Please Pray

Hello friends!

We would like to ask you this morning and for the next couple days to join us in prayer for the two men, Byron and Edwin, who are driving our trucks down through Mexico, and our good friend Martin, who is driving one of his own trucks down through Mexico. Martin crossed the border into Mexico a couple of days ago, and our two trucks crossed this morning.

Please pray for favor, that God's protection will be over them, that the trucks will remain in working order, and that they will not confront situations where their integrity is at stake (bribes and such).

Thank you for your prayers, and God bless you all today!

I don't have pictures very often. I almost never carry a camera but last week Rachel went with us to our newest clinic in Cruz Chich. The people there are from the township of Joyaba and their dress is very different and beautiful, I think. We saw about 80 people with Drs. Heidi and Chris.
It was good day of "sowing seeds". Hearing the good news about Jesus is a relatively new event there. One woman who came a month ago, came again this time. She felt much better with the tylenol that we had given her but her headaches persist once the medication's effect wears off. We talked to her a little more about her life here as her headaches appeared to be from stress. It seems that her husband has been in the US for 14 years and has another family there. She is raising her two children alone and living with her inlaws - who talk with their son each week about his new family. So many women have similar stories. We talked to her about the love of Jesus and how although it seems that her husband has rejected her, Jesus never will. We asked her if we could pray with her but her response was, "Next time maybe." She left smiling though and I think she'll be back.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. Rachel is getting quite good with her camera...not that I am biased or anything!

friends...

Twelve years ago we made the decision to come to Guatemala. We sold almost everything we owned and took our kids out of public school and basketball and dancing classes. We bought an old school bus and loaded it with everything we thought we would need for a year. We didn't speak a word of Spanish and we were not really sure what we would be doing. We only knew, without a doubt, that this was God's plan for our lives. There are times when God asks us to do things that require so much more faith than we have but when we step out in obedience, He always meets us.


I was so scared to take our children through Mexico. We had been told about bandits and hazards all the way through. I remember sitting in line to cross the border, crying...telling the Lord that I didn't think I had enough strength to do this thing that He was asking of us. Our little Rachel was only 3. But as I was crying to God, Duane and the boys were talking to the man who was in the truck in front of us. There were only three of us in the line and this was the route that led not just through Mexico but all the way down to South America. As Duane asked this gentleman where he was going, I listened from the back of the bus and was amazed to hear that he was going to the very same town that we were going to in the same department of Guatemala! The man, Martin, started to cry as the Lord touched him. He said in his broken English that he knew that he needed to help us get to Guatemala. And help us he did! He helped us navigate the paperwork and legalities of crossing the border and he showed us the way to go. When there were bandits ahead, he knew and would tell us that we needed to stop. When we had an accident that totaled the truck we were driving, he was right there, calling all of his friends who came from all over. They fixed the truck so that we could continue...in one day! At the border of Guatemala, we got separated and did not see him for many months. I truly thought he was an angel that the Lord had sent to help us! Now we know that he is a very good friend who has helped us so many times, in so many ways in our twelve years here.


It is Martin who will be driving the trucks through Mexico for us now. Please remember to pray for him as he makes this long and now, very dangerous trip through Mexico. He will fly into the US in the morning and will hopefully get to Guatemala by the end of the month.


"The Lord your God, who goes before you. He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes." Deuteronomy 1:30

everyday life...

This is an election year here in Guatemala. Already every rock and electric line pole has been painted. Because of the large illiterate population, voting is done by color or symbol so each party makes itself as visible as possible. The" free gifts in exchange for your vote" has already started as well. Anything from fertilizer to machetes are given from now until November. Government agencies such as the medical clinics find themselves out of money and supplies now. Many teachers have not recieved their salaries for many months. There is a feeling of unsettledness and frustration as voters try to sort out which direction to go. Please pray with us that God's will will be done and His purposes accomplished here in Guatemala.

Here at home, we are gearing up for a busy summer. We have two big teams and lots of individuals coming from now until the end of August. Our good friend Victor (who directs the drug and alcohol rehab center in Quiche) will be married this weekend. We will help with the flowers and decorations - a task that we all look forward to! And the next week our good friends Heidi and Chris will arrive in country to do GYN surgeries in Chichi. Then they will come out here to help us with our second outreach in Cruz Chich. We are looking forward to meeting Heidi and Matt's new baby girl, Micah who will be 6 weeks old when they arrive.

The tractor trailers wait at the US/ Mexico border to be brought through by our friend Martin. Please pray for him as he is having some health issues. I am so grateful to have all of the boys back home and for God's faithfulness to guard and protect them as they loaded and drove those two huge trucks to Texas. We pray that God will protect the second half of this journey as well!

Thanks for reading and continuing to pray!