A week of goodbyes

This past week has been one of goodbyes and next week promises more of the same. After saying goodbye to the First Bible Church team from Decatur, we have been making the rounds, saying goodbye to friends here in Antigua. Next Thursday, we will be relocating to Panajachel. For those of you that don't know it, it is one of the most beautiful places on God's earth! (Just ask Ronne or Candie Harvell, I think they took pictures of every flower on the place!) It was after seeing CAM's property in Pana, in 1995, that I told Johnny "I had found the place for us to retire!!". Johnny said no, but it's funny how God works - that is exactly where we will be living!

We completed our oral language exams (by phone) and passed! And we have done lots of practicing Spanish as we said goodbye to several families that we have gotten close to in our time here.

The Andrade family is on the left and the Carrillo family is on the right.

Next week, we will meet with several more folks and finish packing. You would think that in an apartment as small as ours, we couldn't have collected too much "stuff"! Wrong!! This next week will determine how good a packer I am (getting stuff into boxes) and how good Johnny is (getting all the boxes in the two cars)! I'll keep you posted!

...there they go!

Five fifteen came early this morning but all were up, passports in hand, to return home. We had a great week with lots of work, lots of eating and lots of shopping! Below are just some highlights of our week:



The completed job. With all the rain and the help of a backhoe, the yard is mud now. But the grass will return and will be enclosed in our beautiful new fence!






Benches were put together by Jon Moore and crew to be placed at the home of Eric and Carmen near Antigua. The climb to their house is very steep and Carmen has difficulty walking it. The benches were placed up the trail to give her a place to rest! Thanks Jon!









Candie Harvel taking a well-deserved rest!













A new generation of FBCers met Chepe! He enjoys when First Bible comes and always wants to work with them!

Candie would have taken this one home with her if Ronne would have let her!








Laura Moore was the new "Bud Orr"! Bud always collected the street sellers because of his kind heart and full wallet! Since Bud wasn't here, Laura had to take over.















Hughston worked hard trying to get the entrance-way
built up some so we could turn in easier.















On the "rest day", we went to the relief map of Guatemala in the City, then headed for Antigua. Lots of eating, walking and shopping. Sorry, no pictures of the shopping but no one put down their shopping bags long enough to take pics! Look for the new jade jewelry at church next Sunday!











Thursday evening, we celebrated Johnny's 50th birthday. As you can see, black was the color of the evening! Thanks to all who made the celebration possible!!!

Here they are...

Our first day was gorgeous - at least until about 2 PM! But we got so much work done that we are scrambling for things to keep them busy! Here are a few of the highlights:








There was digging, digging and more digging!



Rachel graduated to using the "big boy" drill!










And, of course, more digging!

Some of the ladies took Tuesday to visit an orphanage and "hold" the babies. Actually we ended up bathing, feeding, rocking and playing with all the "sweeties". Doesn´t Rachel
look natural?

FBC mission team

Everyone arrived well and with all their luggage. It was a wet trip to Panajachel, but we made it safely and started working this morning. They worked so hard that we may keep them! Check tomorrow for pictures and details!

Maria and Johnny
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

Me and Andi

It's been 15 months and the cat is no longer a kitten. Living in small quarters, she has become much more sociable. But she is still my baby.

Little things...

As I sat in church yesterday, I noticed something that I had noticed before - no matter what time someone enters the church, no matter what is going on at the time, when they get to their seat, they pause and bow their heads in prayer. It has made me more aware of my attitude upon entering church. I don't know how many times I come rushing in, take my place and proceed to "worship" without even preparing my heart! The attitude of prayer before worship is thought-provoking. How is my heart as I enter to worship my God?

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org