Rainy season is upon us

Last week, the rain started in our area of Guatemala. Now we have to remember to take umbrellas with us everywhere. Harking back to the days of our mothers, I have to remember if I have clothes on the line! But it is settling the dust and bringing out the flowers. Because it is cooler in the afternoons/evenings, jackets are usually needed and we have fires in the fireplace often!

What do you do...?

What do you do when four people show up at your house for a "lunch meeting" at 1:00 PM...a week early?

You feed them tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches!

Such is life!

2009 Guatemala Field Conference

La Mision, in San Lucas, was the site of CAM's annual Guatemala Field Conference. It was a time of relaxation and renewing of the body and spirit in a beautiful setting!


Our speaker for the weekend was Roger Raymer, pastor of Lakeridge Bible Church in Mesquite, TX. He did a wonderful study on faith and how that relates to us, using Hebrews 11. As much as we enjoyed his time with us, we won't let him come back without his lovely wife Judy!

The only drawback to the location of the conference was the pig farm next door. We prayed often that the "Swine #9" would blow the other direction! And those of us that stayed overnights at the mission house got serenaded each morning by excited pigs...sounded like at least a thousand...at feeding time (5:00 AM). It gave a whole new meaning to "squeal like a pig"!

Cutting trees

Finally, we are beginning to cut the trees on the mountain. This must be done before we can build more around the existing cabins, as much to raise money for the Camp as to clear areas for building. Oxen are used to move the logs from where they are cut to the side of the road so the truck can pick them up. I was surprised at how trained the oxen were! With just a couple of hand signs, the young man could make them go forward, back up and step over the log so they could pull it. It was pretty amazing!

Semana Santa

Semana Santa - Holy Week - is a week-long celebration in Latin American countries like Guatemala. Many people are off from work, the banks only work half-days, the schools are out and everybody that can comes to Antigua! Although Antigua is famous all over the world for its celebrations of Semana Santa, on a much smaller scale you can find the same type of celebrations in almost every town.

Depending on the time of the processional, as much as 12 hours before begins the making of the alfombra. The alfombra, (carpet or rug) is elaborately made from such diverse items as flowers, vegetables, plastic or paper mache figures, colored sand or colored sawdust.

As much as a year before, the artisians decide on a pattern. These can be bought in the stores or handmade and be original designs. Because they are large, boards are placed across the design for the artists to use.

As I mentioned, the designs are elaborate and take many hours to complete. Usually whole households work on them together, placing them in front of their home or place of business. We watched this particular one being made, started before dawn and finished minutes before the processional passed over it.

Many people watch the alfombras being made, but the processionals themselves draw hugh crowds. Each Catholic church has its own processional and route. In Antigua, there are many processionals, each being done by a different Catholic church. All of the surrounding villages have one, so there are several each day, starting on Monday of Holy Week until the Sunday of Easter.

The members of the processionals are usually male, although we have seen a couple with women. The men are in either costume or robes and are carrying the "float" from their church. These men represent the Roman soliders that arrested and crucified Christ. They are proceeded by men in robes carrying burning incense, which is very strong and distinctive.

The "floats" are massive, weighing hundreds of pounds. This one pictures Jesus carrying His cross to Calvary. The women we saw carried a "float" of the Virgin Mary and was maybe half this size.

There are approximately 40 men carrying this "float". It is carried very slowly and with a side-to-side motion. As they walk over the alfombra, it is destroyed. All of that work is demolished in minutes!

Occasionally you will see an alfombra that celebrates the resurrection of Christ. And on Resurrection Sunday (Pascua), many of the evangelical churches have sunrise services. Pray that more people will focus on the Resurrection and the payment that was made for us. Pray we have wisdom in presenting this Good News to all of Guatemala!

Tortillar

Did you know there is a verb "to make tortillas"? We can't find it in any dictionary, but the ladies in Patzun said there was!Here we are making tortillas for the team I helped with in Patzun. The big, round griddle, a comal, is heated by propane gas in this case. In many homes, they are a piece of sheet metal over a fire!

Our group had trouble with their flights, so the young ladies from the earliest arrival got to help and received a cultural lesson!

I did better this time around! Two years ago, these same ladies tried to teach me how to make tortillas and I caused quite a bit of amusement!

Andrea and Katherine found out that if you don't keep your hands wet enough, you tear up the tortilla! On the other hand, if they are too wet, it tears up also! Since the Guatemalan women begin learning as early as age 4 how to do this, we were a little behind in the process!

Country Cousins

Meet the "Country Cousins"! We are a team of CAM missionaries here in Guatemala mainly located in the Lake Atitlan/Quetzaltenango/Huehuetenango areas. Last week we met together as a team for the first time and had a great time! Even though we are 2 and 3 hours from each other, we are the closest CAM missionaries to each other. We are also the only group of CAM missionaries not living around Guatemala City. So we have each others' backs.

L-R standing: Steve and Elise Sywulka (team leader), Danny and Daphne Foote, holding Naomi with Isaac, Chloe Ann and Titus kneeling in front (Santiago, across the Lake), Niel and Diana Thomas (LBN), Brandon Scott holding Deacon with wife, Jenny, and Madeline in front (Quetzaltenango), and Johnny and Maria Coker (Centennial Camp). Not shown are Dave and Helen Ekstrom (Huehuetenango) who were in the capital for Dave's back surgery. Pray for these folks because they are our "family" here and we need each other.

James 5 :16

Jornada Medica

As you read this, I will be working with a group out of Texas for the next three days. My primary function, along with two other nurses, is to run a medical clinic in each of three villages around the Lake: San Pablo (Monday), San Juan (Tuesday) and San Marcos (Wednesday). Other people in the group will be involved with local churches and teaching children. Pray for our time working, that in all we do, Christ's light will shine through us and it all be to God's glory! I will post pictures at the end of the week.

Happy 4th Anniversay to Us!

Today is our 4th anniversary of our arrival in Guatemala. It has been an eventful 4 years with many more to come, God willing. Continue to pray with us for the Guatemalan people. We have seen many changes in the country since we first began coming on mission trips. But, as is seen all over the world, people still need the Lord. That's why we came...that's why we are still here.


Matthew 28:19, 20

Check it out!

Last Thursday, we had a visit from members of Healing Waters International - Greg, Juan and Mario. We had a great time visiting and they checked out our water filtration system, then Johnny took them to Panajachel and Pamazebal to see those systems. Greg has a blog in which he posted of their visit with us. You can see it at www.blogadegregorio.blogspot.com (see the March 19th posting) and visit Healing Waters International's site at www.healingwatersintl.org to learn more about their work here, in Mexico and in the Dominican Republic! Thanks, guys, for a great morning!

"Mr. Shu"

Jerry Shumake, aka "Mr. Shu", has been a family friend since I was in Junior High. (We won't discuss how many years that has been!) He and his wife have "adopted" us and Centennial Camp and we had the pleasure of visiting with him while we were in Decatur. We missed seeing Terry, his wife, but you may can catch her if you visit them at their business, Shumake's Furniture!

Saturday morning

At about 8:30 this morning, a group of 17 from San Lucas Toliman, a village around the lake from us, arrived to work here at the Camp. The above picture may not look like much, but 6 or 7 truckloads of dirt were moved from across the highway to fill in behind the new wall by one group. They also moved the small trees that had originally been planted on the left of the wall to the right. Another group dug a 25 foot trench and a 7 foot deep hole, which will all be part of the septic system for the bathrooms. All in all, a good morning's work. I know that Johnny is pooped!

Gracias hermanos!

The Starbucks team!

L to R: Olivia, Brittany and Joy

Three of "My Girls" in Decatur, Alabama!

March return

Whew! Everybody has probably thought I had fallen off the face of the earth! The last 4 1/2 months have been both a blessing and a curse (you try living out of a suitcase for that long!). For those of you that don't know, within the week of returning to Guatemala in January, I was back on a plane to Alabama. My mother had had a reaction to a new medication in that it interferred with her blood thinner. She began bleeding internally and had lost several pints before it was diagnosed. Thankfully, a bullnosed cardiology nurse bullied her into the hospital and saved her life. I want to publicly thank her and friends of my mom who got Mother to the hospital and picked me up at the airport and delivered me there also. And all of you that knew what was going on and prayed for my travel, Johnny's forced batchlerhood and our subsequent "second honeymoon" at the Bass Pro Shop! After several weeks recuperation, Mother is doing well.

We had a great month visiting churches, seeing all our doctors (we're healthy for another year) and attending the missions conference at First Bible Church in Decatur, Alabama. Then we spent a week in Big Sandy, Texas, in training before returning. It was amazing what had been accomplished in the four months I had been gone! The bathrooms are almost finished, just lacking the wall tile and toilets. A road has been cut to the cabins at the top of the mountain (everyone that had to tote brick, sand, gravel and water up the mountain will be happy to see this!) and Johnny's truck makes it up there fine! Check below to see pictures of some of the changes!

Not all of the road is this flat, Johnny did have to use 4WD for one steep part, but this sure beats climbling 500 ft. straight up! Especially if you are carrying a load!

The bathrooms and the tienda at the end of the building. Teams for the summer of 2009 will be working on the second floor of this building, making an office and salon or meeting room.









I forgot to mention the wall built to enclose one of the parking areas. When finished, it will be capped with brick to dress it up.

To God be the Glory!!

Yeah! I'm Back!

OK, let me qualify that...I'm back to blogging, not to Guatemala - yet. Johnny arrived in Sylacauga (find Birmingham, AL, on the map and look right and slightly down) last Wednesday evening. Thursday was spent at the doctor's office with my mom in a follow-up after her hospitalization. Friday, Johnny and I slipped away and had a "second honeymoon". We drove to Prattville, AL, (that's right, Prattville) and had supper at the Bass Pro Shop! Actually, I'm just giving Johnny a ribbing, the Bass Pro Shop has a great restaurant inside with wonderful seafood! We both overate and had a great time! And since my camara stopped working, we went to Circuit City and helped them with their closeout sale. After buying the new camara, Johnny asked to see the old one...and with the push of a couple of buttons, he got it to work again! Shucks, I thought I had him fooled; oh well, the ticket at Circuit City said "all sales final, no returns"...

Maria's Mom

Many of you are aware that Maria returned to the States just one week after we got back to Guatemala. Her mom had a serious adverse reaction to a new medication. She had started the medicine while we were there but it took awhile for the side effects to show up. The new medicine interacted adversely with her Coumadin, causing her blood to become very thin. This led to severe bruising, fatigue, and shortness of breath. She was admitted to a hospital and
Maria went straight there when she arrived in Birmingham. Mom is home now and doing very well. She needs to regain her strength and still address an underlying heart condition. Maria will stay with her and I will fly to the states in February as we had originally planned to do. We have several churches to visit and missions conferences to attend. Pray that Mom's health will remain strong and for our travels. We look forward to visiting with many of you.

Johnny's blog

Most of you know Maria usually does the "blogging" in this family, but since I have the computer it now falls to me. Maria wanted me to blog about my experience yesterday at one of our local churches. I had been asked to be there with my computer and projector to show a DVD for the congregation. I got there early to set up but the pastor said the dvd had not arrived yet. So, I sat there as he stalled for time. Finally the dvd arrived and I put it in the computer. Nothing. It would not play. The computer would not read it. I asked the pastor if by chance this was a pirated dvd and he said,"Probably". He then asked if anyone had a dvd of some kind with them. One member offered to run home and get one. He returned with a dvd and just in case, brought a video and VCR. Again, the dvd would not play. Then I realized the problem. Many of you may not know that dvds are made for regional showing. The US is Zone 1 and Central America is Zone 4. Look on the back of your dvd case and you should see a globe icon with a numbver inside- that is the zone number. The dvds we buy here are usually good for both zones. Since our computer was bought in the states it was set for zone 1. It can be changed but only so many times before the change becomes permanent. So, no dvd showing. I hooked up the VCR to the projector and put in the tape. It was a US movie dubbed in Spanish called "A Thief in the Night", about the rapture. Great story line, but the film was made in the 70's. Did we really look that bad??? Polyester leisure suits, bell bottoms, mini skirts, Elvis sideburns, one girl had her hair in those giant curlers with a scarf over them that I remember my sisters using. It was hysterical to watch but I was on the front row and couldn't laugh without detracting from the message. I was glad it worked because the pastor had no back-up plan, like a sermon prepared. Some days you just shake your head.

Some December remembrances...

On December 2nd, my daughter Lindsay, who designs jewelry, had her first "trunk show". Mother and I drove to Nashville to help her and her friend Kat, who was hosting the show, set up and assist in whatever way we could. We had a blast and got a kick out of seeing Lindsay as the artist and designer she is!Ladies from all over Nashville crowded into Kat's dining room to see the jewelry Lindsay had displayed.
This is just one of the tables that contained almost 300 one-of-a-kind pieces available at the show.

Each piece is named with a girl's name

and given a personality.

I'm proud of my daughter and her talents and wanted to brag a little to all of you. She did very well at her first "trunk show" and hopes to have other shows in the future. Her designs can be seen on her website, Simon and Ruby, found at www.simonandruby.etsy.com.

I am happy to announce...

We are connected!! Finally, after 4 years, we have internet in our house! It's not high-speed yet, but it's better than we have ever had (anything is better than nothing!). This photo was taken last night as we tried to find the Sugar Bowl on the web. The closest we got was ESPN-Radio and the ESPN play-by-play diagram. But before getting the internet, we probably wouldn't have known for several days that Alabama lost!

I hope to be able to blog much more often, to the delight of some of you and the chagrin of others! Keep an eye on us here for more from...

CENTENNIAL CAMP!

Happy New Year 2009!

Here's wishing you a Happy New Year in 2009! Check back soon for news of internet at the Camp!