Malnutrition Center in San Juan

This past week I was so happy to meet up with a group working with Florida Baptist Children's Home at a malnutrition center in San Juan, Guatemala. Right now there are more than sixty children at the center and some of the hardest working nannies I've ever met. Each nanny has many babies and children to care for and they truly love these children like their own. But you can imagine what a difficult job they have. We were glad to be there to give them some extra help and to be able to give each child a little extra love and attention.

I know I've blogged about the fact that around half of the children here suffer from chronic malnutrition. I've known that statistic for a while now. But bathing these babies, changing their diapers, and feeling their ribs as I hold them makes it all too terribly real. The babies at the feeding center in San Juan will probably be OK. The nannies, nurses and doctors will work to make sure they are healthy. But I can't help but wonder about all the other little ones here that are not being helped.

Nueva Casa in El Tejar

Today we started building a new house for a single mother with two sons in El Tejar. Although this house will be about the size of a shed in the States, it will be such an encouragement and blessing to this family. The mother works for several families washing their clothes, which barely pays for food and school supplies for her boys. Despite her difficult life, she smiled as we talked today about how this house was a gift from God and how He continues to take care of her.


This is Blanca's current stove. She is going to receive an onil stove, which will allow her to use less firewood and the smoke will be vented out of the house to protect her eyes and the family's lungs.

This is another "house" next to the one we are building.

While we were working one mother stopped by hoping that we would be able to build a house for her family. She shared that she has many children and as heart-breaking as it sounds, she offered her youngest as a gift for me. I thought at first that I wasn't understanding, but she continued to tell me that he could be a gift for me. The hardest thing I did today was explain to this mother that although we would be able to build many houses in her town, our list was simply too long and I couldn't promise that we could help her.

This little cutie is Mario. He lives with his mother and father in another little "house" next to the one we are building. After preparing the foundation for the house, the team was able to pour some concrete in Mario's house to raise the floor since each time it rains his house floods. Mario was such a helper all day, but the highlight of his day was making handprints in the concrete as the guys finished his new floor.

Just Hanging Out

So this afternoon the girls discovered Cohen and Leah's Mobigo. Mobigos are little video games for preschoolers -- they have Toy Story, Dora, and Superhero games -- but the girls love them! I actually think it is great English practice for them. They keep repeating differen phrases that they heard on the games.

This week Robby has been preparing for a team from the organization Florida Baptist Children's Homes who are coming next week. Without a doubt, the hardest part of preparing is deciding which family will receive the house this group is planning to build. We visited the town of El Tejar and met with many different families. One family has seven biological children and also has taken in two orphaned children. Another family has an alcoholic father who spends most of his time in the streets. We also met with many families who are working as hard as they possibly can, but just not earning enough money to provide for their families.

Also this week, Mariela came to live with us. We met Mariela through another missionary when we started looking for someone to help take care of Cohen and Leah. Although we really don't need full-time help, Mariela really needed a safer place to live. She was living in a dangerous part of the city where gangs have taken over. It was going to take her four buses and several hours just to get to our house, so we decided that it would be best to have her live with us. We are so thankful to have a loving, Christian woman helping us with Cohen and Leah when we are working. She speaks some English, but Spanglish is spoken fluently in our house these days!

May Update

Last week Robby had a very positive meeting with the leaders of Magdalena concerning the water project. The town has agreed to let us use the existing water line to supply water to the neighboring village of El Gorrion. This was no easy task because the water line crosses thirteen different properties and permission had to be granted by each of those land owners.

We had a meeting at CNA this morning to get more information about the process to start fostering children here. It seems that although we could complete all the necessary paperwork there is a good chance that we will still be denied approval since we are North Americans. It is extremely frustrating knowing that there is such a need for foster families and yet willing families are not given the opportunity to take care of these children. There are many other issues in our decision to proceed or how we should proceed with this. Please pray that we will make a wise decision.

Because there are other missionaries working in Magdalena, we are going to be looking in other areas that aren’t currently working with missionaries. This week we will be meeting with a local pastor in a town near Volcano Pacaya. This is an area that was devastated about a year ago when Pacaya erupted and Hurricane Agatha swept across Guatemala. We expect to be working with this pastor and his church this summer on various projects, so we are excited about getting to know him.

The girls at Mimi’s House are doing great! Last week their school had a special day “Dia de la Granja” (Farm Day) and we were able to go and support them as they shared short presentations in English and Spanish about what they had been studying. Tonight we had a bonfire (cleaning up some debris in our yard) and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We are really enjoying living right next door to Mimi’s House and getting to know all the girls better.








Praises:
• We are thankful that our financial support is coming in.
• We are thankful that Cohen and Leah seem to be adjusting fine.
• Although we still have much to learn, we are happy that we communicate better in Spanish each day.
• We are thankful for good news concerning the water project in El Gorrion.

Prayer Requests:
• For God’s guidance in moving forward with fostering children.
• Our family’s safety & health
• New relationships with pastors in other areas in Guatemala

Thank you for partnering with us! We are so thankful for your prayers and support.

This past week was Semana Santa (Holy Week) here so things were a little different. Schools were out and so most of the girls at Mimi's House went home to spend time with their families. Antigua was packed with people and processionals so we stayed clear of all the crowds. Since Robby's parents were here, we spent most of our time working on projects around the house. Thank you, Bob and Bette for all of your help! We've got lights that work in the living room and finished so many other projects that needed to be done.

Our friends Holly and Brad who visited us recently delivered a care package from our home church, Northeast Christian. Thank you so much, Northeast, for thinking of us! It was so nice to receive some things we needed but could not purchase down here!

A Busy Week!

We are so happy to be working with a team from Georgetown, Kentucky! We were able to meet some members of the team last year when we visited Central Church of God in Georgetown. Others in the group are from North East Christian Church in Lexington, New Life Church in Louisville, and several others. It's great to have this time working with people from home!

The past week we've been working with the team on many different projects. We are continuing the water project which will bring pure water from a nearby stream to the small community of El Gorrion. Families there are thrilled that they will soon have plenty of clean water coming right to their homes.

The team has also completed two new homes! Today we had the home dedications and it was incredible to be a part of this work. Both families realized that their homes were gifts from God and not us. And they blessed us just as much as we blessed them this week.

The families that received new homes also received an onil stove. The majority of women in Guatemala cook over an open fire. Because of this, they spend a lot of their time collecting fire wood and carrying heavy loads (usually on their heads) back to their homes. The onil stoves require only 15% of the wood that they would typically use, which means women have more time each day which they can devote to earning money for their families. Also, the stoves are vented which protects their eyes and the families don't have to breathe all of that smoke on a daily basis. The two families we worked with were very excited about their new stoves!

The team was also able to have two Bible schools -- one for the children of El Gorrion in the morning and one for the children in Magdalena in the afternoon. I think we all fell in love with these kids. They are so precious!

Visit to Tecpan

Last night it occurred to us that exactly two years ago we were in Guatemala finishing a week-long mission trip. It was during that week that God confirmed to us that He was calling us to work in Guatemala. And last night we spent our first night in our new home -- we are now living next door to Mimi's House!

Today my mom and I met up with Dick Rutgers to visit with some families in Tecpan. I was most anxious to see Samuel, a fourteen-year-old boy that we sponsor. Two years ago I met Samuel while on a mission trip. We were bringing food and clothing to a widow that lives near Samuel and he asked for shoes not for himself, but for his younger brother. The missionaries we were with explained that we were only able to help the families without fathers and it absolutely broke my heart to have to tell Samuel no.

Months later I remember praying and complaining about my own circumstances when Samuel popped into my mind. I was reminded that although my situation at the time was not perfect, I was still living in a comfortable home with plenty of food to eat. The very next day I emailed the missionaries we had worked with to ask about Samuel. It just so happened (not a coincidence, but orchestrated by God) that the missionaries had just visited Samuel's community. His father had recently died and they were looking for sponsors to help this family.

Today Samuel was working at a nearby farm since schools here were not in session, so we weren't able to see him. But we did have a nice visit with his mom, her children, and lots of other kids who live in the neighborhood. Samuel's sister, Anna, is twelve and doing well in school. His brother, Josue, is nine and also enjoying school. The youngest two boys are still at home with their mom. We had such a great time and I look forward to going back again soon!