Sharing Our Story

Back in March I blogged about our visit from the IMB media team.  They came down to do a story on the Chorti work and our partnership with the Agriculture Center in Honduras.   This week the articles and video that they produced from that visit were made public.  We pray that God would use these media projects to raise prayer support for our area and that we would begin to see great fruit among the people that we are sharing the Gospel with here in Eastern Guatemala.

Would you join us in praying?  Check out the links below and pray as the Lord leads you.  

Here is an article about our work in the village of Lagunetas:  Small Gains

Here is an article about the Ag Center work in Honduras:  Strong Partners 

 Here is an infographic about the Chorti people group:  Another Chance

To learn more about how you can go, give, and pray visit:  www.imb.org.

Lately

Here is a little glimpse of our life over the past week.  I spent most of the first part of last week getting things ready for Ben's birthday.  The highway that runs in front of our subdivision is being repaved so getting back and forth to town has been a headache the last two weeks.

After a long morning of running errands last Tuesday we stopped by the frozen yogurt booth and got Ben a treat.  He picked strawberry.

On Wednesday we headed up the mountain to Tunuco Arriba for Bible class in the school.  We are averaging about 55 kids each week in the two classes.  Mrs. Diana is doing a great job of teaching in the Chorti language and the kids seem to be learning and remembering the stories they are being taught.

some of the kids in Tunuco Arriba seeing us off as we left that day

Here is Ben borrowing someones hammock that morning to take a break, ha.  David usually takes the boys off to visit and play while Mrs. Diana and I are working in the school.  He looks chilled out doesn't he.

and here is Mrs. Diana teaching the kids the song "Our God is an Awesome God" in Chorti

She invited us to stay for lunch that day when we returned from the village.  In addition to eating lunch together we were also celebrating Mr. John's recent birthday.   We had a great meal and great time of fellowship around the table.

Mrs. Diana and Mr. John with his birthday cake

they are precious folks!

Their Chorti translation team joined us for lunch also.  We all sat outside under a covered porch and ate.  I love outdoor dining!

We had BBQ chicken, black beans, rice, bean salad, pasta salad, and tortillas.

I've already blogged about Thursday (Ben's birthday).  What a fun day that was!  Friday morning David met with Bro. Nahum (a pastor from Honduras) about the possibility of starting a new Bible study in a village near the border.  While he was gone I washed clothes and got the house straightened up.  That afternoon we swam and then had a fun night planned.  We grilled hamburgers, and had hot dogs and French fries for our meal.  While eating we watched Disney Planes Fire and Rescue outback in the yard.  David's mother had sent it to Ben for his birthday.  We really enjoyed the movie.  It was cute. 

Cruz has already asked to have this for his birthday theme next year (even though his birthday this year has not even passed yet! HA.  That boy loves birthdays!

my boys watching the movie on a hot Friday evening

Here are some of my Bible study crew from Lagunetas on Saturday afternoon.  We had a fun time of Bible study there.   When we returned to town we went out for some Chinese Shrimp Fried Rice for supper in Chiquimula.  Ben likes it but Cruz doesn't so we picked him up some McDonald's chicken nuggets to eat instead.

David had Bible study in Nearar on Sunday morning.  This week he took Miguel (from the village of Chanco) with him.  Miguel really enjoyed going with him and shared an interest to go again.  Pray for Miguel who is a young believer and wanting to grow in his faith. 

Miguel praying at the close of the Bible study

and here are some pictures of my sweet boys clowning around that morning at home

These two keep me BUSY!!!

We have a steady week going so far.  We'll be in a different village each day Monday - Thursday.  We appreciate your prayers as we travel around making visits and leading Bible studies.  The hot season has arrived with a vengeance!  April is typically the hottest month of the year for us.  Hot doesn't even describe what it has felt like these past few days.  It's more like pure misery!  And, it doesn't look like there is much relief in sight.  Here is a photo I took yesterday afternoon showing the upcoming week.  Oh my oh my oh my! 

Have a great week everyone.  Enjoy that nice spring weather in the States.  This heat will be heading your way before you know it. ha

Our Visit From The IMB Media Team

We have spent some time this week hosting a group from the IMB that work in the media department.  They came to do a story on the agriculture work in Honduras and our partnership with it.  They also interviewed us for a possible article in AmericasStories.  In addition to those they were doing a segment on children to learn about life here.  It's been a fun few days for us and we enjoyed our time together with them.

Our group- Ben, Cruz, Jessica, John, me, David, Ann, Kelly, and Dan

Tuesday was spent at our home in Chiquimula.  They set up their equipment in our dining room and interviewed both of us.  It took about an hour each to do the interviews.  The afternoon was spent filming our family interacting and playing.  Thankfully my boys are used to videos and pictures being made of them so they thought nothing of it.  I, on the other hand, felt a little awkward and definitely prefer to be on the other end of the camera, ha. 

David getting ready for his interview

On Wednesday we traveled to the village of Lagunetas.  They wanted to see some of the agriculture projects the people there have been doing.  They also wanted to learn about our Bible study there and  how the agriculture work helped open the door to get it started.  We spent some time visiting a few farms and interviewing the project participants.  They were able to meet and interview the family that hosts us in their home for Bible study.  We also did a short Bible study for them to film and show.  Here are some photos from our day there-

The boys played soccer with Noe while we waited to get started that morning.

I snapped this photo of some locals walking by carrying wood to their homes.  I'm thankful that I do not have to gather wood and carry it long distances to my house in order to cook and provide for my family each day!

doing a little greeting for the camera

John filming Cruz in the tree.  If I can't find him while there I have learned to always look up.

my little monkey

some of the precious kids I get to teach there

hiking to visit a farm

of course my little guys had to stop and do a little rock climbing along the way

Dan being interviewed about some of the crops there

David and Noe talking about the Ag projects there

on the trail again

 beautiful scenery all around

 Stopping along the way to take a break.  It was a hot day but we did have some great breezes.

 a video of us hiking

 David translating an interview with some of the Ag students.

One of the team members took this photo of me while I did a short Bible study with the kids.  Most of the children that attend my Bible study were in school that morning so I had a small crowd but we still had a fun time.  This photo shows what I love doing best- sharing God's Word with the precious children here.  What an awesome privilege I have!

our road back down the mountain

 views along the way

Our time with the team ended on Wednesday afternoon and they will spend the rest of their week in Honduras with Dan and his team.  I cannot wait to see how they piece it all together and edit a week of photos and videos into a few short segments.  I don't remember much of what I said to them in interviews but I hope that my words will reflect my heart and passion for what we do here.  I'll be sure to share with you any footage that they pass along to us. 

Our Weekend

I mentioned in my last post that school was cancelled for Cruz on Friday.  So we spent the morning at home working on some homework, coloring, drawing, and reviewing numbers.  Because of the Bible study we are doing in Tunuco Arriba on Wednesday mornings he is not able to attend class that day.  We cannot get back home in time to pick him up and we leave before school starts so we just let him skip school and go with us.  Wednesday is the day they focus mostly on math at school so he is missing that.  Instead he gets it all sent home for me to work on with him myself. 

They love to use markers and scissors and this day I gave them a whole book of stickers as well.  They spent the longest time that morning making little projects. 

They are also both a little OCD.  Notice how they lined all the markers up by color.  Before the morning was over they were putting them together and making swords.  When the markers start flying through the air that's when you know it's time to clean them up, ha.

We also spent a lot of time outside playing.  Cruz wanted to practice kicking the soccer ball.  They also rode their bikes and played with their remote control car.

Here's a little video of them playing.  They loved to pretend that the car was chasing them.

I also mentioned in my last post that we were having a Friday morning visit from our Ag partners Dan and Noe from Honduras.  They spent the morning meeting with David and then we all went out for lunch at the mall food court.  Over lunch we discussed an upcoming IMB Media Team visit that we are having next week.  They are coming down to do a story on the Ag work in Honduras and also about our partnership with it.  They will spend a few days here with us in Guatemala interviewing our family and visiting in the village of Lagunetas where we have an ongoing agriculture partnership project.  They will then spend several days in Honduras interviewing and filming there.  How exciting!  I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Ben, Dan, David, Cruz, and Noe

That afternoon we spent a lot of time on our community playground trying to burn off some of the boys energy.

Isn't that sky beautiful!!!

We grilled hamburgers for supper and then spent some time playing Uno. 

Saturday was a lazy day for us.  We all got up and got dressed as if we had somewhere to go but never left the house all day.  We laughed when we realized that we had not even unlocked the front door from the night before until around 4:00 that afternoon when we took the boys out to play.   Being lazy is not always a bad thing.  Sometimes it's just what you need.

The boys did a little more coloring and drawing with markers but also decided to draw all over their arms.  Cruz thought it was cool until he got hot and wiped his face.  He didn't believe me when I told him he had blue eyes until I took this picture and showed him.  We got a good laugh out of that one.

How cool is this maze that they built in the dirt piles near our house!  My little guys love walking back and forth over the boards.  It has a trail from one end to the next.  When they get to the end they just turn around and come back.  They love it!

Here's a video of them on Saturday afternoon.

King of the hill

For our supper I cooked chicken and rice, English peas, and another pan of yeast rolls.  I am trying out a few different recipes until I find one we really like.  I made a lemon cake for dessert.  After eating we played a few rounds of Dominos before putting the boys to bed for the night.  Game nights are my favorite and we are trying to incorporate them into our weekends when we can.

homemade yeast rolls

I just love the smell of them baking in the oven!

David taught Bible study in the village of Nearar on Sunday morning.  He took a missionary friend of ours with him to let him see what we do.   The boys and I ended up visiting a local Baptist church in Chiquimula.  We had asked another missionary friend about some taxi recommendations and were given two names of trustworthy people.  I called one and they picked us up and dropped us off at the church.  The boys LOVED riding in the taxi.  Ben kept telling me "mama, this car is cool!".  ha

me and my boys in our taxi ride to church

I am definitely thinking that is something we will do more often in the future.  They have a great class for the kids to attend and I get to sit still and be a part of a service.  I left feeling very refreshed.

Our service went much longer than normal but David's Bible study ended earlier than normal.  Because of that he was back in town before we got out of church.  He slipped in and joined us.  Afterwards we went out for lunch at Pollo Campero.  Yum!

Cruz is becoming my little photographer.  He loves taking pictures.  He also loves zooming in.  Here is a close-up photo of us he took at lunch. 

After long afternoon naps the rest of the day was spent outside playing.  Cruz spent most of his time kicking his soccer ball.  I had bought him some new soccer socks which are now his new favorite thing. 

 It took me a while to notice that when he dressed himself for some crazy reason he decided to put his Spiderman watch on is ankle.  That boy has a style of his own, ha.

There are several fruit trees in our subdivision.  The tree to the left is a guayaba tree and the one on the right is a mango.  I am not a fan of either fruit but David is loving it.  He has been eating guayabas for the past two weeks.  The smell alone makes me gag.  The mangos are almost ready to pick and he is eagerly waiting.

 mangos

This picture makes me smile.  When we got ready to head back home David jumped on Cruz's bike and took off.  Both boys could not believe that their daddy was riding Cruz's bike.  Cruz chased after him and ran alongside him the rest of the way home.   Fun times!

Well it's Monday, again.  They just seem to keep rolling back around.  We'll start our day off at the dentist getting our teeth cleaned.  Who schedules dentist appointments for first thing on a Monday morning???  (I'll give you a hint- it wasn't me).  After that it's grocery shopping and clothes washing.  David will be back visiting in Lagunetas on Tuesday and then we have Bible study in Tunuco Arriba on Wednesday and Muyurco on Thursday.  We are anticipating another great week and are praying God's blessings over all we do.  Would you join us in praying for that?   We would appreciate it!