Moving Day approaching...

As moving day approaches, we are working frantically to get the house at Centennial Camp ready to move into. We now have power that runs from the transformer all the way into the house! And water that comes from the well and out of the faucets! With few glitches, John Lohrenz and Johnny worked hard for two days on these projects. We will have to take two days out this week for shopping in the capital for the team that arrives on the 3rd and two days to attend the annual regional meetings of all of the Solola churches. Then it is back to moving and preparing for our team. John and Jan will spend the first part of the last week with us before joining us to work with the team from Mentor, OH. It will be a hectic next two weeks, but the excitement of getting moved to Centennial Camp and then exposing a new team to missions in Guatemala is worth it!













I included this to show the "mountain" behind our house. We have met the owners, who want to build a house on top and assure us they will build a retaining wall (before the rains start?). They seem like a nice family who want us to help them with their English.






Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

Almost ready!

Well, a couple of more weeks and we will be moved in! Johnny is working very hard on installing light fixtures, hooking up the plumbing and sewer and installing bathroom fixtures. (I never knew how much was involved in getting the water in a well to come out my faucet!) Thanks to your generosity, we were able to draw money from CAM to get these things done in lieu of rent for the next three years or so. With this exchange, we are not seen as "cash cows" to the Camp committee, the Camp still owns everything, but we could go ahead and get moved in and working.

After the move, we are prepared for a team from Mentor, OH, to join us in early February. When they return to the States, we will follow shortly for the Missions Conference at First Bible Church in Decatur, AL. We plan to see all of our area churches at that time also! Upon our return here, we have teams lined up to work at the Camp thru June! We are excited that we will be working with some new groups and some old friends! We are also looking into having an intern joining us this summer - there seems to be a lot of interest in camping ministry!

Thank you for your prayers for us! We are excited to be moving and getting the Camp ready for groups, even if it is just day camps to start!

Maria

jcoker@caminternational.org

Jesus El Redentor - Argueta

Yesterday we began our scheduled visits to area centroamerican churches. We, of course, had been attending the Panajachel church and had visited a couple of the other churches, but wanted to make scheduled visits to all of the "member" churches of Centennial Camp. Our visit yesterday was to the Jesus El Redentor church in Argueta. This is a small church close to the Camp. They have asked for prayer for two things: 1) a pastor for the church and 2) a church building. The building they are meeting in was once a medical clinic that Ruth Aju ran. It is very small and it would be difficult for them to grow any in this building. They have property adjoining the present building and plans for the future church. Also, a traveling pastor comes once or twice a month to preach, with the elders of the church covering the other Sundays. The elders are not seminary trained and they farm or hold other jobs during the week. Please keep this church in your prayers.

Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

Reflections on a New Year

True to guatemalan form, midnight was ushered in with fireworks and firecrackers! Johnny and I went to the roof of our apartment (fourth floor, open to the sky) to watch the show and I have to say that Panajachel rivals Guatemala City in the fireworks department! But this time, instead of being on a roof overlooking the valley of bombas, we were right in the middle of where they were exploding! It was loud, smoky and totally exciting! Since Panajachel is at the "bottom of the bowl", right on Lake Atitlan with mountains ringing it, we could also see the fireworks of all of the little villages on the sides of the mountains. There was true enthusiasum in "ringing in the New Year"!

As I studied on Revelation this morning during my quiet time, I gained a sense of urgency in sowing the seeds of the Gospel and wondered at my enthusiasum over things of Christ. Do I get more excited over a touchdown in a ballgame or New Year's fireworks than I do over touching someone's life with the truth of Christ? Have I "left my first love", as the church of Ephesus, and lost some of my passion? As I start this new year, this is my prayer and resolution: that I focus on what is important to God and that I do so passionately. And when my time on this earth is finished and I stand in the presence of my Savior, He will say to me, "Well done, good and faithful servant".

Maria
jcoker@caminternational.org

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