Andy's Trip to Guatemala

PALABRA DE VIDA Guatemala (WORD OF LIFE)

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the WORD OF LIFE –

On February 7^th at 6:00am 12 of us (one from Grace Bible Church and 11 of us from Fellowship Baptist) embarked from the Atlantic City Airport on a mission trip to Palabra De Vida (Word of Life) Guatemala.

Word of Life is an international organization that ministers to young people and adults, primarily through camp ministries in the United States and in over 65 countries around the world.

It was a privilege to offer some tangible support to this powerful ministry that touched my life personally after attending one of their Youth camps back in 1968 in Schroon Lake, NY. (Right after Moses parted the Red Sea)

Through the able leadership of Marcelo Diez, camp director, Word of Life Guatemala has become little heaven on earth. Marcelo has been with WOL for over 20 years and has not lost his enthusiasm for reaching out to the people of Guatemala with the message of Life in Christ. In a poor country like Guatemala, ministry that is going to have a significant impact must seek to meet more than just the spiritual needs of people. It is hard to convince people that God loves them when they are hungry and cold. WOL Guatemala seeks to have that kind of ministry. The week before we arrived a very large church recruited a large group of doctors and nurses to offer their services to the needy people of Guatemala.

Our flight took us through Fort Lauderdale and then finally to Guatemala City itself. Like many third world countries, Guatemala is rampant with poverty.

Marcelo had a plan for us and we were looking forward to accomplishing the goals that were set before us. The plan for our team was four fold.

1. 1. Treat the exterior of 4 large dormitories with an exterior stain. Each dorm will be able to house up to 36 teens for one of the many camp outings. We would get started early in the morning around 6:30 to 7:00am, work until breakfast was served at 9:00, work until 1:00pm, eat lunch and then work again until 7:00pm when we broke for dinner. The temperature was well over 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity so we planned our work so that we would generally always be on the shady side of the buildings which helped. It was tempting not to look longingly at the Olympic sized swimming pool that we could see from just about any vantage point that we worked from. It got so hot one day that they encouraged us to take a short break and jump in the pool which we gladly complied.

2. 2. Assemble 72 new bunk beds for the dorms and disassemble the existing worn out bunks currently there. If it had been America, all the old bunks would have been thrown out, but in this third world environment, nothing is wasted so the old bunks were just recycled for use somewhere else.

3. 3. Install two new drop ceilings in the kitchen of the main food serving area. The roof of the kitchen and dining area was made of thatch. The thatch was full of dust and dirt that would fall on the food while it was cooking on the big grills (we worked on that area first!!).

4. 4. Prepare over 75 back packs and bags of food for the local families and their children. In Guatemala, you can’t go to school if you don’t have a backpack and supplies. The women on our team did all this work. Through donations from a few stores in South Jersey and the generosity of many families at FBC, we were able to provide all the food, back packs and supplies to the children and families free of charge! On the day that we were giving away the food and supplies the mothers, teachers, even the Principal and children all walked from their local school to the campgrounds to receive their gifts. They were thrilled with it all. One of the teachers told us that no one had ever done anything like that for them before.

When the children, teachers and mothers arrived at the camp, the WOL staff put on a program for them that included a tug of war for the boys, girls and even the mothers! Those mothers looked pretty tough. I don’t think I would have wanted to compete against them. One of the members of our team is over 6’ 8” tall which made him the object of stares of all the Guatemalans wherever we went. Whenever Doug was around no one paid any attention to us. One of the games they played with the children involved Doug holding a can of soda in his outstretched hand over his head while two school aged boys attempted to climb up his body and take away the can of soda.

After all the games were over, one of the WOL staff shared the message of the gospel that led to a call to receive Christ as savior. Over forty Guatemalan children and some mothers and teachers raised their hands. That was definitely the most rewarding moment of the week. There wasn’t a dry eye among our entire team.

On one of the afternoons, two WOL staff took us for an outing to the BEACH! It’s not like anything that you dreamed of, but the water was warm and the waves awesome. It was a little choppy for body surfing but we enjoyed it anyway. Getting to the beach is not as simple as jumping on the Atlantic City Expressway. It’s a long ride over bumpy roads full of pot holes. They were doing road work and we observed something that none of us had seen before. In order to prevent cars from running over their new concrete pot hole patches they just put large rocks in around the pot hole. That should give you a clue as to how fast the ride was. The road took us to a river where we needed to board a “long boat” with a 15 horse power Evinrude motor operated by someone who looked like he may have taken one too many boat trips. The boat ride took us through the

mangroves and eventually took us to another small town that bordered the beach. Being on the Pacific the beach was a black sand beach. It didn’t look like Ocean City in the summer although it was quite warm. There was only one other family on the beach as far as the eye could see.

We finished our work on all the projects on Saturday morning and prepared to leave for the 3 hour trip back to Guatemala City via the tourist town of Antigua. Three large volcanoes dominate the horizon around Antigua.

To the south of the city, is the Volcan de Agua or "Volcano of Water", some 3,766 meters (12,356 ft) high. It became known as Volcán de Agua after a mudslidefrom the volcano buried the second site of the capital, which prompted the Spanish authorities to move the capital to present-day Antigua. To the west of the city is a pair of peaks, Acatenango, last erupted in 1972, some 3,976 meters (13,045 ft) high, and the Volcan de Fuego or "Volcano of Fire", some 3,763 meters (12,346 ft) high. "Fuego" is famous for being almost constantly active at a low level. You can actually see the volcano giving off steam or smoke which was a little intimidating, to say the least. They say that occasionally you can even hear an explosion.

We did a lot of shopping in Antigua at the markets. There are no fixed prices on the items. You ask them how much they want for an item and then start bargaining with them from there. Nick was very good at that and could usually bargain them down to sometimes 25% of their quoted price. When I bargained they always seemed happy after we were done. They weren’t happy after bargaining with Nick. Hmmmm. Maybe I need to work on my bargaining skills.

We also ate dinner there in this beautiful restaurant in this ancient building that just screamed with history. Troubadors played their instruments and a group of actors came and acted out a play for us (which we didn’t understand).

We spent Sunday in Guatemala City getting one more day of shopping in and then boarded the plane for our trip home. It was a long day and we did not get in until 1:30am on Monday morning.

It was a rewarding experience to know that you were able to make a tangible contribution to this great ministry.

A Week without Andy

It has been a long week but only today and tomorrow left before Andy returns. I try to keep a positive attitude and not sit on the pity pot crying about missing him, which is why, I guess, I made my list of things to do while he was gone. My philosophy is to keep busy because it makes time go by a little more quickly. But as busy as I've been, the house is very quiet. Not that Andy is all that noisy (!), but there's no one here to talk to.

Andy left last Sunday/Monday in the middle of the night with 11 other people from church for a missions work trip to Guatemala. They were doing some construction work projects at a Word of Life camp there. I'm hoping he will do a post when he returns. He took the camera with him, so I'm also hoping he's taking lots of pictures.

On Monday I went to work as usual, but by about mid-morning, I started feeling bad, with a pain in my abdomen. I had help in the office, so I decided to leave work at 1:30, came home and went to bed. I actually lay under all the covers, with an extra blanket on top and all my clothes on. It was so warm and cozy and I slept for 2 hours. When I woke, I really didn't feel that much better and besides, when I got out of the bed, I was cold. So back to bed I went and slept another 2 hours. At that point, why get up since I felt better in bed than out of it, so I stayed and slept till 6:00 am Tuesday. Believe it or not, when I woke up on Tuesday, I felt fine! So I started working on my list.

Besides the usual housework I do on Tuesdays (laundry and cleaning bathrooms), I was able to clean all 3 bookshelves. The only time I regret having so many books is that they are dust collectors. But I suppose that is a small price to pay for the enrichment they bring to our lives.
Dawn and Kira came over around 5:00 and ate dinner with me. I made Dawn's favorite meal - tuna ring! She loves it but Tommy doesn't. So he stayed home and we had a girls' night.
Wednesday was another work day. When I got home, I cleaned the freezer, then the refrigerator. They weren't very dirty, but it was satisfying to be able to cross those jobs off my list.
On Thursday morning, my nose started running...and I began sneezing...ugh ugh ugh. Miserable me and I had no Andy to comfort me. Fortunately, I wasn't very busy at work this week so I was able to leave early again. I lay down when I got home, but not for long because as soon as I lay down, I perked up. Why does that happen! So back to my list. I made a carrot cake, then started a pot of barley vegetable soup. While the soup was cooking, I scrubbed the kitchen floor. Usually, I just wipe it as it needs it, but about twice a year, I get down on my hands and knees and scrub it with bleach.

While I was at work on Friday, I got a call on my cell phone. When I answered it, I was surprised to hear Grace's voice. I had been planning to drive over to Christy's on Friday after work with the cake and soup to spend dinner time with their family since it was Christy's birthday. But Grace called to ask if I would please spend the night at their house. I told her to ask her mommy if she really wanted me to come since I was sick and I was blowing my nose every 5 minutes. When Grace relayed the message, I could hear Christy in the background answer to let me know that it didn't matter, she would fix me up! I had a feeling that would be her response. So I packed up my overnight bag and off I went.

It was an entertaining evening. The whole family is involved in a musical at their church and the kids sang some of their songs for me. They also practiced some of their taekwan do moves that they're learning and their piano pieces. I was able to capture some of the show on my phone, which was funny because Aiden was singing his song so nicely while Naomi was doing her exercise moves - wild and crazy all around him. The unfortunate thing is that I can't share the video with you because it wouldn't upload from my phone. I tried nearly all day, getting advice from all 3 of my daughters thinking they might know more tricks than I, but no one was able to figure it out.

We sang happy birthday to Christy. I can't believe I have a daughter who is 34 years old. Whew. But what a lovely lady she has grown to be. It was a pleasure spending time with her. Christian put the kids to bed and I think he must have fallen asleep himself, because we never saw him again. Christy and I talked and talked and were shocked to finally look at the time and discover it was 11:00! It was very nice to have some uninterrupted time together.

I drove back home on Saturday morning. I made it in record time because it was early enough on a weekend morning - so not much traffic. I was surprised to find 2 cards on the kitchen table with Andy's handwriting. What a guy! He had planned ahead to have my birthday card and Valentine's card ready for me even though he wasn't here in person. He had asked his mom to give them to me.

Then this afternoon, Christy called and asked if I had plans for the evening and could they come down and take me out to dinner. How fun! They arrived around 5:30 and we all drove over to Chipotle, had dinner together, then came back to the house for cake. I have a little bit left to save for Andy when he gets home.

Today is my birthday. I've had lots of friends wish me well on facebook. I feel very blessed, surrounded by friends and family members who love me. It's a wonderful life! Thank you, God.

Last Week

There are 4 birthdays in our family right around this time, so that seems like a good enough reason to get together to party! Last Saturday found all of us going up to Amy & Ricky's for an evening meal together. Andy and I went over to Tommy & Dawn's and picked them up. We were hoping that riding together would help distract Kira from being too unhappy in the car. It's a good hour and a half going from here to Amy's house. So the trip was spent singing to Kira...every time one song was finished, she would say, "aaa" (which means "again"). I actually got very hoarse by the time we arrived. But she didn't complain too much.

Amy had prepared a delicious tortilla soup. I brought corn chips and rolls. Christy brought a yummy salad and Dawn had made an apple spice cake. So needless to say, we ate well!It's always a lot of fun being with all the grandkids. We think they're the best anywhere!
So the 4 birthdays: Asher is January 31, Dawn is Feb. 3, Christy is Feb. 11 and I am Feb. 13. Christy brought her camera and we posed for pictures again. What a job getting 8 adults and 8 children all together and holding still long enough to get a decent picture where one person is not trying to escape, another person is looking down instead of at the camera or another person is blinking... We got some pictures that will work for framing.I'm glad we had a good time, but all too soon it was time to go home again. Again, Kira wasn't too bad in the car, but it kept me busy coming up with ideas to distract her. When I got too hoarse to sing any more, Tommy turned on the radio to a rock station which made her "dance" in her seat. She liked the fast songs.

On Sunday evening, Andy and I hosted a meeting at our house for older singles. There is a lot going on at our church right now for the 20 year olds: singles, college age and young marrieds. But a few older singles expressed a desire to have something for them, too. So since Andy and I are acquainted with several girls in their mid 30's, we felt a desire to start something for them. We met to see what they were thinking and were very touched that they really wanted to take missions trips. So they're just not wanting to have meetings, but want to reach out and minister/serve in some way. It is true that the youth groups go on trips every summer and now the seniors are also doing a missions trip at least once a year. So we'll see where this goes. We're going to open it up to all 30 & 40 year old singles for a game night at our house on Feb. 27th - mainly to see how much interest there is in having a specialized group like this.

It was not a typical week at work this week. Mid-morning on Monday, I started having some issues with my computer. Fortunately, our IT guy was in the office at the time, so I called him over to look at what was going on with my computer. Well, we experienced a complete network crash. That means I couldn't work on any of my files, and even the internet was down. I was at a loss as to knowing what to do. I use my computer for everything. So I puttered around, answered phones, but not much else until quitting time. New software had to be ordered, then shipped overnight to us. It didn't get to the office until Wednesday. Then the guys had to install it, working late into the night. They got it up and running so I could work on Thursday, but then had to shut everything down again on Friday afternoon to finish. I hope they got it all fixed, but I haven't heard. It's amazing how dependent we have become on technology. When I started working at the church 19 years ago, we had one computer but it wasn't even in my office. If I wanted to use it, I had to go into another room to use it. Now I'm on it continually.

There was a bright spot in my week, though. On Tuesday, Dawn had a doctor appointment so I watched Kira while she was gone. We played with the toys in the toy box and read several books.

She's a happy and busy little girl and I'm grateful for the chances I have to be with her.

I've been having sciatic pain for several years. It is especially painful at night and unless I take motrim pm before bed, I wake up after 4-6 hours in such pain that I have to get up and walk around and stretch. I've seen my doctor about it and had x-rays done. I've also been to the chiropractor (which didn't help at all). So yesterday I went to see a spine specialist. He looked at my x-rays and said I have spinal stenosis which is probably pinching my sciatic nerve. He gave me some medicine to try for a week and suggested I get some physical therapy. I took one of the pills this morning and it seems to be working because I have no pain. However, I am very sleepy. I lay down and rested for a half hour. It felt so good to just lie there relaxing.

Andy is getting ready to go to Guatemala this week. He is going down with a work team to the Word of Life camp. He will be the pastor on this trip, so he has been preparing lessons for daily devotionals. It will seem very odd to have him gone all week. We are so accustomed to always being together. But anyone who knows me, will know that I probably have a list made up of things I'm going to do while he's gone. And that person would be right.

Here's my list:

1. Clean bookshelves.
2. Clean kitchen cupboards.
3. Scrub kitchen floor.
4. Clean oven.
5. Clean refrigerator
6. Clean freezer.
7. Make barley/vegetable soup and carrot cake.
7. Go see Christy and family on Friday afternoon/evening.
8. Make tuna ring for Dawn and have her over on a night Tommy won't be home. (Dawn loves tuna ring, but Tommy hates fish dishes.)
9. Hmmm...what about Amy?

It may seem like a daunting list, but the jobs need to be done and I've put them off long enough. Andy being gone will be a good time to accomplish much. I'm hopeful anyway!

It's raining today. But there is still so much snow out there - in piles at the ends of driveways and in the mall parking lots. I think some of those piles are going to be there till June. Spring is not too far away now...only 6 more weeks. I'm so ready to see some pink and green.

More Snow

Yes, I still love snow, although I'm wondering if I should be a little quieter about my enthusiasm. There are a lot of people who do not share my zeal for the beauty of snow, but can only see how much work and aggravation it creates. And I admit I do feel bad for Andy who spent 6 hours yesterday shoveling and snow blowing our driveway. He's pretty sore today.Then when we could finally get out of our driveway, he had to worry about getting the church parking lots and sidewalks cleared. He doesn't actually do that, but has to arrange for someone to get it done. Usually, our church is not a priority to the contractors. Maybe they get more money from retailers, malls and doctor's offices. But it takes a lot of effort to get someone to actually show up.

I had so much work to do in the office yesterday, I couldn't afford to stay home doing nothing. So after our driveway was open, Andy told me to start the car and he would drive me over to the church. Cemetery Road was barely plowed - one lane - and thankfully, we didn't meet anyone coming toward us. It was so beautiful driving down the road - like a winter wonderland.When we got to the church parking lot, there was no way we could drive in. The entrance to the parking lot was like a high wall because of the snow plows mounding up the snow from the road. I had boots on but they were only ankle high. So I asked Andy if he minded taking me back home to get my knee high boots on and I'd just walk into the office from the road. The roads weren't really well plowed but we finally made it home again, where I changed into the higher boots. Back on the road, we decided to go a different way than Cemetery Road. Andy turned onto the road that goes by the church and stopped the car right at the driveway. I was able to walk in on top of the mound, then up to the church door. I got my purse out to get my keys but they weren't in there. Then it hit me...I had started the car with my keys and they were still in the car which was now driving back home. So "yeah" for cell phones...I had to call Andy to come back to give me my keys. Because of the lack of well plowed roads, he had to take the circuitous route again, and it seemed like forever till he got back to the entrance to the parking lot.Well, it was worth it, though, because no one else was at the church all morning. I had hardly any interruptions, and it was a profitable day, except that one of the printers malfunctioned, and I had to call for service. Then when the repairman called to say he could come, I had to tell him he couldn't because the parking lots still weren't plowed. Sigh! I have a friend who says: "It's all good." And it did all work out in the end.I saw a statistic somewhere that this is the 3rd snowiest year in recorded history. And you know what, it's still only January!

A good day for a hike

Since we were away last Tuesday I didn't get my cleaning done. So I spent most of Saturday doing my housework. I made a batch of rolls, then cleaned all the bathrooms, dusted the furniture and vacuumed the whole house. It was better to do it then, anyway, because we had our Community Group over on Sunday evening for dinner and a final good-bye. We won't be meeting with our group any more, but will be starting a new ministry. (Maybe more about that at a later date)

So Sunday night we had 9 people over including Andy and me. I made a bit pot of minestrone soup with my homemade dinner rolls. Someone else brought salad and we had a couple of desserts. We put 2 leaves in the dining room table and had a very nice time together.

So since I had just cleaned house on Saturday, I didn't feel the need to do it again so soon. What to do??? Why not go for a hike? It actually was a very nice day: cold and brisk with no wind. We drove down to Lebanon State Forest and were going to walk around Pakim Pond. When we got there, we found the road to the pond was blocked off. We went to another entrance and that one was blocked off, too. So we parked the car and walked in till we got to the pond. Some of the trails were snow covered, but the trail around the pond was 95% clear.
There are some spots around the pond that are really pretty.
We decided the reason the roads were blocked off was because there were a number of tree companies in there cutting down trees and cleaning up the forest. The hardwoods in the forest have really taken a beating from the gypsy moths. In some spots, it hardly looks like a forest. It seemed like most of the oaks were dead.What a shame. I hope it's not too long before the forest can grow back.

An Oasis of Peace in the Busyness of Life

We like to go away after Nativity is over to get a rest from all the activity we've been involved in. This year things didn't let up as they usually do until this past weekend.

Last week Andy came down with a cold, a pretty bad one. On Saturday he stayed home and rested and studied while I went up to visit my mother. We played some games together, then went to Shoemakersville to eat lunch. We each ordered a bowl of cauliflower soup that was outstanding. After lunch, I shoveled her front walk which was still snow covered. She never goes in and out of her front door because she has a garage door opener, but I cleared it in case she gets company or visitors.

On Sunday Andy and I went to early church, we had some obligations in the 9:30 service, then left to pack and get ready to go away for a few days. We drove up to one of our favorite places: Walnut Valley Guest House in Lancaster County. It's so private and quiet there, a perfect place to chill out. After an hour of unpacking and just resting, we drove on over to Amy's to have dinner with them. Ricky cooked up some venison wrapped in bacon with raspberry sauce. Wow! Was that delicious! Of course, we played with the kids and held Katy, too. I should say Andy played with the kids. They were very excited to see him.Katy was her usual pleasant self. What a sweetie. She's growing!The evening ended all too soon and we headed back to our little haven. Both of us had taken lots of books along, so we did a quite a bit of reading. Andy also did a lot of walking on Monday. We drove down to Ephrata to the Cloisters. They were closed on Monday, but we still walked around on the grounds. There were lots of walkways between the buildings and they had all been cleared of snow. It was pretty cold and I had forgotten to take along a hat and gloves, so we weren't really out very long. The afternoon was spent in more reading and Andy took another walk along the country road by the place we were staying. That evening we ate our dinner at Applebee's.

When we woke up Tuesday morning, we saw that it had snowed over night, but that now it was raining. By noon, all the snow had melted off the roads and walks, and we left to go home.Even though we were away, we were still somewhat connected to work because there was a funeral at the church on Wednesday evening. So people needed to contact us to schedule certain things and make sure of other details. Andy was leading the singing at the funeral, and we needed to tell the other pastors when the building was free to use for a service.

But it was still good to be away. I'm sure if we'd been home, we would not have taken the time to just sit around and do "nothing." I have a hard time relaxing at home because there's always something to do.

I'm thankful for opportunities to get away, a chance to be still, think, pray and gain a fresh perspective.

The Pros of Snow

I love snow, but not everyone does. In fact, mention snow and a lot of people groan, grumble and complain.

I love it and here are some of the reasons why:

1. It's beautiful.
2. It makes the earth beautiful.
3. Winter is dull with grays and browns, but snow covers up all that dullness.
4. White snow when the sun is shining on it seems to sparkle like a field of diamonds.
3. If it's a big enough storm, everything stops.
4. If I'm in the house when it's snowing, I feel cozy and warm.
5. If I'm out in the snow, it feels adventurous.
6. I have lots of fond memories of playing in the snow as a kid.
7. I have other memories of snow adventures when I was thankful to make it home safe and sound.
8. God made it!

I remember snow storms when I was a kid. The electricity would be out for a week and no school. My parents would turn on the gas oven, open the oven door and we would live in the kitchen all week. My mother would make donuts - um, yum - so good and hot after playing outside. I remember one snow storm where we got so much snow, my brothers and sisters and I were able to dig a tunnel from the house partway out to the barn. Other times we built forts and had snow ball battles.There were other times when we would take shovels and shovel paths on the pond and skate around on the paths or just through the snow.
Then when Andy and I were living in Washington state, we got an invitation to a wedding in Portland, Oregon, which was a 4 hour drive for us. It didn't usually get cold enough to snow much there, but this time it did. On our way home from the wedding, we drove through blizzard like conditions. It was snowing so hard we couldn't see the front of the car. The snow was blowing so hard straight at us and into the grill of the car. The car kept stalling out because of the snow on the carburetor. Andy had to keep getting out of the car to try to clear out the snow and get the car started again. We were wondering if we were going to ever get home. We finally did (obviously).

So even though I currently have a friend on a cruise off the coast of South America and a sister in Hawaii, I am not in the least jealous of them. I love living here with lots of snow!
Someone might say, "Hmph, it's easy to say you love snow because you don't shovel it." But that argument does not hold water. I have shoveled lots of snow and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I can't do it any more because of my back issues. But I would if I could!