SETECA

SETECA (Seminario Teológico Centroamericano), known in English as CATS (Central American Theological Seminary), is installing a new rector (president).

 Carlos López will be officially taking on his new position of leadership on February 1st during the installation service.

 When I think of SETECA, I immediately think of great schools like Moody Bible Institute or Dallas Seminary.  SETECA is that well known in Latin America and has served it's student body which comes from around the globe.  They come from such places as El Salvador, Mexico, Argentina, US, Spain and even Bolivia.

 The Seminary holds a special place in my heart.  Although I am not a student or even an alumni of this great school, it was back in 1972 when I traveled here to Guatemala on a high school work team and we painted dorm rooms, moved books from the old library to the new library and rubbed shoulders with the students and the missionaries.

 It was here that I got my missionary calling.  It gives me great joy to think that I am back living and serving in Guatemala, where it all started.  I am blessed.

Please pray for Carlos and his administration. Pray for the students as they prepare for ministry, for many as they receive their call to worldwide missionary service.

Manuela

Quite often when we are visiting Panajachel, we drive over to San Antonio Palopó to Nancy's shop.

There is a little girl that has the most precious smile.  Manuela.  We've seen her grow up over the years.

We were quite surprised, when driving along the Vista Hermosa Blvd, we came across a Pollo Campero Billboard that had a photo of Manuela.

Many times we have taken many friends and co-workers to Nancy's shop, where Manuela works.  We have shared the gospel in a number of different ways. One time she was given a Gospel of John and she began to read aloud...went on and on...what a blessing.

Check out a 2012 post about Manuela.

{photo taken Jan '12}

{photo taken Nov '12}

Manuela has a beautiful and genuine smile.

Agua Volcano View from the City Dump

Coffee Anyone?

 Its coffee season.   We have a tree in our front yard that has been producing quite a crop.   The process is simple but it is time consuming.

Taking the outer shell off and cleaning the coffee beans.

These are called "grapes" before the seeds are extracted from the outer shell.

Next we dry the beans out in the sun. Then another layer of hull has to be removed.

It is sort of the way God works with us. It is a simple process but it takes a long time. Layers have to be removed to get down to the real you. Basking in the SON for a long time is part of the process. And, in the end we are sometimes put through a mill or a press to be ready to serve.

MeeMaw

MeeMaw

MeeMaw is Janie's mother.  We have known MeeMaw as long as we have known Janie - 33 years.  MeeMaw had a quiet and sweet spirit about her.  She loved me and and loved my precious family.  

30 years ago, Glenn put Ellen in a special carry seat and rode his bicycle from our house in Grand Prairie to MeeMaw's house in Dallas. This was in the middle of the summer with 100+ degree weather.  MeeMaw got aggitated at Glenn.  Later on in life as her memory was fading, she never forgot this particular story.  She would always remind us, even 30 years later.

{2008 - taken at Karen's Bridal Shower} 

MeeMaw passed away early this morning, January 22, 2013

We love you MeeMaw!

~J

Happy Anniversary

Happy 33 Years

Together

Glenn and Judy

January 19, 1980

Several years ago, I posted a number of pictures on my blog.

Click here to see more.

Family shots

Bridal Party

The Cake

The Church

FB and Moody Connection

I just love how the Lord puts stuff together.  Let me explain.

Last Tuesday, I check my FB "newsfeed" and noticed that Eric, former MBI Alumni office employee who I knew several years ago, now living in NH, was making a mission trip to Guatemala.  I quickly texted him saying, "You know we live in Guatemala, do you need a place to stay?"

During their long Dallas layover, I suggested the Wednesday enchilada special at El Fenix. (BTW, they loved it)

 The small team stayed with us on their way to Zacapa and on their return.

I'm so glad to have made this reconnection too!

Antigua

This is one of my favorite paintings.

Beauty

Christmas Keeps Coming

Normally we have our Christmas tree down and put away by this time each year, {except for in 1998, we had the tree up from October - February, just ask my kids about that}.  Just this week, we got our first batch of Christmas cards that had arrived at my parents house in Dallas and also at our home office, Camino Global, in Dallas.

There were about 10 cards. 

But I'm sure I'll get more as we go through the month of January and even into February.

 So, we still have our Christmas Tree up.

Rest assured we'll take it down this week-end even though I am use to receiving Christmas cards into as late as February.

  The Hopper family holds the record. We received a card from them in Bolivia that was mailed in December and arrived the following September.  

10 months. :)
~J

Summer Intern Jobs

 Camino Global has 6 week internship projects that are available for 2013.

Emerge 2013

Check it out.

~J

Flower that looks like a Pine Cone

 I call these flowers Torches, but they really look like a huge pine cones. 
It's really a Ginger plant.  Hmmm
They are my favorite, and I noticed that they were growing up by our fireplace in the flowerbed.

~J

Happy 50th Anniversary to Murphys

On Sunday, Glenn and I, along with Marievelia drove the 45 minutes to the 8:30am morning service of the Alpha y Omega Church in Chimaltenango.  This was a special service, participated in by most of the Murphys as a way to honor the 50 year anniversary of Clyde and Edith.
 

We were handed a Bible bookmark to celebrate the occasion.

The 4 Murphy children and their spouses sang a special number. David gave the message.

click here to see a video of their special song 
"Find us Faithful"

The Murphy Family

Clyde and Edith have served the Lord faithfully for many years.  They are genuine people.  They are musicians and teachers.  As mechanic and nurse, they can fix anything.  They are dear folks and we wish them 50 more years of wedded bliss together.

Happy 50th Anniversary!

Purple it Is

Year in Review - 2012

I like to look back and see how we have been blessed this past year.

We have had several "excuses" to go and see Baby David in Nicaragua, now Boy David.  He is nearly 18 months old, walking, or rather running everywhere.  Most recently, we had Ellen, Luke and Boy David here in Guatemala for several days prior to Christmas.

 We hosted a GPBC mission team that came to Guatemala.  The team had an over-view of missions and saw some of the challenges a missionary faces.  They also volunteered for 5 days at Casita Benjamín.  Thank y'all for coming folks.  We know your lives have been changed and pray you may continue to plan trips to Guatemala.

 

On June 23, Gary was married to his sweetheart, Madison.  Lovely wedding.  We are so blessed to having another Mrs. Stewart in the family. 
 We love you, Madison.

 

There were family members and friends from Dallas who drove to Kansas City for the wedding.

Here is a YouTube video that I made of Gary and Madison's wedding.

 This summer, CAM International officially became Camino Global.  We attended the big event of Convocation in Estes Park, Colorado.  All 350+ families gathered together to celebrate, to be encouraged and we came away refreshed and refocused. 

 

 

 At Convocation we also witnessed the installation of our new Camino president, Doug Livingston.

Most recently we hosted Ellen, Luke and Boy David, along with my parents, known at Grandmommy and Granddaddy, for some pre Christmas activities.

 

During 2012, we hosted many friends in our home for a meal.  We have called on and visited the missionary family countless times.  We are saddened by the loss of Abel, but rejoice in his legacy and passion for missions.  

We thank the Lord for...

• Good health.  Glenn had a "growth" removed from his back and it is healing well.  I still struggle a bit with my ankle, but all in all, we are grateful for good health.
• Family.  We enjoyed the visit of family to Guatemala in December.  And we are excited about "GrandBaby" #2, scheduled to arrive March 2013
• Friends.  We realize that the Lord brings people into our lives to encourage us.  We are thankful for friends along the way.  New friends.  Old friends.

We look forward to 2013 - to see what God has in store for us.  

Christmas in Panajachel

 After saying "good-bye" to Ellen, Luke, Boy David on Sunday and Grandmommy and GrandDaddy the day before, Glenn and I took 3 days to spend out at Las Buenas Nuevas in Panajachel, Guatemala.

We spent the 3 days with our great friends, Forrest and Carol.  We relaxed, played games, slept, watched fireworks, and did I mention sleep?

We took the "back road" via Patzún for our return trip.  This meant that we had some minor travel challenges.  Here is a section of washed out road that has been like this for over a year. We had to drive through the river.

In summary, we enjoyed our 3 days in Panajachel.  We caught up on much needed sleep and correspondence as well.  We missed having family around on Christmas Day, but are thankful we were together before hand.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.