Journal January 6-12

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Sunday, January 6, 2008

Three of the kids came along to church with me this morning. I had taken a new wheelchair along with me so that we could give it to a little girl who lives in Antigua after the service. Terry Cotton, a lady that attends our church had introduced me to Maria Veronica a few months ago and even though she was scheduled to come in to a wheelchair distribution that we are planning for next week I decided to jump the gun a bit. This way Terry, who has become close friends with Maria Veronica and her family could be there when we gave the chair to Maria. We also invited a lady who is from Korea along with us. She was visiting our church and told me that she was looking for some volunteering opportunities for several afternoons a week. I figured that taking her along to give away a wheelchair and then taking her to the orphanage would be a good way for her to see first hand where volunteers are needed. Maria Veronica is 10 years old and has cerebral palsy. Even though she has never walked she has never owned a wheelchair. I let Calin, Fernando, and Jason help with fitting her into the wheelchair that we had brought. Maria is a delightful little girl and the boys and I had a lot of fun adjusting her wheelchair so that it fit her perfectly. Once the chair was finished we put Maria into her new wheelchair. I don’t think that Maria had ever seen a wheelchair before so even though she was verry happy with it she didn’t realize that it was much more than a comfortable place to sit. That problem was soon solved though. I asked Calin and the other boys to show her how to use her hands to move it. She caught on quickly and was soon moving it under her own power.

* * * * *

Movie of Maria Veronica moving on her own for the first time in her life.

After we finished up at Maria’s house we all went to Burger King and got some lunch. Now Burger King was not at the top of the list as far as the 2 ladies and myself were concerned but since the boys had worked so hard on helping fit Maria into her new wheelchair I decided to let them choose where to eat. Well actually to be perfectly honest the boys only got to choose after we discovered that the restaurant that I wanted to go to was closed.

After Lunch we went to Hermano Pedro and visited the kids. We only stayed about an hour but managed to at least get a few of the kids out of bed for a short time. I think that the lady from Korea will very likely do some volunteering there now that she has met some of the kids.

Several of the neighborhood kids are here watching videos on one of the computers. I promised them that I would make them banana pancakes for supper so I better close for now.

Yours in Christ : Dick


Monday, January 7, 2008, 11:43 PM

Today I didn’t even get out of town. It was bill paying day and that means spending a good part of the day standing in line. It would have been all day but after taking a look at the long lineup at the electric company I decided to give it a try some time when the line is only an hour long.

Hold on to your hats because what I am about to say may shock you. Today I went over to Mario’s house and talked to him about teaching me some Spanish. Now don’t get too excited because I haven’t made any commitments or signed any contracts but I am considering taking a few classes and seeing how it goes. Even if I only pick up a few words it will quickly double my present Spanish vocabulary. I was always hoping that I would just sort of pick up on Spanish with out studying but 7 words in 7 years is just a little too slow. Actually I know more words then that It’s just that my pronunciation must be a little off because when I use them no one has the slightest idea what I am talking about.

After leaving Mario’s house I went to the drug store and picked up some medicine for David. His claim to fame of eating nothing but street food for the past week has suddenly caught up with him. Fortunately he is staying on the other side of town where he has running water and a flush toilet. Today my water came on for about a half hour and then went back off again. I managed to get in part of a shower though and hopefully the water will come on again in the morning so that I can rinse this mornings soap off.

Wow it is 12:03. I didn’t realize that I have been writing for this long. When I started tonight’s journal I was 60 years old and now I am 61. I think that I will at least celebrate the first part of my birthday by sleeping so I will once again say goodnight.

Yours in Christ: Dick


Tuesday, January 8, 2008

I am counting my blessings. I turned 61 years old today but I was still able to get out of bed on my own. I knew that I had forgotten something but after studding my face in the mirror for a few minutes it came to me, my name. I was thankful that my grandfather talked my parents into changing it from what it was to DICK a few days after I was born. The name that I had before that was longer so I could have forgotten it much easier. Now what was that longer name? Oh yes I remember it now, it was DAVID. Anyway after gathering my thought together and getting dressed I headed to the wheelchair shop. No I didn’t have a shower this morning. I tried but after turning on the faucet I suddenly remembered that I have had no water for nearly a week now. I may have forgotten but judging by faces that people who were down wind of me made today I doubt that they will forget. After meeting with Chris and picking up the clothing that Donna had graciously washed for me I picked up Fernando and Elmer and headed to Antigua. They didn’t mind riding with me but then again they have been without water as well.

Even though we didn’t get to the orphanage in time to take any of the kids out to lunch we managed to gather up 3 more volunteers and then took several kids out to the park. Since we were not going into Camperos we were able to take Sam Sam along with us today. Sam does well when he is not locked in his crib but comes unglued when ever we go into Camperos with him. He and the other kids all enjoyed the park though and all of the kids seemed to really enjoy 2 musicians who were playing a guitar and a flute. We played there with the kids until nearly 4 PM and then quickly brought them back to the orphanage so that they would not miss their dinner.

On our way home Elmer told me that he had bought me a birthday cake and that I was invited to his house for a birthday party. He told me that we could have pizza as well but I would have to pay for that. We all had a nice time and everyone got a good laugh when the candles that were on my birthday cake filled the room with smoke. No one would let me forget that it is a tradition here that you are suppose to take a small bite out of your birthday cake before it is cut and served. I don’t mind that tradition but am not all that fond of what goes along with it. Once you get your face over the cake there are always a few helping hands that make sure that you get your face shoved into the cake. I didn’t have a head cold so I was not afraid of changing the color of the frosting from white to a lime green like some of the kids often do but the thought of cake and frosting all over my face and beard was not a pleasant one considering my water is still shut off. Fortunately though I moved quickly enough that everyone that tried to push my head into the cake missed my head and ended up getting a hand full of frosting. I think that it was fortunate but will see how my stomach feels in the morning. Like I said before the entire neighborhood has been with out water for nearly a week now so some of the hands that went into the cake were not exactly the cleanest. After the party I opened up my house to all of the kids. Even the 3 new ones that had come in yesterday showed up. I let them in but only after making them return the toys that they had stolen from me yesterday. It seem that just when I get one group of kids trained on what the rules are a few new ones show up.

Well it is once again time for this old boy to get some sleep so as soon as I see if any kids are still here and if everything that I once owned is still here, I will head off to bed.

Yours in Christ: Dick


Wednesday, January 9, 2008 8:03 PM

Still no running water but since I now have clean clothing I decided to take another bucket of water over the head shower before going to bed last night. It was a hard decision because it meant that I would not have enough water left to put on my flowers but I felt that I needed a bath much worse than they did, and that if I didn’t take a bath and got anywhere near them they would likely die anyway.

David Piper called this morning and told me that he was feeling better and wanted to come along with me. Calin also joined us as an interpreter. I planned on stopping off at the HIV orphanage and then go to a few homes to do some repairs on a few wheelchairs. David had never been into the HIV orphanage and was a little apprehensive but once he saw the loving environment and the pleasant surroundings all fear was quickly gone. The nuns that run this place are fantastic with the kids and show them lots of love. It is hard not to because all of the kids are very friendly and love it when you give them the least bit of attention. Ingrid, a little girl who used to live at Hermano Pedro was my main reason for visiting today. Along with HIV Ingrid also has Cerebral Palsy and is confined to a wheelchair. I try to stop by from time to time to see if her wheelchair needs any adjustment or repairs. Today it needed both. I hardly recognized Ingrid because of how well she looked and how much she had grown. David, Calin, and I had to lengthen her wheelchair a couple of inches. It may last her for a short time but I am going to try to replace it as soon as possible. We were also shown a new little boy who just like Ingrid has both HIV and Cerebral Palsy. He has no wheelchair so I took measurements and hopefully that will soon be rectified. The kids flocked around us as we attempted to say good by. It was hard to go but we knew that in this place they are all getting the love and attention that they needed. I greatly admire the unconditional Christian love that these dedicated nuns give to these precious children.

Our next stop was in San Lucas, at the home of the man that I had given a head controlled power wheelchair to several months ago. Before setting him up with this chair he had been confined to his bed for several years. I simply wanted to check and see how his power wheelchair was working out for him. I guess I got my answer. A neighbor girl told us that he was not at home but had driven off to town in his wheelchair earlier in the day.

I think that perhaps David should have recuperated at least one more day after his encounter with street food because as we were about to head to our next home he began to turn the same color as some of the food that he had eaten earlier this week.

After dropping both David and Calin off in Chemaltenango I headed to Antigua. Calin had not gotten sick but had decided that he wanted to visit his grandmother for a while. I had intended on going up to Santa Maria Dejesus but decided not to because I no longer had an interpreter so I stopped off at the orphanage in Antigua and spent time with some of the kids. Things are slowly improving but this orphanage could still learn a few lessons from the orphanage that I had visited this morning.

Well by the sound of my doorbell I guess that the hour that the kids allotted me to get my journal done is nearly up so I will say Goodnight.

Yours in Christ: Dick


Thursday, January 10, 2008

Since the only running water that I have, even when it is working, is located out side of my house, last night I balanced some pots and pans on top of each other and set them in the sink that is located just out side of the back door of my house. I left the faucet turned on so that if my water came back on during the night the clatter of the falling pots and pans would wake me up. Sure enough at 6:30 this morning my make shift alarm woke me up. The water was coming out of the faucet at only a little more than a trickle but I knew that if I worked fast I would likely be able to fill up the sink and several containers, flush the toilet, Brush my teeth, get the plants watered , and take a shower. Since I knew that the water would likely stop flowing at any minute I wanted to work fast though so I attempted to double up on a few things. Filling up the sink and brushing my teat at the same time proved out be no problem. Filling the other containers while brushing my teeth was also a since. I even had the plant watering and the shower thing going quite well. Since my bathroom is located out side of the house getting water on the floor was no problem as I ran back and forth between placing the garden hose by one plant and then running back to the shower to wash a hand or foot and then running back out to the front of my house to place the garden hose by still another plant. Fortunately I did not have to get dressed each time I made the transition because of the 14 foot cement wall that goes all around my house. I only had one more plant and my right foot to go when my 2 item juggling act turned into 3. The door bell rang. I have told the kids over and over again not to ring the bell before 7:30 in the morning but either Calin or Fernando have to be reminded of this at least once a week. Fortunately there was a towel hanging out on my close line so I wrapped it around me before opening the gate. Now I have always maintained that there is no such thing as modesty here in Guatemala but I think that my neighbor lady’s face got just about as red as mine did. She had come over to tell me that the water had been turned back on. I thanked her but did not wave good by. I was to busy holding the towel tightly around me.

SORRY NO PHOTOS WITH TODAY'S JOURNAL.

Today Mark Richard, who is the head of Hope Haven International and Lonny Davis, who is very involved with the wheelchair ministry were here. Chris, Donna, and I had a lengthy but informative and productive meeting. After that we all went out to lunch and now I am in the shop getting a bit of work done on my computer. I find it is easier to get some of this done here as there are less disturbances from all of the kids and the occasional adult that come to my gate.


Friday, January 11, 2008, 9:18 PM

This morning’s breakfast seem to go on forever. I started out cooking for 2 of us and by the time we sat down to eat there were only 3, but just as we would start cleaning off the table on or 2 more people would show up and as they finished another small group would arrive. That is why a breakfast that started at 7:30 did not end until close to 10. Anyway by the time that I was about to start my day I felt like I had already reached over time. My land lord who was here to see about painting the front gate was given breakfast along with group 5 or 6. She must have felt a bit sorry for me because she offered to do the dishes. I didn’t turn her down especially considering that I still don’t have running water.

David, Calin, and I finally got out of the house and headed out to deliver 2 wheelchairs at one of our favorite places to visit, the HIV orphanage. Now you may think that we must be a bit morbid if we like visiting an HIV orphanage but this place is wonderful. All of the rooms are bright and cheery and genuine Christian love seems to radiate from everyone that lives there. Not just the nuns but the other workers and the children them selves are some of the most loving and happiest people that I have ever met. Only a few of the kids show any symptoms of being at all sick, and they are given so much love and are so well taken care of that you seldom see anything but a smile on their faces.

The first child that we gave a wheelchair to today was 6 year old Jose. He had never been in a wheelchair before and we had do a lot of modifying to the one that we had brought but several hours later Jose was happily sitting in his new wheelchair.

I have known Ingrid for many years now. She use to live at Hermano Pedro but was moved to the HIV orphanage a few years ago. If it were not for that move I may have never discovered the place. I had planned on doing some repairs on her wheelchair while she was in Hermano Pedro, but she was moved to the HIV orphanage before I got to it. I must admit I stalled for a few months before finally going there. I was not sure that I could handle seeing all of the suffering that I assumed was going on there. What a shocker when I walked into the place! I think that this place has to be the next best thing to living with your real family. Then again after spending most of the day there today I recognized that all of the people there are real family.
We didn't head for home until nearly 5 PM. Oh I guess we could have had Ingrid fitted into her wheelchair if we had not accepted their offer of cookies and juice or the lunch that was made for us, or if we had not stopped working to hold or play with the kids from time to time we may have gotten out of there much earlier, but if you don’t take time to enjoy life you may find that if you hurried through it you may have missed out on some of the best things that it has to offer.

Tonight I came home to more kids. I was tired but I know that they were hungry not just for food but much like so many kids that live in the numerous orphanages here in Guatemala, they were hungry for someone who cared. It is my prayer that I remember to show them half as much love as I saw displayed to day.

Yours in Christ: Dick



Saturday, January 12, 2008, 7:06 AM

I seldom do any of my writing in the morning but my Pots and Pans, You Have Water Alarm once again woke me up at 5:55 AM. My water has been coming on around this time of day every other day for the past several days now. It only stays on for about an hour though so I still have to work fast to collect enough water to last me for the next 47 hour dry spell. This morning my well thought out routine was a little more carefully thought out though. My shower time was not combined with running back and fort into my front yard to water the flowers. I still did 2 activities at once but this time instead of watering the flowers in front of my house, I filled up sinks and containers that were much closer to where my outside bathroom is located. I also made sure, just in case some one did come to my gate, that the towel that I hung out on the line was a large bath towel and not a dish towel like the last time. Come to think of it I have not seen that neighbor lady since her last unannounced visit. My sister Karen called me yesterday. She had forgotten my birthday but told me that she had gotten me a bathrobe for Christmas but since sending things to me by mail is next to impossible she had decided to wait until someone came down this way so that they could personally give it to me. I told her that I certainly could have used one a few days ago but she just as well not send me one anymore because I think that my neighbors are chipping in to buy me one as a late birthday present.

ONCE AGAIN NO PHOTOS

Today Chris and I will be going down to the airport to pick up a group of ladies that plan on being here in Guatemala for about a week. Talk about a Godincidence. Mary Hines who is heading up the group is a lady that I met in Afghanistan over 5 years ago. We lost contact but close to a year after we had returned from a wheelchair distribution in Afghanistan she contacted me asking if there were any short term mission projects that groups from her church could do here in Guatemala. Up until today Marry has not had the opportunity to come to Guatemala herself, but because of that Chance meeting in Guatemala Mary’s church has sent down a number of groups of people that have taken part in everything from going in to the orphanages to building houses and churches. Mentioning Afghanistan reminds me of another story but I don’t want to embarrass anyone. Bring your bath robe Mary.

Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal December 31 - Janurary 5

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Monday, December 31, 2007

This morning Dave Piper came along with Calin, Fernando, and myself to the homes of 2 of the families that we built homes for last week. Both of these were widows whom the group from Florida had bought groceries for but we had not had time to deliver the groceries to them before they returned for the USA on Sunday. Today while we were there we also installed latches and locks onto the doors of their new houses.

The first house that we stopped at was one that I had not been to because it had been built the morning of my unforgettable shopping trip to purchase the groceries. Even though neither the lady that the house had been built for or any of her 5 children had ever met the 4 of us before they were very friendly and even brought us some juice that had been made from the not so clean looking water that they had drawn from their well. There was no way that we could refuse such hospitality but on one of our trips back to the car we managed to get rid of the juice without drinking it. As thirsty as we were we felt that drinking it would not be wise. The family had feared putting even their meager belongings in their new house with out being able to lock it up. Before leaving we gave them 2 large plastic tubs that were filled to the brim with food and household supplies. The entire family was carefully looking over all of the items when we said good bye.

Our next stop was at Maria’s new home. Maria is the lady who’s husband was recently killed when he was run over by a truck. We were told that she and her 4 children were up the trail visiting other relatives. Her sister who lives in the house next to her told us that it would be OK to install the hasp and lock. Once we did that we locked the groceries that we had brought for her inside of her new house and then gave the key to the sister. As nice as the people in this area are we feared that if we did not lock the groceries up they would disappear. Fortunately we had also brought groceries for the sister and her family that we had left the key with. Many of these people do not get enough to eat so stilling is a big temptation. Even then some little boys from another family had seen us carry in the groceries and had evidently told their mother about it because before leaving we were asked if their family could have some food as well. It was hard to tell them that we had no more. Unfortunately this is often the case weather it be with food, houses, wheelchairs, or a bit of money. There are simply so many needs that it is difficult to know who to help. I have run into to people who use that as an excuse not to help anyone but I know that if we all felt that way no one would get fed. I just keep on praying for wisdom on knowing who to help and on giving wisely.

New years eve is much like Christmas eve here in Guatemala. Once again I was invited over to a neighbors home for dinner, Or I guess that I should say a number of dinners. It seem that almost all celebrations here in Guatemala center around food and fire works. Any way we had a good time but I was once again the party pooper by heading off to bed at 2 AM.


Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Wow! Where did 2007 go? I can not believe that it going on 8 years that I first came here to Guatemala.

Today I finally got back to Hermano Pedro. Dave Piper, Nancy, and Fernando came along with me this morning. We didn’t exactly get an early start but managed to get to the orphanage in time to take 4 of the kids out to lunch. I think that most of the people in Guatemala must have gone to bed even later than we did because there were verry few cars on the road this morning. The kids that we took out today are not big eaters but they enjoyed themselves just the same.
After returning to the orphanage from lunch we spent the next few hours holding kids that had spent most of their day locked in their beds. I had almost dreaded going up to the malnutrition ward for fear that they may have lost one of the 3 kids that are not doing very well but they were still alive. Jennifer was sleeping so we didn’t wake her up but we got Byron and Pearla out of their cribs and held them for a while. Byron who is 14 years old still does not appear to weigh over 30 pounds. He enjoyed being held though and nearly drifted off to sleep. The little guy that has learned to talk like Donald Duck is still there waiting for his clef pallet to be operated on. Other than the clef pallet he seems to be in great shape and is an absolute clown.
Before heading for home we we met up with Judy Kerschner and then drove up to Santa Maria Dejesus to see Balanki, one of the students that Attends the school that Judy has. Balanki who suffers from Spinal bifida was in need of a new back cousin for her wheelchair. She had outgrown the cousin that I made foe her a few years ago. Since she has no feeling in her legs and lower back she is prone to getting bed sores if she is not seated perfectly. It took a lot of carving with an electric carving knife but within about an hour I had her setting comfortably.

David, Fernando, Nancy, and I stopped off at a place that sells what most foreigners would call street food. It was not quite like your Denny’s restaurant in the states but we did have a table with a view. Fact is we had a view in every direction since we were sitting outside on stools at a small table that look like it was made from a few apple boxes. I am not sure that this place would pass the health laws of the USA or even the Guatemalan health laws if there are any. but the food was good and it was dark enough that there was no way to tell if any of the critters that were running or flying around had gotten into it. Actually it was quite tasty and where else can you buy a steak dinner with fried onions, a baked potato, and tortillas for a buck?

Calin is staying over tonight because I have to take my car in to the Toyota shop in the morning. It has been 1000 kilometers since it was rebuilt so they want to check things over. I also want to ask then where the dozen or so bolt and some other missing parts went to. I guess I better get some sleep because we are planning on leaving at 5:30 AM.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Today can basically be summed up in 2 words, LONG and FRUSTRATING. I am more and more becoming convinced that my cheep not so good mechanic here in Chemaltenango is not as bad as the expensive not even as good mechanics at the
Toyota garage in Guatemala city. After several hours of waiting for my car Calin and I finally decided to walk to a McDonald’s which was a good mile away. Just after sitting down to eat we got a phone call from the place where I had left the car. It was the service manager telling me that the vibration that my car had developed while it was sitting at their garage for 51 days was not a bad universal joint as I had suspected but a bad rear end. He informed me that a new one was $2000 but they had located a used one for $1000 and wanted to know if I wanted it. I told him not to do anything until we got back there. When we returned he told me that everything else had bin fixed except for the vibration. I asked him to put the car back upon the hoist so that he could show me the problem. As soon as I got under the car I saw that on the previous visit they had accidentally misaligned the universal joints of the drive line and there possibly was nothing what so ever wrong with the rear end. Even though the problem would have been obvious even to someone who knew nothing about mechanics the mechanic didn’t have a clue. Calin tried to explain it to him while I attempted to draw it out on paper but we got no where. Finally I walked over to his tool box, got out the proper wrenches and fixed the problem. Unfortunately while I was doing that he grabbed a socket set, put a pipe on the end of the ratchet and over tightened the pinion bearing. Now until I can locate a large enough pipe so that I can loosen the over tightened nut I have a high pitch wine coming from the rear end. Believe me if I can here a high pitch wine with these ears so can everyone else with in a half mile. After aligning the universal joints I looked over the rest of the work that the mechanic said that he had completed. If it weren’t for the cracked fan shroud that he had super glued in stead of replacing like he had promised he would have scored 33%. Out of the 12 missing bolts that I had individually pointed out to him a few hours earlier he had replaced 4. At this rate only 2 more visits and he would have my car back into the shape that it was in when I firs brought in to be repaired. Tomorrow morning I plan on going in to my cheep mechanic and begging forgiveness for ever doubting his abilities. While I am there I will also ask him if I can borrow a wrench and the longest piece of pipe that he has so that I can loosen the over tightened nut on my pinion berring.

Most of Guatemala was with out electricity this evening so the kids and I had baloney sandwiches by flashlight. One advantage to no electricity was that I had no idea how much they spilled on the floor until the lights came on shortly after 9. The advantage was in the kids favor and not mine though because they had all gone home by then and I was left with the mess.

It’s been a long day. Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Thursday, January 3, 2008

Well I went back to my old mechanic this morning and showed him what the expensive mechanics did to my car yesterday. With in about an hour and a half he had remedied the mistakes that they made yesterday and had also taken care of the so called problem that they had wanted $2000 to fix and all it cost me was $46 and a good helping of humble pie. My car is now running great and hopefully this will put an end to my car problems for a while. I guess that I should be thankful that a Land cruiser is suppose to be the most maintenance free car ever built. I can’t imagines what it would be like to have one that broke more often.

At around noon David, Abner, Elder and I headed for the coast. Ronny was once again having battery problems with his wheelchair and Angelica, the lady with the broken femur needed to get in to Hermano Pedro for a blood test. We only stayed long enough at Ronny’s home to replace 2 wheelchair batteries and say a quick hello because we had to get Angelica and her family to Antigua by 6 pm. I promised Ronny’s family that I would try to stay longer tomorrow after bringing Angelica and her family back to her home.

Tonight when I returned home I was happy to see that I had electricity but was told that my entire neighbor hood will be with out water for up to a week. Oh well I guess that if I have to go without a shower for that long it is perhaps a good thing that my neighbors will have to do the same. I guess that another bright side is that the water stopped working just before the laundry lady came today, so putting my close on with out having a shower won’t make them any dirtier.


Friday, January 4, 2008, 9:18 PM

It has been one of those crazy weeks this week. All of Guatemala was without lights the night before last. Yesterday was the first time that I have ever seen snow on some of the higher volcanoes. One of the local volcanoes has been acting up a bit and you can see lava flowing down from the top of it when it is dark. We just had a 5.6 earthquake and worst of all, I have been with out water since yesterday morning. Actually they turned it on for about a half hour this morning but it looked more like coffee than like water. Never the less I put some into a few containers so that I could at least flush my toilet with it. After spending the day near the coast where it was hot I decided that a shower with dirty water was better than none at all so I heated some up and poured it over my head.

Our trip to bring Angelica back to her home went well. Calin and Fernando came along and we also picked up Jim and his wife Jill. They are a Canadian couple who are volunteering at the YWAM coffee house in Antigua for a few months. This should conclude the blood tests and lab work for the operation that Angelica is scheduled to have on her femur on January 20. I plan on picking her up on the evening of the 19th and then returning her to her home a day or 2 after her surgery. Angelica and her family are verry poor but they insisted on giving me a half dozen eggs as a way of showint their appreciation.

After dropping the 5 of them off we went back to Ronny’s house. I still had some repairs to do on his wheelchair and also wanted Jim and Jill to meat Ronny’s family. Ronny’s mom had some news for us. In a few months she is going to have her 7th child. Hopefully it will not be until we have finished their new house. 9 people in the little tin shed that they presently live in may be just a bit crowded. While we were there Chris and John Showed up. They had taken the van down because they had to deliver a power wheelchair and a rap to Sergio, who will be attending a school that is located in his town. Carlos, who is a block layer, as well as the pastor of a church in Ticpan is going to be laying the foundation for Ronny’s new home during the next few weeks. Near the end of February there will be a teem coming in from Washington State. They are planning on completing the house. Ronny’s entire family is excited about finally being able to move into something that looks and feels like a home.

Once again my eye lids are winning against my will power to get a few more things done before bed so I guess that everything else will wait until morning.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Saturday, January 5, 2007, 9:15 PM

I have been told that most people take the day off on Saturday so I decided that I would try it sometime, not today though. I didn’t mind though because spending a day at the orphanage is far more fun than having a day off anyway, especially when you get a group of people in that are willing to give the kids more love than they have seen in a long time. Today’s group was exactly that and then some. Yesterday Jim and Jill received a phone call from a group of people that were spending time in Guatemala City with Youth With a Mission. A few days ago they had met a few members of this group at the YWAM coffee house here in Antigua and had mentioned Hermano Pedro orphanage to them. Yesterday the leader of the group called them and asked if I could take them through the orphanage and see if it was possible to take a few of the kids out to lunch. I met the group outside of the orphanage at about 10:30 and showed them around. Most new groups are a bit uncomfortable with the kids at first and then slowly warm up to them. This group took all of 5 seconds to do that. They immediately fell in love with the kids and the kids fell in love with them. Along with the help of Jim, Jill, and Dave Piper, who are also crazy about the kids, we were able to take 8 of the kids to the park and out to lunch. Several of the kids that we took today have difficulty eating solid food but the entire group was extremely patient with them and we all had a wonderful time.

After we returned the group stuck around for several hours holding and playing with the kids up in the malnutrition ward. While we were up there I spent quite a bit of time with Byron, Julia, and Pearla. These are the 3 kids who have a severe form of CP that causes their necks and back to bend so far backwards that in severe cases they form a complete circle where the heals of their feet actually touch the back of their heads. All 3 are still quite week but with the help of a feeding tube each one seems to be gaining weight and some strength. I only wish that they could be held more because it sometimes takes up to an hour of holding before they relax enough that they drift off to sleep.

Since I still have no running water and had a 2 for one pizza coupon, I figured that it was excuse enough to take the 7 kids that showed up for dinner out for Pizza tonight. 3 more arrived at my house after we had left but fortunately we had taken enough home with us that they got fed too. Since Saturday night is the night that I try to get my Journal out I asked the kids if I could have the house to myself at around 8:00. Actually that is not quite how it went, I asked them at 7:30 then I told them at 8:00. A few of them hung in there until I demanded at 8:15. I have already finished my bucket of water over the head shower so when I get this journal and the pictures on to my web site I will be able to head off to bed. That generally takes a few hours though. I am getting faster at setting up the pictures but trying to spell check words that my computer can’t even figure out can be time consuming.

Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal December 23-30

Building homes for needy families
(Movie)

Sunday, December 24, 2007

Only 2 of the kids came along with me to church this morning. The number of kids that have been coming along to church with me lately has dropped off a bit but I have an idea that it will pick up again after Christmas. Several of them are still in Guatemala City helping an aunt sell clothing. Others had relatives over so they stuck around to visit with them. Still others had made some money working for the wheelchair shop or for me, so they had gone to town to do some shopping.

After Church the 2 kids and myself met at a restaurant for lunch with 3 friends from church. I forked over a whopping $10 and picked up the tab for 4 of us. Not bad for a roast beef dinner that included refillable drinks and desert. After lunch all 6 of us went over to the orphanage for a while. It was 1 PM when we arrived and not one kid was out of bed. By the appearance of things none of them had been taken out of bed and none of them would be taken out of bed all day. The 6 of us quickly changed that for 6 of the kids though. Since all of Hermano Pedro’s offices are closed on Sunday we could not get permission to take any of the kids out of the building but just getting out of bed was a welcome relief for them. After about an hour I went up to malnutrition to see how the kids up there were doing. Byron is looking a little stronger every day but it is still hard to believe that he is 14 And not 4 years old. Jennifer still looks like she is very uncomfortable and only relaxes when she is being held or is asleep. Unfortunately no one holds her much and sleep comes hard for her. Perla is still hanging in there but looks like a little skeleton. There is one little boy in Malnutrition that looks any thing but malnourished that the kids and I have fallen in love with. He has a cleft pallet and is awaiting surgery but the disfigurement of his face does not hide how cute he is. He is only a year and a half old but is an absolute clown. He tries to mimic everything that I say or do. I am afraid that I have taught him something that I wish that I hadn’t though. God has given me a talent that I don’t often share with the world but the kids love it. How was I to know that this little boy had the same talent just lying there under the surface and that all it would take would be for me to share what I was gifted to do to unleash his talent. I am not sure that every one in the hospital is happy about it though but perhaps in a few days he will start talking in his normal voice again. Although I must admit an 18 month old child that talks like Donald duck is rather amusing.

This evening the kids ate in shifts. Just when one bunch was about to finish another batch of kids would show up. What they ate depended on when they showed up. It was sort of, first come first serve. They all got fed though. In-between being cook and assistant cook I managed to get a few flowers planted. Try doing that the day before Christmas in Washington State. Actually with the weather that we have here in Chemaltenango you can plant flowers about any time you want to. Sometimes I even find my self planting them when I don’t want to. That is mainly because of my multipurpose yard. It is partly lawn and flowers but both the lawn and flowers suffer when ever it is turned into a basketball court or a soccer field. Generally after one or 2 soccer games I have to replace 1 or 2 flowers. This week the mortality count was a bit higher than usual for the flowers but I actually made it through the entire week with out any broken windows. I wish that I could say that for cups and dishes but 2 of the younger kids did them tonight.


Monday, December 24, 2007

Yesterday while we were at Hermano Pedro Fidel once again asked me if he could come to my house. It is not easy to transport Fidel anywhere but knowing how lonely he gets around Christmas time I told him that I would see what I could do about getting permission for him to come over and spend the day today. When I went to Hermano Pedro this morning I was not sure weather or not I could sign him out because I figured that all of their offices would be closed for Christmas eve. It took a bit of scouting around to find the right people but an hour later Fernando and I had Fidel and his power chair loaded into my car. I have always thought of Fidel as being an extremely bright individual but after hearing his response after asking him if he wanted to stop off and have lunch some where I am beginning to wonder. Then again perhaps my neighbor kids have never shared with him what my cooking is like. Never the less he insisted that we eat at my house. I told him that the pickens would be slim especially considering that the kids had nearly cleared me out of groceries last night. Never the less he told me that the number of home cooked meals that he had ever eaten would make anything that I made taste good. Like I said he had never before eaten my cooking. I managed to come up with enough eggs, refried beans, and hot dogs that Fidel was well satisfied though. After lunch we played around on the computers a bit and then we headed over to Chris and Donna’s to wish them a merry Christmas. We didn’t get Fidel out of my car because it is just to much work getting him and his power chair loaded and unloaded but we drove down into there back yard and visited for a while. I think that Fidel had a great time but he was pretty tired out and actually fell asleep on our drive back to the orphanage. I was tired to but still had a big night ahead of me.

After stopping off and buying a cake and some fire works we headed for home. Even though it was only 5 PM and I had told the kids that we would not be opening Christmas presents until 7 many of them were already gathered at my gate. ..............I managed to hold out until 7 but it wasn’t easy. By 7:04 all of the gifts had been opened. They would have been opened faster if it were not for the fact that I had the kids wait until the kid in front of them had their gift open. Next year I plan to reverse things a bit though because going from youngest to oldest means that each kid that is opening their gift has all older kids glaring at them so that they will hurry up. The kids all had a great time though and even though most of them knew exactly what they were getting they were still excited.

After the kids got their gifts I brought boxes of groceries to some of the families that live in my neighborhood. I tried to explain to each family that I was going to be eating dinner with Fernando and Abner’s aunt and uncle at 10 PM but was still given something to eat at nearly every one that I visited. At 10 I waddled over to supper. This is the third Christmas in a row that I have spent Christmas eve with this family. After supper we went out into the alley and built a traditional bonfire and the kids started lighting off fire works. By midnight there was a fire burning in front of every house. At the stroke of midnight any one who had any fire works left shot of everything that they had. I tried to take a few pictures but there was so much smoke that none of them turned out to good. It was quite a sight though. Then everyone went from house to house hugging everyone and wishing each other merry Christmas. Then it was time for more food. I wasn’t all that hungry with all of the suppers that I had eaten just a few hours earlier but have learned by now that there is just no polite way to say no and even if there was they would insist that you ate anyway. When I finally waddled off to bed at around 1:30 most of my neighbors were still shooting off fire works, or sitting around their bon fires. I didn’t want to be a party pooper but it had been a long day. Besides that I have been invited to Chris and Donna’s tomorrow for a traditional Christmas meal.

Good morning,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Tuesday, December 25, 2007, 10:51 PM

Well, Christmas is almost over but it has been a good one. I spent most of the day with Chris, Donna, and their family. They are great people and really make me feel like part of their family. Amazingly enough I was even hungry when, after opening Christmas presents we sat down at the dinner table for a wonderful Christmas dinner. The rest of the day we just visited and relaxed. Other than the 75 degree temperature it felt a lot like Christmas in the States.

When I got back home the house filled up with kids but for only about a hour. The older kids that have been working in Guatemala City are home for a few days and they treated some of the younger ones to a night out on the town. All but a few of the kids walked in totown to play video games that have been set up in the town square during the Christmas season. I am glad that the video booths are only there for a short time though because there is a big problem with drugs when they are in town. Some of the older teens that work at the booths often offer free drugs to kids that come there, then once they get them hooked on the drugs they start charging them for the drugs. Unfortunately the police here in town turn a blind eye to it.

Most of the kids are back now so I think that I will visit with them for a while before sending them home and heading off to bed.

Goodnight:
Yours in Christ: Dick

Wednesday, December 26, 2007, 8:53 PM

This morning Fernando and I headed to Guatemala City to do a little bit of shopping and then met with Chris and Donna for lunch. We had each taken a different car to Guatemala City so that we could pick up 19 people who were coming in from Florida. The rest of this week will be a busy one for all of us because this group had come down to help with a wheelchair distribution that we are planning on having here in Chemaltenango tomorrow morning and then from tomorrow afternoon through Saturday we plan on putting up 5 prefabricated homes. Fortunately we shouldn’t have to much of a problem in putting these kits together because several of the people that arrived today are the ones that designed, built, and furnished these homes, The rest of the group are family members who are also very enthusiastic about this project.

Quite a few kids were here until about an hour ago but they all left to go play football. A few of them still have a bit of money left from working in the city so between them they scraped up enough money to rent a soccer field for an hour. This is a real treat for them because most of the time they have to play in the alley. I am going to try to get in a quick shower before they return so for now I well say good night.

Yours in Christ: Dick

Thursday, December 27, 2007

This morning we had a wheelchair distribution here in Chemaltenango. About 30 people showed up for new wheelchairs. Many of the people were children that required specialty chairs but we had plenty of help today and the fittings went well. The Group that came in from Florida to put up houses participated with the fittings and even though only one of them had previous experience with working on wheelchairs many of them had a lot of mechanical experience and did great. Those of us from the shop that do the actual fittings usually fit only one person at a time, per fitting station, but today there were times that I had 3 people at a time being fitted into wheelchairs. I simply went back and forth between the people from Florida that were helping me, showing them various things that had to be done while they did a good part of the hands on work. They seem to be a very dedicated group and are all willing to pitch in where ever they can be used.

We got finished with the distribution shortly after 12 PM and after a quick lunch we all headed out to where Maria ( The lady who’s husband had been killed by a hit and run driver) and her 4 children live. The group of people that is here from Florida are all relatives that have a company called Golf Coast Supply. Over the years God has richly blessed what started out as a small roofing and storage shed business into a prosperous business that puts up buildings all over Florida. This Christian family has a hart felt desire to share their blessings with widows, children, and physically handicapped people who are less fortunate then them selves. Not only are they doing this by coming here to Guatemala and sharing their time but they have also built and shipped down several prefabricated houses that are being given out to some of the poorest of the poor Here in Guatemala. This after noon we had the privilege of delivering and building one of these homes for Maria and her family. These homes may appear small and simple by American standards but to the families that are receiving them they are mansions. All 5 of the families that we hope to build homes for in the next few days are either living in dirt or corn stalk dwellings that provide little protection from wind or rain. Or have no home to call their own after being evicted from where they once lived.

I thought that perhaps Maria, who can be quite shy, would be overwhelmed by having so many Americans show up at her one room leaky dirt house, but I think that the excitement of getting a new home overshadowed any fear that she may have had. The Genuine love that the group we brought in showed to her, her family, and other families that quickly gathered around also gave the people a sense of trust. With in minutes the ladies that had come with us were holding several of the children and their children were playing with the children of the famlies that lived there. Calin, who had also come along after helping out at the distribution was kept busy interpreting as the kids introduced new games to each other. Only 3 ½ hours after arriving we all gathered together and offered a prayer of thanks giving, not only for Maria’s finished new home that were standing in front of but also for new friend ships that had been established between fellow Christians. As we stood there we could here
music. It was the voices of other Christians who were singing songs of praise some where in the valley below. Even though most of the people living in Maria’s area appear to have very little as far as material goods are concerned, we were told that nearly every one of them are Christians. Judging by the songs that they were singing and the smiles on their faces I wonder if perhaps these people are possibly a lot richer than we realize.

Yours in Christ: Dick


Friday, December 28, 2007
This morning most of the men went out to put up another house while the ladies, some of the kids, and myself went shopping. Now don’t take me wrong these are wonderful ladies and we get along great but I do want to give a warning to any bachelor who has seldom taken even one lady to a shopping mall. If you are ever faced with the choice of building a house in the hot sun or taking 7 ladies shopping in a nice shaded shopping mall. Don’t think twice about it. Build the house, or hotel, or city, or what ever it is! Perhaps you will be more physically tired but chances are you will still have your sanity when you have finished. 4 hours after walking into the mall we had finished buying groceries for the 6 families that we are building houses for this week. Actually I am exaggerating a bit. The groceries shopping which I could have done alone in about a half hour only took the ladies 3 hours. The extra hour was entirely my mistake. I accidentally mentioned that I was going to run over to the dollar store to pick something up. The ladies followed! An hour later I managed to get them back into the car. We still had one more stop to make but since it was at another store I graciously offered to go there by my self while most of the ladies went to my house and separated the groceries in containers that were to be handed out to the families that we were going to build houses for. By the time I got back from the store the ladies had almost finished sorting out the groceries. I called Chris and he told me that he and the other men were finishing up on the first house and would meat up with us in about an hours so that we could have lunch together and then go as a group to build another house. Another mistake was about to happen. I told him that I would see where the ladies wanted to eat and call him back so that he would know where to meat us. I over heard one of the ladies husbands telling Chris to ask me how the shopping went. I then heard a lot of snickering over the phone. I guess the other husbands were close by. After hanging up the phone I asked the ladies what they wanted to do for an hour and where they wanted to eat. Mistake # 2 I guess that I will never learn. At least both questions were answered in 3 words, “THE SHOPPING MALL”. At least when I called back to tell Chris and the other men where to meet us for lunch they had the courtesy not to snicker. This time it sounded much more like hysterical laughter. All I can say is “THANK YOU HANNA AND LUZETE!” They both came along and shopped with the ladies while I slumped over a table in the food court. I have often been asked if being a missionary in a foreign country requires much sacrifice. Up until this morning my answerer has always been, “NO.” After this morning shopping experience I may want to think that over. Actually ladies it wasn’t all that bad but next time I will let your husbands take you shopping. I don’t want to deny them of that special time together with you.
After lunch we headed off to San Lucas. The first lady that Mark Richard, from Hope Haven International, had ever given a wheelchair to lived in San Lucas. Little did anyone know back in 1988 that this would be the start of a ministry that has now given out over 65,000 wheelchairs throughout the world. Notice that I used the past tense lived and not the present tense lives. Oh no, she is still alive and doing well. That is if you can call having the new mayor of San Lucas kick you out of the small leaky tin shed that you and your 2 children have always called home, doing well. Fortunately her nephew who lives about 20 minutes out of town allowed her and her 2 children temporarily move in whit him and his family. Their house is extremely small though so they were only able to stay their for a limited time and her son had to sleep out side under a tree. Today that all changed though. 2 ½ hours after arriving with the materials we were having the dedication of her newly constructed house. We plan on adding a porch and closing at least part of it in within the next few months but even now this family is overjoyed with their new home.


What more could a person ask for in one day. We were able to give several people a new lease on life by giving them a wheelchair and then give some one a new home all in one day. More than that, with each family that we came in contact with weather they were already Christians or hearing about the love of Jesus for the first time, we were able to share our main purpose for being here. God is truly allowing us to be part of an exciting and wonderful ministry.

Goodnight: Yours in Christ: Dick


Friday, December 29. 2007

Today was a much easier day for me than yesterday. In stead of shopping with 7 ladies and then helping to build 1 house, I helped build 2 houses. Not only was building the first house easier than shopping with the women but it also took far less time. Much like the other houses that we built these 2 houses were given to ladies who husbands had either died or had abandon them and their children. Both families lived only about a quarter mile apart and both lived in shelters that were no larger than a walk in closet and were made from nothing more than corn stalks that had been tied together. Even though we were unable to understand most of what they said none of us had any difficulty understanding how they felt. Each of the ladies made us large lunches which we were simultaneously served to us and both looked up toward heaven with outstretched arms when their homes were finished.

I won’t say that after having a wheelchair distribution and then building 5 homes in 3 days that we are not tired but I can tell you it is a wonderful kind of tired. And there is not one of us who would not do it allover again next week if we had the materials here. Our Florida friends will be heading for home tomorrow but the memories of their generosity will not soon be for gotten. Perhaps their names will be forgotten but the name of the One that they represented will not be. To God be the glory.

Yours in Christ: Dick


Sunday, December 30, 2007, 5:08 PM

Calin and I have just returned from bringing our friends to the airport. Abner and Fernando had also wanted to come along but there was not enough room in any of the 3 vehicles that we took. So since they had both spent the entire day with us yesterday Calin was the one who got to come along this time. This week has been a good one for the kids from my neighborhood who had the opportunity to accompany us. Not that Abner, Fernando, and Calin are not already compassionate to people who are in need but it seems that they are becoming even more compassionate with each new family that they meet. Even though we had a lot of adult help this week all 3 of them were more than eggar to help out in any way possible and when ever they were not helping with the actual house building or interpreting for us they were playing with the village kids and those that had come along from Florida with their parents. As far as the Florida kids were concerned they also had a wonderful time and even though this was the first time out of the USA for many of them they all did great and hit it off well with both my kids and those that we met in the villages.

Some times good byes are difficult but today when we dropped the group off at the airport it was not all that hard. Not only because I knew that I would not have to go shopping with a bunch of ladies again but because of the look that I saw in most of their eyes. I have a feeling that we will be seeing many of them back in Guatemala again. Perhaps not to live but at least to visit. It is too hard to stay away from a place where you have made so many close friends and left at least part of your hart at. Thank you John, Jeff, and family

Yours in Christ: Dick