Christmas Break in Cubulco

We spent our Christmas and New Year break in Cubulco.   AMG closed their central office for two weeks and the kids had a two and a half week break from school.  We wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life which is bad most of the year, but gets terrible around Christmas time.  It was nice to go to rural and "quiet" Cubulco.  We really enjoyed our time there although it was very busy.  Nico was busy most days from early morning until late in the evening meeting with people, preaching and teaching, and making decisions regarding the work.  There were several unexpected hurdles along the way which forced him to make some substantial changes.  One of the things you have to learn on the mission field is to be flexible and go with the flow as each day things can change.    Thankfully almost everything was figured out before we had to leave and go back to the city so that the kids could attend classes.

One of the highlights of our trip was the work we were able to do with the church.  Nico spent a lot of time with the "jovenes" (young people) of the church teaching them Sunday school and meeting with them at night.  We watched several Christian documentaries and movies which inspired the young people.  Many of the young people have expressed the desire to profess their faith publicly and have been attending the classes offered by the church.  However, some of them due to a number of reasons were unsure as to what to do.  Nico was able to meet with them over Christmas and answer some of their questions and counsel them in what it means to join the church.   In a church like Cubulco which is full of first generation Christians, many of the young people do not have good Christian role models.  Often first generation Christians have a lot of baggage that they can not get rid of which cause them to react to situations often in a cultural/traditional way instead of the Biblical way.  Often the church leaders say one thing in a sermon or in class and do the opposite.  Often the problems in the church are either caused by the leaders or get bigger because they leaders do not deal with them in the proper way.   For this reason it is common to see the second generation either leave the church because they view many of the first generation Christians as hypocrites, or they go to another church were people appear more "mature" spiritually.   Nico spent a lot of time talking about this with the young people trying to help them understand their parents and why they do not always provide the best godly example.  Nico also told them that they need to be aware of the limitations their parents and leaders have and to look for ways in which they can support the church by being more involved and taking ownership.  If they want the church to grow the young people need to step up to the plate.  

The young people responded to the challenge and just before we left we witnessed 6 young people publicly profess their faith in front of the whole church.  This profession of faith was not just stating that they agree with the doctrines taught in the church, but each also expressed in their own words their desire to follow Jesus with their whole heart.  We also witnessed the baptism of a mother and her teenage daughter, and the baptism of 3 children.  We were very encouraged to see the fruit of many years of labor not only by us, but also by other missionaries who have worked here.  If these young people stand fast the future of the church looks bright.  Please pray for them that God will bind them to His heart and hold them fast. 

Pastor Xicara

During our time in Cubulco we also were privileged to minister with a pastor and his wife who have expressed interest in working in Cubulco.  Obviously there are many details to be worked out like salary, housing, etc.  Also whatever pastor that comes down needs to be examined and needs to go through a trial period.  One of the biggest hurdles to overcome is to find someone willing to work for a salary that the church can sustain.  We have had pastors interested in coming, but they are expecting a salary that the local church might never be able to pay.  Some of these pastors think that their salary will come from North America, but this is not the case, at least not in the long term.  Initially the mission will help support the pastor, but the idea is that each year they reduce funding while the church increases its funding.  For this reason it is important to pay a salary that the church can fully sustain in 5-10 years and to involve the church in the salary negotiations.  Please pray for the church and these proceedings. 

Wishing all of you a Blessed Christmas and New Year

We want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.  May God richly bless each one of you and that we will always remember how He sent His Son into this world in order that He could rescue us from all our sins.
We spent our Christmas and New Years in Cubulco.  Lia and the kids spent most of their time making cake and selling it to people who came by the door.  The kids wanted money in order to buy certain things so Lia told them they could do so by selling cake.  The kids really enjoyed doing this and they did quite well for Guatemalan standards.   They would spend several hours each day in front of a little table by the front door selling different kinds of cupcakes.  It was amazing how many people came by to buy.  Nico spent most of his time working with the church and the other projects of the mission.   

Superman?

We really enjoyed our time in Cubulco.    We did have one mishap though.  This happened to our accident prone son Jesse (sporting a Superman shirt) who was jumping backwards on the trampoline and fell off.  He landed heavily on his left arm and  unlike Superman he was in a lot of pain.  We took him to the mission hospital in town where they confirmed that the arm was fractured close to the part of the bone where it grows.  The doctor put a temporary cast on and told us that we needed to see a specialist in order to get a second opinion.  We tried to call his office but he was not answering his phone so a few days later we decided to drive to Salama (a one hour drive) to see the specialist.  However, when we got to his office there was sign on the door stating that he was out and would not be back until the first week of January.  So our trip there was basically for nothing.  A week after the accident Nico drove with Jesse and lil' Nico to the city to see a specialist there.  He looked at the x-ray and thankfully said that the break was common and will not affect the growth of the bone.  He placed a full cast on Jesse's arm and told us to come back in two weeks.  While we were in his office we took advantage of this doctor's expertise and got him to look at Jesse's legs which are not straight and lil' Nico's protruding chest.  With Jesse things are normal for his age.  Now lil' Nico's case is a little different.  He has a small curve in his spine and his body is not symmetrical.  The specialist sent us to have x-rays done of his back to determine what the problem is.  He believes it is not serious and something that can be treated with exercise.  We hope and pray that this is the case.  Please pray for our family and for our children as well, that they will grow up to be healthy and strong and also follow the Lord with all their hearts.

  

Ecuador

Today is my last day in Ecuador where I spent the last 4 days visiting with the Jonkman's and looking at their ministry and a little of Quito.  My visit was great and I really enjoyed my time getting to know Fred and Arlene and some of the people they work with and minister to.  It is evident that although there are always challenges and difficulties, God has blessed their ministry.  As some might not know, they are involved with a local church and helping this church grow and mature.  They also are involved with promoting a Sunday school material that they translated into Spanish with the help of some Ecuadorians.  This material has been well received all over Latin America.  Finally, they are also involved with MINTS (Miami International Seminary) which is a kind of mobile seminary set up to train local leaders in different parts of Ecuador.  As is the reality of most missionaries, I am sure they are involved with many other things that I did not get to see or hear about.  

I arrived in Ecuador Saturday afternoon and that evening we went to a Bible study for a college and careers group.  On Sunday we went to church for Sunday school and a church service.  After church we went to pick up some of the young people who were on a weekend retreat up in the mountains in a place where HCJB radio had their hydro electric project that they had set up to power their antennas from which they would broadcast the gospel all over the globe.  After coming back to Quito we spent the evening at the Jonkman's house discussing the sermon of that morning with people of the church.    On Monday, I went to the office to look at it and talk with Luis Carlos who works with Fred.  He is a very gifted teacher.  After going to the office we went to the Nazarene Seminary to play basketball for a few hours.  In the evening we went back to the office for the MINTS course that is held each Monday night.  Today we spent the day going to look at the HCJB headquarters, the hospital and the Alliance school.  We went to the center of Quito which was neat.  In the afternoon we went to the Equator which was neat and visited with Luis Carlos who lives near there.  

My time here in Ecuador has been really nice.  Tomorrow I head back to Guatemala to be reunited with Lia and the kids.  Please pray for the Jonkman's and their ministry.

Trip to Peru- Last Post

This will be my last post from Peru as I will fly out tomorrow morning early.  My experience here has been good.  I have learned a lot and will leave knowing that I have a lot more to learn.  One of the things I learned was to eat different kinds of food.  As some already know I have always been a fussy or picky eater.  I do not like to try many new things.  Thankfully my years in Guatemala taught me to be less picky and they prepared me for my trip to Peru.  I assumed that in Peru the food would be fairly simple like it is in Guatemala.  However, was I ever surprised.  The food here is very different to that of Guatemala.  Tortillas are not eaten here.  The corn here is quite different from Guatemalan corn.  Also people eat a lot of rice and potatoes and much of the food has an oriental flavor thanks to the Chinese and Japanese who began living here many years ago.  As some of you might know Peru had a president (Fujimori) of Japanese descent.  This past week I have eaten food that would normally be served in fancy restaurants.  However, here it is common to eat this kind of food.  During my week here I have not eaten the same thing twice whether it was a meal or a snack.  Neither have I had the same drink more than once other than the occasional cup of tea that I made for myself.  Also most of the food was locally grown at the conference center and almost all was organic.  It was really quite impressive and needless to say each meal was an experience.

Trip to Peru-Ruins of Pachacamac

Before beginning our day we decided that if it would be sunny we would go and check out some ruins near where we are staying.  We were told by the owners of this conference center that it was best to go on a sunny day.  Since it is cloudy or foggy 80% of the time we decided that the next time the sun would come out we would go, whether it would be today, tomorrow or the day after.  Being a small group we have moved along quite quickly and are well ahead of schedule.  We spent most of the day working since it was cloudy.  However, after lunch the sun came out so we decided to work a few more hours and then go see the ruins.  For myself having an interest in history and archaeology it was an interesting trip and well worth seeing, that is if you like this kind of thing.  The ruins are called Pachacamac which is also the name of this area and the name of the creator god that the people worshiped here.  For many centuries from 200AD till the time of the Spanish conquest in 1533AD Pachacamac was one of the most important religious centers of the Inca and pre-Inca world.  People during that time traveled from all over to pay homage and bring presents to their deity Pachacamac.  They sacrificed to him since he was not only a god who created things and could provide good things, but also a god who could destroy and take away.  However, the Spaniards in virtually no time  at all destroyed the worship of this god when they entered the temple, took the idol which was merely a pole with carvings on it and showed it to the people.  The people expected their god to act and destroy the Spaniards for what they had done, but nothing happened.  As a result, in the eyes of the people the god of the Spaniards was superior and soon afterward people stopped worshiping this deity and Pachacamac ceased to be important and soon was abandoned.  Most of the archaeological site has not been studied yet. Today archaeologists continue to work on the site which continues to provide new clues and evidence to better understand this site.  Archaeologists also continue to unearth graves where important people were buried.  Again, for myself it was very interesting to see a part of history.  What was also interesting was learning how the snake or serpent plays a role in the stories of Pachacamac as well like he does in the Biblical narrative.  One of the funny comments that one in the group made was, "esta serpiente se ha metido en todo" (that serpent has put himself in everything).    This reminds me of the book by Don Richardson "Eternity in their Hearts", which shows how all the ancient cultures of the world have some knowledge of God and the things of the Bible.  God has put eternity "in their hearts".  Obviously what they have is not sufficient for salvation and that is why God calls us even today to go out and spread His Word so that others will come to know the True and Living Creator.

Trip to Peru-Work Shops

My purpose of being in Peru is for a workshop that deals with PMEL (Planning, Monitoring, Evaluating, Learning).  The purpose behind this role is that in today's world of travel and media which allows people to see more and learn more, they also are asking more questions as to where their money is going, how it is being spent, and if it is having an impact.  Gone are the days where people gave without asking too many questions.  For me it is actually a good thing that donors are educating themselves and asking more questions.  It forces organizations to take a closer look at themselves.  It make them evaluate themselves and learn from this.  During my years in Guatemala one of the questions I always wondered about was "what impact are we having"?  This is also one of the questions I will have to ask in AMG Guatemala.   As you know AMG is involved with educating children.  However, the question is not simply how many kids are graduating, but also how many are able to find a job.  We are interested in transformation.  We want children to go through the program not only to be changed and transformed themselves, but to be agents of change and transformation in their communities.  So far the workshop has been good although for me it has been somewhat challenging since I have to learn new terminology and concepts.  In general the things I am learning make sense and are things that I have experience in during my time in Cubulco.  I am here with Sander Verduijn of Woord en Daad who is facilitating the seminar, Willie and Diego who work with CDA Colombia, and Marta from Nicaragua.  We are just a small group, but that allows us to move along quickly and share ideas.

Tristan is ONE!!!!

Today is November 1st a holiday in most Latin American countries.  It is the "day of the dead" also known as "all saints day".  This is a day when most Latin American go to the graveyard to party by the grave of their loved ones.  They usually bring the deceased's favorite food and drink.  While people are partying it up in the cemeteries, I am sure there was also a party at our house.  Tristan turned ONE year old today.  Sadly enough I was not able to be there because of my trip to Peru.  Tristan is our pride and joy.  He is very high maintenance, but he is a lot of fun and gives the best hugs not only to us but also to whoever is holding him.  He gets a lot of attention from all sorts of people especially the Guatemalans.  Tristan is still as chubby as ever and he is learning to walk.  Right now he likes to scoot around the house pushing a chair or a stool.  Another thing he is good at is holding a cell phone.  He gets that from his mother.

Trip to Peru- Visit of AMG Projects

As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, as the PMEL director of AMG Guatemala I have to go to Peru for a workshop.  Well, at this moment I am in Peru and writing this blog from Pachacamac a town some 40 minutes from Lima.  I left Guatemala City on Saturday morning at 6:10am and had to make two stops, one in Costa Rica and one in Panama City.  Although I had very little time between connecting flights everything went smoothly and on time and I arrived in Lima at 3:10.  Immigration was a breeze which I was thankful for.  Lima was a surprise to me.  I expected Lima to be in the mountains and to be lush and green.  I found out before I left while looking at a map of Peru that it is situated on the Pacific coast.  What I did not know before I came was that this part of the coast is basically a desert.  Another thing I did not know was that it would be so cool here.  I expected it to be warmer since being in the southern hemisphere summer is just around the corner.  Another interesting thing about the area of Lima is that although it receives very little rainfall, it is cloudy or misty almost 80% of the year.  

On Sunday I went to a local church.  After lunch I was picked up by a local pastor (Jose Adon) to take a look at two learning center projects that AMG sponsors in Peru.  AMG also sponsors two more projects but they are situated in the city of Huaraz some 450km from Lima up in the Andes.  The two projects that AMG sponsors in Lima are situated in one of the biggest slums of Lima.   Lima is a huge city of some 8.5 million people although some say that it has up to 12 million people.  Between a third and half of the population of Peru live in Lima. The slum where the two projects are has some 1.8 million people.    Ten years ago there were only a few houses but now there are thousands.  As is the case in many countries especially under developed countries people flock to the cities in droves hoping to find a better quality of life and job opportunities.   In most cases they are worse off because unemployment is high and most people can not afford to provide an education to their children.  The projects that AMG supports in this slum helps around 300 children.  Each project provides a safe haven for children of all ages and a Christian environment where they can learn.  Each child also receives a meal.  For many this is the only proper meal they get for that day.  The projects themselves are rustic, but they are a blessing to the community.   What impressed me most about walking through the slum was that people are still smiling.  Children were playing in the street.  Young people were playing soccer or talking and laughing.  It is good to see that even in the midst of dire circumstances people can still laugh and smile.   Pastor Jose is an interesting man.   He is of Chinese and African descent although he does not have Chinese features.  (Peru has a lot of Asian influence and you see it in the food which is a mixture of Chinese and Peruvian and in some of the words they use which are Chinese and not Spanish). He is in his early sixties oalthough he looks much younger and served in the Peruvian Airforce as a pilot for some 30 years.  After serving his time God called him to be a pastor.of a Baptist church.  He is well educated and also is in charge of MINTS in Peru.  As a church they have numerous outreaches all over the country.  I really enjoyed spending the afternoon and evening with him and his family.  His daughter is in charge of the learning centers.  She has a masters degree in education.  Please pray for Pastor Jose and his family as they work in this area of Lima. 

Nico and Ellen's School

On August 23, 3 days before we moved into our home, Nico and Ellen started school.  The school called Christian Academy of Guatemala (CAG) is a minute from our house.   The kids are very happy there and enjoy their teacher Miss Amy.   Nico and Ellen's class has 14 kids in total.  As parents we are impressed with the school.  It has high standards and has everything and in some areas even more than many North American schools.  What we like the most is that most of the teachers are missionaries who are supported by North American churches and they are committed not only to challenge the students academically, but also spiritually. To them the school is their mission field.  They understand that the parents of many of the missionary kids have many challenges in their ministry.  Another thing that we appreciate about the school is that our kids learn Spanish as a second language.  Please pray for the school and for Nico and Ellen as they study.  So far they are doing very well in school.  Their report cards were outstanding because they both scored high marks.  They were almost identical.  We are thankful for that and also that they are self motivated.  After they come home from school they both usually do their homework right away without having to say anything to them.  They are quite self sufficient.  They have even gone so far as to get their own lunch and snack ready for school.  We are quite impressed.   

Trip to Atitlan

Last week I spent a few days visiting various projects that AMG has toward the west of the city.  I made the trip with Brian Dennett the director of AMG, Alex the director of all the education projects, and Estuardo who is the supervisor of all the rural education projects.  Our first stop was at a project called Camp Canaan.    This camp is situated just outside the city of Chimaltenango about an hours drive from Guatemala City.  This is a camp for children from each of the projects that AMG runs. Every sponsor child from grade 5 and up are allowed to attend this camp for one week a year. At this camp they are ministered to by a wonderful Guatemala couple (Jose Luis and Orfa) and their staff.  This camp has a tremendous impact in the lives of many children and their teachers.  This was evident when we visited some of the schools.  One of the comments we heard over and over again was regarding the camp and its ministry.  Please pray for this couple as they minister to the children and youth of the AMG projects.  Also pray for Orfa who had surgery for a brain aneurysm. 

After visiting the camp we drove an hour or so to the town of Patzicia.  The school  here is called Colegio Betel.  This school has more than 465 students.  Some students study in the morning while others study in the afternoon.  After visiting Patzicia we drove to Lake Atitlan to visit several projects on the shore of the lake.  However, in order to get there we first had to drive through rivers and flooded streets.  As mentioned in a previous blog we have had an extremely wet rainy season caused by several tropical storms and many bridges and roads have been washed away or damaged.

Lake Atitlan is one of the most beautiful places to see in Guatemala.  It is  considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world and was once one of the seven wonders of the natural world.  It is the biggest lake in Guatemala and the deepest lake in Central America (340 m).  It is a caldera which means that it sits in the crater of an old volcano.  The rim of the volcano to the bottom of the lake is over 800 meters.  Another interesting thing about the lake is that it does not drain anywhere.  There are a number of streams that feed the lake, but none that flow out.   As a result during this extremely rainy season the water level in the lake has risen several feet.

In the towns along the shore of the lake AMG has two schools.  One school in Santiago called Alpha & Omega which has over 375 students.  The other school was on the other side of the lake in the town of San Pedro.  This school is called Getsemani and it has over 200 students.  The students at these schools are indigenous and speak Tz´utujil.   In most of the rural projects AMG runs the schools together with a local church.  Usually you will find the school attached to the local church.  Most the churches are either Presbyterian or Central American Mission (CAM).

After spending two days visiting these projects we returned to Guatemala City.  We were in good spirits heading home, encouraged by what we had seen and experienced.   However, our mood changed quickly. About 2 hours out of Guatemala city we stopped for lunch at a well known restaurant.  It supposedly was a secure place to stop.  We went in and enjoyed a nice lunch.  Afterward we went back to the car after and we noticed that it had been broken into.  All our belongings were gone.  I personally lost over $2500 worth of stuff as my laptop, I-Pod, and  professional camera were stolen.   This really was upsetting to all of us and it brought us back to  the reality of living in Guatemala.  Please pray for Guatemala.  It is considered one of the most dangerous places to live in the world.

The Daily Commute

While it is nice to live in the city because of all the conveniences, there are some inconveniences.  The biggest inconvenience is the traffic.  In Cubulco we never had to worry about traffic except for on market days.  Even then it was a minor nuisance. In Guatemala City on the other hand traffic is a major headache. Most mornings I leave for work after dropping the kids off at school at around 8:00 and it takes me anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour. to get to the office.  Getting home however is another story.  A few days ago I left the office early and it took me almost 2 hours to get home.   It was not even rush hour yet, but what caused the delay were road crews fixing the road at the beginning of rush hour.  Not good planning on their part, but that is life in Guatemala  What often makes matters worse is the rain.  This year has been an exceptionally wet year and the rain causes a lot of problems.  The streets are littered with pot-holes and when it rains the water often can not drain away fast enough and causes the streets to be filled with up to a foot of water in some places.    

First Week at AMG

This was Nico's first week at AMG.  He is excited about working with them.  They have a great team of very capable Guatemalans (like Alex in the picture) and one gringo Brian Dennett (also in the picture) who work passionately for the organization.   It is a real blessing to work with people who want to give back to God and the community.  Many of the staff are former students.  AMG's main focus is helping around 7500 children who live in poverty get a good quality education in a Christian environment.  AMG sponsors these children by providing them with education, food, and some health care like medical checkups, vaccines, and dental.  Apart from education AMG is also involved in the medical field.  They run a hospital in Cubulco and have several clinics in some of their other projects  Nico's  main focus will be filling a role as the PMEL officer.  PMEL stands for Planning, Measuring, Evaluating, and Learning.  This is a new role required by Woord en Daad to be used in the projects they sponsor.   Woord en Daad is the biggest sponsor that AMG has. Since it is a new role there is no one at the office that can really help him understand exactly what it is he needs to do.  Having said that there is plenty that he can do to prepare himself for the role.  One of the first things he will be doing is visiting the projects that AMG has and learning about each of them and how the organization functions.  After that he will be going to a training seminar either in Guatemala or Haiti towards the end of October.  

Jesse is 3!!!

While we were in Cubulco, Jesse turned 3 years old on August 15.  Since his birthday was on Sunday we decided to have his birthday party on Monday.  Lia invited some kids from the church and friends to a little birthday party.  We had cake and broke a pinata full of candy.  Jesse was spoiled with presents from his friends.  Jesse is really growing.  He is still a little skinny, but he is eating a lot and starting to fill out a bit.  He seems to be quite content here in Guatemala.  In Canada it was hard for us to leave him.  For instance he did not want to go to the babysit during church.  However, here in Guatemala he has no problem with us leaving him in the babysit at the Central Presbyterian church where all the people are strangers and do not speak English.

Our Visit to Cubulco

After our week in the city we spent more than 3 weeks in Cubulco.  During the time there Nico spent most of his time visiting the projects and meeting with the workers of each project.  As mission we are involved with a number of projects.  Our main focus for many years has been working with the Reformed churches of Cubulco.   The churches currently are without a pastor, although we have one man  Pastor Carlos) who comes every other week to pastor the church.  For the rest we have local leaders who are leading the churches.  Another one of our main focuses for many years has been translating the Old Testament into the indigenous dialect Achi.  Our final project is something that we started around 3-4 years ago which has to do with education.  Initially we started by sending teachers to the government schools in the aldeas (mountain villages) where we have churches.  Most schools in Guatemala especially in the rural areas are understaffed.  Some only have 1 teacher for grades 1-6.  So our sending of extra teachers really helps the communities.  The latest addition to the education project are two education centres.  The purpose of these centres is to provide children who are in grades 1-6 with a positive Christian environment so that they can get help with their homework. 

Apart from seeing and meeting with the different projects Nico was also invited to preach at a special service in Pachijul where the community was inaugurating a new school building.   Normally one would have to cross the famous 276 metre long suspension bridge in Chitomax, but the bridge is no longer there.  During the recent tropical storm Agatha the bridge was destroyed.   In order to cross the river you have to pay someone Q2.00 (25 cents) to take you in a small skiff.  The picture was taken from the place where the bridge is supposed to be.  The government supposedly has promised to rebuild the bridge, but this is yet to be seen.  There are plenty of more important bridges to be rebuilt or repaired all over Guatemala which were either damaged or completely destroyed during Agatha. 

We had a good time in Cubulco reconnecting with friends and members of the church.  Please continue to pray for the work especially that God would provide a pastor for the church.

Finally Settled

We are finally settled!!!!  Although we arrived in Guatemala well over a month ago, it was not until last week Thursday that we finally moved into our rental home.   The first thing we did after we arrived was to look at a number of houses available for rent.  After a week of looking we finally settled on a house that was not yet completed, but would be done in 2 weeks according to the owner.   The house was small, but it had amenities that would suit our family like security, playground, swimming pool and basketball hoops.  However, a few days before we were supposed to take possession we were told that the house would not be ready in time.  The owner was willing to let us move in and would not charge us rent for 2 weeks.  Needless to say we did not want to rent an unfinished house.  Instead, we told the owner that we were no longer interested and instead we called the owner of the first house we had looked at and the one we loved the most to see whether or not it was still available.  The reason why we had not taken this house was because we felt that it was not as secure since there is no guard.  Safety is a big issue in Guatemala and for this reasons most people live in gated communities.  This house is not in a gated community, but Lia and I both felt that this was the house that God wanted us to rent.  We had been praying for months about the housing situation.  The owners of the house are missionaries and they had been praying for some time to find the right people to rent the house out to.  When they had seen my posting on the Guatemalan missionary bulletin they contacted us and sent us pictures.  Other people sent us responses as well, but this house stood out to us.  I felt then already that this was the house for us, but I resisted the gentle nudging because of the safety aspect.  Therefore, we initially decided not to take the house.  In the end here we are in this exact same house, because the other arrangement fell through.  I felt a  bit reprimanded through the whole process, because we were making decisions out of fear and not out of faith.  The fact of the matter is that if God wants something to happen to us it will happen whether we are living in a gated community or not.  This does not mean that we should live recklessly because this is irresponsible and wrong.  At the same time living in fear is just as wrong.   We are very happy in our new home and we do feel secure.  God has given us a sense of peace and we trust Him for our security.