 |
| Practicing in a Sunday School room. |
 |
| Waiting to enter the sanctuary. |
July 27, 2014
Dance
The girls performed a dance in our church recently. Only one local girl danced with us (Juanita, second from the left). The other girls are Americans with another ministry here in Chichi. They all did a really good job.
July 20, 2014
No chlorine!
At the community meeting this month, one of the leaders stood up to read a proposal by the Health Department of Guatemala. He was speaking in K'iche', but was using enough Spanish words for us to figure out that they were suggesting that the community clean their water at the source (miles away on the side of three different mountains) once a month with chlorine. This would help keep the water clean and reduce the green junk that grows in our pipes (due to no chlorine added to the water).
He mentioned that he was only reading the proposal to the community so that they could decide if they were interested. Just when we were thinking, "Yes! Of course! Please!", to our surprise the people shouted, "NO!" All we could figure out was that either they didn't want to pay the small fee that would be collected or they didn't want to take turns on work trips to do it. So there was another delay in the development of this country. There are so many ways that the people here are lacking education, and they just don't realize that sometimes their decisions are hindering their good health and progress.
He mentioned that he was only reading the proposal to the community so that they could decide if they were interested. Just when we were thinking, "Yes! Of course! Please!", to our surprise the people shouted, "NO!" All we could figure out was that either they didn't want to pay the small fee that would be collected or they didn't want to take turns on work trips to do it. So there was another delay in the development of this country. There are so many ways that the people here are lacking education, and they just don't realize that sometimes their decisions are hindering their good health and progress.
July 6, 2014
Big bugs
I'm glad these big guys don't come around very often. This one was bouncing on and off the window and buzzing really loudly. It sure caused some screaming girls in our house! Fortunately it was outside and Michael was brave... a little insecticide took care of it.
 |
| The next day |
June 29, 2014
New water connection
Our property had no water when we bought it. There are a limited number of water connections in the community, so we had to buy a connection from another member of the community. We met him at the local meeting hall on a Saturday night, which is when the leaders gather so the members of the community can come and pay their water dues.
The purchase was recorded in a notebook by the leaders, which made it official.
Then we went to another group, where we waited for Michael's name to be written on the list instead of the previous owner's name. For a while we weren't sure what was taking so long, so Michael went over to one of the men to ask. They were waiting for a girl who went to buy wite-out so they could cover the previous name in the notebook and write Michael's name instead.
Michael also had to sign up for the community work list since we now own a water connection. We have yet to see how often they ask him to work, but we will be able to pay someone to work for him since his back hurts.
A couple of weeks later, we went to literally transfer the faucet from the other owner. First we went to his land, where some men dug around the pipes and cut them to remove his pipes and patch the hole. Then we walked over to our land, carrying the faucet. They cut the pipes which ran across one edge of our land and inserted a new pipe with the faucet. You can see the post (cut from a small tree nearby) to which they tied the pipe to help it stay upright.
The faucet leaked, so we had to go buy a new gasket which the hardware store didn't have, so we ended up buying a whole new faucet.
After all that, we now have water!
The purchase was recorded in a notebook by the leaders, which made it official.
Then we went to another group, where we waited for Michael's name to be written on the list instead of the previous owner's name. For a while we weren't sure what was taking so long, so Michael went over to one of the men to ask. They were waiting for a girl who went to buy wite-out so they could cover the previous name in the notebook and write Michael's name instead.
Michael also had to sign up for the community work list since we now own a water connection. We have yet to see how often they ask him to work, but we will be able to pay someone to work for him since his back hurts.
A couple of weeks later, we went to literally transfer the faucet from the other owner. First we went to his land, where some men dug around the pipes and cut them to remove his pipes and patch the hole. Then we walked over to our land, carrying the faucet. They cut the pipes which ran across one edge of our land and inserted a new pipe with the faucet. You can see the post (cut from a small tree nearby) to which they tied the pipe to help it stay upright.
After all that, we now have water!
June 22, 2014
Grandparents' visit
 |
| Grandpa telling a story |
 |
| Grandma drinking coffee |
 |
| Visiting our new property |
 |
| Playing card games |
June 1, 2014
"Good-bye"
When passing someone, the normal greeting here is "Good-bye!" I find myself usually saying "Hello!" and then correcting it to "Good-bye!" (Well, actually in Spanish it is "¡Buenos días!" and then "¡Adios!")
May 18, 2014
Family devotions
Every night our family gathers to sing a couple of worship songs, read a portion of Scripture, and pray. The girls take turns playing the guitar for worship, and Michael reads from the Bible. Then we all take turns praying aloud.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)