Encuentro Indigena 2011

Being part of the family of God means eternal friendships.  It  is good when we are able to renew those friendships each time we "remeet."  This week was one of those times of enjoying frienships.

We have missed being able to see Cruz. 

He was busy being a investigative little boy,

crawling around on the floor of the conference center.

I love this picture...he is just a blur, going all the time, keeping his mommy busy. 

 It won't be long before he is walking all alone though.

You can tell he really enjoyed his crawling time.

I think he was a bit surprised at his dirty knees.  haha

One day for lunch several of us went to Ashley's. 

It is a hostel located next door to the mission apartments. 

I often call it the Orchid Place beause of the abundance of beautiful orchids.

There was Ms. Fran,

SIL missionary who has invested about 55 years in Coban.

She and her partner translated the Bible in K'etki, and numerous other study helps.

There was Richard (Dick) and LaHoma Greenwood, retired IMB missionaries,

who invested 33 years among the K'etki.

It was back in 1980 that God used Dick to open our eyes to Guatemala.

There were David and Regina White who as the newbies invested three years as ISC'ers,

then were appointed as career missionaries and returned to the K'etki with Guatemlan born Cruz.

All of us around the table.

Pastor Apolinario and his wife Maria from San Andres Izapa were able to attend.

Pastor Nahum came from Copan Ruinas, Honduras.

Fellow missionary Ron Carothers led several sessions,

casting before the believers the lost around the world

and the vision for Guatemalans to go, tell, baptize, and disciple.

Fellow laborers, Keith and Penny Stamps,

between Pastor Apolinario and Maria,

led in the planning and facilitation of the conference.

And we got to hang out with them all. Precious friends!

And speakng of precious friends, can't leave out "Precioso."

Wondering why he is on the outside looking in...

"If Cruz is eating, why can't I?"

"I think I understand why that ice chest is there now."

Having fun with special friends

I think that we have shared that one of the most difficult things about leaving the states was leaving our bassett, Floppy. Deborah and Rebecca went to visit her the other day and took this updated photo for us. She is doing well, but well, not so sure about us...we still miss her.


While in Costa Rica, our host family had two dogs that we enjoyed. Lanyard was the older and a very gentle dog. He was terribly afraid of loud noises, especially thunder.


Scooby was the son of Lanyard and was just a big ol' puppy. David taught him to "give me five" in order to get a treat.


But again we had to move and say good bye to them as well.

Since we do so much traveling here in Guatemala, we didn't feel it wise to have a dog to leave by himself so much. But God has blessed with some special friends that we can enjoy when we visit in their home.

Diog - That is pronouniced, De-o-g, not Dog. He lives with George and Helen, but when Carol first arrived in Guatemala she lived in their home (while they were in the states) so she is part caretaker as well. He is BIG but such a sweetie.


Wally - He lives with Richard and Sharon. George and Helen were keeping Wally while Richard and Sharon were in the states so when Carol arrived, she cared for both Diog and Wally. It was so funny to watch the two of them play...Diog is a Weimaraner and Wally is a daschund, but they enjoyed each other.

Heidi - She lives with Ron and Margie. She knows us and makes us feel so welcomed when we arrive for a visit. She is staying with us this week while Ron and Margie are in the states welcoming a new granddaughter and spoiling her siblings.

Heidi LOVES to play as these pictures testify. David was hard at work...


Heidi was ready to play. So she brought her ball and put it on his legs


and waited patiently.



Well, you can be assured, he took a break and played a little. Could you resist a face like this?