Happy New Year!!!

Welcome to 2007!!

Johnny and Maria Coker

"...the bombs bursting in air..."

There appears to be a guatemalan tradition of using fireworks during the Christmas holidays. We have heard an increase of fireworks and firecrackers during December, which peaked at midnight last night. Shortly before midnight, we stood on the Lohrenz roof overlooking a large part of Guatemala City. Sporadic fireworks had started at dusk, but at 11:55 (someone couldn't tell time!) the skies over Guatemala City looked like WWIII had started! These were not the little "piddling" fireworks that you see in someone's back yard - no, these were worthy of the Spirit of America fireworks on the Fourth of July!!! Between all the "booms", and the resulting car alarms that went off, it was deafening! There was also the bracing smell of gunpowder in the air! At 6:00 AM this morning and at noon today, there was a repeat, although not to the level of last night! It seems we will get to experience this again on New Year's Eve, but we will have to see if Panajachel can outdo Guatemala City!

I played for two candlelight services last night, then we had the obligitory "Christmas" tamales and ponche (hot punch with fruit). It has been fun seeing the traditions of our new country but we miss the cameraderie of family and friends. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a joyfilled New Year!

Johnny and Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

"Christmas" tradition

We noticed last year in November/December that along a certain section of the Panamerican highway, children would sit in groups and wave at the passing cars. At first we just thought they were being friendly, but this year we discovered their true "objective"! In our recent trips back and forth to the capital (6 times in as many weeks), we saw the children on the side of the road, some in groups of 2 or 3, some in groups of 10 or 12. Johnny noticed that cars in front of him were throwing candy to the kids that waved! We have since bought a big bag of candy and Johnny and I have had as much fun throwing candy as the children collecting it! Yesterday, as we returned to Panajachel, there were more kids than ever! I completely depleted two large bags of candy and will have to buy more before we return to the capital on Friday!

As we see the children each trip, it reminds me that over half the population of Guatemala is under the age of 18. Please pray for salvation of the children of Guatemala.

Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

PS You don't know how hard it was to take pictures of the children while trying to throw candy out the window at 40 miles per hour! This is the only one I took that wasn't blurry!

Vacation Bible School

Because November and December are the months of "vacation" from school, it is the perfect time for Vacation Bible School! This is the third day of VBS at the Panajachel church we attend and we help with the Arts and Crafts. Day 1 saw 120 children attend, but on day 2, the total jumped to around 160! Besides helping with the Arts and Crafts, I also am playing for the singing, helping them learn a song about Daniel. It's been fun but I am exhausted after each day! Jan Lohrenz will be here to help me on the next two days so Johnny and John can work at Centennial Camp. What fun (as John would say)!

Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

Music is Christmas

Music has always been a big part of Christmas for me. Whether it is hymns such as Silent Night or The First Noel or Christmas programs performed at church, it doesn't feel like Christmas without music. This year, since we won't be home for Christmas with our family, I agreed to play the music for the Christmas cantata at the Union Church (English-speaking) in Guatemala City. We performed the program last night to a packed house. I was priviledged to play with a large chamber orchestra, which included members of the Guatemalan Symphony, and for the Union Church choir, including a budding opera singer. The final song was a mixture of different songs from The Messiah! It was a highlight of my Christmas! The only glitch was the latin music playing outside that kept getting louder to outdo us!

I hope your Christmas is also filled with music!

Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

Yipee!!

Check out our new well and transformer!! They delivered the transformer yesterday with 220 voltage instead of the 110 we thought. And the well is 11 meters (approx. 33 feet) deep with 3 meters of water. We will be working to finish the things inside the house and hope to move in during January. Thank you for all of you that helped with your prayers, financial help and hands. More later!

Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

Our first funeral

Johnny and I attended our first funeral in Guatemala yesterday, for the mother of our pastor in Panajachel. In Antigua we lived a block from the local cemetery and had seen many funerals and the following processions. But yesterday, we experienced it first hand. The service was held in Solola, at the evangelical church there. After a moving service (the pastor lost his father 4 months ago), we prepared for the processional. Thankfully, I had worn shoes comfortable for walking because the processional was from the church to the cemetery (about 1/2 mile). For those of you that have been here, remember the brightly colored cemetery you can see as we traveled from the Camp to Pana everyday? That's the one! Everyone walks behind the casket as it is carried by family and friends. The parade we made stopped all traffic (even the buses!) as we spread from one side of the street to the other. The pallbearers stopped periodically and swapped out, male and female alike. Many of the women were in typical Mayan dress but a few of us were dressed Western style. It was strange to see some of the daughters wearing spike heels and carrying the casket! (I half expected someone to turn an ankle). Also the day was hot with no clouds and only a slight breeze, so people would dart into stores as we passed and buy water or soft drinks. After another short service at the cemetery (standing in the sun), all walked back to the church for lunch. It is always interesting to see the differences in cultures and makes me realize how ethnocentric one can become if you are never exposed to them. Things are not necessarily better or worse - just different.

Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

Things we miss

I just read the Brannon blog and was struck by Shay's list of things missed. So I thought I would give a list of things we miss:

* fellowship with Christians in English
* sermons in English - FBC and online sermons help!
* singing in English!
* safe and consistent mail service
* good, safe highways
* convenient shopping (groceries, in particular)
* central heating
* water pressure
* pecans (here but very expensive)
* Southern pork sausage (like Jimmy Dean)

Just a short list off the top of my head! As much as we are ready to move to the Centennial Camp house, we are enjoying having internet in the house and cable TV (Johnny's watching the FLA/FSU game as I write this!). I may have a much longer list when I get to Centennial Camp!

Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I wanted to blog yesterday but have had trouble with the internet. We spent the day in the capital with the Lohrenzes and 53 of the CAM-Guatemala missionary family and friends. We had the typical turkey and dressing with CRANBERRY SAUCE! (We don't get that often) Many thanks were given by all for the blessings God has given us during the past year. For us in particular, we are thankful for the recent visit home with our family, good health, progress on the move to Centennial Camp and good, cool "fall-type" weather (the picture was taken yesterday, note the turtleneck!). We hope your day was filled with blessings of being with family and friends or, if nothing else, rest. Thank you, faithful friends, for your prayers for us, particularly as we spend the holidays away from "home". God is blessing us with His peace, knowing we are where He wants us.

Maria

Oh yeah, Happy Birthday to me!! (yesterday)
jcoker@caminternational.org

Meet Eric and Carmen

I have mentioned this family before...friends we said goodbye to when we left Antigua. Thankfully, we have had continued contact with them and the First Bible Church team, Jonathan Moore in particular, built benches for Carmen to climb the hill to her home (which she uses daily). This family are new Christians who now attend the church we attended in Antigua. Eric and Carmen are the parents and children (L-R) Jose, Eric Jr., Rosario and Maria Elisa. They are a loving family without many resources. Carmen was diagnosed several years ago with a faulty mitral valve in her heart. In the last year since we have known her, she has gone downhill healthwise. Recently, Eric took her to the hospital here for heart conditions and she is in the process of obtaining valve replacement surgery. She is very nervous about the surgery and has pumped Johnny for information about his heart surgery. Eric called two days ago and told me that she is looking at about two more weeks of preliminary tests and lab work and also for six pints of blood to be donated for her. Please pray for this family. As I mentioned, Carmen is apprehensive of the surgery but she is dying without it. Pray for the blood to be donated, lab work to be completed, the wisdom of the doctors and the money for the surgery. Even though the work will be done in the national hospital, the doctor must be paid. He is requiring fifteen thousand quetzales up front (a little over $2000). This from a family that has little resources. The church in Antigua is helping and coming around this family. Also pray for blessings for this church! Thank you for your prayers for this family. They have become good friends and we would love to see Carmen healthy!

Maria

jcoker@caminternational.org

We almost didn't believe it!

We are hosting a team this week that is working at the Camp. We knew that the government was widening the highway in front of the property, but they were taking the land from the camp side of the highway, not the house side. What we didn't know, but found out Monday when we arrived at the Camp, was that they dumped all the dirt from the excavation on our side! Also, the guy that owns the cornfield behind the house decided that he wanted to build a house on his cornfield and asked that dirt be dumped in his field. As you may can see, the drainage work that was done on our property is now moot - his field is now about 20 feet high! We are very concerned about what will happen when the next rainy season hits! The dirt between us and the highway (about 4 feet high) will be moved to level the area between the house and the entrance and make a football (soccer) field. We were sorry for the trees we lost, but many of the cedars lining the highway as a buffer are still there. One picture also shows the opposite side of the highway (camp side) and the area that was taken there.

The team here from Visalia, CA, is reroofing the house and the well digger came yesterday! Things are progressing and we may be in the house by Christmas. That would be a nice Christmas present!!


Maria
Please note the change in the email address:
jcoker@caminternational.org

Thank goodness God answers prayers!

Living in the U. S., I had a habit of depending on myself and the things I could do to solve my problems. After nearly 2 years of living in Guatemala, I have discovered that there are many times that I can't depend on myself for or that there is nothing I can do. In these times you have to have a total dependence on God. Such was last Sunday! After the morning service at church, the pastor asked us (in front of everyone) if we could carry some people to a distant village that afternoon to visit the dying mother of one of the church members. We agreed and met back at the church at 2:00 for the trip. What a time not to have my camara! Our poor Suburban was loaded with 17 adults and an infant and off we went! At the first major hill, most of us had to get out and walk. This was not looking good and it didn't get any better! The road went from pavement to gravel to dirt. About a third of the way down one mountian, driving in first gear due to the steepness, first gear began making an awful racket. Johnny had to ride his brakes to get the rest of the way down. At the bottom of the mountain, before climbing the next, we stopped to let the brakes cool. During the cooling process, most of our passengers struck out walking, arriving at the house just before the woman died. After cooling, the Suburban was off and running again with just three of us. When we arrived, there was a short "service", attended by a good 30 people. We were all sitting around the walls of the woman's bedroom with her lying, covered, in the bed. (Don't forget, she died about an hour before!) The service lasted for about 20 minutes and off we went again heading home. Now, I knew that we had gone up one mountain, down the other side and up another mountain to get there. So, with little brakes, no first gear and a very noisy second and third gear, here we went, heading back to Panajachel! At one point, going up the last steep place, we were moving about 1-2 miles per hour. We had already sent everyone that we could back to Panajachel in the back of a pickup, but we still had 5 or 6 people in our truck. I think we had angels pushing from behind to get us up that mountain! I had my head bowed and was urgently praying for those angels and I don't think I was the only one! God was gracious and answered our prayers to get us over the summit. We made it back in time for the evening service but I think the Suburban has had it! This was one of those situations where there was nothing we could do except depend on God. It taught us a valuable lesson which I don't think we will forget anytime soon!

Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

Please note the change in the email address - CAM is dropping the "email" before caminternational. We will still receive email from the old address also, until everyone is changed.

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

Here we go again!!

This is a first- Johnny blogging instead of Maria! Maria usually handles the blog but she is at a ladies retreat this week-end. Good time for her to relax and fellowship (in English!) with the women of Union Church of Guatemala City. So- bear with the second string.

Just when we thought it was safe to unpack- Today we got word that our apartment has been sold and we have a month to move. Actually, we only have two weeks because we leave for the States Oct. 17th. After the initial scream of frustration, we could only grin (and laugh a little) and bear it. We have been so nomadic over the last few months we are ready to buy a camel and herd of sheep. As Maria said, we can't sell a house in Decatur and can't keep one here. Fortunately, there are some other apartments available in the same building that are not for sale, so we will start the process over again next week. At least we have the process down. God is helping us remain F.A.T.- a wonderful acronym taught to us by some visiting Alabama nurses- Flexible, Adaptable, and Tolerant. Pray that we maintain this attitude because this does take away from our ministry responsibilities. We are preparing for a team coming in November and time is essential. Pray also we manage our time wisely.

That's all for now. Maria will resume the regular blog duties in the next couple of days. I know my limitations and don't want to push this too far.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in October,

Johnny for the Cokers

Centennial Camp

Several of you have asked what is going on with the Centennial Camp house. This was taken two days ago. As you can see, this year we have added a fence around the property, placed an underground electric line from pole to house, added the sewer and field lines, graded the property and completed the garage (except for doors). Things that can't be seen are the kitchen cabinets and new wiring for the house. All we lack is the electric transformer and to dig a well. At present we are waiting on the people that are to do these things.



This is a glimpse of our new apartment. You can tell Guatemalans love color! There is one bedroom, a storage area where we put up metal shelving for our clothes and 1 1/2 baths! We are very comfortable here and plan to stay until we can move to Centennial Camp!








Kitty loves the balcony. She is three floors up and has nothing to jump to so we feel pretty safe with her going out there, although we do keep an eye on her and close the door when we are not here.



Hope this helps you "picture" us in our setting! The Lord has blessed us with a place where we feel settled, for now. This has really been a year of dependence on Him, but we have both grown in our faith because of it. Thank you for being a part of His work in Guatemala.

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

Feeling more at home

It's funny how living with your own furniture, towels and such can make you feel at home. Once we got the apartment "fixed", we are feeling much more at home and settled. Being on the third floor, the bugs (mainly spiders and ants) haven't found us - or maybe they don't want to climb 3 floors to get to us! Suits me! We had a "dinner party" night before last with the couple that took our place at Las Buenas Nuevas, Steve and Beth Kennedy. Those of you from First Bible may have met them when they were there for the TEAM missions conference several weeks ago. Steve and Beth are great friends with Jess and Janet Montegudo and we discussed the great sadness in the Montegudo and Barthel homes over LSU's loss to Auburn last weekend. Yes, we got to see the game on television!!!! Don't know if we will get to see Alabama play, but Auburn and LSU were ranked high enough for them to be televised on national television on CBS, one of the stations we can receive. (We have cable and internet at the apartment and are taking advantage of it because we will lose it all when we move to Centennial Camp.)

We understand that many of you are beginning to have fall weather! As we end the rainy season, it rains more of the day and is a little cooler. But we miss the color change in the leaves. Many of the area trees are pine and the temperature doesn't change enough for the leaves on the hardwoods to change. Other than that, the area of the Camp feels much like North Alabama!

Thanks for all of your comments on the blog - I'm glad that we can connect in this way. I am occasionally surprised at the different people that read about us and many of you commented on the pictures. I will try to post plenty of pictures so you can "picture" us in our new setting!

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org

Latin American Independence Day

Today, September 15th, is Independence Day for most of Central America. We are a half block off the main street in Panajachel, so we were entertained for an hour or so this morning with all the surrounding schools' bands in a parade. We could watch the festivities from our balcony and could hear it from anywhere in the apartment!

We have had an interesting first week in the apartment. First, it is on the third floor, so we are losing weight carrying things up the stairs. Second, the hot water heater blew up on our second day here. Actually, it was an intake water pipe that managed to spew water everywhere after the big boom! After two days of repairing, we finally have hot water today - with the lights on! We are settling in and feeling more at home.

Maria
jcoker@email.caminternational.org