Thursday, October 29, 2009

Iglesia Bautista Canaan - 59th Anniversary

Recently our church celebrated it's 59th Anniversary. It was quite a celebration.

The music team led in praise worship.


The Word was shared of the faithfulness of God and His challenge to the people.


Even the Sunday school children sang.




Gifts were given to Pastor Victoriano and Cristina.


But what Guatemalan celebration would be complete without...FIREWORKS!!


Though I don't know who had the most fun...the children or the guys who lit the fireworks!


Faithfulness to the Word and in sharing the light of the Gospel...Iglesia Bautista Canaan. Pray that more and more people will be reached through the ministry of the members...Shining the light of the Gospel.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Goodbyes Again...


David, Glynis, Regina, Jane, Carol, David, Wendall, Ann and Jim

We all enjoyed lunch at Applebee's as we gathered together one more time, although it was the first time we had met the Weedman's.

Wendall and Jane Parker - Wendall and Jane Parker invested almost 40 years as missionaries (30+ years in Guatemala) and now though retired, return yearly for continued kingdom work. This year they arrived May 14th and returned to Georgia October 23. What wisdom it was that Gary Stone, our supervisor, designed part of our orientation to include time with the Parkers! We were blessed to spend quality time traveling throughout the country and gleaning wisdom and insight from them. And our trips always included the question, "Did you bring the dominos?" We are so thankful for their investment in our lives and in our ministry and so look forward to their return next year.


David and Regina White - David and Regina White have invested about 3 years as short term missionaries in Coban, Guatemala among the K'ekchi. Their term is completed, and they are in the process of "turning around" and returning as career missionaries. We have spent wonderful times together at the Arkansas House and in their apartment in Coban. Precious folks and dear friends, we look forward to their return in the spring. We're going to miss you so much. Enjoy your time with family and friends!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Hello/Goodbye

Hellos and goodbyes are probably two of the most common things in the life of a missionary. Recently our Guatemalan missionary family celebrated another such time.
"Bienvenida" to Carol, who arrived in August to work with unjiveristy students in Guatemala City.
"Despedida" to Keith and Glenna who, after a 6 month stateside assignment, are headed to Panama to work with volunteer teams.


Keith and Glenna are on the left and Carol is on the right.

I am so glad that in eternity, the brothers and sisters in Christ will never have to say goodbye...we will all meet at the throne and praise the Savior together, never again to say goodbye.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Road Trip to Belice

Last Sunday, we met missionaries Jane and Wendall Parker and Fran Eachus at Hotel El Atlantico at Santa Cruz, Zacapa for what will be our last road trip with Jane and Wendall this year...a trip to Belice. El Atlantico is where friends of ours stayed last month...but thankfully we didn't see any of their friends - they found a big scorpion in their room :)

These trees grow abundantly in this part of the country and produce a gourd type fruit which grow right out of the trunk of the tree. When dried they are often cut in half, painted and used as cups or bowls.




Monday, we drove to the coastal city of Puerto Barrios, Guatemala and took a water taxi (passenger boat) across the Gulf of Honduras for about 1 and 1/2 hours to Punta Gorda, Belice. At Guatemala immigration, we disovered a small snagfu...we were illegal...our visas had expired on September 22nd. WOW! What do you do? Pay a fine of course - Q10 for each day past the 22nd, leave the country for 72 hours (which our visit was to be), re-enter the country and have the passport restamped for 90 more days during which time our two-year visa should be processed by the mission attorney.




I think this picture of Miss Fran is one of my favorites.



In Punta Gorda, we stayed at The Sea Front Inn. We visited with special friends from language school, Cohen and Amie Ezelle and their family - Samuel, Iva, Levi, and Nathaniel whom we had not seen before.


We had lots of good hugs and special time together. Cohen and Amie are missionaries with Global Outreach. Cohen is developing an English-speaking Bible Institute in Punta Gorda. The official language in Belize is English, but Creole, Spanish and K'ekchi are also spoken. They were honored to meet Miss Fran who with her Wycliffe partner, Ruth Carlson, translated the entire Bible, a major concordance, and other books into the K'ekchi language. In addition we spent time with their ministry partners, the Farleys and learned much about the indigenous population of Belice.






We arrived home Wednesday night about 9:00 very tired but refreshed in spirit. It is always a blessing to travel and fellowship with God's annointed - veterans and future veterans of His work.