Carolyn and Andrew

We are happy to welcome our son-in-law, Andrew Bivens, to the family!  We had a very nice trip to the U.S. to attend Carolyn and Andrew's wedding and visit family. 

Heather was busy here in Chichicastenango for months ahead of time, happily sewing fabric bows and making silk floral arrangements for the wedding arch and the reception hall tables.  We filled one suitcase entirely full of decorations that we brought with us!  On the day before the wedding, Heather decorated the wedding cakes, and on the morning of the big day, she put together live floral bouquets for the bride and bridesmaids, as well as table decorations.  We are grateful to Andrew's family and church for helping with the potluck food preparations and cleanup, and to the various people who pitched in to make this a very special day!

A Giving-Thanks service

In the Christian churches of Guatemala, it is normal for people to randomly decide to host a Giving-Thanks service, taking over the regular church service time.  They invite (and pay) a special band to come play (extra loud), and they usually provide a meal for everyone afterwards.

Tables, instead of the normal chairs,
were set up, adding to the festive
atmosphere and promising a meal
to come.

Favorite drinks (Coca-Cola and orange
drink) and crackers were set out
on each table during the service.

Our most recent Giving-Thanks service, pictured above, was hosted by three brothers and their families in our church who are in the beef butchering business in Chichisastenango.  They wanted to thank God for what He has done in their businesses and in their lives. 

The music was super loud,
so we wore earplugs!

We were also intrigued by the small gift that was handed out to each attending family at the end of the service, since this was an uncommon detail: a mug with a picture of a bull, a Bible verse, and a picture of raw meat.  The families said it was a small "thank-you gift" to everyone, but I also saw it as convenient advertising, hahaha.

Dance practice

I (Heather) have restarted the dance team at our church!  And we have also added a second team for the youth.  At the end of our most recent practice, the kids enjoyed watching a video of a dance they did several years ago when they were "chiquitito" (very much smaller)!

Preaching at church

I (Heather/Erica) took a turn preaching at church!  My message was a theme that the Lord has been working on in my heart lately:  Why am I alive on the earth?  Through God and for God.  It's like this world is a board game that God made up and we are the pawns.  If we follow His rules, all goes well... if we follow our own rules, the game turns to chaos.

End of year party

Our church had yet another Christmas party, this time to say goodbye to 2023 and also, sadly, to say goodbye to our pastor of six years, Gregorio.  He also pastors a church in his hometown of Zacualpa, where he lives 2 hours from Chichi, so he will be pastoring there full time now.  We are sad to see him go, but we are looking forward to whomever the Lord will bring to our church in the future!  Please join us in praying for a local K'iche'-speaking pastor from Chichicastenango, so that he can help us in our endeavor to translate the Bible and promote the new translation in the community.

A red basket of food was given
to each family in attendance:
chips, cookies, soda, marshmallows,
Corn Flakes, oatmeal, cooking oil,
mashed Ducal beans, Incaparina (a hot
corn drink), and chow mein noodles.

I (Heather/Erica) was excited to get "back in action" and lead the church's children in a skit, doing hand motions to the story of Christmas.  It was called "The Christmas Story in 30 Words," starting with a longer narrated description.  Then for fun we got faster and faster.  The video shows the last round, but the kids wanted to go even faster!

The Christmas Story in 30 Words

Festivities

At the end of November, our church had a Christmas party for the church kids, the neighborhood kids, and the sponsored kids.  The ministry that "took over" our church is Living Waters Adopt-a-Child, and they have about 10 children sponsored here in Chichicastenango so far.

Veronica and I blew up many balloons
in preparation for the party.

The church kids danced to
"Jesus is my super-hero."

Then, at the beginning of December, Mayli, one of the girls who has been dancing with me since she was about 7 years old, celebrated her Quinceañera.  This is a 15th birthday party that almost all girls have in Latin America celebrating their change from childhood to womanhood.  All the church members and all their family and friends were invited.

Then, as we were driving into town to go shopping on Wednesday morning, we encountered a fun Christmas tuk-tuk parade going by!

A post from our local
Facebook news site

Streetlight

Our streetlight has been burned out for a couple of months.  We finally figured out that if we wanted it fixed, we had to do something about it ourselves.  We hired an "electrician" to climb the post with ropes, only to discover that the old fixture's light sensor had, in the words of the worker, "exploded" and ruined the fixture.  So he lowered the old fixture to Michael with a rope, and we bought a new one to replace it.  Michael said, "I never thought I'd be carrying one of these!"

Michael, carrying his newly
purchased streetlight