A Close Call!

As we have mentioned in previous posts and in newsletters, Guatemala is one of the most dangerous non conflict countries of the world.  Not a day goes by when  the evidence of this is not clearly seen. Yesterday I opened the newspaper and it said that 17 people had been murdered in the past 24 hours.  While this sounds high, this is the daily average in Guatemala.  The majority of these murders are committed in the capital.  The most dangerous job in Guatemala is being a bus driver.  In 2010 at least 128 bus drivers where killed by local gangs because the bus driver or company failed to pay the extortion fee.  This year some gangs are resorting to terrorist like activities against bus companies who do not pay the extortion or as the gangs prefer to call it the "protection" fee. In January a bomb was planted on one of the bus who did not pay the extortion which killed 5 people of which 2 were children and injured 10.  Other than the gangs which are a major problem, we also have 5 drug cartels vying for control of the country.  Add to the mix corruption in the security forces and government and you have a perfect recipe for disaster and violence.  I often think that in Guatemala we are living like in the time of the Judges when every one does what is right in his own eye.  

Thankfully most missionaries do not live in areas where a lot of this violence goes on, although missionaries are some times targeted.  This past week Lia was a target of violence.  This past Tuesday she had put Tristan in the car was getting ready to leave when two men approached her and told her to not make noise and in English that they wanted the car.  Lia had a split second to react and since she was right by the door of the house with the key almost in the lock she took the chance and opened the door and ran in the house.  She of course was in a panic because Tristan was in the car.  The car was locked with the alarm on so the thieves would not have been able to get in without setting of the alarm.  Some people might be critical of Lia for leaving Tristan in the car, but I think that God gave her the wisdom at that moment to make that decision.  It could have been a lot worse if she would have given the keys and have the thieves drive of with Tristan still in the car.  I am proud of Lia for doing what she did and although she panicked after the fact she was under control when she needed to be.  I am also proud of the fact that Lia felt compassion for these guys even  though they tried to steal from her. We ask that you continue to pray for our safety.  This again was a reminder that although we should not be afraid we need to always be aware of the reality we live in.  We are taking more precautions and are keeping a low profile for a while.  Since I had to be in Cubulco, we decided  that we may as well go as a family and so we took the kids out of school for a couple of days.  We also put pressure on the home owner to install an electric gate which was something that he had agreed to do when we decided to rent the house.  Not having an electric gate always made us feel somewhat vulnerable because we have to get out of our car several times to open and close the gate.  We are thankful that God has protected us and that the negative experiences we have had have not been more than a good scare and loss of  some personal things.

10 Years in Guatemala!

Today is our 10 year anniversary of being in Guatemala.  We first arrived in Guatemala on January 17, 2000.  We spent 9 1/2 years in Cubulco after which we were in Canada for 1 year.   A lot has changed in our lives and in the work.  First of all we were a lot younger and recently married.  It was just the two of us and now there are six of us.  The Lord has blessed us with 4 children.  Also when we went to the field our Spanish was elementary and our missionary experience was limited.  Now while our Spanish is not fluent it is a lot better and we have a wealth of experience.  However, there is still a lot to learn.  

When it comes to the work a lot has changed as well.  The churches have matured and grown spiritually although there is always room for more maturity and spiritual growth.  The churches have also had to adjust to the fact that there is no longer a full time missionary presence.  While this is hard for a young church , it is also necessary for the maturation and development of the church.  It is very important for a church to be independent, self sustaining, and self propagating.   As to the translation project, it is nearing its completion.  Although we have not printed that many books, we are making a lot of progress.  Last year we finished the Achi hymnal.  Although there are many more hymns and songs that can be translated we decided to stop at 200 hymns.  We also have an education project something that we were not doing 10 years ago.  This project started around 4 years ago when we started hiring teachers and sending them to 5 rural schools who did not have enough teachers.  Each of these schools are in communities where we have churches.  The idea behind this project was three fold.  One was the obvious one which was to help the schools in the aldeas (small rural villages).  Many schools had only 1 or 2 teachers and they would have to take care of 60-120 kids from grades 1-6.  The second and third reasons for placing teachers in these schools was to teach Bible and Biblical values and to teach the Achi language.  We were noticing that for various reasons, parents in our rural churches were not teaching their children the Bible.  Many people in our churches can not read and write and because of that and the fact that they are new believers it is hard for them to teach their children about the Bible.  We also noticed that while the indigenous people spoke their language most do not know how to read and write in their language.  Again this is because most are illiterate.  We continue to work with the rural schools each year, but thankfully the government has also invested more money in education and are sending more teachers.  Most schools now have at least 3 government teachers: one for kindergarten and at least 2 for elementary.  Another education project we started several years ago was a learning center.  The idea behind the center is to provide a positive environment and place where children can go to after school in order to do their homework.  The teachers at the center help the children with their homework and also provide Biblical teaching.  

The Lord has blessed us and the work in many ways.  It has not always been easy.  I must say that in many ways these past 10 years have been the hardest years of our lives.  We have faced many challenges, and have been stretched in unimaginable ways, but through it all we have grown albeit not always willingly.  God has been good and we pray that he will continue to bless the work in Cubulco.   

 

Update of the Family

We just want to quickly update you on certain things that we mentioned in our previous blog.  We are back in the city and the kids started schools again.  It is good for them to be back at school and in routine.  

We went to see the specialist yesterday for a checkup on Jesse`s arm and to discuss the results of lil`Nico`s x-ray.  Our appointment was at 10:30 and we were not done until 1:15.  It took almost three hours!  The reason for that was that we had to get Jesse`s cast removed after which we were sent downstairs to have an x-ray taken of his arm.  This took well over an hour.  Part of the reason for this was that since it was a Monday it was extra busy at the clinic.  The other reason was that the x-ray of Jesse`s arm showed something that the first x-ray that we had done in Cubulco did not show.  This came as a surprise to the x-ray technician and the specialist. When technician in Cubulco took the x-ray of Jesse`s arm he just did the area of the arm around the elbow. Yesterday they took an x-ray of the complete arm which showed that Jesse actually had fractured both his upper and lower arm.  Thankfully everything has healed properly and Jesse is now able to go without a cast.  He has some pain when he makes certain movements, but that will go away over time.

Tristan with Nico and Ellen's teacher Miss Amy

As for Nico, we got the results back.  His condition can in 90% of cases be reversed by doing exercises that will strengthen the back muscles.  The specialist recommended exercises like swimming and karate.  We also need to work on his posture.  Hopefully this will help reverse his condition.  If the exercise does not work we will have to see a physiotherapist.
Apart from this our children are doing well.  Nico and Ellen are doing great in school  and love their teacher Miss Amy.  Nico makes friends easily, but for Ellen this is harder, although she is more open and makes friends easier than before.  Their Spanish has improved tremendously.  Jesse and Tristan are growing like weeds.  We had them weighed at the doctors office and both are at the upper end of the scale as to what is normal.  As we mentioned in a previous blog Tristan started walking several months ago and now he is scooting all around the house.  He did not like wearing shoes at first on his feet since he preferred to have them on his hands.  He would crawl around house wearing on his hands whatever pair of shoes or sandals that he would find lying around.  Our children are a great joy to us and a blessing and we are thankful that up to now they are healthy and growing.