Christmas with Papa and Nana

our fearless leaders for the 9 days ... David and Papa Sam

It was so great to see family for the holidays... huge hugs for everyone !

Ahhh.....Nana !

Let Christmas begin.... it's been to long since we've hugged family !

We were able to have a Christmas morning with Papa and Nana .... these are the "early birds"...some dressed and some still in PJ's ..Jacob was given the award for spending the LONGEST time on his hair.

Great news.. update on Cooper

Cooper is back and was given a very good report. Turns out that whatever he had (Typhoid...maybe mono) has left his body and now he just has to heal. His body had gone that far downhill with whatever "it " was that any time he would get up and about he was having major "issues" ...enough that it warrented a trip away with dad and a doctor. Now he has to stay resting.... yikes! Cooper resting! Anyway, please continue to pray and praise with us. We are so glad that although he has a long way to go... he's in a very good place ...no more cooties !

The Day of the Devil

We have been seeing these pinate looking things around town. In hind sight I should have taken a picture of them so that you could see what they look like. If you can imagine a mexican santa with a handlebar mustache  ... Anyway, that has been my impression of them. HOWEVER, it turns out that they are DEVILS. (Who would have known?) ... what? Christmas is coming ... devil pinates???  When I picked Jacob up from school today he told me that we should get home before dark because people are burning "devils"....ahhhhh.... so that is what they do ... they don't hit them for candy ...they are burning him...them.... Anyway, my neighbors put their "devil" on a concrete block and lit him up. I was so curious that I begged Grace (who is very  non confrontational ) to go with me for better translation. She did end up going but cracked me up with her initial response... she looked at me very seriously and said," mom... do I have to .. what if they get angry....they ARE BURNING HIM... I THINK THEY'RE WITH US...tooo funny... but my begging won her over and she finally obliged my curiosity... turns out that the devils being burned is a way to clean out their old sins and clutter ti make way for Jesus in their homes. By burning him they are saying that he no longer has a place in their home ...at least for this season.. this is called the day of the devil.

FYI..

Just a super quick note to ask for prayer for Cooper and David today. They are traveling to a town about 2 hours from here to have medical testing done on Cooper. After researching records we discovered that Cooper has had a Typhoid vacine not only once but TWICE. Most likely his sickness is not Typhoid and not we are desperately needing to discover what is causing him to be sick. Through a TOTAL provision of the Lord and under circumstances that only he could orchestrate we met an American surgeon who is housing them and running test. They will be gone for about 4 days and prayerfully we will have a direction . As you can imagine Cooper is becoming very tired of being tired and sick. We are petitioning the Lord for answers. Our next step will be to fly him home to the states for medical treatment and don't want to do that unless we are left with no other option. I know that may sound crazy but we are on the verge of reaching "normal" .. not quite but we can see it coming... and a trip home will only upset the apple cart in regards to that ... Not all of us can travel home...Christmas apart... well, you can see how great it would be to get to a place of medical attention here and I believe it is completely possible. Guatemala is very equipped to handle even crews with issues much larger than ours ! ( honestly ! )

Grateful for you all...
Melinda

No Wasted Days

I have gotten sooo far behind ! I am going to make  an an intentional effort to get caught up...one day at a time..smile.... bear with me.

The night before thanksgiving I was sitting in my den...all of the sudden very aware of the fact that this Thanksgiving would be VERY different for us. Hmmmm....WHAT am I thankful for? What could I NOT be thankful for? So, I started to jot some things down.  I feel very compelled to share this with you ..not to upset or cause anyone to be nervous ...only to inform you that our lives are different and we are given so many gifts that look different than they ever have...actually ...well, here it is....


Psalm 27:13
I am confident of this : I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Why have you called us here Lord? What gifts do we poses to make even one difference in this place? Are our days wasted or lost on the stumbling and shocking sights that we encounter often? Will you carry us all- each one of us to America to begin a "new life" in the future or will our last days be here in Centeral America? What is this stirring that goes on in my soul at that thought? What is it that could only be from you that causes my husband and I to go to bed at night feeling discouraged at our work here and yet we rise and except a new day ...a new opportunity? How do I find freedom in tinted windows and and constant locked doors? Freedom in guards and walls at the childrens school , the inability to walk down the street by my home, the responsibility of distracting small children in my car as we approach a random group of people for fear of the ugliness of a harsh life taken and the messiness of violence in or beside the roads that we drive on everyday? I cannot resist the temptation to often ask why Lord ? Today, after sifting through my own superficial junk, I have come to the conclusion of this on thing that I am most thankful for today... Psalm 27: 13 ... I WILL see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  And in your goodness and divinitity alone, you Lord, have apppointed me, my family , here in Guatemala for such a time as this. A time of violence and confusion, a time of oppression and yet a great time of opportunity. If I speak into the life of one on your behalf ...who speaks into the life of another hoping and waiting on your goodness Lord...then in THIS land of the living I will have truely lived, my confidence is retained...no days wasted ....and for that Lord, I am VERY thankful .


As you consider our lives and our days here in Guatemala ...please consider not our plight of adjustment but the beautiful lives that are so harshly effected by culture. We count it a rare priveldge ...only extended to few..who are called to look a  "cannon" square in the eye at times. We would not exchange these days or our lives here for all of the gold in the world...unless we could use it to improve the lives of those we serve in hopes of seaping the gospel of Jesus Christ DEEP into the souls of those we are coming to love here in Guatemala. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from all of us.

Marty came for a quick visit..you gotta read the whole thing!

Marty flew in for a VERY short weekend in Guatemala. We had a  tour of a local coffee plantation, got caught up ,  enjoyed lunch at a resteraunt looking out at sweet, tiny birds..lemon and bannana trees, took some quick photos and then we were off to hike volcanoe Pacaya.

I felt so badly for Marty. There are many entrances to hike Pacaya and wouldn't you know that they carried us to the LONGEST and HIGHEST point for our hike. There is no way to know where you will be let off when you hire a tour company (well, ...if you have exceptional Spanish and an exceptionally honest tour guide) and so in the van we go ..up to the starting point we went. The hike starts at about 6000 ft. and you climb about another 2500- 3000 ft (NORMALLY)... it appeared from the point where we stopped that they were going to go another 5000 ft possibly. Anyway, the altitude was very taxing on  Marty. Sweet thing.. she had NO time to adjust and off we go to hike this thing. Anyway, after much debate with the tour guide he agreed to allow Marty and I to wait half way for the group to return back down the volcano. I petitioned him for a male of any nature to stay back with us..it's dark, we're white...we're girls...anyway since chiverly doesn't naturally exist here but me begging DOES he provided us with a young guy to "stay back with us". No sooner has he pointed this guy out to Marty and I and this "young guy" disappears. We think that maybe he has gone to get a horse and take us down the volcano....I mean , was he really going to sit with us for several hours while the hike finished???...He came back alright and he must have been a little nervous too because he was carrying a sawed off shot gut and NO horse...we were staying!!!!!!! He patiently and faithfully watched us the rest of the evening ! This picture cracks me up because of the spacial distance between me and the gunman and Marty and the gunman. In a weird way it warms my heart because apparently I'm getting use to being up close and personal with amo which could only mean that God is allowing me to see the person and not all of the paraphanelia that they come with !! You gotta laugh!

We did have a great view and beautiful horses to watch (which Marty loved -smile) the whole time. As soon as night fell the teams were returning back down the volcano. A man came to the point where Marty and I were at and collapsed down to the ground carrying his 14 or 15 year old daughter. She was bearly breathing and in dire need of medical attention... PROBLEM (1) we're in Guatemala (2) we're on a volcano!!! We layed the girl out on the ground and the I had the opportunity to pray over her. Excitedly, her father joined in saying that he was a Christian too!! As SOON as we finished praying , the young girl opened her eyes enough to communicate that she was having major pain under her breast at her heart and then she fell out again. Keeping in mind that we have just prayed alound in the name of Jesus with many witnesses ...many with unbelief...and a GERMAN SOLDIER comes up and has a thermal blanket and special drink for victims of altitude and thermal shock issues( My backpack had chocolate, camera and ONE water bottle in it ) What a miracle ! She continued to shake but did warm up with the blanket on her. We were all very concerned that she would not make it down the volcano alive. Her father had called for an ambulance and no one could come except for somebody that they found in an old pick up truck. The cost for them to come 1/2 way up the volcano was 150Q = aprx. 15$ and the father did not have it. **Miracle*** Because of the young guy watching over Marty and I ...I had 150Q in my hand to give him for watching us and was able to pay for the pickup truck to arrive*** For every person who financially supports us ..YOU ALL carried her down the mountain for help that night... I have NO money except for that which is given to me to be here ! THANK YOU! Anyway, due to the condition of the volcanic sand the truck had to have us carry her down to them. We took two walking sticks and several jackets...ran the sticks inside the sleeves of the jackets , zipped them up and made a gerny(sp?). Myself and 5 other people carried this young lady down the volcano and put her in the back of the pickup to be carried away for medical care. We prayed fervantly that she lived. Back in the van on the way back I was asked many questions about responding to crisis and prayer and being "religious".... Lord, may I never be "religious" but instead zealous in seizing any opportunity to be your hands and feet.... and to have a partner in prayer up on that volcano with me... I had NO reason for shame or timidity because I KNEW that my sister Marty was praying without stopping for me...for us all...ministry  here has taken me by surprise so many times. It never looks like the photos in mission magazines or the adventurous missions videos that I watch....it finds me in my normal day doing the things that I do...my Christian faith is the greatest thing that I posses and it carries me out on the wildest adventures !

Typhoid Fever?..we don't get THAT in Guatemala...or do we?

What happens when you contract Typhoid Fever ? ..... lots of creative networking....you don't want to go to the hospital if you can help it. We were provided a doctor by the Lord who was willing to treat Cooper at home and so after 3 rounds of antibiotics, possible kidney / liver damage issues, fever, gallbladder type pain we decided to get him on an IV and run his antibiotics/ pain meds through that. The doctor and I toured our home and came up with " a coat hanger attached to the light socket" method for dispensing the IV. A sweet friend informed me that she was a 12 year vet to nursing and could change out IV came and spent her Friday with us ...... provisions and more provisions.... (is it Thanksgiving yet??? ) ..... I am thankful for the gifts and talents of brothers and sisters as well as the spirit of coming together in times of need that we have experienced. Cooper is getting well but has a long way to go. He is sleeping a lot and we continue to petition the Lord for complete recovery. This has presented us with scary moments and we are forever grateful for the people who pray for us without knowing "the details". Thank you to every person who supports our endevors to be here in Guatemala living out this crazy life. We are witnessing his prescence and powerful work daily ! We love you all ~