Two Years Later...

A lot has happened in my life since my last post. Today as I was reading Adonai's blog, I realized that it's been two years...

But for anyone who used to read this blog and didn't know...there is now a Mrs. Craig Phoenix! You can see her in one of our "engagement day" photos at the top (in Guatemala) and also below in her gorgeous wedding dress from this past May (at her family's farm). I am a blessed man to have Kelly as a partner on this journey through life. She is an interior designer by trade, a servant at heart, a passionate follow of Jesus, and a loving wife. I am so thankful for her.

As for major happenings since leaving Guatemala...I graduated this past Spring from Missouri Baptist University St. Louis with a bachelor's degree in Ministry and Leadership. Earning a degree in Christian Ministry was one of my biggest reasons for coming back to the U.S. As for work,  I spend Wednesdays at our home church doing youth ministry, and the rest of the time I do maintenance work at my father-in-law's factory (thank you Ficker men for teaching me so much about mechanical work!). Kelly and I just got settled into a small apartment in St. Louis close to church and work, and we are doing our best to lay a firm foundation for our family so that we can be useful instruments to God--for His kingdom purpose. Our future is wide open to whatever God would ask of us. We constantly remind ourselves not to get too comfortable in our temporary home or surroundings but to keep our focus on Christ and sharing Him with those around us. We are strangers and foreigners on this earth. Our home is in heaven, and eternity is in our hearts. We're just passing through.

(My Best Man, David, looked pretty sharp dressed up)

Home Again

I told God a while back that I would come home only if He would go with me, just as He promised Moses that He would be with him when Moses was sent back to Egypt. My heart is so much to be "out" there serving, and I'm finally accepting that that's from God. But now, He has sent me home and He is already showing me he is with me. One small thing I'll share happened on the plane home. I always ask God to provide opportunities for ministry when I travel, and he provided several. One was on the way from Atlanta to St. Louis Tuesday night. For some reason I felt like I was supposed to ask the young lady next to me if she knew how airplanes (airliners) stopped. More specifically, I felt like God wanted me to explain reverse thrust to her. Of course, I hesitated a minute, and then thought what the heck; I've got nothing to lose. So I asked her, and she immediately started talking about how she's in school to be a pilot (but still hadn't got to reverse thrust). The question opened a door to talk to her about mission work, and just amazed me how God is so involved in the details of my (and all of our) lives.

I am so happy to see my family (although I still haven't gotten to see all of them) and excited to go back to my home church. I already miss Guatemala and my other Ficker "family" there, but am determined to make everyday here as purposeful as life on the foreign mission field. Roughly, my plans are to take some college classes towards a Bible degree, keep my checkbook in the black, and find places to serve now that I'm home. I'll try to keep this blog updated if life seems interesting enough to share :).

No matter where we are, I know God is interested in our lives. God loves people everywhere, and He is the answer to all of our problems. Each of our lives are a journey. We all come from God, and He wants us to get back to Him. The way is Jesus. He is the guide. In Guatemala when I go to a new place, I go with someone who knows the way. It would be crazy to try to find some of the small villages I've been to without a guide--someone who's from there and knows the way. Jesus is that guide to a relationship with God. If you don't know Him, or aren't sure about where to find Jesus, look in the Bible. Jesus' disciple John wrote in the book of John of how to find Jesus and how to know Him. God's plan is for all of us to know him better. I pray your journey takes you there.

Last Days

This week has been a sad week, just because a lot of what I've done may be the last time I do it for a while. In case you hadn't read on Adonai's blog, I plan on going home soon to continue with school. It's something that has been on my heart for a while, and I feel like it's God's timing that I go now. I'm sad to leave but excited about what the future holds.

So today was my last trip to San Pedro (for a while). We made two flights in for a standard clinic day, but "standard" was a big deal since we thought we would be short of help. Thankfully, God provided Dr. Pedro, Dennis Freed (N.P.), and our friend Misty to help us see the roughly 150 peolple who came. At first hardly anyone came from the surrounding villages; we heard that two men from the village had been charging Q100 (about $$12) for "landing fees" when an airplane landed on the strip. This fee was to be paid by the patients who received help from us or any other plane that came it. Of course this made us aggravated, along with most of the villagers and community leaders, and the culprits were reprimanded. It's just like Satan to throw in little hang-ups like that when God is really moving in a place.

Anyway, we made it back to Canilla just before the rain (yes, it actually rained for about 2 hours in our desert!). Then we ate a lot of pasta, worshiped, and now everyone is heading to bed. So hope you sleep good tonight!

Small Rewards

The apostle Paul taught that "what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen in eternal." I think a good part of that means that even if we aren't "seeing" a lot of results from our Christian labor, it doesn't mean God isn't doing eternal things. (Maybe we should even be glad when it doesn't "look" like things are going good!)

But God provided a few small rewards for me today as I walked the mountains near our Chiminisijuan clinic again with Thomas. He and I set out to visit families (many single moms) early this morning, and I might even say we're getting better at finding people and growing worse at getting ourselves lost! Anyway, in the course of visiting about 7 families who had asked us for food, we had two cool testimonies from their neighbors. One was a young man who stopped by the first house we were visiting. He came over to tell us that God had healed him of some stomach sickness a few years ago after we (I don't really know if I was at clinic then) prayed for him. He said he had spent Q6,000 (about $750) at a government hospital and never got better. Then, he came to us and for Q2 (about $0.25) he got better! Another lady was the neighbor to the last family we visited, and she told us that God had healed her 1-year-old son a few years ago of a swollen arm (sounds like it was an infection). She said, "I came every week for milk, prayer, (and I think) medicine, and my son got better!" She actually said "God healed" my baby. Now I and most Americans whose brain is bigger that our faith want to think of what sickness exactly these people had, and what medicine probably cured it. But they (and at least 10 others I've ran into during my mountain walks) very confidently say GOD healed them. Some I know for a fact were not a result of medicine because we didn't give them any, and even the others were God because Duane, Leslie, and the entire ministry would not be in Chiminisijuan were it not for God calling them!

God does miracles today. They may be obvious, they may be natural results from obedience, or they may not be known to us at all--but when God does the work, it's eternal!

Out of the Bush

Today we did a clinic in the Zona Reina, leaving about an hour after my last post on here. God provided a few medical people to help us, so we went for it. Honestly I don't like the trips a whole lot. It's hot and a lot of work, but I believe in why we do it. Today was a fruitful day because a lady accepted Christ and the village leader said he needed to become a Christian (I think that means he's being persuaded but still not jumping in all the way). It was a good sign though, and encouraging after over 2 years of clinics and emergency flights in that place. Thanks to all who prayed!

Into the Bush

It's just before 6am and the sky is lightening up in the East. Duane just left for the airport to await the call from the Zona Reina telling us that the sky is clear to come in.

Leslie, Don, Armando, Sally, Irvin, and I will hopefully be flying into San Pedro with Duane today for another medical clinic. If you read this today, please say a prayer that hearts are open to the gospel, and that our trip has eternal effect on people. We know this village well, but want to be more than a good humanitarian work; we want them to know Jesus... And if you think of it, it would be nice to not get rained in!

Hot Days and Long Nights

Well, my the bees have calmed down and the honey is about half eaten. That honey was worth it!

As I try to think about the goings on here since my last blog, there are a few things that stick out to me. One is that we have two visitors here from the U.S. Cassie is a P.A. from Texas who has been helping in clinics this week, and Irna is a friend who will be living with us for around 6 months. She's willing to do anything, and a great cook (those who know me know how I feel about that!)

Katie and Aaron are about ready for Anna to arrive into our world. Any day now she could arrive! Katie's parents will be coming down later in the month, as will our friends the Allisons. It will be so good to have them here while Katie is adjusting to being a mom, and we are adjusting to doing clinic without her! Also, not to bore anyone but just because it's taken a lot of time and work, the well at the airport is about 4 meters deeper thanks to a buddy from Chinique. That may not sound like much, but when the well is over 150 foot deep and has water in the bottom that's a lot of dirt to haul up! Chinto would climb down and fill bucket for bucket that would be hauled up with a rope.

Last week I showed a movie in the park for the first time in a few months due to popular demand from kids in town. It actually surprised me how much the kids had grown to count on the movies and wondered why I had stopped. If they like them, then it's worth it. A family I've grown to know pretty well specially came to hang out with me last Friday, and relationships are worth the effort.

Now you may be wondering what the "hot days and long nights" are all about. Well, it applies to David and Juan more than anyone. Most of us guys had a part in going to the Mexican/Guantemalan border the last few days to bring in our corn semi and the supplies loaded on it, but David and Juan did the driving from there. The border is super hot and humid, it's just so low. But worse is the drive. David left the border at 5 o'clock yesterday evening and got here at 10:30a.m. this morning, without stopping to sleep. Other than waiting once for diesel (the gas stations weren't open at 3:30 when they were in Quiche) they drove nearly 17 hours straight on some less that quality roads. The truck and the grain bins that are on it will be such a help to us here though. Today I was helping distribute corn and we ran out. There were just way more people than we planned on, and there was no corn to be found in the whole town for us to buy. When we have our own supply of corn in storage, all we'll have to do is go fill up a few more bags to meet the need. Anyway, I'll try to get a picture of the truck on here tomorrow when it's light out!

Bikes and stinging bees.

I rode my bike, ate some dirt, and just washed off a lot of grease from my hands. After clinic today Joe, David and I rode our motorcycles with a few friends of ours. We kid each other, push each other up hills, and even have a cool handshake (some of the kids we ride with are about 15). This week two of the guys came over and asked me to fix something on their bike (David wasn't around), and I love to get to know them.

Clinic yesterday went fairly smooth. I wasn't feeling anything to share with the people as far as evangelizing goes, but as I looked through some notes and different teachings I had made over the last few weeks, I found where I had written, "When I don't feel anything special to share, just share the Word because it is always true." So I took my Bible and guitar and made my way out to the 50 or so people in the waiting area. Tomas and I shared from John 1:12 where Jesus invited all who believe to be children of God, and it was like God just filled me with a desire to share--and He gave me the words too. I remember the first times, actually first year, that it was so hard for me to talk to groups of people in Spanish, especially about the Bible. Now it's like people are actually engaged and attentive to my stories and examples. Whether it's just improved Spanish or some new thing God is doing, I like it.

In other big news from the week...I took some honey from my bees last Thursday! It was actually pretty awful. Not only did I kill hundreds of my bees by enticing them to sting my bee suit, but I didn't get much honey and the bees got super mad. I ended up running across the yard and out of the gate when I got a few bees inside my mask. There were pieces of my suit strewed all along the road as I ran toward town, and man and beast alike were looking for cover from the small buzzing creatures. Passerbys on the road where swatting at stray bees, cows were jumping, and chickens were fluttering. When I finally got back to the house everyone was locked inside and one of our workers was laying block with a welding mask on to protect himself. All in all only I fell victim to the honeybees' sting, four to be exact, and we got close to a quart of honey out of the deal. I think next time I need a better suit and a lot of smoke. If you have experience with bees and are reading this, feel free to send me any thoughts you may have, but please wait for a week or two as nearly everyone who was here for the "bee attack" has already given me more advice than I can process this week!

Anyway, that's about all that's up from this week. Tomas and I spent Friday making house visits in Chiminisijuan. My legs hurt pretty bad by the end of the day, but I'm only 22 and shouldn't complain. Leslie, Hannah, and Katie are all outside right now delivering a baby in the clinic. I figure they have it all under control out there, and I am supporting them through prayer from here in the house, at a safe distance.

Thanks for reading and for all the prayers and support. I'll try to put a post up this week as more happens!

Drug Rehab

This picture was the best I got from Bob and I's visit to Victor's drug rehab center. I wish you could see more guys that live there but I just didn't take many pictures. The eleven men who who where there in the morning range from Domingo, 15 and without parents, to Johnny, 50, who has not been able to lay down the bottle in past. By afternoon, there were 15 men in the house, two of the new ones coming directly from the hospital as referrals from a judge. All of them though have chosen to come and try to change.

Bob and I went to Quiche yesterday to see Victor and these guys. We taught, worshiped with them, and just spend time one on one with them. Each one has a unique story, usually a very hopeless one, but each one is there with purpose now. As I listened to their stories, they are just exaggerated examples of most of our lives. All of our actions have consequences, and none of us deserve the love that God has for us. Alex, one of the men who reminded me of the cowboys in Canilla, had a family who loved him and brothers who were in the cattle business with him. He lost them though, because of his drinking problem. As Alex sat with Bob and I he cried tears of remorse for the family that had rejected him and kids who were at home without him. He said he had been to church quite a bit but had never accepted Christ into his heart until that day. That was yesterday, and today he still couldn't talk about God without tears in his eyes. He had finally tasted hope. It was real, and it was his because Jesus loved him and can help change him. I believe he will get his family back and rejoin his brothers in the field.

We also enjoyed a time of encouragement from Phil Stern and Kent Henry. They were here for two days and spent a lot of time in prayer, worship, and just time encouraging us. Kent has a prayer model that he's been implementing in churches in the U.S.--how to read the Bible, pray it, sing, it, and then think hard on it as a group. We're going to start using it to organize our worship times as a ministry at least once a week.

This weekend is clinic in Canilla and San Andres. It's been kind of chilly lately, even down to 45 at night, but that just makes sleeping with lots of blankets even better!

Clinic Memories

The last couple of days will go in the memory book for me. Probably Katie and Hannah too. Leslie made a quick trip to the States to visit her uncle before he passed away, so were short on staff.

Yesterday morning started out busy, giving out numbers and preaching at 7 outside of clinic. By the time I got back out there at 8, Katie and Hannah had already delivered a baby and were in the middle of care for an 11 month old girl with a heart defect. The baby was a stillborn, most likely dying a few days before. The mom, a young Mayan woman said she stopped feeling the baby move about 3 days before. It was a sad day, full of many very sick people, a baby funeral, and other people who kept coming to our door after clinic. This morning we were prepared for another long day at San Andres clinic, but God was merciful and there were few really sick people. We gave out a lot of food and milk, did a lot of ultrasounds, and saw many of our chronic patients (mostly diabetes and hypertension).

There was a point in the afternoon when I laughed to myself because I thought we had ran out of food only to have Rosa (our translator) surprise me by pulling a bag of beans, rice, oats, and sugar out of a "secret" spot in the cabinet. It is so hard to tell a hungry mom and her kids to come back in a week because we're out of food, and I was so relieved when Rosa pulled that bag out! Upon a visit to the orphanage where our friends Sebastian and Juanito distribute corn, I found out that we had just enough for the day. We sent out 3,100 lbs of corn to 31 families, and didn't have a bag left when everyone had passed through. That's cutting it a little close, but like Juanito said to me, "at least there won't be any to go bad throughout the week!" Next week's corn will be all fresh stuff.

Here is a picture of one of the houses Sebastian visited. It belongs to a widow named Micaela who he started on the corn program...Tomorrow Leslie and three good friends from our church in St. Louis will be coming in for a few days. We'll be happy to see them.

Back

Duane and I made it back to Guatemala yesterday afternoon. We made it before the 5 degree 40 mph winds with snow. My trip was a total of 2 weeks and Duane was there for 5 days. Here you can see a picture of Duane and a group of pastors praying for Guatemala at the Destiny church missions conference. The conference lasted for 4 days and was really incredible. About 20 missionaries from all over the world were present with their ministries, and we had services and prayer every morning and evening. It was very refreshing and I met a lot of cool people. Below you can see a picture of Ben and me. Ben is a man from Gana, West Africa where it is "very hot." This was his first time in the United States, and he's there for 4 months. Like many people in Gana (and Guatemala) Ben has wanted to visit for a long time but never felt it was the right time until now. He has spent the last 7 years building a church discipling pastors for outlying village churches. We had lots of time to talk since I drove him back and forth between his brother's house and church. I think I was blessed more than he was through our talks.

Overall my visit was really good. I spent time with my family (below is from Christmas at my grandparents) and had some good time with a few close friends, even a few who surprised me by popping up at the missions conference!
Now we're back in Guatemala plugging away at the daily work. Our friends Norm and Vicki Sutton came over for a visit, and Norm and I spent some time working on an airplane. Maybe more than ever I am thankful for prayers over my life and ministry here in Guatemala. I know I plan to do more of it.

In the US

Merry Christmas!

It must have slipped my mind to post that I was going to be in the States for Christmas. Well, I was in the States for Christmas.

The weekend was really good with family and a few friends. Today Christian and I got out in the woods a little and enjoyed the crisp 28 degree air. It's nice for a change, but I would like some more snow. The weatherman says we might get a little in the next few days.

Duane will be joining me hopefully Friday evening at our home church, Destiny. They're having a missions conference for four days morning and evening starting Saturday evening at 6. Guest speakers include Joyce Meyer and Kurt Landry, the pastor who led Duane and Leslie's trip to Israel. I'm excited to get to meet him. Anyway, I just wanted to say hey. To everyone who is praying for Guatemala, those we serve in clinics and through the food program, thank you very much. Duane called and it sounds like everything is very busy there as usual.

I hope everyone who reads has a happy new years day!

Grr...

I say grr... because Katie just robbed all the pictures we have of the families on our Corn Project! So, you can check that our on Adonai's blog.

I had to blog today though because it was a good day in the mountains with Thomas. He and I have a list of the "missing" people that we have not been able to find for the last two weeks as we make house visits to pray and access family's needs. Well, at clinic this Tuesday one of the "missing" ladies came back for more food and led us to the others! It was a long walk from the four-wheeler, but we found four missing families and added two new ones today. Our morning started out with the brisk downhill for about 1,000 feet. On our way to the missing lady's house (her name is Maria), we ran into Ignacia, another lady we are helping with food. Ignacia has rheumatoid arthritis, and although she is probably not over 50 her posture is bent and her hands are twisted. She walks with a cane, and at first glance you wouldn't expect her to be able to leave her house. Well, Ignacia began to walk with us to Maria's house and talked to Thomas along the way. She told him how she remembers the first time Leslie and Thomas prayed with her in her home. Three years ago she couldn't walk at all, and felt little purpose in life being stuck in bed. But she said that as Leslie and Thomas prayed she felt something enter her, and they declared over her that she would walk again and pray for others. Well, that's exactly what she's doing. Although slowly, she walks around the mountains (we found her about three walking hours from her house) praying for her neighbors. People call her from towns too far to walk to because of the anointing that she carries. Gathered around Maria, her kids, and Ignacia we prayed and have thanks to God for what he had done in their lives. Maria also had stories of how Thomas had prayed for her husband and son years ago and they were healed. And that was just our first house visit of the day!

There is always a lot of need, but it is encouraging to see God's hand move. He is the answer to people's needs, it's not the food and corn bags that only open the door into people's lives.

We also got to pray with a family in from of their idol. I think they thought we would be afraid to, but Tomas only laughed and explained that the little decorated stature had no power to answer prayers. To make a long story short, the woman in charge of taking care of the idol (lighting candles and such) was only doing it to fulfill her husbands commitment for a year. He had died earlier, but after promising to hold the idol in his house for a year. The woman agreed that she knew only God had the power to save and meet needs, but still didn't want to accept Christ until the idol was our of her house. So on the 25th of January she plans to give her life to Christ. I pray she truly does and that the Lord reveals his power and love to her now. Surely if she understood it she wouldn't wait.

After seeing our missing people we came home on a dusty road. Yesterday we saw mud for the first time in a while in San Pedro. It has been raining there as usual. Duane and I commented as we flew back that we made it all of 2009 without getting stuck in the jungle! Last year it seemed like it was every other time that the rain would close in around us. Anyway, clinic was good. The leaders there are really good about being organized. Duane made an emergency flight to Uspantan while we were there, and Leslie, Katie and I saw probably around 150 people. Tomorrow is clinic here in Canilla and then in San Andres on Sunday. Lots of people will be passing through, and I'm encouraged from today that lives are being touched by God even though we may not be aware.

Tearin' it up.

Tearin' it up is what I feel like we're doing to motorcycles and four-wheelers around here. I am so thankful we don't have to ride horses everyone anymore. The Fickers remember those days.

Actually, nothing is torn up or broken down from this week. We've just been riding the four-wheeler and my bike a lot lately. The four-wheeler is the vehicle of choice for making house visits. If Juanito and Mario aren't riding it, Tomas and I are. My favorite 4-wheeler moment was when Tomas, Hector (our 10-year old guide) and I got to a tough spot. "It won't make it!" they said. Little do they understand the manuvering abilities of a Honda!

If we see six families a day we're doing good. It takes so long to locate people and then walk to their houses, usually several hundred feet up or down a mountain. We pray with everyone, unless they don't want us to, and share the gospel with them. Yesterday one lady prayed with Tomas in Quiche to accept Christ. That makes it all worth it.

On the bad side we run across people like this lady named Manuela. She was really nice, but lied to us in clinic about being a widow and not having any food. Upon visiting her we found out that she only said she was a widow because she heard the Americans would give food to her. Before we left her nice block house we prayed for her and her son (whom we will be helping with medicine for his siezures), but will not be giving food. Again though, this just shows the importance of house visits.

Today Duane and I went to visit Candelaria again. Duane and Leslie had helped her get her house back several months ago after her husband lost it as a result of debt. Now he is trying to sell it again, but his neighbors aren't letting him. (Thankfully). Sometimes I want to just tie someone like him up and haul him to the police station, Duane says it's better to pray instead. So we do, and help Candelaria and her 6 kids as best we can.

On the fun side of things, David, Joseph and I like the motorcycle race so much last month that we're helping some local teenagers make one in Canilla. On our days off and some evenings we have been helping them with the track and to mark the road up the mountain. Today I rode double with a guy who asked if I was a Christian while we were stopped to mark a tree with ribbon. I told him I was, and he said that he just became a Christian too. To me, it was just a cool experience because the whole "motorcyle" world is kind of outside of the religious circle, and I look for chances to show other motorcycle kids that you can have fun and be a Christian too.

My buddy Juan Carlos and I started a Bible study together two weeks ago. We meet every Monday evening with his wife Jael and his grandma to read a chapter together, talk, pray, and sing a few worship songs. Last week I even got a dinner afterwards, so we'll see if that keeps up. It feels good to reach out though in a discipling way, rather than just an evangelistic like in clinic.

Tomorrow is clinic though, and I still need to get a mini-message together, so I'm going to get off of here. Katie posted a good update for the Corn Blog if anyone wants to check that out. It's been really busy around here lately, but I'll try to keep the blog updated! Thanks for all the prayers and support.

He is Alive

I don't know if he should be after living with blood sugar level around 600mg/dL for the last 4 days (normal is around 100), but Justino is still alive. He's an older man, probably 70 something, who came to Leslie last Wednesday night feeling really bad. After some IV fluids and medicine we took him home and have been checking on him morning and evening the last several days. He and his wife live in an adobe house about 10min down the road, and he can hardly see anything even through the thick round glasses that sit on his nose beneath a shiny, bald head. I won't get into the medical specifics, but we think he may be passing kidney stones, and has pain that comes and goes. Today though I went to see Justino and his wife and he told me that he had a dream last night where the Lord massaged his whole body and inner abdomen. He said it was the first night in a while that he's slept like a baby and been pain free. His sugar was still high tonight, and if it doesn't get better we'll urge him more to go to the hospital. Anyway, he tells me every visit that he has faith in the Lord.

Then he told me about other dreams he's had. He knows God is alive and not dead. Three times the Lord has appeared to him in dreams. One time he described as walking on a narrow road that lead into a beautiful park. Men walked with him at his side and showed him all the people there. He said it wasn't hot or cold, just perfect. There was no thirst or hunger, and he said there was no moon or sun. But everything was just right. I don't know he knew of Isaiah 60 where the Bible says there will be no need for sun or moon in the City of God. Justino has only been a Christian for two years. Man did he have a lot to say though. "My God is alive." he said over and over. "He was dead, but three days later he rose again, and he was whole. And he makes me whole. I talk to him like a friend. I have faith in God." And I believe him.





Most of my computer time has been entering data for the corn project and doing e-mails, so I'm sorry for not keeping up with the blog. I'll try to do better. Juan is still visiting people in aldeas (that's where the above pictures are from), delivering food, checking on families in need, and finding new ones. This past week I sent a list with him of people we knew needed a visit. He saw a few of them, but came back with a list of at least 10 more families! At the moment we have given food to around 100 families, but are still in the processes of visiting "pendientes"--those who have approached us for help or we have heard have need. Most times we give the first bag of food to these families after just a brief interview, but to receive continuing help a house visit ensures that the family truly does need help.

Also, before I get off of here I have to at least mention that David entered a local, enduro motorcycle race--about 30 miles of mountain riding with a short obstacle course at the beginning and end. He placed 4th out of 30 riders, many of them professionals from the capital and other cities in Guatemala. 3rd place (and winner of Q1000) was the man who marked out the course and was only a minute ahead of David! He did it mostly because our friends here always urge him to try, and it sounded fun, but he did really good. I entered too, but missed a turn from the start and got way behind, finishing like 20th out of 30. Not too much to brag about. But we had fun and tried to be a testimony for Jesus in the "rich kid" motorcyle environment. You know, as I look at these last four pictures next to the first four I realized that they show two totally different worlds that exist in the same town. We work with the poorest of the poor most of the time, but can still ride motorcycles with the upper class on raceday.

David clearing some rocks and logs.
Me taking on a set of logs and tires.
Tomorrow is clinic in San Andres. It's "Feria" time though, so we don't expect too many people. The street you see at the opening of my blog will be filled with lots of people selling all kinds of things, dancing, drinking, and some bowing to idols set up in tents, or shooting "bombas" kind of like fireworks off of their chests. Witchdoctors urge them to shoot them into the air so that the gods hear them. It's not really a good day, but we'll go for those who come to clinic and pray for God's people to be a light in the midst of a mostly dark celebration time.

Back to Guatemala

This is one of the little guys we see regularly for the nutricion program in Chiminisijuan.

I just realized my last post was never published last Thursday, but just to fill anyone in, I didn't get back to Guatemala until last night. I extended my stay to help Ryan, Duane, and some other friends load up our "corn truck" with grain bins and other supplies. Hopefully the load will get here in a month or so. Our friend Martin plans to drive in through Mexico for us.
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There was nothing like being reunited with my XR650 at the airport yesterday (except maybe a pretty girl). It had been three weeks, and she was inviting me to give her a spin. My friends Dr. Sherwood and his wife Areli picked me up and took me to my motorcycle on the other side of the runway. (It was good to see them too :)! They were there to pick up some friends from Michigan who will be working with them for a week. Hopefully they'll be able to come and work with us this upcoming Saturday too. Anyway, three and a half hours after leaving the City I made it to Canilla just after dark. The dark and foggy mountain roads reminded me that I was back, as did all the familiar faces here at the house. Grace had to show me all of the new puppies we had, and David was sure to leave out some dinner for me.

Today was our weekly Chiminisijuan clinic. Armando and I went up and gave out milk/food to families who were on our programs. We did a lot of praying with families and I was reminded of who it is that we're here to serve. So many familes (many of them single mothers with several children) live in such isolated places just struggling to keep food in their bellies. Hope is much needed, and I feel like I can get so distracted from the Source of Hope in all of my personal worries.

As for major passings since I was gone: The Aztec interior looks really good, and David has been busy with tractor work and repairs on our Tacoma. Juan and I did some cutting and unbolting this afternoon. Our cow had her calf, so the fridge is stocked with milk again (that's a big deal). Duane and Leslie are still in Israel until Monday, but the girls are doing good with their brothers and sisters (and puppies). The corn project folder has over 200 families entered that we are either helping with food or monitoring in case they need it in the next couple of months. Three families came through today for beans, rice, and oats along with 15 kids who recieved milk. Tomorrow is our Sabbath, so I don't exactly what we'll do, but it's sure to include some prayer and worship. My time home was really good seeing family and friends. It was easier saying goodbye since I plan on being home for Christmas in just over a month (way better than 6 months). That's the rundown for tonight, I just wanted to let everyone know I made it back safe!

My Family

The last few days I've been camping. My family actually chose to leave our well-heated, spacious, amazing home to live in a trailer on wheels for three days in a park with other such trailers on wheels in 40 degree weather. Actually it was pretty fun. John, my mom, Christain, and my aunt Janice spent three days together on Carlyle lake. My grandpa even stopped by for a day. The only bad things were my mom and Janice giggling in the middle of the night while the guys tried to sleep. And the fish didn't bite. Christian caught three and I got none! I guess I'm out of practice....There are no tilapia here.

I just got news today that David, Joe, and Ryan got the grainbins down yesterday. Their uncles and friend, Mike Lovell, helped. Soon the load will be ready for our friend Martin to drive to Guatemala. I also just read on Adonai's blog that Duane and Leslie finally got to talk to the mayor of San Andres. He said that he has been overwhelmed by the people who have come to him with need; I think he has a list of 4,000 people, widows and hungry families who have asked for help. To top it off a pastor prophesied over him a month ago that "corn was coming. Corn to feed the people. This was before we had announced our corn project to anyone outside of the ministry. Anyway, I'm really excited about what God is doing. The prophet Isaiah wrote, "If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry, and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will shine in the darkness and your night will be like the noonday sun." The Lord is about letting his glory shine as he meets the needs of his people.

I plan to spend the next few days with my dad, grandparents, and the side of the family I haven't seen yet. If anything exciting happens I'll be sure to post!

Last words

My feet are soaked from catching our second bee swarm! Aaron found it under a bridge in town, so we made a hive and some tools last night. Tonight we caught as many as we could in a cardboard box. Later we'll dump what we have in the new "bee haven" box.
The last couple days have been pretty busy. Several of the pastors I've talked to the last couple days are really planning and looking for ways to help us with the corn project. I don't want to get my hopes too high, but I am praying.

Today in clinic there was a middle-aged lady, Estefania, who had a really high blood pressure, but nothing else wrong. After a few minutes of talking with her, she confided to us that she feels like there is an evil spirit oppressing her. I won't go into all the details, but it made me so mad that the devil has put such a fear in people here. I have no doubt that sin, the world(that is not subject to God's law), and the devil are the enemies of all mankind, but it makes me mad when Christians like Estefania are afraid of him. Here, more than in the US, poeple view the spiritual realm as very real, and tangible. Rather than calling a pastor to pray or taking medicine, people can call a witchdoctor to cast a spell to heal you (for a price of course). The cool thing is that people are healed quite often from chronic sicknesses after commitng their lives to Christ. Anyway, I just had some more spiritual stuff today than usual.

I'm looking forward to seeing my family, but not to the trip. I plan to ride my dirtbike in from Canilla in the morning (hopefully no more than a 4-hour trip) to get on the plane. I better get my bag packed...and get those bees in their box.

News

Well, I think I'm going to try this like a news update. When a lot is going on I have a hard time deciding what to say, so:

SURGERY UPDATE: To follow up with Helen and Edimira, we went back to the City this Wednesday. The doctor there looked at her skin infection, and said that although it was almost gone (I couldn't see anything) there was still some there. He wouldn't admit her for a surgery, so we came home and will continue trusting God to take care of her. Possibly we can try again in February when another group of neurosurgeons come down.

MINISTRY: This last week in clinic was really good as far as spiritually ministering to people. Several men and women gave their lives to Christ. In the midst of so many problems and sicknessess, it amazing me how God's word never fails. He's faithful when everything else is falling apart. More and more though, I'm realizing the real need for discipleship after a person or a family accept Christ. Some churches are great to refer people too, and then there are other's who's pastors charge people for prayer.

IN PRAYER: There was a young man, Domingo, who came to San Andres clinic last week. He had been drunk for a month without eating, and his liver and intestines where punishing him for it. After a few days sober he came to us for help. We gave him some medicine, prayed with him to give control of his life to Jesus, and set up a trip for him to our friend Victor's drug rehab center. Victor said he never showed up, but I'm hoping we see him tomorrow at clinic again.

OUTREACH: This last Thursday we had another trip to San Pedro, Zona Reina. Again we got in an out the same day with the plane. Our friend Dr. Pedro (from Guatemala City) went with us to pull teeth, and they loved him. It's really good to to get to know the people there. Our relationship with them is deepening, but we still lack Christian translators. A few people have accepted Christ, but anytime we ask our translator to pray or share something about God they are silent. One man (I remember him as Luciano's dad) has a mass blocking his stomach, so he is withering away. His heart is right with God, but I'm praying that he recieves a miracle from Him because the doctors have not been able to do anything for him.

CORN: David, Joseph, and Ryan are still busy in the States working on a truck to bring a load down for the corn project. On this end of things we bought our first 2,000 pounds of corn today and cleaned out the small silos we have. More families continue to come to us each week for food. At our clinics we announced what we are doing in case anyone wants to donate food to help hungry families. It amazes me how willing to help most Guatemalan's are; organization is where things get hard though. If we can help with that I know we'll make a difference.

IT'S DEER SEASON IN ILLINOIS: My friend Jeff has already killed a buck and a coyote (as of a few days ago) with his bow, reminding me of Fall back home. I'll be going home to visit my family for three weeks later this month. I've been home for a total of two weeks this year, and I miss them very much.

Helen and Edimira

Real quick I just wanted to post that our trip to the City went really well. Duane flew us in (I helped a little :) early this morning to go to the doctor's office. Helen's surgery is far form complete (not even started yet), but our initial visit to the hospital went really well. We were in and out in 10 minutes. At first the social worker we talked with asked us to wait in line with everyone else (which could have taken a day or two), but after telling her Helen's story she called a doctor directly to the office. Sadly, he told us that there was an infection in the skin of Helen's head that had to be treated before operating would be possible, but he told us to come back this next Wednesday and speak with him directly. As we left the social worker's office she confided to us that she too was a Christian and that she wanted to do all she could to help Helen and her mom, Edimira. To top it off, while Edimira, Helen and I were at a pharmacy buying the prescribed meds (Duane was doing some other City running), we ran into a Christian lady who gave us a ride to meet Duane. Overall, I feel like God was really faithful to go before us today and place the right people in our path. I'm now praying that God (hopefully through the medicine) heals Helen's skin infection before Wed. The American doctors leave Friday.

Also, tomorrow is our meeting with the pastors of Canilla and San Andres. We're planning and praying that all will go well. I hope that they'll catch the vision to care for the hungry people in this valley!