way, Glenn and Jeannie, if you read this blog/FB post, please email us or leave a comment, as we don't have a way to contact you)

  

We wanted to explore the other side of the island, however after filling the gas tank up, Glenn couldn't start the mo-ped.  With time running out, Glenn called the owner of the mo-ped, and he came to rescue us.  Fortunately we were not too far from the boat dock.  Finally, after we turned in the mo-ped, we found an internet cafe, and caught up on emails very briefly. 

 

We spent another great day on another island in the Caribbean.

~J

4th Stop - Barbados

By far, this island was the busiest and most commercialized of the places we visited.  We did the mo-ped thing again.  As we checked out our mo-med, there was a couple in front of us that had the same idea.  I asked them some general insights on where to "discover" this island.  They went on their way and we headed out later.  We later ran into Jeannie and Glenn having a picnic also.  The following day we accidentally ran into them again on the island of St. Kitts.

 

  

Barbados was known for their sugar cane production, rum distilling until tourism embraced the economy and now tourism is the leading industry for this tiny island just north of South America.

 

 

Again, we had another successful journey as we drove on the "left hand" side of the road on the moped.  We had a picnic lunch on this beach.  Beautiful.  We saw 2 young fellows surfing. The roads were kinda confusing, but we just headed back towards the dock late in the afternoon.

More later,

~J