It is 1:00 AM here in Guatemala right now and the rain is coming down. A week ago when it rained we could not hear ourselves think. After a week of hard work we now have a drop ceiling. The tiles are so good you can barely hear the rain. My home church Mt. Harmony was here all week and we had a great time. Even though we have only been on the field for a few weeks it seems like months. There have been so many changes to our house in those weeks. I want to thank all of the teams that have come down this summer so far to minister at Casa and help us build our house.
I am going to post pictures on Monday of the house so you can get an idea of the work that has been done. I will also be sharing a story with you about our block party on Saturday. You do not want to miss that. It was an incredible weekend and I must say that these chicken buses in Guatemala are tanks. Well I am very sleepy so I am going to hit the pillow. I will give you more updates in the morning.
His Servant,
Mike
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
A Day With Nature
Have you ever had one of those days that just make you want to stay in bed. We started out our day going to church at Casa. Mike had a great message then He and Dottie had us over for lunch. So far a great day. Then we got the bright idea of going to the city to buy shelves for my books. This is where the fun begins.
As we got to the shopping center I realized that everyone in Guatemala goes shopping on Sunday afternoon. It took us about 30 minutes to find a spot to park my tank. Then we go into the store and get the things we needed and a few we did not and we started to exit. As we start toward the door this down pour starts up and would not let up. It was so bad the guys helping us load the truck even told us they were not going outside. I saw my truck only 100 yards away so I made a break for it. In a matter of 25 seconds (Yes I am Slow) I looked like I had jumped into a pool. So we get our stuff and head back to the house. As we start up the road the rain got harder. We then see cars floating down the road. There were wrecks everywhere. At some points we were driving in over 2ft. of water. As we start up the mountain dirt is falling and washing off of the side of the mountain. It was crazy. Then I see this bus parked with the driver standing in front of it. Next to him was about 2ft. of water. I hit that puddle and that guy bless his heart got a bath of the muddiest water you will ever see. I had to laugh but Carla said I was mean. Finally after and hour we made it back to the house. Carla told me that I was a true Guatemalan because of my driving skills. I took that as a compliment of course.
The rest of the night was quiet until just a minute ago. Katie screams out from her room "Daddy why is my fan moving side to side in my room. As I looked up in the living room that fan was moving too. It was an Earthquake. A 4.3 to be exact. I am telling you I just need to go back to bed.
What I did not tell you is that in between the excitement, I finished the sheetrock in the bathroom and it is ready for our team coming Monday. Well it is now after midnight so it is time for bed. I'll keep you posted as Mother Nature shakes things up here in Guatemala.
His Servant,
Mike
As we got to the shopping center I realized that everyone in Guatemala goes shopping on Sunday afternoon. It took us about 30 minutes to find a spot to park my tank. Then we go into the store and get the things we needed and a few we did not and we started to exit. As we start toward the door this down pour starts up and would not let up. It was so bad the guys helping us load the truck even told us they were not going outside. I saw my truck only 100 yards away so I made a break for it. In a matter of 25 seconds (Yes I am Slow) I looked like I had jumped into a pool. So we get our stuff and head back to the house. As we start up the road the rain got harder. We then see cars floating down the road. There were wrecks everywhere. At some points we were driving in over 2ft. of water. As we start up the mountain dirt is falling and washing off of the side of the mountain. It was crazy. Then I see this bus parked with the driver standing in front of it. Next to him was about 2ft. of water. I hit that puddle and that guy bless his heart got a bath of the muddiest water you will ever see. I had to laugh but Carla said I was mean. Finally after and hour we made it back to the house. Carla told me that I was a true Guatemalan because of my driving skills. I took that as a compliment of course.
The rest of the night was quiet until just a minute ago. Katie screams out from her room "Daddy why is my fan moving side to side in my room. As I looked up in the living room that fan was moving too. It was an Earthquake. A 4.3 to be exact. I am telling you I just need to go back to bed.
What I did not tell you is that in between the excitement, I finished the sheetrock in the bathroom and it is ready for our team coming Monday. Well it is now after midnight so it is time for bed. I'll keep you posted as Mother Nature shakes things up here in Guatemala.
His Servant,
Mike
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Finally We Have Communication
It has been a crazy 2 weeks and I am sorry for not blogging. We have not had internet until Thursday night. Our house is finally coming together thanks to Central Baptist Bearden and First Baptist Seymour. Our Kitchen is finally unpacked and we have running water in the sink. We still do not have a shower. Our bathrooms are about 65% complete. It has been a challenge for the first 2 weeks.
We had an amazing week last week with Sonlight puppets. They came to Casa to do a camp toteach our kids how to do puppets. Our kids were awesome on Thursday night and seemed to have learned a lot from Sonlight. Both sets of kids were so excited. We hope to start practices to build on the momentum from the week.
Sonlight also went to many places to perform. One place that has become very special was El Castillo Home and school. This is a organization that fosters street kids and gives them and education. On the last day of puppets we went to the school and I got to go and invite the public school to join us. We had almost 300 kids total. It was amazing to watch. If you ever want a top notch puppet team call Ray and Jane at Central Baptist Bearden. These guys are amazing.
I want to thank Sonlight for blessing our family so much the entire week. From the work they did to the financial support they have given. They are amazing people and true servants of God. The highlight of the week was the Queso. For those of you that may not know that is a cheese pie from McDonalds. The best way to describe it is deep fried cheese cake. That team hate about 45 of them. Well Mike one of their adults had 10 so 35 for the team. Thanks again you guys for an unforgettable week.
Our family is doing well. We are all trying to ajust to everything. I think once we get our house in order it will be great. I am excited about next week, our church is coming but also there is going to be a Women's conference here at Casa. Every girl 13 and over will be attending. They will be doing small group each night so we are hoping that this could be the start of small group Bible for all of the girls. We have a lot of stuff going on and we are excited that we have hit the ground running.
Below is our list of needs. If you have not started your monthly commitment we would love for you to do so. We are now 100% living on faith and I must say it is so cool. God has been so good to us through you and others. Thank you so much for your willingness to be involved. Please check out my blog each day as I will be adding new stuff. Also if you would like to call us I have a Knoxville, TN phone number through Skype. It is 865-329-6811. It is free for us and a local call from Knoxville.
His Servant,
Mike
Needs
1. 15 Monthly sponsors at $30.00 per month
2. Frequent Flyer Miles for Plan Tickets for Carla
3. $1000 to fix roof on a local school in Antigua
Prayer Needs
1. Carla's Dad doing better but hard with s being here.
2. Our adoption. We have been told we can not have the boys until the paperwork is finished. We thought they would be with us when we moved. It has been very hard.
3. Salvations for a Outreach event we are doing July 12th.
4. Our puppet ministry that kids will be excited and it will grow in numbers.
5. Pray that relationships would grow that we are making.
We had an amazing week last week with Sonlight puppets. They came to Casa to do a camp toteach our kids how to do puppets. Our kids were awesome on Thursday night and seemed to have learned a lot from Sonlight. Both sets of kids were so excited. We hope to start practices to build on the momentum from the week.
Sonlight also went to many places to perform. One place that has become very special was El Castillo Home and school. This is a organization that fosters street kids and gives them and education. On the last day of puppets we went to the school and I got to go and invite the public school to join us. We had almost 300 kids total. It was amazing to watch. If you ever want a top notch puppet team call Ray and Jane at Central Baptist Bearden. These guys are amazing.
I want to thank Sonlight for blessing our family so much the entire week. From the work they did to the financial support they have given. They are amazing people and true servants of God. The highlight of the week was the Queso. For those of you that may not know that is a cheese pie from McDonalds. The best way to describe it is deep fried cheese cake. That team hate about 45 of them. Well Mike one of their adults had 10 so 35 for the team. Thanks again you guys for an unforgettable week.
Our family is doing well. We are all trying to ajust to everything. I think once we get our house in order it will be great. I am excited about next week, our church is coming but also there is going to be a Women's conference here at Casa. Every girl 13 and over will be attending. They will be doing small group each night so we are hoping that this could be the start of small group Bible for all of the girls. We have a lot of stuff going on and we are excited that we have hit the ground running.
Below is our list of needs. If you have not started your monthly commitment we would love for you to do so. We are now 100% living on faith and I must say it is so cool. God has been so good to us through you and others. Thank you so much for your willingness to be involved. Please check out my blog each day as I will be adding new stuff. Also if you would like to call us I have a Knoxville, TN phone number through Skype. It is 865-329-6811. It is free for us and a local call from Knoxville.
His Servant,
Mike
Needs
1. 15 Monthly sponsors at $30.00 per month
2. Frequent Flyer Miles for Plan Tickets for Carla
3. $1000 to fix roof on a local school in Antigua
Prayer Needs
1. Carla's Dad doing better but hard with s being here.
2. Our adoption. We have been told we can not have the boys until the paperwork is finished. We thought they would be with us when we moved. It has been very hard.
3. Salvations for a Outreach event we are doing July 12th.
4. Our puppet ministry that kids will be excited and it will grow in numbers.
5. Pray that relationships would grow that we are making.
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