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April 2, 2006 Okay, so much to talk about and no time to talk about it! Here's a summary
of what has happened the past several weeks along with some pictures. For all the pictures of Jimmy, Lucy, Tom, Lisa,
Travis, Stacy, Abby, Robert, Matt, Claudine, Barbara, Rani and Roman, and lots of other people click here..
March 25 and 26
On March 25, We were set to go to show a movie in the small village of Panjovar (I know I'm not spelling
it right but most of you won't know the difference anyway). We piled everyone and all the equipment into the truck,
which was quite a task, with Matthew and Abby sitting in the back. Our first mission was to go to the village of San
Juan and get a motel for the night as we were about two hours from home. Afterwards, we would go to the location to
show the movie, returning to the motel for the night. The next morning our plan was to go to the New Jerusalem Church,
where we had been invited to attend Sunday school from the previous day's distribution. That was the plan anyway.
About 15 minutes from the motel, it began to rain. Light at first and then heavier. By the time we pulled into
the driveway at the motel, it was starting to pour. I mean really, really pour down rain. We had just made it.
We waited about 30 minutes but it was raining so hard it was obvious we couldn't go to the village so we called and canceled.
So much for the old plan. So we made a new plan to show a movie in the motel restaurant. The girls working there were
excited and we began setting up. That was the new plan anyway.
As we went down to get the stuff out of the truck, surprise! So much lightning and thunder-- the electricity went
out. So we decided to eat while there was still a little daylight. Dinner was good anyway. At that point
we stopped making plans and just settled in to watch the lightning show out the window. It was awesome!.
The next morning we got up and, after breakfast, headed for the church about 15 minutes away. The rain had stopped and
it was a beautiful day. Once there, we settled in and observed the different classes. Some of the team assisted
with music and singing while others simply observed. Afterwards we brought out the candy bars to a bunch of happy kids!
During the Sunday school hour, I spoke with the pastor's wife and she told me about the people we had bought the issues
and clothes for, and how happy they were. Then she told me about an 85-year-old woman with some sad circumstances.
She is pictured below. When we went to visit her in her house, we walked through pathways filled with excrement.
The pastor's wife explained that none of the houses have bathrooms. When we arrived at her 'hut' the woman was all alone,
sitting in front of a smoky pile of ash and wood. She was so thin she was almost nothing. In the corner
of her hut was her casket, ready for her death. She had bought it because her son, a drunk stole anything he could get
and she was afraid she wouldn't have the money to be buried.
March 24, 2006 Another Clothing Distribution
March 24, 2006 Another distribution today in a very isolated village where the people, many of them, don't
even speak Spanish. They speak a dialect called su-tujil. It was a beautiful boat ride through wonderfully calm
waters but the ride back was so different! Click below for the video.
See the Boat Ride
More hiking carrying boxes and bags of clothing thousands of miles (okay I'm exaggerating, but you get the picture) to the
church building. It was a beautiful day!
The people had a ball and we even took things to the Village people who didn't come out because they had no documents, no
identification papers. So we delivered! It was an interesting walk through the jungle on the volcano that Stacy
and Claudine had hiked the day before.
March 23, 2006 Stacy and Claudine decided to hike the volcano today while the rest of us
took a boat over to Santiago.
At 7 a.m. Stacy and Claudine left in the boat to cross over to San Pedro, where the base of the volcano lies. They
took as their guide, Maria the Spanish teacher and Hector tagged along as well. I had taken great pains to explain
how difficult it was to hike this volcano as I had only made it halfway (and could barely walk back down to the base camp--
hey, I'm 50 years old and have a disease! What's your excuse?). To my surprise and their delight, they made
it up in only 2 1/2 hours.
Once at the top they called on my cell. Robert, Stacy's father was so worried about their safety that, once he found
out they were safe, he didn't much talk about anything else. Stacy had called for congratulations and she got none!
Bummer! But here they are: Stacy and Claudine you did good! Better than most and you certainly surprised the guide!
The rest of us went to Santiago and visited the area where the mud slides occurred in October, killing over 1500 people. Most of these were buried alive. We encountered a man who lost his entire family (seven
kids and a wife I believe) who was trying to fence his property that was covered by 15 feet of mud. His family still
lay buried beneath where we stood, entombed in the mud. It was a very sobering discussion. Directly next
to his property the owner had violated the government's order and dug up the bodies of his family members-- 34
of them! Where he had found the bodies he placed crosses as shown in the picture. It was very heartbreaking.
March 22, 2006 Today was the first distribution of the new group in the little village of San Pablo,
a very poor in village about 30 minutes away by boat. The plan was that the guys at San Juan 10:10 would have the stuff
in the boats ready to go at 7 a.m., but it was not to be. We arrived at 7 a.m. to find hundreds of bags and boxes that
needed to be carried from the street down the hill to the boats. No easy task! One by one we carried the black
bags loaded with clothes, the supplies and the juice and loaded the boats. Finally we were ready to go.
The 30 minute boat ride was very nice, with the cool breeze blowing through the boat across the lake. It was a
beautiful morning-- that is until we arrived at the boat dock. At that point we had to unload the clothes and supplies
and juice from the boat down the dock up the hill to the first set of stairs. Then we had to carry them up another hill
about 100 yards to the waiting trucks.
The truck ride was very refreshing. Then, once at the church we went through yet another step of unloading everything
into the building. Everyone worked very hard but the day was just beginning!
The people lined up and waited for several hours for their opportunity to find some clothes for their family members.
While they waited, the members of our team made balloon animals, saying, danced and carried on; some very fine entertainment!
The pastor of The New Jerusalem AOG Church and his wife and daughter assisted us as we went through the time-consuming
process of getting document numbers and fingerprints of each person who received the assistance. This was for the government
which allowed us to bring the items into the country tax-free.
Several people on the team put money out of their own pocket to buy shoes and clothes for several of the people with great
need. In particular one little boy named Juan whose mother and father had died and had a speech impediment, was
helped. What a difference! All in all, this is a very excellent day!
March 21, 2006 Many people arrived today. It took us two vehicles to collect and deliver
them to the house here in Panajachel. After a short time in the morning we all went to Santa Catarina and hiked to the
top of the village to see a couple of the houses. The views were incredible; the hike was tough!
March 17-20 I honestly can't remember what we did but we stayed busy! There was a trip
to Santiago, ChiChi and ????
March 16, 2006 Today we had the first distribution of the clothing and items given us by
the government which were previously donated by other countries and just sitting in their warehouse. We distributed,
besides the clothing, cereal, powdered milk, notebooks and school supplies, juice and shoes.
The day was very difficult, trying to keep the people orderly. They all have needs that need to be met. No
one wanted to be left out. At the end of the day we were all wiped out, getting to bed early and recuperating.
March 15, 2006
Well, our container contents are now in our building! And today at 6 a.m., Hector, Jimmy and Angels brother, Luis
left at 6 a.m. to go to the city to pick up the clothing and other products donated to us by the government of Guatemala for
our distribution. We're going to be busy!
I spoke with another missionary from New York about the possibility of his living in Santa Catarina in our rented house
to show the movies and teach English for us. His name is Bill and he is going to look at the property this morning when
we go to speak to Pedro and Marie about helping them rebuild a house. Then, this afternoon around 2 p.m. the guys should
return from the city and we will unload the truck into our building in Santa Catarina. It's all coming together,
not in my time but in God's. And in retrospect, I can see that it was always meant to be this way. "For all things
work together for the good... according to his plan".
March 14, 2006 Much has happened in the past week. We have shown our first movie and completed
work on our new building in Santa Catarina, picked up folks from the airport twice, met another family in need, arranged for our container and much, much more.
On Saturday March 11, Lucy and Jimmy arrived at the airport from Texas. You
may recall that Lucy and Gene Veal were with us a year ago and that Gene went home to be with the Lord just a few months later.
Jimmy is Gene and Lucy's son-in-law. Anyway, we exchanged greetings and then went to the truck to drive home.
It was about 11 o'clock at night.
When we got in the truck I
noticed it didn't start right away. But it was no big deal. (Do you sense an adventure coming?) We began
driving home and talking and I noticed after about 15 minutes the truck was noticeably less powerful going up the hills than
I remembered. But it was no big deal. I continue to noticed the decrease in power but thought maybe the luggage
and the people was simply more weight than I was remembering. So it was no big deal. Then, about 45 minutes into
our 2 1/2 hour drive I went to pass a truck and when I shifted from fourth gear into third year the engine suddenly died,
but started right back up when I let the clutch out. Again it was no big deal. But now I started to think about
why this was happening.
I decided not
to say anything to Jimmy and Lucy but I was thinking about the possibilities: engine going bad, air cleaner clogged, bad gas--
BAD GAS! That was it! It was coming back to me. I suddenly recalled being at the gas station just before
going to the airport and watching as the guy put the gas in the car. In my mind I realized he had pumped the 91 octane
unleaded instead of the diesel. What an idiot! What could he have been thinking? How could I live her let
him touch my car? He must be a moron!
By now you probably
have guessed it. The guy was me! Can you believe it? I make my living by owning gas stations and I put 91
octane unleaded gas in my diesel truck! This is too incredible!
I immediately
confessed my stupidity to Jimmy and Lucy and we talked about what might happen. At this time we were about an hour out
of town at midnight on the dark highway, far
away from civilization and realizing that the truck was in all probability, going to stop. It had been running progressively
worse. We talked about sleeping in the truck and were happy to remember that I had bought food that evening (these are
the important things to me). We pressed on.
When I fueled
the truck I had about 6 gallons of diesel gas and introduced 10 gallons of unleaded into the tank. The truck seemed
to be running okay as long as I kept it under power so it didn't seem to be an issue as long as it did get worse. And,
in about 30 more minutes we would begin the decent into Panajachel at which time I could almost coast all the way. Needless
to say, God was with us and we made it home at 1:30 in the morning without event.
So today, the
first thing I did was went and put four gallons of diesel fuel into the tank. Then we drove around enough to put two
more gallons in. From what I've read on the Internet, it should be okay. Time will tell. God knows.
He really does.
March 6, 2006
Things continue to be busy as we approach the time of the arrival of our guests in a few days. There is so much
to do!
We begin today working on the new building we have rented in Santa Catarina. We have many minor repairs and painting
to do and we have purchased 12 eight-foot long wooden planks which we will place upon concrete blocks to make seats for the
people to sit on during movies and/or meetings.
Yesterday Rani and I had lunch at Hector's house and tonight we will be visiting and having dinner with Pedro's family
in Solola.
Friday we visited the city of Guatemala and purchased some additional plates and silverware to prepare for our guests.
We also visited with SOSEP to discover the status of our container.
I have not yet been here a week and it seems like so much longer. Yet it also seems like I just got here.
Go figure? .
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