Happy 50th Birthday Johnny!

We celebrated Johnny's 50th birthday yesterday - amid a whirlwind day of travel with the Hastie family! We are currently hosting a couple of retired CAM missionaries and their 4 generations for the week. They have played "old home week" for the last two days but we grounded them today and they are working at the Camp for 3 days.

Thank you for the birthday greetings to Johnny! He is trying to forget the day but I won't let him!

Love to all,
Maria

jcoker@email.caminternational.org

Tired...

For the past week, we have been on the go constantly. Most of it has been physical, especially for Johnny. He spent 3 days last week digging a 75' long by 2' deep trench for a field line for the sewer. He will finish up this week, all in preparation for a team that arrives this Friday. Then, after spending two days in the Capital shopping for the food for the arriving team, we returned to Pana to spend Saturday working at the Camp with local youth. It was physical work, and that was after trekking 500' up the mountain! Sunday was spent in church in the morning, where a church-wide work day was announced - for Sunday afternoon! So we spent all afternoon painting and building at the church before a quick shower and returning to the evening services. I had to play the keyboard again, which was no problem since I knew what the songs were in advance this time! (Not that I had time to practice!) Then, at the evening service, the pastor announced that Johnny would be taking a group of voluteers to the Camp on Wednesday to cut pine branches. (He is??) All this as we prepare for the team on Friday. Besides all the physical work, almost everything we do now is in Spanish and we have to concentrate to catch what is being said. The more tired we are, the less we understand. Please keep us in your prayers. We sat for 2 months in Antigua and I couldn't wait to get to this area. Now that I am here, I wish I could just sit for a few minutes! Pray that we would not be discouraged and would be dependent on the One who sent us, not on ourselves and our strength. Thank you.

For an idea of what different missionaries around the world deal with, read Beth Moore's Voices of the Faithful. It is a daily devotional book - we received one for Christmas from dear friends last year and I have been using it. Many of the entrys are so encouraging that I read more than the one day's devotion! It makes me feel petty, after reading how some of the missionaries live, but it also lets me know that I am not the only one to feel discouraged or petty! It is an eye-opening insight to missionaries and how normal they are!

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

Youth Workday

Yesterday was a youth workday on the top of the mountain, cleaning around the completed cabins. Next week they plan to have a department-wide youth campout. It will be rustic, as there is no electricity yet; some will sleep in cabins, some in tents outside, and there is a "one-hole" latrine up there! But it will be used! Johnny worked with the youth clearing the land while I bought pizzas and drink and hauled it up there for lunch. "Haul" is the right word! Anyone who has walked up the 500 feet to the cabins knows how straight up it is! I had a 5 gallon bottle of water, 6 pizzas, a bag with cups, napkins, etc., and three "haulers" (young men with strong backs and weak minds). The guys swapped out carrying the water and pizzas and I carried very little. Still, I thought I would die before I reached the top! And we took it slow! Coming down was much easier and I will have to work on climbing the hill without having a heart attack!


The kids were great, though, and made a point to introduce themselves and tell which church they came from. The hard part will be remembering all the names - I have a hard enough time in English with names! But we felt very welcome and were glad to be a part of the workday!


Today in church, I had to play again due to the regular organist having a broken collarbone! Thankfully, they had set up a small keyboard for me to play, although I am having to learn to play standing up! I did much better since I had a keyboard with all the keys working and I asked what the songs were ahead of time. The whole morning went much smoother!

Take time today to reflect on the goodness of God.

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

New "old" house

Several people have asked to see pictures of our "new" house. It is rumored to be a Sears catalogue house, built around 1920. It reminds me of the house my grandmother lived in. Most walls are lap siding, painted white. In most rooms, the floors are painted wood too. Unfortunately, wood doesn't hold up well over time here and the house is held together with paint and the termites holding hands! Here is a picture of the dining room - the cat loves all the open windows! And the Guatemalans love the tablecloth - one I picked up at the First Bible Missions Closet! Whoever donated it - thanks! It is bright and cheery and I love doing my Bible study at the table with my coffee every morning!

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

Humbled

Today we went, again, to the CAM church in Panajachel. I was asked to play for the hymns and, having a hymnal with notes, I agreed. I was escorted to an old organ, complete with two keyboards and an octave of foot pedals. Now, there is one thing I have never learned to play and that's the organ! A keyboard is a keyboard, right? Uh-huh! Especially one where a third of the keys don't play! After delivering a quick prayer, I sat down and was given a hymn number. OK, so here I was, in a Spanish church, playing an organ I can't play, playing a hymn I don't know with keys that don't play. I made it through the first song and turned the organ over to someone else - out of the six hymns we sang, I actually knew only one of them. After a successful career playing the beautiful grand piano at First Bible Church, I was thoroughly humbled today.

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

All moved in...sort of

We've been so busy trying to get things organized in our new location that I didn't realize that I haven't written in a week! The house is almost in order and we know where most things are. The cat is happy because the windows are open most of the time and she sits and watches the birds. We have to use our Spanish (except with each other) and it takes alot of concentration. In church on Sunday, the pastor had us come up and introduced us as the new directors of the Centennial Camp. Then he handed the microphone to Johnny to speak. What was worse, he handed it to me afterward! Any Spanish I may have known suddenly flew out the door! But we made it through that service and then had to repeat it again that evening. And he offered to let Johnny preach one Sunday! (Johnny gently declined that offer!) So goes our first week!

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

Happy Fourth of July!!

Of course, the 4th of July is not celebrated here - except for the Texas teens staying here in LBN who lit off firecrackers last night about midnight! But we will celebrate today with chicken in Bob Gibson's BBQ sauce (white, of course) and Corn Casserole, made with Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix! All thanks to great friends in the US!

We got moved into Las Buenas Nuevas (LBN) in Panajachel, finally, on Sunday evening. We found they were painting the floors of the house we were to live in, so we have moved all over the compound in search of a place to lay our heads. The cat has adapted surprisingly well. She has moved into three different places in the last week but still purrs when we are around. When we first moved to Guatemala, she stayed under the furniture for 2 weeks, so this is a pleasant change.

Our house here is a Sears catalog house, complete with lap siding, windows with screens that open and ceiling fans. It is all wood and the termites love it! For all the strong rain we had when the rainy season hit, it is hot and dry right now. You can see the volcanos across the lake clearly and sunrise is a gift from God to those who brave the early morning hours! See future postings for pictures of the area. All in all, the move was uneventful and we are pleased to be in the area we are going to be working in, even if we are not in our final resting place.

God bless each of you as you celebrate our nation's independence with your families.

Love in Christ,
Maria

jcoker@email.caminternational.org

Happy Fourth of July!!

Of course, the 4th of July is not celebrated here - except for the Texas teens staying here in LBN who lit off firecrackers last night about midnight! But we will celebrate today with chicken in Bob Gibson's BBQ sauce (white, of course) and Corn Casserole, made with Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix! All thanks to great friends in the US!

We got moved into Las Buenas Nuevas (LBN) in Panajachel, finally, on Sunday evening. We found they were painting the floors of the house we were to live in, so we have moved all over the compound in search of a place to lay our heads. The cat has adapted surprisingly well. She has moved into three different places in the last week but still purrs when we are around. When we first moved to Guatemala, she stayed under the furniture for 2 weeks, so this is a pleasant change.

Our house here is a Sears catalog house, complete with lap siding, windows with screens that open and ceiling fans. It is all wood and the termites love it! For all the strong rain we had when the rainy season hit, it is hot and dry right now. You can see the volcanos across the lake clearly and sunrise is a gift from God to those who brave the early morning hours! See future postings for pictures of the area. All in all, the move was uneventful and we are pleased to be in the area we are going to be working in, even if we are not in our final resting place.

God bless each of you as you celebrate our nation's independence with your families.

Love in Christ,
Maria

jcoker@email.caminternational.org