Guatemala – Monday

We ate breakfast at the hotel and drove to the church.  Larry talked about taking up your cross and following Jesus.  He also weaved the meaning behind all of the skits that we do, into his message.  That lead into us training the people of the church.  There was a good bit of people this day.  I enjoyed training them.  I took lots of pictures & videos.  We sorted thru all the decision cards, puppets, skits, props, and got them all in order so that we would have them for the next block party.  Then we took a break and ate lunch at the church.  The pastor’s wife cooked us lunch every day. 

Then in the afternoon we had a block party at San Pedro Market Place.  There were lots of people here. 

This is where we had one block party.

In the distance, we saw a two-story building where people were hanging off of the edge to watch us!  We saw 96 salvations there!  One lady came up to me after the invitation and offered me some Quetzal’s (Guatemalan money).  I told her “No, no, gratis, gratis!”  That meant “No, no, it’s free, it’s free”!  Then I gave her a big hug.  And she was so thankful that we came and shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with her!  She almost had tears in her eyes!  That was my highlight of the week! 

Then we packed up and went to another local church in San Marcos.  The pastor there invited us for “coffee”.  However, when we got there it was actually hot chocolate!  I was glad of that because I’m not a coffee drinker.  It was sooo good that I drank one up of it and got another cup and poured it into an old water bottle so that I could take it with me!  We also had sweet bread that they had made for us. 

Missionary Molly w/Pastor & daughters

The pastor had  two teenage daughters.  I had a picture made of the pastor with his daughters holding “Missionary Molly”.  I think Molly liked traveling around in Guatemala!

After that we drove back to the hotel.  We had about an hour and a half before the next block party so we walked down the street and saw a few shops.  I bought my daughter a dress there.  Belinda also bought a dress.  Carolyn bought a sun and beach bag.  Doug, Beverly and Gerald also bought a diet coke at the shop across the street from the hotel.  We used our Quetzal’s.  However, they also would take our American dollars.  The exchange rate was eight Quetzals’ to one of our dollars.  I had to get Doug to tell me how much money I needed.  I’m not good with math! 

That night we found out that Debbie Wright’s Dad passed away.  We were all very sadden about that.  We thought that we were going to have to send Belinda home with Debbie.  However, Larry decided that he would go home with her on Thursday morning.  We were all thankful that they stayed and helped us with the block parties and the rest of the ministry before they left.

We also found a computer that they let us use at the hotel, so I emailed my son & daughter and asked them to pray for us and for Debbie & Larry Wright and their family. 

We stayed up an extra hour just talking about what we were going to do the next day.

Guatemala – Our First Day of Ministry

I’m sorry that I’m just now posting this, but, I’ve been busy. Anyway….On Saturday, we had to switch hotels because there was a mix-up in the communications with Carol from the Guatemala Baptist Association, as to where we were supposed to stay. The first hotel said that they didn’t have enough beds for us for the whole week. So immediately after breakfast (consisting of scrambled eggs & bacon, fruit, milk, etc.) we were told that we needed to load up all of our suitcases again and move to another hotel (see my Flickr pictures). Once we checked in and picked out our beds in the hotel room (I roomed with Carolyn Warren and Belinda Jones) we loaded up the van again and Rudy drove us to the church in San Marcos.

As I walked into the church, I sat on the second pew from the front and no one else was sitting there.

David

Then all of a sudden, this one little boy, David (pronounced Daaveed), came up at sat right down beside me. Even though there was no one else sitting on the pew, he scrunched right next to me! He had the biggest brown eyes! He also had some modeling clay that he was playing with and he would show me what he was doing and I would say “muy bien” which meant “Very good!” The people here are very gracious and friendly and love to give you a big hug and a kiss on each cheek! They made you feel very loved.

In the morning, Larry preached and there were about six different churches represented in the church service at San Marcos. Larry taught them how to evangelize that morning. Then that afternoon we taught them how to do three puppet numbers. Then the church fed us some tamales, along with some other food! After lunch, we went to the park (named Parque Jose Ignacio Juarez) and saw over 30 salvations in one park! Then went to another park and set-up our puppet stage and did puppets & drama and saw more salvations! And did registration too!

Once we got to the 1st park (Parque Jose Ignacio Juarez), we took the puppet stage out along with the other bags and props for the block party. We each helped with setting up the puppet stage as this is where everything happens at each event. They have the puppet stage marked with A, B, C, etc. so that you can put A pipes into A pipes, B pipes into B pipes, etc. Once we got the stage set-up, several of us ladies started getting out the registration cards so that we could register each person that attended the block party. We had about six different categories: baby thru 11 years old (girl & boy), 12 years to 17 years (girl & boy), and 18 years and older (man & woman). The people from the church in San Marcos, along with our translator, helped us with registration. One thing that I found by doing this was that about 50% of the people could not write their name! This was especially true of the older women and some men. I would have to ask a young person who knew them to write their name down. So, once registration was complete then we started doing our puppets and skits.

Afterwards, Larry would give the invitation and we saw many raise their hands wanting us to pray for them and to ask Jesus to come into their hearts and lives.

Larry Wright bringing the message

When they would raise their hands, we would give them a decision card, a track (for them to keep) and a pencil so that they could write their name down for the church to follow-up with them later. Then the pastor would call out their names of the ones that he drew so that they could come and get a prize! These were the people who filled out a registration card at the beginning. Once the prizes were handed out, we took the puppet stage down and loaded up the van again.

Then we had dinner at the hotel and talked about the events of the day and what we were going to do tomorrow. We went to bed early that night so that we could get up early the next morning to do it all over again! We were so blessed today to see the Holy Spirit work in the lives of the people of Guatemala!

Guatemala & Air Rudy

As I reflect back over the last week of being in beautiful Guatemala on a mission trip with T.I.M.E. Ministries of Huntsville, AL, and remember the 475 lives of the people who we will see again (if not on earth, in heaven), one of the first remembrances will be of our very first day of traveling.

We got up extra early that morning so that we could be at the airport by 4:30 am because our plane left at 6 am….or so we thought. There were eight of us; Larry & Debbie Wright, Gerald & Beverly Cochran, Doug Seaver, Belinda Jones, Carolyn Warren and myself. Each of us had one personal luggage and one ministry luggage to be checked in at the airport along with two carry-on’s. We each had to ensure that we only carried 3 ounces of bottled liquid such as shampoo and conditioner, lotion, and deodorant. These are the airlines rules that have been in place for a couple of years now. We got there, checked our luggage in, went thru security, said our goodbyes to those that took us to the airport, then loaded the airplane, and everything seemed in order. Then we sat in our seats for almost an hour while we waited for the storm to pass that was making its way through Huntsville.

Then we were finally in the air! The flight to Houston was a nice flight, however because we were late taking off, we missed our connection in Houston. Our plane was supposed to leave Houston at 9 am however, we didn’t arrive until 9:15 am. So, thank the Lord, we were able to get on the next available flight at 11:30 am. We considered ourselves blessed because there was one man there that was told he was going to have to wait several days for his flight!

Once we received our updated tickets in Houston, we had to go thru airport security again. We showed our passports & tickets and then proceeded to take our shoes off and put our carry-on bags thru the airport xray machine. This time they went thru Carolyn Warren’s carry on bag. They found three big bottles of suntan lotion! So she had two options: 1) she could throw it away, or 2) she could take it out and put it in her checked bags. Since we had a little time before our next plane ride, she decided that she would put it in her carry on bag. And this was no small undertaking.

I went with her to help. One lady told her to take it directly to the front desk and have them put it in her bag. We did as instructed and then had to go back thru security, take off our shoes, etc. THEN, we finally sat down to wait on the 11:30 am departure. One important thing we learned on this mission trip was to be flexible.

Guatemala City Airport

To make a long story short, we flew into Guatemala City and arrived around 2:30 pm. The city was beautiful! As we landed you see multi-colored buildings, some small and some with many floors. You also can’t help notice the very beautiful mountains in the background.

We are met at the airport by Carol, who is from the Guatemala Baptist Association. She heped setup our itinerary for the week.

We were also met by our bus driver and translator for the week. His name is Rudy. He lives in Guatemala City and is from the area. He has a wife and several children and grandchildren.

The rest of the day was spent riding in Rudy’s van, going around these very winding, curvy roads to the town of San Marcos. We would have to hold to the sides of the van to keep from almost being thrown out of our seats! The only thing that I can think of that it compares with is riding thru the Smokey Mountains. We must have gone from side to side in that van for at least three hours! Larry Wright appropriately named Rudy’s van “Air Rudy”! We certainly felt like we were flying!

We did stop for dinner at The Restaurant Kotok for some authentic Guatemala food. It was very good and we were careful to not drink the water. Then we were back on the road again.

Once we found our hotel, all I wanted to do was go to bed because it was around 11 pm by then. After Belinda, Carolyn, and I put our luggage in our rooms and picked out our beds, I did just that.

I’m going to try to give you a day to day account of our trip. Tomorrow will be our first day of ministry.

******Just wanted to add that later, I found out that we actually had 511 salvations!!  Praise the Lord!!*******

Airport

Here we are at the airport!

Missionary Molly

This is Missionary Molly. She’s going with me to Guatemala! We are so excited about meeting the people there and talking with them about the Good News of Jesus Christ! If you wouldn’t mind, would you pray for us while we are there? Our plane leaves at 6:00 am in the morning and we’ll be returning on the 19th around 9:00 pm.

Test

I’m writing this from my new iPhone! I just had to test it out before I left for Guatemala!

Samaritan Purse and the American Red Cross

Please check out this wonderful song that Christian artists put together!  It is wonderful!!  And all proceeds go to benefit Samaritan’s Purse and the American Red Cross.  Please click the link below…

Samaritan’s Purse.

Thanks!

Kathy

Work, Mom and Guatemala

Well, I am entering day 17 with my new company!  Not a lot has changed.  I’m still sitting at the same desk, still doing the same job.  However, my insurance has changed, along with a new company.  Also, my “Labor Category” has changed.  I’m still not liking that however, it’s the same pay so I’m not pushing the matter.  The Labor Category determines how much of a raise you will be offered in the future, so it’s not just a “pride” thing that I’m talking about.  If you are at the top of your Labor Category you might not be offered as much as if you were in the middle (in terms of pay scale) of a Labor Category.  Anyway…there isn’t a lot I can do about it at the moment so I’m trying to look at the bright side of things!  I am so thankful that I have a job because there are many out there that don’t have a job.  There are even some with jobs that don’t have insurance, so I am thankful for that too!

I think any kind of transition in your life is stressful.  I know that it has been for me (concerning my job).  I’m not sure if my Mom can pick up on that or not.  Because I really don’t talk to her a lot about what is going on because she won’t understand and she usually forgets what I tell her anyway. 

Speaking of my Mom, she has been giving me fits lately.  She has been refusing to take her medicine!  One night, I turned my back on her for just a minute and she was throwing her medicine into the trash can!  I was so upset with her!  How is she going to get better (other than prayer) if she doesn’t take her medicine?! 

We have been having Amedisys Home Health Care come out for her Occupational Therapy where they help my Mom do her exercises for her arm.  Medicare pays for this and they do a reassessment every 60 days.  Well, this time they told me that they could no longer come out because Momma wasn’t making any progress.  This is partly because of her cognitive ability and partly because she gets to a certain point with her therapy and she refuses to go any further because of the pain.  I know that if she tried to move past the pain that she would eventually have full range of motion in her right arm.  But, now I’m not so sure that is possible.  And because the Occupational Therapist isn’t coming out they won’t allow the bath aide to come out either.  My Mom cannot reach to brush the back of her hair, nor can she reach to wash her hair and back.  Thank goodness that we have hired someone to come out three days a week for five hours a day to help with that!

Caring Senior Services has been sending a lady out since right after Momma got home from Millemium Nursing and Rehab Center.  However, Momma is now on her third lady!  The previous lady that came out refused to be firm with my Mom concerning taking her medicine.  She said “I’m not going to manhandle her!”  And I really did not want her to manhandle her, I just wanted her to be firm with her and say “You are going to take your medicine”.  That is what I do with her and she takes them!  So, I would expect the same from a caregiver!  Anyway, she ended up quitting.  But, thankfully, Caring Senior Services sent another lady out that I think will be much better with my Mom!  She has 13 years of experience of working with seniors who have dementia and so she knows how they can become.  Thank you, Lord!  She also helps with giving her a bath too!

Soon my Mom will be staying with my daughter, Stacey, and then with my sister, Regina.  Regina is going to take her to a condo in Destin, Florida!  I’m supposed to be meeting Stacey on March 9th so that she can stay with her in Dothan, AL until March 13th.  Then Stacey is supposed to drive her to Destin (which is only about an hour’s drive).  Then Momma will be staying with Regina and her two daughters, Sophia and Savannah for a week!  They will be staying at Club Destin Resort.  (For some great pictures of Destin, FL, please click here.)  The reason for this is that I will be going to San Marcos, Guatemala for a week, on a mission trip, and needed them to take care of Momma while I am gone.

I am so excited about going to Guatemala!!  (If you’d like to see where San Marcos is located, just look to the right hand side of this screen for “Platial” and type in “San Marcos, Guatemala”.)  I will be traveling with TIME Ministries.  I actually only know two people that are going out of the nine people that are going to be on the team.  My friend, Carolyn, is going to be going.  We’ve been friends for a long time and she also enjoys going on mission trips. 

I also have a friend, Katherine, who just finished finished her college degree with a minor in Spanish.  So, she is teaching me a little Spanish before I go on my trip!  I’m learning short phrases and the alphabet.  I also checked out of the public library, a CD that teaches Spanish.  It says a phrase or a word and you repeat it back.  That also helps with just hearing the dialect so that when I get there it won’t be too much of a culture shock. 

Larry Wright, our leader with TIME Ministries and a retired pastor, has mailed us a packet of things to learn and be prepared before we go.  One of the things is to prepare your personal testimony.  This is very important so that we can share the Good News with others!  I also think that they are going to translate it into Spanish for us to hand out on the mission field.  Another thing is to memorize scriptures!  This is extremely important because we have to be prepared to give an answer to “life’s questions”.

Let me give you an example.  For instance, what if someone says “I’m not good enough to get saved.”  You can then show them and tell them that the Bible says in Romans 3:10 that “there is none righteous, no not one”.  We are all sinners in need of a Savior.  Romans 3:23 says “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.  Romans 5:8 “But God commendth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.  Jesus loved us so much that he died on the cross to save us from our sins.  John 3:16.  All we have to do is ask Jesus into our hearts, Romans 10:9-10, 13 “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you WILL be saved!  For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

There is nothing more fulfilling for me than to help lead someone to Christ!  This could not be accomplished without the Holy Spirit leading and guiding.  So, please pray for me and for all those that Jesus puts across my path, and for all our team members too!  I will try to keep you updated with my trip as the time gets closer.

God’s Will

My mind is racing today as I think of all that 2010 has in store for me. 

I found out in December that the company that I am with lost their contract.  So, the company that won the contract interviewed everyone on the old contract.  I had my interview on Monday, Jan. 11th at 1 pm.  They said that they would let everyone know which company they would be with and have an offer letter sent by Friday, Jan. 15th.  Well, that day came and went and I heard nothing.  However, I was clinging to the fact that the guy that I interviewed with said “oh you’ll have a job but, we just don’t know with what company yet.”  (There is a “Prime” contractor and about four or five subcontractors underneath them.)    I also knew that no matter what happened that God was in control and he would make everything work out for His good.

Well, I finally received a call this morning and they emailed me my offer letter!  Praise the Lord!  I have been praying that I would go with the “Prime” contractor and that is exactly where I’ll be going!  I love that!  There is only one minor detail that needs fixing and that is my “Labor Category”.  I was hired in at this job as a Data Technician.  When we were bought out by another company my title became Associate Engineer.  And now, the Prime contractor is hiring me as a “General Clerk III”?!!  I think not!  To me this seems like a demotion.  I do do clerical work, however, I do more than that.  Our Administrative Assistant is hiring in as a “System’s Analyst” and I’m a General Clerk?!   I am not happy with that and I do intend to voice my opinion when my Manager gets back.  Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful that I have a job.  But, wouldn’t you not want to go backwards with a new job?

Anyway, God will work it out for His good, right?! 

On a brighter note, I found out today that I’ll be going to San Marcos, Guatemala from March 12th to March 20th!  I’m so excited! 

Guatemala

I will be traveling with around nine other people with T.I.M.E. Ministries in Huntsville, AL .  We will be training the people there in missions evangelism.  Here are some things that I found out about San Marcos:

San Marcos is a village of 2200 inhabitants divided into three neighborhoods or barrios. Most of the indigenous population lives on the two hills on either side of the valley. Their native language is Kakchikel (a Mayan dialect), but many of them speak Spanish as well.

I also found a great article on this blog:  http://www.joycemaynard.com/columns-articles/around-the-world-bliss-by-a-blue-lake.shtml  Of course, we will be ministering to the people of San Marcos and won’t have much time for the normal “vacation” things.  But, that is ok because we want them to know that Jesus loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives! 

I also plan on going back to Michigan in June to minister to the people there thru puppets and drama and possibly Vacation Bible School.

So, please pray for me and for those who God brings across my path that His will be done and that they would come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Snow Day Has Many Benefits!

Just thought I’d update my blog since it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything on here. 

A snowy day!

Today it snowed in northern Alabama!  And when it snows in the south, everything comes to a standstill!  But, the snow was beautiful!  It started snowing early this morning and hasn’t stopped yet!  Here in the south, we get really excited when it snows because it doesn’t snow here very often.  I took this opportunity to take the day off of work.

While at home, the bath aide came by, along with Pam, the Occupational Therapist.  So, I got to see exactly what exercises Momma does with her.  She has came a long way since Momma first broke her shoulder! 

There is one exercise that she does where she has to take cups from one side and put them with more cups on the other side, as you will see in this picture.  This is supposed to help with her rotator cuff on her shoulder. 

Moving cups around

She also makes her do other exercises such as making her crawl her fingers up the wall as high as she can.  Another one is when she lies flat on the couch and Pam moves her arm out to the side of her body, as much as she can handle it.  It was really good for me to see the therapy that they are giving her.  Amedisys Home Health Care will be continuing therapy with Momma until around the first of March.  At that time, they will access her again and decide whether or not she needs continued therapy.  Pam said that it was a slow process for a broken shoulder to heal.  If  she  is doing as Iwell as she is now, they will probably release her then.

I still have trouble getting her to eat all of her food at one time,  but,  that   is another story!

On a brighter note, we had a wonderful Christmas!  The Lord blessed us by JLeigh’s Mom letting us see her!  We haven’t seen her since October!   Adam and Stacey and her kids came to see us the week before Christmas!  We had a blast!  For more pictures, please see my Flickr photos on the side of this post.

I’ve also set a goal for myself for reading the Bible thru in a year!  I’m using the One Year Bible Blog to help me reach that goal.  Please pray that I’ll continue to keep this up, as the devil likes to see what he can mess up!  Have you made any New Year’s “goals” for yourself?  I hope so!  I also hope that 2010 will be the best year ever for you!  God Bless!!

One more thing….I will be traveling with T.I.M.E. Ministries to Guatemala on March 12th to 20th, 2010.  Please pray for me that God’s will will be done and that many people will be saved.