Weekend trip

Niel and Diana Thomas are the host/hostess of Las Buenas Nuevas in Panajachel. I caught them as they were heading into town for a funeral. This is their mode of transportation. Notice the side saddle action with Diana.

Brandon and Jenny Scott live in Xela (pronounced shay-la) also called Quetzaltenango. They served us a delicious lasagna lunch and peanut butter covered brownies...yummy!

We stopped in Chimaltenango and visited Clyde and Edith Murphy. And then we visited with them again over lunch at a favorite restaurant, Paulinos. Their daughter, Judy, was with them.

Wilfred and Shirley Johnson live in Chimaltenango also. Shirley served us a delightful meal which was topped off by ice cream and home grown coffee.

Last weekend, we traveled with John and Jan Edwards out to Chimaltenango, Panajachel, Sololá and Xela, visiting the CAM missionaries out in those areas. Each day was packed FULL visiting and sharing with the folks. We hope they were encouraged just as much as we were encouraged by the visits.

Judy

My friend Marge Watson

(Guatemalan caregiver), Marge and daughter, Ann

Meet my friend, Marge. Marge is 86 years old. She was a long term missionary with South America Mission in Peru. She now lives with her daughter, Ann Henriques, CAM missionary here in Guatemala.

Marge has a sweet spirit. She forgets from day to day. Each time we visit her we have to re-introduce ourselves to her. She hasn't forgotten her Spanish though. We sit and talk about "the good ol' days" in Peru. Glenn and I mention the SAM missionary names who served with her in Peru - and she smiles widely.

One of our responsibilities as pastoral care givers for the CAM missionaries is that we also visit their aging parents, like Marge.

I count it a privilege to have known Marge back when we served with SAM in South America and now here in Guatemala. What an example of a true missionary. Pray for her strength. Pray for her on site care-givers, Bob and Ann Henriques here in Guatemala.

Judy

Henriques and Edwards

The Henriques and Edwards joined us at a local restaurant here in Guatemala City.
Tortillas anyone? Very tasty when fresh and hot.
Before
After

Bob Henriques orders this special non alcholic drink. Lemonade and soda plus a dash of cherry syrup. Pretty good.

Judy

Happy 80th Birthday Grand Mommy

Grand Mommy & Grand Daddy up in Estes Park, Colorado.

Grand mommy holding her 2nd Great grandchild - Cooper.

Grand Mommy - I love you! You hold a special place in my heart. Since I was little, I remember you and Dad were always a part of our lives. You were "room mother" for me during my elementary school days. You always signed up to take my friends on field trips. You attended all my choir concerts in Junior High and High School. You attended all my basketball games. You went to every "Open House" each year at school.

My special memories were when you surprised me and all my Camp Fire Girl friends for my 12th birthday party. You signed me up for Bible Memory Association and encouraged me to memorize countless scripture verses. Having never traveled much outside of Texas, you allowed me to live in Chicago and study at Moody. You have become quite the "traveler" over the past 3 decades. Glenn and I have enjoyed making arrangements for you to visit us in Bolivia, now in Guatemala and then many places across the USA.

I think one thing that is special is that you take a special interest in our friends. Our friends have become your friends. Thank you for this unique quality.

I am grateful that you "potty trained" Ellen, Karen and Gary. Thank you. You have kept the kids when they were younger, took them shopping, to church and to the park. You have taken special interest in our kids. Thank you.

Although you never placed a long distance phone call (1.00 a minute back in the 70's) to me at college (except for my birthday), you faithfully wrote me a snail mail letter every week while I lived 1,000 miles from home at Moody. I guess that is why I have enjoyed writing to you since we have been on the mission field these past 25 years.

Mom, you are always trying out new recipes. I remember the "tiered wedding cakes" you would make for me for my birthdays. Chicken and Dumplings and strawberry short cake are our family favorites that you make. You are the best cook in the world.

I always remember you staying up late at night writing thank you notes, encouragement cards or sympathy notes. You are constantly taking over peanut brittle, banana cake or fresh peaches to those friends who are sick or in the hospital. You truly love others and I know others truly love you. I hope you get the picture that you are loved.

Mom you are loved. I love you!

Judy
PS I never know who reads my blog/facebook. But if you have met my family, please send my mom a birthday wish. The email address is dadmarr2@aol.com

Happy Anniversary 29 years TODAY

January 19, 1980 - 29 years ago today.

I love you Glenn! You are kind. You are patient. Your "puns" are terrible. Your servant spirit is contagious. You never forget a person. You have the gift of helps. You are the best father and husband. Earlier in our marriage you changed your share of diapers. You have cleaned my kitchen too many times to count. You have always filled up my gasoline tank so I would not have to do that. You allow me to give you directions when traveling. You have loved on me unconditionally. I love you. Happy Anniversary!

Judy

Stan and Barb Orth

Barbara is an artist. I look forward to hanging this artwork on my wall.
Barbara and Stan Orth
Last Saturday night, Elisa Sywulka hosted a "goodbye" party for Stan and Barbara Orth. They have been missionaries here in Guatemala since the 60's. They raised their 3 sons and 1 daughter here. They have taught at the famous Central America Theological Seminary (SETECA) for years. Barbara has hosted a ladies Bible study for many years too. They are dearly loved.

Now it was time for the Guatemala field to lavish our appreciation and "well wishes" on them. They will be deeply missed here. Oh, I'm sure we'll see them while visiting in Dallas, since they live very close to G'mommy and G'daddy.

Thank you Stan and Barbara for your countless years of ministry here in Guatemala.

Judy

I'm Tired!

Short version
1. Glenn gets flat tire!
2. Good Samaritans help with changing the tire!
3. Good Samaritans get NOTHING!

Longer version
Several weeks ago, Glenn had to made a quick trip to the US Embassy (passports in hand) to ask questions about getting Gary's nearly expired passport renewed. After making a stop at SETECA and visiting the CAM missionaries there, Glenn stops by the local Guatemalan bank to make a deposit into an account to pay for our monthly dues for the rental house. Then he swings by his local barber about 2 city blocks away and gets a much needed haircut.

While sitting in the barber chair, he notices out of the corner of his eye, that the back passenger side tire was getting low. {Note to self - check on tire after getting hair cut}. While Glenn was getting into the vehicle, 2 different people pointed out the low tire. Glenn starts heading up the Boulevard to the local Shell station, but the tire making more noise so Glenn pulls off into a local tire repair shop.

The owner of the store promptly helps Glenn with the tire. At the same time, a car pulls up, a woman gets out asking for the location of the bathroom. Creating more distraction, she asks to be shown where the bathroom is located. An older gentleman on a cell phone stands over by Glenn's driver's door.

At this point, Glenn opens the front passenger door to get the "lug nut" key and promptly noticed that the computer bag which was once on the passenger floor board was now in the driver's seat. Glenn immediately feels he is being "scammed", so he places the computer bag back on the floor board and proceeds to lock all the doors.

Because Glenn had arrived at the tire shop and quickly was tending to the tire, he neglected to lock the car doors. As soon as the doors were locked and the "would be thieves" knew there wasn't a way to gets Glenn's computer, they left as quickly as they had arrived.

I'm thankful for the Lord's protection. You just never know when you will be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or when you let your guard down and you can become a target for a thief.

Continue to pray for safety.

Judy

What's a Cola?

A while back, Glenn and I were on the road.....

What do you do while waiting in a "cola"? Vendors come to the window selling food, drinks, hats, CDs and anything else. One time we purchased a cell phone charger from a young boy.

So often as we travel on the CA-1 (Central America Hiway 1), we are stopped because of construction. There is constant improvement along the road, as construction workers are blasting away at the mountain, creating a 4 lane highway in most parts. We don't know from trip to trip, how long it will take us, depending on the road blockage.

Off to the races. The Chicken Buses barrel down the road, passing on blind courves and not slowing down much. Do you think this Chicken bus would pass the emissions tests in the US?

We are traveling these roads this weekend (January 15- 18). I'll just say the word safety!

Judy

One year Bible

20 years ago, while on furlough from Bolivia (New Years 1989) I was challenged to read through the Bible in a year. I have continued that ritual for 20 years now.

I have needed to change it a bit. Every so often, I would switch versions, going from KJV to Living and now most recently, I have started using the Internet option. There is nothing more precious than to read the Word of God daily. I am thankful for the challenge (Thanks MJE) and still the freshness of the Word even today.

I am reminded of the following:

Sing Them Over Again to Me (Wonderful Words of Life)

Phillip Bliss, 1874.  Public Domain.



Sing them over again to me,

Wonderful words of Life.

Let me more of their beauty see,

Wonderful words of Life.



Words of strength and beauty,

Teach me faith and duty,

Beautiful words, wonderful words,

Wonderful words of Life.

Judy

Broccoli Cheese Soup in a Bread Bowl

The Last Supper. One of Gary's favorite meals.
Broccoli Soup
1 chopped onion
4 Tbsp butter melted
6 Tbsp flour
6 cups chicken broth
3 cups chopped, fresh or frozen broccoli
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 lb of Velveeta Cheese

Saute onion in butter until almost tender. Add flour, stirring well. Gradually stir in broth, broccoli and bay leaf. Cook over med heat, uncover until broccoli is tender, stirring frequently. Reduce heat. Stir in milk, pepper and cheese. Serve in bread bowl.

I think I got this recipe from the WBT Jungle Camp Cook Book or the Mennonite More for Less Cookbook. These 2 cookbooks I could NEVER live without, especially cooking in a 3rd world country.

Enjoy.

Judy

Gary = Computers

While Gary was home for Christmas vacation, he shared his expertise with us and our computers. He was reconfiguring stuff, removing stuff off of the hard drives, getting rid of stuff and cleaning up our computers. {Sounds like I know what I'm talking about, hardly!} We have an extra computer down in Glenn's office so when we have visitors traveling through, they are free to use our wireless connection and get on the Internet and receive emails.

Even Johnny Coker stopped by and Gary was able to give him some pointers.

Thank you Gary for coming home for Christmas and helping us with our computers. You are loved. And you will be missed. Have a good Spring Semester. Gary left on Thursday for Dallas, and then on Tuesday, he'll be driving up to Siloam Springs, Arkansas for his 3rd semester at JBU.

Judy

Nativity Set

Last month, the Foote family left evidence that they were at our house. They so kindly gathered straw for the manger! Thank you kids for doing that!

This a clay Nativity set with the Biblical characters dressed in the Guatemalan village outfits. These are dressed in very typical dress for folks living in the mountains.

The Foote family has been in the states for the holidays and returned yesterday and will be heading back to their home in Santiago, Lake Atitlán today. We had a delightful time with them, Jon and Jan Edwards and their Guatemalan friends, Pedro, Ana, Mercedes, Geldi and Jenny Samuc over supper on Friday.

Judy

A Mother's Heart

"Only a mother's heart can understand the pain in saying goodbye to her children."

My friend Gail summed it up for me.

Judy

Christmas in January

It is now January 8, only 2 weeks after Christmas, and yet we have only received 7 Christmas cards. I keep faith that more will be arriving. The cards we got yesterday were postmarked in the states as December 8, and then postmarked here in Guatemala on December 11. It just took F-o-r-e-v-e-r for the cards to get from the Central post office to the CAM office at SETECA, approximately 3 kms and then on to us.

We are hosting Jonathan and Jan Edwards from CAM Dallas here for these next 2 weeks, so they'll bring us the mail that has accumulated at our home office and also the mail that has accumulated at my parents home. One of the downsides of living overseas is the slowness of mail. However we are thankful for email, Facebook, Blogs, IM, Skype, Internet phone and other means of communication.

There is a benefit to this all. We can spread out Christmas cheer for a whole extra month. Keeping this in mind, it'll take us a little bit longer to respond to the personal notes you have written. Thanks to those of you who have sent us Christmas blessings and encouragement. We appreciate it.

Still A Merry Christmas in Guatemala,

Judy and Glenn

Ron and Marcia Baker

Meet Ron and Marcia Baker, CAM missionaries (gaining their second wind) now living in Dallas working "on loan" to another mission organization.

I first met Ron and Marcia back in 1977 when I traveled with PMT (Practical Missionary Training) through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador along with 50 other college young people and 2 other leaders (Ken & Mary Royer and Marty & Lois Paul).

I always think of Ron as a big "Teddy Bear". He has this contagious smile and a big heart for the work of the Lord. I have appreciated his and Marcia's friendship over the years. It is the type of friendship where you can pick up where you last left off.

Last month, while in Dallas, Glenn and I were privileged again to reconnect with Ron and Marcia over lunch. Ron had asked us to pick up some Guatemalan machetes that his adult son had requested. And of course we had some good laughs about bringing those machetes into the restaurant.

During the Christmas holiday season, Ron has had some challenging health issues to battle. He has had countless doctor appointments and tests.

With a big smile on his face, a sense of humor, thankfulness for God's blessing and a big hug from Marcia, he is meeting these challenges .

I am thankful for the many lives Ron has touched through his ministry with CAM. We often laugh together about our "Jungle Camp" experience!

Thank you Ron and Marcia for your ministry to Glenn and me over the years and thank you for the many other lives you have touched. May God give you many many more years ministering together. You are deeply loved and appreciated.

Judy and Glenn

Media Cancha and Henriques

Last week, we needed to get Bob and Ann out of their house. They always have an army of folks either coming and going and we could just tell they were just tired and needed to get away. Since Bob introduced us to Media Cancha (Argentine Restaurant) here in Guatemala, we suggested we go there for lunch.

Glenn, Bob, Gary and Ann - Yumm! The steak was out of this world and the visit even better!

Judy

Snowman

During Ellen's rehearsal dinner, she gave us this cute snowman candle. From what I understand, it is a candle designed by a welder in Nicaragua. Very simple - yet elegant.

Thanks, Ellen and Luke. What a great idea!

I wrote Ellen an email and she replied with the following information about the snowman.

Yes, there is a good story behind it. It was made here in Nicaragua. We have a friend, Mike Diebert, who works with Missionary Ventures here in Nicaragua. He runs a vocational school (basically a blacksmith shop) where he teaches Nicaraguan men how to work with their hands and create many different things. That candle holder along with the other Christmas ones (angel, tree) was made by these guys.

Happy New Years!

Judy

GrandDaddy and Sherrie

Like clock work, Grand Daddy works a daily Sudoku puzzle from the Newspaper. He is getting better and better.

Several weeks ago, I found this Christmas Tree ornament on my parents' tree. Sherrie was about 2 years old in this picture. Now look at her. Sherrie took me to a Christmas party for the mothers of the first graders at their school. It was fun to see the house decorated in the Christmas garb.

Happy New Years!

Judy

It is Puzzling to me

You know it is Holiday/Christmas season when I pull out the puzzles and we work them. My favorite puzzle is the world map. I wonder why.

Judy

New Year's Eve - like being in a war zone! GUA

Guatemala Christmas Poinsettia

These Poinsettia plants are rather poinsettia TREES. They are like 4 - 5 feet tall.

Happy New Years!

Judy and Glenn in Guatemala (and Gary for a couple of days)