Thursday, January 22, 2009

"the village"

Wow! Time sure flies and suddenly our blog is two or three weeks overdue...

Tedd & I:
We're doing great! Things are busy as always, but we're healthy, the Lord is protecting us, and we're still the best of friends! We're praying a lot about all the crossroads we face in the next year or so when it comes to topics like where we'd live, when we'd start a family, how we could expand our "tent-making" business, etc. We're approaching two full years of marriage this May (!!!) and we just happen to be in a season of life where there are SO many options and decisions to be made (or not made). It's actually very exciting
to have so many options and so many things to dream and think about, but we're praying for wisdom and that the Lord would make us like clay in His hands. So that's our personal life in a nutshell :-)

Lancaster Bible College Missions Conference:
The conference went so well (thank you for praying)! Since we're only a couple years out of college, we seem to blend into the college scene very quickly and the Lord lead us to many new friends and we met up with old friends too (from last year's conference) and deepened our friendships with them. Lots and lots of students are interested in teaching English overseas as a ministry, so we hope that we'll be able to help them find contacts overseas to pursue the interests that God has planted in them! We had a great time and we pray that God will bring forth some fruit from the seeds that were planted.

Guatemala:
Wow, good 'ole Guatemala...boy do I have some memories here! I lived with a family here 3 years ago for 5 weeks and it was one of the most significant breaking points in my entire life - I had a reeeeally tough time, but it was such a blessing b/c it was for the refining of my soul!

Anyway, so here we are again and we've been working on several different things since we've been here:

* we found a place to do a regional literacy institute later this year & decided on prices and dates (a big one on the to-do list!)

* it wasn't really an original goal, but b/c of the way things are in Latin America, we had an extra 5 days, so we went to Antigua & I studied for 5 days in a Spanish school to improve my Spanish. I think it helped a lot!

* we had lots of time to work on the music ministry
website that we hope to share with you soon!

Now for some great pics! After picking up John at the airport last week, we took a full-day bus ride to the Peten and then joined Calvary International to go out to the village "La Nueva Cesaltul" (I may have spelled that wrong) I have to say, I felt very intrusive with all of our camera equipment, but we have high hopes for the outcome! We're doing a video project with the villagers to capture their testimonies of how the literacy class in their village led some of them to Christ!! Here are some pictures of our stay in the village (we camped overnight!) and we can't wait to share the video with you when it's completed:

(above: inside a typical Ketchi home. It's a one-room house & I'm guessing at least 5 people sleep here, but probably more. Notice the rooster? The animals roam freely through the house. We have a lot to be grateful for)
(above: the Ketchi women's LITERACY class!!)
(above: reading the Bible in Ketchi)

(below: fascinated and giggling, kids gather around John's camera to watch the video screen)

(above: the kids follow the jungle trail to find sticks for roasting hot dogs later on with the gringos!)

It's been a great experience, as always, and I'm so thankful to God for softening my heart and humbling me time and time again by allowing me the privilege to see how other people live and think...my world-view is so small and limited. I pray that we can see the world the way the Lord does!

Until next time!


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