Renewed and Refreshed!

While I fully intended to blog at least once during our visit to the States, I never seemed to find the time! We are back in Guatemala after a whirlwind trip of 1500 miles and travel to 3 states in 2 weeks. We saw both daughters and their respective husbands, Johnny's sisters, aunt, uncle and a couple of cousins, my mom, brother-in-law and nephews and a host of friends in Decatur. Traveling to Nashville, TN, gave us cool weather and beautiful color in the trees, something we have really missed. Travel to Tallahassee, FL, prepared us for our return here with gorgeous sunny days in the high 70's. I enjoyed playing the piano during the services at First Bible Church one Lord's Day, although I didn't get to visit folks as much as I would have wished. And, praise of praises, our house finally sold and we were able to attend the closing! This was a bittersweet time, in that we loved the house we raised our girls in, now no longer a "safety net" to fall back on, but we don't have the expense of a house we aren't living in. God's timing is great!

The rest of today will be a "rest day". Tomorrow and Thursday are holidays, but we will have to be hard at work preparing for the workteam that arrives the 11th. And we are looking at moving once again at the end of the month, so we prepare for that also. Pray that the Camp house will be ready for us to move into!

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

Anticipation!

We are quickly trying to finish last minute things here in Panajachel before we head to the States next week! Johnny will spend tonight and tomorrow at a men's retreat in Chimaltenango while I work on packing. We are so excited about spending a couple of weeks with family and friends! Please pray for safety as we travel and for a refreshing time with those we love. When we return, we immediately jump into preparing for a team from California. We will also have to deal with another impending move. So pray we rest up while in Tennessee, Alabama and Florida!

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

Some of our recent wanderings...

In the past few weeks, we have traveled over some of the area where we will be working. It is harvest time here, as in the States, and we have seen much broccoli, potatoes, carrots, and soon, corn. At present, land is precious, and the corn is planted right up to the houses. You can see the roofs in among the corn plants. Very soon, the corn will be harvested and the plants cut. Then the houses will be exposed until the next planting season.




Since Panajachel is in a valley and the Camp is on a mountain, no matter where we travel, we always go either up or down. And the beauty of the volcanos and the lake never fail to make me want to take "one more picture"!








A recent trip was across the lake to Santiago with Beth and Steve Kennedy. They are currently the host/hostess at Las Buenas Nuevas (LBN) and hail from Apple's Chapel (church) in North Carolina. They are also great friends with Jess and Janet Montegudo of First Bible in Decatur!




A recent trip to Sta. Lucia, not far from the Camp, included a stop at Morada de Dios and its school El Mesias. This is the CAM church there and one of "our" churches. As you can see, kids are kids everywhere and love to have their pictures taken. The little girl with the pink shirt and hat grabbed my hand and escorted me through the school. She only let go to get her picture taken!




Below is Ana, who lives in Santiago. She is displaying some of the work her family has for sale. She said she did not stitch this herself, her mother did, but she is learning to do the embroidery also.


















While I attended the Women's Retreat in Antigua recently, there were several ladies there doing their weaving, which, of course, we had the opportunity to buy! This is just one picture of several that I took showing the involved work of weaving cloth. The majority of the textiles you see from here are hand-woven and hand-stitched. It is amazing the work that is put into these "works of art"! But the old ways are beginning to die out. The newer generations are not being taught to do the weaving and stitching. They are also losing the Mayan languages, since the children are taught Spanish in school. I have talked to several young ladies in their late teens and early twenties who cannot speak the "old " languages of their families, even though their parents speak it, Spanish is used in the homes.


I hope you have enjoyed seeing a little of our recent wanderings! Many of you have asked for pictures, so I will continue to post them until you get tired of them!

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

The Promises of God

I'm sorry to all of you that say you check our blog daily for news and have had to put up with nothing new until now! I didn't want to send out anything until we knew for certain our plans.

In recent postings, you have read of our very nomadic existence. Well...it continues! But we have until November 30th to get out of our apartment, not October 31st as previously thought. We found out late yesterday for sure. So now we are focusing on getting the things at the Camp ready for us to move there. A man from the power company has been to the house about the transformer and a team from California will replace the roof on the house in November. So things progress.

All of our recent moves had me insecure and unsettled. Many of you knew of my homesickness, partly due to not having a "nest". But last weekend was spent at a women's retreat that focused on the promises of God. During the personal meditation time, I was convicted of my sin of not trusting God. Our family is happy and healthly, we are safe and comfortable and God has been good to us. In the "grand scheme of things", moving a few times is not worthy of so much distress. After turning everything over to the One who takes care of us, I am content with anything He brings us, knowing He will be there through it all. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. We ask for continued prayers for Centennial Camp and the house we are trying to complete. Also for travel as we head to the States for "Christmas in October" with our family.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will
be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does
not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year
of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8

Trust in the Lord. He who holds all the universe in His hands will never leave you.

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org