A day of celebration!!!

I was able to attend a very special celebration in September - it was a day to celebrate the completion and printing of the New Testament being translated into one of the Mayan Indian dialects here in Guatemala.  A Wycliffe translator has been working on this Kaqchikel New Testament for many years, and it was amazing to see the faces of people as  they held in their hands for the first time ever a Bibles in their native language!!!  We went to every home in this town offering them a Bible!  There were hundreds of people celebrating this day and praising the Lord for the completion of this Bible translation!!!  Please pray that the people of this village will read this Bible and will be saved!!!  I could write forever about the amazing things that happened on this day, but hopefully these photos will help sum things up!!!

preparing to hand out Bibles to every home in this town!

receiving a Bible in her heart language!!!

team of translators!

look at the size of those pots!!!
 these ladies worked hard to help prepare lunch for hundreds of people!!!

Trip to San Marcos

Why not go to San Marcos - it's only 6 hours away . . . on non-stop curvy mountain roads that take you up to over 9,000 feet and then drop down to around 7,000 feet.  I arrived in San Marcos after feeling miserable for the last 4 hours of the trip, a close-call emergency stop that allowed me to get out of the car just in time, and my head spinning for the rest of the day after getting out of the car.
However, it was worth it, I was really thankful to have a few days there in San Marcos, and the ride home was much better thanks to extra medications and ginger!!!
My teammates were training a group of 16 women how to make and use puppets.  I went along to help in whatever way I could, and I learned how to sew together the puppets ahead of time so that I could help the women through that process!
The women were teachers in a center for Compassion (the organizations that helps sponsor children) where over 250 children spend 8 hours a week!!!
We were hosted by a wonderful family who took great care of us and was really fun to get to know!  One of their daughters is currently studying at the Bible school across the street from my apartment, so I look forward to seeing her from time to time here in the city!
I enjoyed spending some time in fresh air and in a small town where everybody knows each other!  We went on a few morning walks through the mountains which were amazing, and we were able to go to a hot springs.  The hot springs were in a valley - way, way down into the mountains somewhere.  Probably one of the top 5 most beautiful places I've been considering the steep drop offs we were seeing as we drove down the mountain, however, the fog and clouds were covering most of our view, so sadly, I really couldn't see the beauty that was surrounding me.
Here are some photos from that trip:

morning hikes

 

attempting to make tortillas - mine were just never quite right!

sharing meals

finished products - the puppets!!!

children at the Compassion Center

hot springs - so wonderful!!!

I spy from the rooftop . . .

***Volcanos and mountains in all directions with 

beautiful sunrises (rarely am I awake for these) and sunsets

***Clothes hanging out to dry . . . which I've been surprisingly amazed by the number of men out hanging up and collecting the laundry!!!

***Neighbors cooking over open flames on their rooftops

***Neighbors taking baths on their rooftops =(

***Homeless men who are drunk or high trying to get dressed in the streets =(

***People using a pay phone . . . remember those ;)

***Kids playing soccer in the streets

***The start/finish line of a 10K race

***Beautiful flowers

***Awesome displays of lightening as storm clouds roll in

***The vultures flying over the garbage dump

My neighborhood - still trying to grasp that!  I live here.  This is my home now.  These are my neighbors and this is my neighborhood.  I love the rooftop and I'm so thankful that I have access to one!!!  Although as I look out over the neighborhood it is often with great tension that I do so.  I love the beauty that I see, but I hate the signs of poverty and despair.  Thankful that I can trust the promise from the Lord that He gives hope to the hopeless!!!!

Leaving and Arriving . . .

Commissioning Sunday was a special time!!!

Open House - so thankful for everyone who came!!!  

I don't have photos of everyone, but here are a few!

Saying goodbyes were hard . . .so hard!!! 

Here are some random photos from the first week here: 

Mundane tasks made more fun with this incredible view . . . 3 volcanoes, one of which is active and occasionally puffs of ash can be seen coming out the top! 

the battle of the ants is on . . . they loved the poison i set out for them!!!
i'm excitedly waiting for them to disappear!!!

the garbage man

beautiful flowers from the market, so inexpensive, but so beautiful!!!

being known in the unknown

I was so thankful for my time in Guatemala in June!  

There were many reasons why, but the biggest ones were that I felt known, or more known than on recent trips!  

How???  Well, after going to language school and living in Guatemala for a few months, I would occasionally run into people that I knew at random places.  I felt known, and it was home! 

After being gone for a bit, that changes, I am no longer known there. 

But this last trip was different.  I was there with friends from the US, they now know me here and there!!!  Holly and I attended nursing school together, although hardly knew one another.  After graduation we both moved to Chicago and started working at the same pediatric hospital, so we decided to be housemates!  Even though she got married a year after that, we remained friends!  She then moved to Indianapolis a few years later, and I follower her there =)  We have remained friends, I have been thankful to be included as part of their family over the years, and to have her children be able to say my last name perfectly at a record young age!!!  

I was amazed and thankful as we served together in Guatemala and walked the streets together to the Potter's House, only getting slightly lost =)  And, to know that they now love the Guatemalan people and know where I will be living and serving was an incredible gift!!! 

I also felt a little more known at the Potter's House.  I've only been there on more "official" business, for example, tours, talking with the staff about potential opportunities.  I've gotten to know a few people along the way, but I have spent little time there.  This time, I was able to call and talk with them, and they remembered me!  I was able to walk through the building and be greeted by familiar faces! 

And then, as I was in a different city, I ran into a couple different people that I know, both American and Guatemalan.  

So while this is a difficult season of uprooting and goodbyes and fears of being completely unknown as I move to Guatemala, I was beautifully reminded mostly, that I don't go alone, and also that I am known, even there in the unknown!!!

Overlooking Guatemala City with Holly and Aiden

Holly, Aiden, and I near the Potter's House

At my new apartment with Holly, Aiden, and Henry

Getting lots of hugs while serving at a school

Henry and Patty (Holly's parents) working hard!!!

Holly and I and another nurse taking care of the children!

A new group of friends from the US and Guatemala!

sweet homelessness???

is that really possible?  this time of uprooting and releasing common comforts like my own space has been difficult, but yet good.  good because it reminds my heart that i'm rooted in Christ, not in a place or in things.  it also reminds me that i am not alone, as so many people have sweetly come alongside of me to offer encouragement, help and a place to sleep.  and, it reminds my heart that while i don't know the next step, the Lord does.  He was already preparing an apartment for me in Guatemala, and He continues to provide the support to get there!  amazing, He knows, He's got this =)

speaking of, here are some photos of my apartment as well as some photos from my recent time in Guatemala

outside of my apartment building

volcano view from the apartment =)

modern kitchen!!!

great space with lots of light and windows!

awesome team i'll be joining!

mother and child in a village we visited

visiting a lady living in the garbage dump community

street near the Potter's House

inside the Potter's House, children gathered for a healthy meal!

more than the impossible!!!

the Lord continues to grow my faith little by little!!!!  my support it up to 70% - i'm so amazed!!!  and i have half of my preparation/start-up costs - only $10,000 left!!!  somebody said that it would be impossible to have this much support by now - but the Lord has done more than the impossible!!!
i'm so grateful for every new person that joins my team, every person that is praying for me and the ministry in Guatemala, and every encouraging phone call, e-mail, text or moment spent with others!  the Lord has been gracious to me on this journey and i'm so thankful for the opportunity to see Him do more than the impossible!!!!