A Few Days in Panajachel

The Richmond family from DC, were down for a few weeks.  We introduced them to different folks who could share about their different ministries in Guatemala.  They were able to explore Monterrico at the coast, climb Volcano Pacaya, play with the Foote kids in Santiago, zip-line through the rain forest, study a week or two at the language school, attend several birthday parties, volunteer at Casita Benjamin and many other activities.

So how do we know the Richmonds?  I just love to see how the Lord puts these things together.

In 1992,at the recommendation of Northwest Bible Church mission pastor, Karen travels down to Bolivia to see what missions is all about.  We fell in love with her and have appreciated her friendship through the years.  Gary and I flew up to her wedding in Dallas, 1993.

Fast Forward.  Karen's mentor from College days, wants to minister in Guatemala so, Karen introduces us to Sheri and Kevin.  In 2009 Kevin and Shari bring their 4 kids with them to Guatemala and minister with the Footes out at the lake.  In 2010 both Shari's family and Karen's family come to Guatemala to hold optical clinics out at the lake and also take Spanish classes.

It gets better....

Shari introduces us to the Richmonds, so they were able to have a good Guatemala Experience here while studying Spanish at the same time.

God is good!
~J

Heritage Mission Team

Recently, we helped to coordinate and host a group of young people (mainly those in David's Spanish class) from Heritage School in Fredericksburg, Texas on a 10 day
Mission Exposure Adventure trip.
  Glenn traveled with the team for 10 solid days as they had a glimpse of different ministries here in Guatemala.

The Team ministered in Casita Benjamín.

They also traveled out to Lake Atitlán and heard about Bible Translation with the Foote family, visited a local city jail here in Guatemala City and visited the City Dump.

Thank you Heritage School for your ministry here in Guatemala.  We trust you were able to sense God's presence, fall in love with the Guatemalans and walk away with a deeper walk with the Lord.  

~J

House Next Door Part 2

Then several weeks ago, the construction team was pouring concrete on the roof next door.  And look who I caught climbing our roof and watching.

Yes,

Glenn, Chloe Ann and Issac

~J

Just call me Grammie!

Just call me Grammie!

Ellen delivered a healthy baby BOY

David Luke 

6 pounds 12 oz

19 inches

born at 6:34pm

on Wednesday, July 13

in Managua, Nicaragua 

He has blond hair and blue eyes! 

Congratulations to Ellen and Luke!

~Grammie

The House Next Door Part 1

Construction!

The empty property next door is no longer empty.  Several month ago, the owner decided to start building a home.

  Week 1

Week 2

I am not looking forward to dirt, noise, dust, construction, banging, hammering, etc...

week 5
We hear banging and banging.  

I can say we enjoy the silence at:

Breaktime 10:00 - 10:15 and then

Lunchbreak 12:00 - 1:30pm 
(most of their lunch break is spent playing soccer on the field across the street)

week 6

adding cement floor

week 8

 week 9

Week 10

My Favorite 4th of July

Click here to see my favorite all time 4th of July poem being recited by daughter, Karen, 17 years ago.

 Happy Birthday - America!

Flowers and The Word of God

 Isaiah 40:8

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

~J

Flowers

 Pretty!

Starbucks and IHOP

Yes, Starbucks has arrived in Guatemala!

Glenn and I visited the new Starbucks recently!

The Frappachino tasted the same as it does in the states.

The new Starbucks is on the other side of the city from where we live.
The store offered WiFi and a nice seating area to relax and enjoy a muffin and coffee.

Then to round out the day, we stopped at IHOP.  IHOP is another brand new restaurant here in the city.  
A second IHOP opened up just several weeks ago on our side of the city. On Sunday, we noticed a long line of folks waiting to be seated at the new IHOP in our part of the city.

~J

Laundry

You know it is Rainy season when....

You hang your clothes outside to DRY...

 and it begins to RAIN

and then the gas Dryer BREAKS!

Ugh!

It is customary for us to wash and then hang our clothes out to dry.  The sun can be pretty intense at this elevation, so the clothes dry quickly.  However, when rainy season sets in (May - November), it is normally sunny in the mornings and then we usually have a late afternoon shower.  Sometimes it will rain the whole day and maybe for several days. So, it is good to have a back-up plan with a gas dryer.  

I do have a handyman of a husband, and he determined that the electric motor was burned out. So Glenn has called the repair man to come and help him find an "equivalent" motor for the dryer.
NOTE: there are no Frigidaire places here but they found an approximate replacement motor that should work. They only had to go to two different "hole in the wall" locations to find it.

~J

Dallas Mavericks and Prensa Libre

 

 "Champions"

There were articles on 2 separate days focusing on the win of the Dallas Mavericks!

Prensa Libre
(Guatemalan newspaper)

 We're proud of the Dallas Mavericks!

Go Dallas Mavericks

We have been following the Dallas Mavericks basketball playoffs down here in Guatemala City.  Fortunately, we have cable TV that pulls channel 10 from Miami.  Thursday night, it was especially fun to see the newscaster's reaction to their unexpected loss to the Mavs!

Also, I check on FB during the game, to watch what people are posting about the Mavs.

Sunday night, we plan to host a Mavericks Party to watch the Basketball game.  If you are in Guatemala City, head on over to our home!  Tip off is 6pm!  RSVP

Go Dallas Mavericks!